Downloaded and installed nVidia's new "Detonator" reference drivers.
(Rant: Do we have to put marketing spin on _everything_? It's just
a long-overdue driver release.) I already had the second GPL OpenGL
patch installed.
The good:
My previous problems with crashes past 640x480 are gone. The
game still crashes if my desktop is in 32-bit color when I start
the game. (Lots of games refuse to run in 32-bit color, though
most pop up a message box and exit cleanly rather than blowing
chunks.)
The bad:
The mirrors still kill performance, so I guess nVidia still didn't
bother optimizing that GL buffer copy function. I saw one video
artifact, a black square*** in the sky over the side of the
track.
Approximate average frame rates, driving around alone at Monza,
and track in mirrors, many trackside objects, detail bias halfway,
in-car view, mirrors refreshed only every 8th frame:
512x384: 36 fps
640x480: 36
800x600: 36
1024x768: 33
1152x864: 28
1280x1024: 24
1600x1200: 17
Anyway, the game is now stable and quite playable at 800x600 or
1024x768 on my TNT card. Looks really great, except for the
laggy mirrors. I'll probably stay at 800x600 and bring the mirror
refresh rate up a little bit.
I still wouldn't recommend a TNT card for someone whose primary
interest is GPL, because of the mirrors. But if you do have a
TNT, definitely try the new drivers.
--
spamgard(tm): To email me, put "geek" in your Subject line.
Quoted text (43 lines)
>Downloaded and installed nVidia's new "Detonator" reference drivers. >(Rant: Do we have to put marketing spin on _everything_? It's just >a long-overdue driver release.) I already had the second GPL OpenGL >patch installed. >The good: >My previous problems with crashes past 640x480 are gone. The >game still crashes if my desktop is in 32-bit color when I start >the game. (Lots of games refuse to run in 32-bit color, though >most pop up a message box and exit cleanly rather than blowing >chunks.) >The bad: >The mirrors still kill performance, so I guess nVidia still didn't >bother optimizing that GL buffer copy function. I saw one video >artifact, a black square*** in the sky over the side of the >track. >Approximate average frame rates, driving around alone at Monza, >and track in mirrors, many trackside objects, detail bias halfway, >in-car view, mirrors refreshed only every 8th frame: >512x384: 36 fps >640x480: 36 >800x600: 36 >1024x768: 33 >1152x864: 28 >1280x1024: 24 >1600x1200: 17 >Anyway, the game is now stable and quite playable at 800x600 or >1024x768 on my TNT card. Looks really great, except for the >laggy mirrors. I'll probably stay at 800x600 and bring the mirror >refresh rate up a little bit. >I still wouldn't recommend a TNT card for someone whose primary >interest is GPL, because of the mirrors. But if you do have a >TNT, definitely try the new drivers. >-- >spamgard(tm): To email me, put "geek" in your Subject line.> I assume you use "update mirrors every 8th frame" as I do?
> Me and a friend use GPL over a LAN and it's just brilliant!
> As I see it I wouldn't be without the option to update the mirrors only
> every 8th frame as this gives a better framerate than any optimizing of the
> mirrors would ever do!
With a video driver fix, the in car and out of car views should have about the
same frame rate on the TNT without making the mirrors unusable. I for one do not
want to accept substandard in car performance because the TNT drivers suck. Get
your act together, nvidia AND papyrus, and give us the performance that is
available in the hardware.
Keith.
>> I assume you use "update mirrors every 8th frame" as I do?
>> Me and a friend use GPL over a LAN and it's just brilliant!
>> As I see it I wouldn't be without the option to update the mirrors only
>> every 8th frame as this gives a better framerate than any optimizing of the
>> mirrors would ever do!
>With a video driver fix, the in car and out of car views should have about the
>same frame rate on the TNT without making the mirrors unusable. I for one do not
>want to accept substandard in car performance because the TNT drivers suck. Get
>your act together, nvidia AND papyrus, and give us the performance that is
>available in the hardware.
>Keith.
I just wanted to be more specific...
My IN CAR framerate is brilliant too. Totally smooth.
That is with the mirror update set a 8. You know I don't need the mirrors
very much as there is never any competitors closing up, they more or less
disappear in the distance behind :-)
Thanks for posting this info. I logged on hoping to find just such a post.
I am sad that GPL still doesn't run as well as it could too :(.
rob.
<snip>
<snip>
> I just wanted to be more specific...
> My IN CAR framerate is brilliant too. Totally smooth.
> That is with the mirror update set a 8. You know I don't need the mirrors
> very much as there is never any competitors closing up, they more or less
> disappear in the distance behind :-)
That's great, but doesn't novice mode get boring? :)
I know the in car frame rate can be good if the mirror refresh is reduced - but
it's still a problem that should have been fixed by now. The Detonator drivers
give me exactly the same frame rates in GPL as the 0.48 drivers. The one pattern
that I notice with nvidia drivers, starting with the riva128 chip, is that each
new driver revision never fixes my issues and sometimes creates new problems.
nvidia definitely do not pay attention to my emails, never ever received a reply
from them.
Keith.
>>...no other card can run GPL at
>I've not heard a lot of complaints about either Banshee or Rendition image
If GPL were the only game I ever planned to play, I'd definitely get one of
those.
rob.
>Thanks for posting this info. I logged on hoping to find just such a post.
>I am sad that GPL still doesn't run as well as it could too :(.
>rob.
Well, it does !
That mirror thing isn`t disturbs me at all, no other card can run GPL at
But i woud like to see papy/nvidia correct the problem !
Tilus
>...no other card can run GPL at
I've not heard a lot of complaints about either Banshee or Rendition image
Rob...
Banshee boards support Direct3D and OpenGL, in addition to being the *only*
2D/3D boards to support the Glide API. Their capability with games beyond
GPL is extensive. Just wish there was a real fix for the texture issues in
GPL.
>I've not heard a lot of complaints about either Banshee or Rendition image
I don`t have a Rendition, and i never had, but Banshee is no way near the
picture quality of a TNT !
If you have a 14`` monitor, you may not be able to see the diff, but at 17``
and above, whit high resolutions and refresh rates Banshee SUCKS big time !
Colors are incorrect, no contrast, characters are blury, it just suck big
time !
On my 21`` iiyama monitor TNT has image AND rendering quality very very near
to the best looking car, the Matrox G200 or milleneum2 ! Banshee is still at
the level of S3 based cards, in terms of quality.
Tilus
I've had both a Banshee and a TNT card. On my 19" Hitachi 751, I run 1024 x
768 at 100Hz and experience none of the problems you describe with the
Banshee. Have you tried adjusting your gamma? Another tip: It would be
helpful and appreciated if you could elevate your level of description and
discussion beyond "SUCKS big time".
>>I've not heard a lot of complaints about either Banshee or Rendition image
>I don`t have a Rendition, and i never had, but Banshee is no way near the
>picture quality of a TNT !
>If you have a 14`` monitor, you may not be able to see the diff, but at 17``
>and above, whit high resolutions and refresh rates Banshee SUCKS big time !
>Colors are incorrect, no contrast, characters are blury, it just suck big
>time !
>On my 21`` iiyama monitor TNT has image AND rendering quality very very near
>to the best looking car, the Matrox G200 or milleneum2 ! Banshee is still at
>the level of S3 based cards, in terms of quality.
>Tilus
