Either slow or bugged text

News and discussion of the PC port of Oolite.

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sykonurse
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Either slow or bugged text

Post by sykonurse »

Hello everyone. Looking for a clone of my favourite game from childhood days I came across Oolite. Stunning guys, thank you so much for doing this!
Now if I would manage to actually play the game as I remember it, I will be even happier.
At first I tried the 1.65 version. I only got 4-6 FPS whenever anything but stars were on screen. That of course makes actual flying pretty hard especially when I want those fights right away.
I updated the drivers of my vidcard to the latest version as the FAQ told me to, no better.

I have 2 Pentium D processors with 3.2 GHz each on an Asus mobo (PW5D...I forgot the exact name)
3 gigs of RAM and
an Asus made 9800GTX on 181.22 drivers.
I think that should be okay to play Oolite.

Takes me to the 2nd problem. So I thought if that one version doesn't work as well I should try the next: 1.72.2
I haven't been able to actually try that version as all text comes as blocks. The texture of the 1st ship you see is all white.

Any suggestions what I should do?
another_commander
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Post by another_commander »

Please do this: Start Oolite with Shift held down until the spinning Cobra appears on screen. Then press "N", followed by "Space" and then "1" to launch from station. Once launched, press Shift+Escape to quit the game.

You should now have a file called Latest.log in your <OoliteInstallDir>/oolite.app/Logs folder. Please post the contents of this file here. Also, please specify if you are running Windows Vista or XP. My first impression from the symptoms described is that you don't have hardware accelerated OpenGL, which could be due to bad drivers or installation thereof.
sykonurse
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1.72.2

Post by sykonurse »

[log.header]: Opening log for Oolite version 1.72.2 (x86-32 test release) under Windows at 2009-02-07 10:32:04 +0100.
2 processors detected.
Note that the contents of the log file can be adjusted by editing logcontrol.plist.

[joystickHandler.init]: Number of joysticks detected: 1
[display.mode.list.native]: Windows native resolution detected: 1280 x 1024
[rendering.opengl.version]: OpenGL renderer version: 1.1.0 ("1.1.0")
Vendor: Microsoft Corporation
Renderer: GDI Generic
[rendering.opengl.extensions]: OpenGL extensions (3):
GL_WIN_swap_hint GL_EXT_bgra GL_EXT_paletted_texture
[rendering.opengl.shader.support]: Shaders will not be used (OpenGL extension GL_ARB_shading_language_100 is not available).
[dataCache.notFound]: No data cache found, starting from scratch.
[searchPaths.dumpAll]: ---> OXP search paths:
(oolite.app/Resources, AddOns)
[dataCache.rebuild.explicitFlush]: Cache explicitly flushed with shift key. Rebuilding from scratch.
[shipData.load.begin]: Loading ship data...
[script.load.world.listAll]: Loaded 5 world scripts: "oolite-cloaking-device" 1.72.2, "oolite-constrictor-hunt" 1.72.2, "oolite-nova" 1.72.2, "oolite-thargoid-plans" 1.72.2, "oolite-trumbles" 1.72.2
[dataCache.willWrite]: About to write data cache.
[dataCache.write.success]: Wrote data cache.
[gnustep]: 2009-02-07 10:32:15.671 oolite[4068] Defaults path 'C:\Programme/Oolite/oolite.app/GNUstep/Defaults' did not exist - created it

[gameController.exitApp]: .GNUstepDefaults synchronized.

Closing log at 2009-02-07 10:32:15 +0100.
Oh and it's XP
sykonurse
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Post by sykonurse »

Doesn't seem to work for 1.65 :(
another_commander
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Post by another_commander »

rendering.opengl.version]: OpenGL renderer version: 1.1.0 ("1.1.0")
Vendor: Microsoft Corporation
Renderer: GDI Generic

This is your problem right there: You are using the generic Microsoft OpenGL driver instead of the one supplied by your card's manufacturer, meaning that you basically have software rendering.
sykonurse
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Post by sykonurse »

So what do I do now? I always thought the OpenGL stuff comes included in the regular driver sets. Since I only installed the new drivers and nothing changed I doubt that's the right thing to do. :wink:
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Post by another_commander »

The OpenGL stuff does indeed come included in the card's driver sets. If you have already installed the drivers and still get this, I can only imagine that something has been installed wrongly or maybe a stray OpenGL32.dll in the wrong place may be interfering. If there is a control panel for the graphics drivers, have a look at it and see if it reports any issues with OpenGL. It's really hard to pinpoint the source of the problem, but for sure this is the reason why Oolite does not play well for you.
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Post by Lestradae »

sykonurse wrote:
Doesn't seem to work for 1.65 :(
With the specs you quoted - and if your graphics issue can be solved - it really makes no sense at all to install version 1.65. You really should go for 1.72.2. It has a lot more features and is more stable than 1.65, plus many oxps (mods) you might want to have won't work under 1.65 anymore because they use features not available in that version.

Just saying. Good luck with your drivers. Have fun.

L
sykonurse
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Post by sykonurse »

It does seem to have a lot more FPS in 1.72.2 but still is unplayable due to these blocks instead of text. Cannot read out exact frame counts. Now if these blocks would be readable I believe I could actually play the game.
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Post by sykonurse »

Image
This is what it looks like.
sykonurse
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Post by sykonurse »

another_commander wrote:
The OpenGL stuff does indeed come included in the card's driver sets. If you have already installed the drivers and still get this, I can only imagine that something has been installed wrongly or maybe a stray OpenGL32.dll in the wrong place may be interfering. If there is a control panel for the graphics drivers, have a look at it and see if it reports any issues with OpenGL. It's really hard to pinpoint the source of the problem, but for sure this is the reason why Oolite does not play well for you.
A quick system search found an OpenGL32.dll in windows/system32 and one in windows/ServicePackFiles/i386.
The nvidia stuff doesn't complain about anything nor does DXdiag. :cry:
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Post by another_commander »

I think you need to give another try at installing your drivers. You can try uninstalling the previous ones first, then installing the NVidia ones again. If all else fails, try http://www.omegadrivers.net and download and install the ones for NVidia cards. They have saved the day in the past, might as well do it now, as a last resort.
sykonurse
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Post by sykonurse »

another_commander wrote:
I think you need to give another try at installing your drivers. You can try uninstalling the previous ones first, then installing the NVidia ones again. If all else fails, try http://www.omegadrivers.net and download and install the ones for NVidia cards. They have saved the day in the past, might as well do it now, as a last resort.
I will try that and let you know how it went. Thanks a lot for your help. :)
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Post by sykonurse »

Wooohoo! It's finally working. The problem seems to have been an installation of Enhanced Asus Display Drivers from a previous vidcard. I removed that and freshly installed the latest WHQL ForceWare drivers: Shazzam, the blocks are text again.
Thanks for pointing me in the right direction!
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Post by T. Earthenware-Tankard »

Hello Sykonurse (Are you a (p)syko-nurse?)
I am having the same trouble that you had.
(1.65 at 4 FPS and 1.72 without text and textures)
But the patient is an ancient notebook with a *#$! rage mobility graphics card. I have tried about every available driver, but have not been updated since the begining of the milenium.
Could you describe exactly how you repaired your system?
I don`t find anything I could possibly deinstall on mine.
After two popes named John-Paul, wouldn't it have been time for a George or a Ringo?
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