Hi all. I have a corrupted-graphics problem with GPL. After putting up with
18fps on my standard Gateway G6-350 P2, I recently bought a second-hand
Voodoo 2-based card (a Skywell 3D Magic II), and am now getting the
proverbial rock-solid 36fps. Woo-hoo! However...
The graphics problem shows itself on the loading screen--the full-screen
photomontage is fine, but the version number (1.2.0.1) looks strange. Hard
to explain, but "extraneous fuzzy whitish lines" sums it up. The same effect
can be seen on the menu pages--and it only affects the text. During actual
game play, the "extraneous fuzzy whitish lines" turn up on trackside objects
like trees, and there's a cross-hatching effect in parts of the cockpit. The
track is also affected--parts of the surface have blotches of colour, making
it hard to see the driving line. Sometimes the extraneous lines form
themselves into a cross-hatch, chequered/checkered or lace pattern.
This is what I've tried (one change at a time):
reinstalling the latest 3dfx reference drivers (from what's left of the
3dfx site) (I haven't been able to find any Skywell-specific drivers);
reinstalling the game;
pulling out and re-inserting the card;
checking for bent pins on the card and the supplied pass-through cable
(fixed two with pliers--no difference);
enabling each of the options in the 3dfx V2-1000 Control Panel (none
made an improvement; one made the problem worse; one caused many other
problems!);
different 3d-card refresh rates;
different GPL screen resolutions;
closing all programs except Explorer and Systray before launching GPL;
and
yelling "Aaaaaaaaaa!" and pretending to tear my hair out.
I can play the game OK, but I'd like to get rid of this problem if I can.
I'm running Windows 98 with an STB Velocity 128 (Riva-based) 4MB primary
graphics card. The STB is AGP; the Voodoo2 is PCI.
I have the same problem with GP3, but it only affects the track, and only to
a tiny degree compared with GPL.
Any ideas? I want to try as many possible fixes before taking the card back
to the shop/store (because then I'd be back at 18fps again!). And buying a
new card is not an option.
Thanks for your patience if you've got this far. I welcome your suggestions.
Sounds to me like a case for George M. Smiley's patch-O-matic, you can get
it from the GPLEA site at http://www.kotr.de/org/
Mark
"J & S Nicholls" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:eOmJ6.20396$[email hidden]...
> Hi all. I have a corrupted-graphics problem with GPL. After putting upwith
effect
> can be seen on the menu pages--and it only affects the text. During actual
> game play, the "extraneous fuzzy whitish lines" turn up on tracksideobjects
> like trees, and there's a cross-hatching effect in parts of the cockpit.The
> track is also affected--parts of the surface have blotches of colour,making
> it hard to see the driving line. Sometimes the extraneous lines form
> themselves into a cross-hatch, chequered/checkered or lace pattern.
>
> This is what I've tried (one change at a time):
> reinstalling the latest 3dfx reference drivers (from what's left ofthe
to
> a tiny degree compared with GPL.
>
> Any ideas? I want to try as many possible fixes before taking the cardback
> to the shop/store (because then I'd be back at 18fps again!). And buying a
> new card is not an option.
>
> Thanks for your patience if you've got this far. I welcome yoursuggestions.
>
>
>
>
Quoted text (7 lines)
> 18fps on my standard Gateway G6-350 P2, I recently bought a second-hand > Voodoo 2-based card (a Skywell 3D Magic II), and am now getting the > proverbial rock-solid 36fps. Woo-hoo! However... > > The graphics problem shows itself on the loading screen--the full-screen > photomontage is fine, but the version number (1.2.0.1) looks strange. Hard > to explain, but "extraneous fuzzy whitish lines" sums it up. The sameQuoted text (19 lines)
> 3dfx site) (I haven't been able to find any Skywell-specific drivers); > reinstalling the game; > pulling out and re-inserting the card; > checking for bent pins on the card and the supplied pass-through cable > (fixed two with pliers--no difference); > enabling each of the options in the 3dfx V2-1000 Control Panel (none > made an improvement; one made the problem worse; one caused many other > problems!); > different 3d-card refresh rates; > different GPL screen resolutions; > closing all programs except Explorer and Systray before launching GPL; > and > yelling "Aaaaaaaaaa!" and pretending to tear my hair out. > > I can play the game OK, but I'd like to get rid of this problem if I can. > I'm running Windows 98 with an STB Velocity 128 (Riva-based) 4MB primary > graphics card. The STB is AGP; the Voodoo2 is PCI. > > I have the same problem with GP3, but it only affects the track, and onlyYap...agree with Mark on that one. Also, it sounds like the card could have
a defect.....mainly in the ram clock speed on board. That would cause those
kinds of problems (since that same type of graphic corruption is evident
when OC'ing 3dfx cards....too far...which is a ram clock speed thing).
Tom
