Erm.. is this normal?

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Semaphore
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Erm.. is this normal?

Post by Semaphore »

BZU's demise drew me back to the game, so I decided to do a little test-run of BZ2 and 1.3 PB6. Found some odd things though, as I distinctly remember the graphics looking better than this. It could be the new computer.. but I am not sure.

So I start one of the instant action maps that I always thought to be pretty. Right away I notice that the water reflections aren't there.

http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/8889 ... ot1tnl.jpg

.. but apparently ARE enabled in the graphics menu. OK, I quickly disable and enable it and it pop on again, only to be startled once more.

http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/3021 ... hot2np.jpg

Was the reflected landscape really that high of a contrast? It's like there is no lightening in there at all.
Did the reflected horizon fade to white like that as well? It seems a little.. extremer than I remember.

http://img809.imageshack.us/img809/4577 ... hot3ty.jpg

The last screenshot shows the reflected headlights of the recycler. Contrary to the environmental light, this does seem to be reflected. I thought that was too interesting to leave out.
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GSH
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Re: Erm.. is this normal?

Post by GSH »

What graphics card is in your box? Some older Intel integrated graphics chips had a lot of problems w/ reflections.

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Semaphore
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Re: Erm.. is this normal?

Post by Semaphore »

Let's see.. an older Ati type.. Xpress.. aha, for Intel Desktops. There we have it. I'm using an older card with a newer computer Intel/Asus computer. The system itself is kinda made parts from here and there, just I haven't gotten around to buying a great GPU yet.
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Re: Erm.. is this normal?

Post by GSH »

Semaphore - don't recognize that card. Can you email me the contents of your battlezone.log file? If you're running WinXP or earlier, it's in the same directory as bzone.exe (i.e. where you installed BZ2 into). If running Vista/Win7, look in {$MyDocuments}/My Games/Battlezone II. Windows may show that file as only 'Battlezone' and omit the .log filetype. Thanks.

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Semaphore
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Re: Erm.. is this normal?

Post by Semaphore »

Here: http://pastebay.com/114976

Password is bz2, without caps.
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GSH
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Re: Erm.. is this normal?

Post by GSH »

Ok, that's an ATI Radeon Xpress 1200. Shader Model 2.0 card. Ought to work better. Do you have the latest drivers from ATI (now AMD)'s site installed? The default drivers handed out by microsoft for video cards have caused issues w/ nVidia cards, and using the latest from the manufacturer's site tends to work better.

Relevant section out of that log:
DIAG| vid:637 |18:51:07|223 |D3D Adapter Identifier info:
DIAG| vid:638 |18:51:07|223 | Driver: atiumdag.dll
DIAG| vid:639 |18:51:07|223 | Description: ATI Radeon Xpress 1200 Series
DIAG| vid:640 |18:51:07|223 | DeviceName: \\.\DISPLAY1
DIAG| vid:641 |18:51:07|223 | DriverVersion: 0x0008000E000A0287
DIAG| vid:642 |18:51:07|223 | VendorId: 0x00001002
DIAG| vid:643 |18:51:07|223 | DeviceId: 0x00007942
DIAG| vid:644 |18:51:07|223 | SubSysId: 0xC20A1631
DIAG| vid:645 |18:51:07|223 | Revision: 0x00000000

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Semaphore
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Re: Erm.. is this normal?

Post by Semaphore »

Currenty looking for a better driver, but it's taking me a bit more time than I thought it would. AMD doesn't seem to have the right driver and the manufacturer doesn't seem to have the card mentioned on its site. I'll get back in a bit.
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Semaphore
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Re: Erm.. is this normal?

Post by Semaphore »

AMD wasn't redirecting me to the proper page, but I finally managed to find an update in a generic driver package for older cards. It was from 2010, definitely higher than the one I was using. Not that it did me much good, the problem still occurs in exactly the same way.
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Zax
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Re: Erm.. is this normal?

Post by Zax »

Speaking of reflections, what is the status of the bug where you have to shift+F4 multiple times to turn reflections/scrap pool smoke/weather back on? Have to do that multiple times per game.
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Re: Erm.. is this normal?

Post by GSH »

Semaphore - does the problem happen on other maps? Try Instant Action: Alien Dunes -- there's a pond just near the starting base. I seem to remember at least one of the bane (ice) maps needing hacks to make it look more like 1.2, as the water was nearly invisible on 1.2.

The weather disappearing bug should be fixed in current private builds.

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Semaphore
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Re: Erm.. is this normal?

Post by Semaphore »

Like before, when I opened Dunes the reflection was off again while being on in the graphics menu. I dis and re enabled it again and it worked again.

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/4613 ... hot4yy.jpg

It's a bit harder to tell on this map because the reflextion is less here, as I can see the texture underneath. Up close it looks too dark, especially underneath the Matriach (sorry, bad screenshot). But in the distance it sort of brightens up again. I wonder though if that might just be the distance fog of war effect (that only shows up in the reflection?) that looked all white in the other screenshot.

Edit: Added a second screenshot because it's just so damn hard to see. The reflection is a bit murky, and the landscape textures are dark brown, which isn't helping. I do get the impression I see some 'texture on the textures', but it's hard to tell. Objects such as tanks and trees like in the previous screenshot however are reflected much more clearly.

http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/354/ ... hot5xp.jpg

It's so murky that it perhaps works out regardless. Maybe I should try a different map.
Last edited by Semaphore on Mon Feb 21, 2011 2:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Zax
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Re: Erm.. is this normal?

Post by Zax »

Semaphore wrote:Like before, when I opened Dunes the reflection was off again while being on in the graphics menu. I dis and re enabled it again and it worked again.

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/4613 ... hot4yy.jpg

It's a bit harder to tell on this map because the reflextion is less here, as I can see the texture underneath. Up close it looks too dark, especially underneath the Matriach (sorry, bad screenshot). But in the distance it sort of brightens up again. I wonder though if that might just be the distance fog of war effect (that only shows up in the reflection?) that looked all white in the other screenshot.
Turning it off and on again is known and apparently fixed for next patch.

Shift F4 twice for now to quicken the process.
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Semaphore
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Re: Erm.. is this normal?

Post by Semaphore »

Zax wrote:
Semaphore wrote:Like before, when I opened Dunes the reflection was off again while being on in the graphics menu. I dis and re enabled it again and it worked again.

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/4613 ... hot4yy.jpg

It's a bit harder to tell on this map because the reflextion is less here, as I can see the texture underneath. Up close it looks too dark, especially underneath the Matriach (sorry, bad screenshot). But in the distance it sort of brightens up again. I wonder though if that might just be the distance fog of war effect (that only shows up in the reflection?) that looked all white in the other screenshot.
Turning it off and on again is known and apparently fixed for next patch.

Shift F4 twice for now to quicken the process.
Do you get the same, weird lightening bug also?
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