CariElf CariElf

1.6 Beta 5 is Now Available on SDC

▼

1.6 Beta 5 is Now Available on SDC

Watch here for test builds

from GalCiv2 Forums

First of all, the change log:

+ FIX: Added code for the super hiver to adjust the costs of factories in the queue when they take over another colony to fix the bug where factories on worlds the hivers took over seemed to be stuck at zero turns.

+ FIX: Fixed a lockup on Trade screen when you have a huge amount of money in the treasury and you try to offer money.

+ FIX: Fixed lockup on Governor screen when you click on the Starship rallypoint governor

+ FIX:  Found a solution for the graphical glitches on AMD machines.  For those of you who are interested, it was a bug in a particular function in the version of the DirectX SDK that we're using.  So CodeCritter made his own version of the function.

+ FIX: Optimized new batch renderer so that ship instances of the same type will share the same vertex and index buffers.  This will save memory over the previous implementation where each instance had its own vert and index buffers. This should also fix the where ship parts sometimes would not show textures in the designer.

+ TWEAK: The display of stars on the minimaps should now be more visible on large and gigantic galaxies.

+ TWEAK: Made a slight change to the code that starts the AI threads which may help with the AI seeming to get a free turn at the start of a new game or when loading a save game but as I didn't have time to fully investigate the bug, this may only address part of the problem. 

People were still reporting out of memory errors with the test builds so we're still looking to see if we can figure out what might be sticking around in memory when it should be deleted.  In the meantime, here are some ways to save memory in DA:

1) Make sure that your virtual memory is set to at least 2 GB.  More than that probably won't help because Windows will cut GalCiv2 off after 2 GB if it's not 64 bit.

2) Turn off background stars and nebulas.

3) Change from scattered star density to tight clusters.

4) Reduce the number of stars, planets, and the availablility of habitable planets

5) Play on galaxies galaxies no bigger than large.

6) Turn off mods.

To increase the amount of Virtual Memory available to Windows:
 
1) Right click on the My Computer icon and chose properties
2) Click on the advanced tab
3) Under performance, click on the Settings button.
4) Click on the advanced tab
5) Click on the change button
6) Change the initial size to the recommended size and then increase the maximum size.

Update 5/29/07:

The following link is an update to 1.6 beta 5 which includes a fix for a crash following an Alt-Tab, a fix to remove AI ship designs from the graphics cache when they are no longer being used, and a fix that we hope will help the people getting the slowdown running in sw vp mode:

http://sd.stardock.com/carielf/da_1_6_b5d.zip

It appears that those of you with the slowdown when ships are on screen may be caused because your cards are running in what is called software vertex processing mode, which means that DirectX is having to emulate functionality that the driver should be handling, but is not. 

CodeCritter made some adjustments to the vertex buffers for if the game is running in sw vp mode that should help if you are stuck in software vp mode.  I am attempting to change the Direct3D initialization so that the game can start in mixed vp (where it uses hardware when it can, software where it can't) but it's not working for some older cards.

This link is the same as the above link except that it includes code to allow older cards to run in mixed vp mode, which may help with this error without needing to use the workaround below:

http://sd.stardock.com/carielf/da_1_6_b5e.zip

I was able to get it to work on a test box with an NVidia GeForce 5200 FX which is one of the problem cards, and I was getting 20 fps which isn't great, but a lot better than 2 fps.

If this build does not help, here is a workaround:

Try this to force it to use hw vp mode:

1) Create a shortcut that points directly to GC2DarkAvatar.exe. (Right click on the exe and choose send to desktop as shortcut)

2) Right click on the shortcut and choose properties.

3) Left click in the Target field and hit the END key on your keyboard so that the cursor is at the end of the field.  Hit space.  Type the word HARDWAREVP then hit OK.

Start the game and then see if it says something like this in your debug.err (with your own video card there):

Debug Message: HAL (hw vp): NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200

If Dark Avatar crashes when you try this, you could try the command line parameter MIXEDVP and see if that works for you.  If neither works, just delete the shortcut.

If you are forcing hardware vp, you should also disable the background stars and point sprites on the video tab so that it won't try to create graphics for the things that it can't draw in this mode.  You may notice other missing graphics.  This is really just a temporary workaround until we can figure out a better way to deal with it, and this won't work for everyone. 

And if anyone is wondering, yes, there is a SOFTWAREVP command line parameter too.    I created these three command line parameters when I was testing the Direct3D initialization code.

20,655 views 71 replies
Reply #26 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Cheers, if that works then theres nothing for me to say but job well done, happy I bought GC2 Gold all the more!
Reply #27 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I don't remember this from the other betas--I didn't play them that much.

But the colony ship module will only hold 250 instead of 500. I am talking about
the first colony ship that you have and later ones that you build. When you are building the ship, it says that the module will hold 500. That makes quite a difference when you are trying to get a planet going. Was this deliberate?

