Fellow Massassian computer fixers, I again appeal for thy help.

As I posted long ago and most of you probably don't remember nor care, I dumped WinME and moved to Win2k. Possibly the best thing I've ever done for this PC. However, the move came with problems. Most were sorted out, however, my recent reinstallation of some games has me quite puzzled.

Deus Ex -- It should be noted ahead of time that this is NOT the full version. Sadly, I've no idea where I stashed my copy and all I could turn up was my 5 mission demo CD. Out with the problem you say. I've installed it, and fought with it for the last month off and on. It seems that I can get a game to start, but it lags far FAR to much, more than I ever remember it doing on WinME (and this demo was installed there) and seems to like to crash out to the desktop anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes after I'm actually in game playing. The trouble shooter points to Anti-Virus programs as a possible cause. I killed Norton's as best I could and tried again. Same result. I've tried all compatability modes with no sucess. For most, it spits out some error before the game launches. I can't quote you the exact message right now. Currently it isn't running in a compatability mode at all. I've played with graphical setting in an attempt to reduce lag, with little effect. All of my drivers for video and such, to my knowledge, are up to date. I've uninstalled and reinstalled. Same things. I'm quite baffled.

MechWarrior 4 -- A demo I've had for awhile. I've not played many of them, but I prefered 3 better. Anyway. It too has lagged like you wouldn't believe. Most of the time it subsides after 15 seconds or so, but it hits at random intervals. And, just like Deus Ex, it seems to take pride in crashing to the desktop at around 5 to 10 minutes after actually getting inside the game to play.

That ends the two problems that have persisted for about a month now and that I've tried to look into. The last happened recently and I haven't tried to fix it or look into it yet.

Jedi Knight -- Yesterday, I set up a nice little LAN game of Fatal Resistance in which I hosted. I did the exact same thing the day before and all was fine. The game played without a hitch. But yesterday, Everytime someone tried to join my game, JK would crash out to the desktop. It always did it as soon as that person had set foot in the level. I changed mods thinking that may be at fault. Not so. I rebooted. Didn't help. I can't think of any possible reason for the behavior, and, as I've said, I haven't looked much further into it. For all I know, it could just be an evil little fluke. But suggestions are welcome.

So, do the Massassian computer fixer-uppers think they can help out?

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Frogblast the Vent Core!

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Only with specific problems.

For Deus Ex (and I recommend this to *everyone*), try this new Open GL renderer:
http://cwdohnal.home.mindspring.com/utglr/
(improved image quality, compatibility and performance)

Download here:
http://cwdohnal.home.mindspring.com/temp/

Try something like this in the deusex.ini under
[OpenGLDrv.OpenGLRenderDevice]

(latest Singleplayer or Multiplayer patch required though...if you can find the full version. Simply replace the old open gl files with the one in the zip file above.)

UseGammaExtension=1
Translucency=True
VolumetricLighting=True
ShinySurfaces=True
Coronas=True
HighDetailActors=True
DetailTextures=True
UseTNT=False
MinDepthBits=16
MaxLogUOverV=10
MaxLogVOverU=10
UseMultiTexture=True
UsePalette=True
UseAlphaPalette=False
ShareLists=True
AlwaysMipmap=True
DoPrecache=0
UseTrilinear=True
MaxAnisotropy=16
SupportsLazyTextures=0
DescFlags=0
Description=
TruFormMinVertices=1
TruFormTessellation=3
UseTruForm=False
NumAASamples=4
UseAA=True
MaskedTextureHack=False
SwapInterval=0
UseVertexPrograme=False
UseCVA=False
UseMultiDrawArrays=False
AAFilterHint=0
TexDXT1ToDXT3=False
DynamicTexIdRecycleLevel=100
UseTexPool=True
UseTexIdPool=True
UseSSE=2
BufferClippedActorTris=True
SinglePassDetail=True
ColorizeDetailTextures=False
DetailClipping=False
UseDetailAlpha=True
RefreshRate=100
MaxTMUnits=0
NoFiltering=False
UseFilterSGIS=False
Use4444Textures=False
UseS3TC=True
AutoGenerateMipmaps=True
UsePrecache=False
UseBGRATextures=True
UseZTrick=True
MaxLogTextureSize=10
MinLogTextureSize=0
GammaOffset=-0.300000
LODBias=0.000000
RequestHighResolutionZ=True
UseVertexProgram=False
oneXBlending=True

[This message has been edited by KnobZ (edited December 01, 2003).]

*bump*

Can I not get anymore help?

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Frogblast the Vent Core!

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Try changing the rendering device to D3D or Open GL. Try them both. You should get better performance with one or the other (Generally if you have a nVidia card you'll get better performace with OpenGL and with an ATI card you'll get better performance with D3D.)


Hmm, As before, change the rendering device.

Update the drivers for:-
Video Card
Sound Card
Chipset

And you will probably gain a performance boost. Also get the latest DirectX.
That ends the two problems that have persisted for about a month now and that I've tried to look into. The last happened recently and I haven't tried to fix it or look into it yet.



Do you have a firewall running? Some firewalls popup messages like "Do you want to allow [ip] to connect inbound on JK.exe" maybe this happened and crashed the game to the desktop?


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WARNING: THIS POST MAY CONTAIN TRACES OF PEANUT!!!

For the rendering device:

I'll look into it tomarrow, don't have much time now. I forgot to mention it, but I don't have an actual graphics card, I've got an onboard chip. The Intel 82810 I believe. It's drivers got updated today while I was bored. Still, I'll try changing the rendering mode.

The DirectX suggestion:

I've got the latest. Unless a newer one has come out in the last 2 months, I've got it. I needed it for the JA demo and when I tried to make the Halo PC demo work (which didn't, no surprise to me really).'

Firewall:

Nope, never had one. I haven't looked back into it yet (mainly becuase running the Cat-5 cables back down the hallway is an annoyance and because) but I'm optimistic that it was just a fluke that popped up and has "fixed" itself. Still, I'm open to other ideas/suggestions.

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Frogblast the Vent Core!

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Intel 82810, that's problem #1...

Deus Ex - http://support.intel.com/support/graphics/intel810/sb/CS-003907-prd798.htm

Other Games - http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/gaming/82810.htm

Driver Download - http://downloadfinder.intel.com/scripts-df/Product_Filter.asp?ProductID=798

Love me.

Believe me, I know that. If I could get my hands on a good cheap graphics card, I'd shove it in this box. But since I can't, I live with what I have.

I'm looking at your links now. Thanks a bundle.

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Frogblast the Vent Core!

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Why can't you install another card? No AGP Slot? Not your PC?

Meh, buy a cheap second hand one off ebay, and sneak it in. Or a new motherboard. Or a new case...

I'm decently sure it has an AGP slot. I'm using it as my PC, but it isn't truely mine. The one that is totally mine is a 90Mhz Gateway, so yea....

I'm working on purchasing the components for an entirely new system now, I just need this one to work for the time being.

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Frogblast the Vent Core!

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