Curtains - Customize Windows with additional styles
Reply #28 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Was this deliberate?


Yes.
Reply #29 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Good job, the graphical glitches are no more both with beta 5 and 5a.
Reply #30 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Here is the link to my report post.
WWW Link

DivineWrath, can you please also send your report to [email protected]?


Sure thing. I'll compress the report into a .zip file. It might be too big to fit into the mail box otherwise.
Reply #32 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I'm currently a couple of years into a game, the only problem I've seen so far are the invisible missing mining bases.
Reply #33 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I'm having a problem that I think was reported in beta 4, that of lines on the minimap in the ownership view.

Basically, random thin lines going south-west to north-east (in parallel with the gridlines, but not in any way 'locked' to them) are appearing. Their effect is weird: over owned space it makes whatever race colour turn to black along the line (not obscuring anything I might add - only on the ownership layer, even with EVERY other display turned off). However, where it goes over unowned space it turns to the race colour it originally obscured. So you end up with a patchwork pattern sort of, with a thin black line in owned space with (say) green around it and in unowned space a thin green line continuing along with the default black around it.
Its happening all over the map, sparsely but seemingly random. Each line also terminates: it does not continue from one side of the minimap to the other, only small regions.
These lines also move, disappear and appear at different positions based on where the minimap is pointing and also what zoom level is in use. They always appear though, and are very small at 100% zoom but bigger at higher zoom levels. If you zoom in from zoom level a to zoom level b then back again, the lines will appear in each zoom differently, but will always appear the same way in the same zoom and location, if you catch my meaning.

Basically it seems some algorithm for calculating the colours for the ownership layer in the minimap may be buggy, since it is entirely dependant on zoom and position, yet will give the same outcome each time if you were to replicate the same zoom and position.

Bit of a long-winded explanation but I would have to take quite a few screenshots to truly explain it :/

I havent noticed this at all before I booted the game up today and loaded a save I had from last night - say about 10 turns in it went to this situation from being normal.
Reply #34 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
And a minor thing related to influence borders: when I load my game, my borders arent as progressed as they should be. I notice this because it makes one of my systems into an 'island' which it isnt usually - when I end turn the borders re-assert themselves to their normal places, joining that 'island' with the rest of my empire. Its as if they are a little bit smaller than they should be, maybe a bonus isnt taken into account or something? I'm not sure if this is default behaviour or intended - I just noticed it, thats all
Reply #35 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
It appears that those of you with the slowdown when ships are on screen may be caused because your cards are running in what is called software vertex processing mode, which means that DirectX is having to emulate functionality that the driver should be handling, but is not. Some of you may be able to force the game to run in hardware vertex processing mode by following these instructions:


Yay, it worked!
Reply #36 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I get a memory warning followed by the game crashing with the latest build, dunno if this helps or not. Otherwise though I had a very very long continuous game the other day and there were no other crashes. Lucky I saved when windows warned me though.

Good luck finding the leek.
Reply #37 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I installed beta5 in XP Pro 32 bit, and the graphics weirdness is totally gone. I will go ahead and update my XP 64 installation of this to beta5 after copying some files for backup.
Reply #38 from Stardock Forums Top
Ok... I've got an odd problem where my destroyed ships still show the "last sensor" area from the point they were destroyed at. Though it doesn't give "live data" of the area, the fog of war isn't going back over the area, and it looks like I can see inside it even when I can't actually see inside it. It does persist with savegame but doesn't cause a crash.

Edit: Turn button dissapeared from bottom right corner of a saved game... emailing it in. Won't let me actually end a turn.
Reply #39 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Hi.

Though I haven't read any of the above, hey its midnight and i'm struggling to stay awake. I have a problem with GC2:DA. Every now and then, usually when something big is happening, signing a peace treaty, new tech, colonizing a planet. The computer will stop and go no further, none of the buttons will work, on the interface or off- bar the all powerful ctrl alt delete. I have just bought a new laptop to play this on and it has vista on it, this is the first time i've used the mighty 'wow' factor and was wondering if this is due to vista, damn microsoft, or was a falut on the laptop. I've tried running it on compatability modes with no effect, even when dropping visual effects to bottom.

On my main desktop putter, which i can never get onto, well not for at least the past 2 weeks, has none of the above errors just really wacky graphics- random lines flying of every corner of the ships and stations. So any way if you could settle my problems, that would be fab.

The laptop stats follow below:
Intel core duo cpu 1.86 ghz
1 gig ram
with a nvidia geforce go 7400
and of course Vista.

Thnx
Reply #40 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I noticed in Beta 5a that when quickly designing ships (by double-clicking modules or by using the Place button to automatically place it onto the hull) the new component(s) are completely black. When you click on them or on their icon they become lit properly.

Also, the highlighting of the currently selected component (or dimming of the rest of the ship perhaps) in the ship designer does not seem to work as it did in previous versions.
Reply #41 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

MatBerryman2,

It sounds like you have the NVidia Vista issue. You should check your laptop manufacturer's website for updated drivers, but as far as I know only Dell has created drivers from the 158.18 drivers which fix the issue.  You can also try the drivers at http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/

 

Reply #42 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Hello,

I tried upgrading to the 1.6 beta 5 because I can't play 1.5 for more than a couple hours without it crashing (its very unstable for me). But I don't get any text on the main screen or on the load save game option. This also did not happen on the 1.6 beta 4 version (which had vertex issues with the ships like the constructor so I stopped playing that version). So right now 1.6 beta 5 is totally unplayable.

I'm currently running an AMD Duron 1.8 ghz with a GeForce4 Ti4800 and the latest nVidia drivers (93.71) on WinXP SP2. Let me know if there is any way to see the text.

Thanks.

Hal
Reply #44 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
With the new beta, I simply get a black screen upon launching the game. I was launching it normally, not in forced hardware vp mode.

Here's the debug.err:

Debug Message: Version v1.6 beta 5c Dark Avatar last updated on: Tue May 29 11:01:17 2007
Debug Message: Checking DX Version.
Debug Message: *********DXDiag info follows.*********
System Info
Time: 5/29/2007, 11:59:41
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
Machine Name: BRAD
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.070227-2254)
Languages: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Dell Computer Corporation
System Model: Dimension 8300
BIOS: Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version 1.10 A03
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.80GHz (2 CPUs)
Physical Memory: 510MB RAM
Page File: 227MB used, 1027MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS


Display Info
Display device 1:
Device Name: \\.\DISPLAY1
Card Name: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip Type: GeForce FX 5200
DAC Type: Integrated RAMDAC
Key Device: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0322&SUBSYS_01B910DE&REV_A1
Display Memory: 128.0 MB
Current Display Mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor Name: Dell 1800FP(Analog)
Monitor Max Resolution: 1280,1024
Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0011.6002
Driver Date: 4/26/2007 12:37:00
DirectX Acceleration Enabled: Yes



Sound info
Sound device 1:
Description: SB Audigy 2 Audio [DF00]
Default Sound Playback: Yes
Default Voice Playback: Yes
Hardware ID: PCI\VEN_1102&DEV_0004&SUBSYS_10031102&REV_04
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Driver Name: ctaud2k.sys
Provider: Creative
Driver Version: 5.12.0001.1196
Driver Date: 8/11/2006 14:45:38
Type: WDM
Other Drivers:
Acceleration Level: 3
Cap Flags: 0
Min/Max Sample Rate: 0, 0

Sound device 1:
Description: Modem #1 Line Playback (emulated)
Default Sound Playback: No
Default Voice Playback: No
Hardware ID:
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 81
Driver Name:
Provider:
Driver Version:
Driver Date:
Type: Emulated
Other Drivers:
Acceleration Level: 3
Cap Flags: 0
Min/Max Sample Rate: 0, 0



Debug Message: *********END dxdiag info.*********
Debug Message: Entering WinMain
Debug Message: ******* Starting Game Shell *******
Debug Message: Preparing to change display settings.
Debug Message: Failed to find a device that can start with hw vp mode. Trying mixed vp.
Debug Message: Failed to find a device that can start with mixed vp mode. Trying sw vp.
Debug Message: InitializeDirect3D Failed.
Debug Message: Now windowed.
Debug Message: Shell initialization complete
Debug Message: GalCiv2 is activated.
Reply #45 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

Braddock, try running with the SOFTWAREVP parameter.  I'll see if I can figure out why the FX 5200 won't start with mixed or sw vp mode on its own.

 

Reply #46 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Same result with the SOFTWAREVP parameter. Oddly enough, I tried HARDWAREVP and that did not work either.

Debug Message: Failed to find a device that can start with hw vp mode. Trying mixed vp.
Debug Message: Failed to find a device that can start with mixed vp mode. Trying sw vp.

The game doesn't seem to want to start in any mode.
Reply #47 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Ok, I'll take out my changes to allow mixed vp until I can find a card here that will reproduce this.
Reply #48 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

Ok, updated the test build link.

Reply #49 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Okay. If it helps any, the guy in the other thread was using a different card:

Display Info
Display device 1:
Device Name: \\.\DISPLAY1
Card Name: ALL-IN-WONDER 9000
Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.
Chip Type: RADEON 9000 PRO AGP (0x4966)
DAC Type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
Key Device: Enum\PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_4966&SUBSYS_4F721002&REV_01
Display Memory: 64.0 MB
Current Display Mode: 1280 x 960 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor Name: Plug and Play Monitor
Monitor Max Resolution: 1600,1200
Driver Name: ati2dvag.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.6505
Driver Date: 11/30/2004 23:13:41
DirectX Acceleration Enabled: Yes
Reply #50 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Hmm...that guy might just need to update his drivers.  I'm surprised that he had DA running at all with drivers from 2004.