Newb Questions
by Joshua R Brant · in Torque 3D Professional · 09/16/2011 (3:01 pm) · 6 replies
Hi. Sorry if this is a duplicate or in the wrong place, but as the title suggests...I'm new :)
1. I got the little message when I first loaded the T3D toolbox that said I need PhysX, but I'm not entirely sure what that is or that I actually need it. From what I have read, it is an SDK for NVIDIA that is required for versions of T3D prior to 1.1. Now, to my knowledge, I am not running NVIDIA (I believe I have ATI Radeon) and I am using T3D 1.1 Pro, so do I even need PhysX?
2. Speaking of graphics cards, is my ATI Radeon going to be sufficient for this software, or did I get a little trigger happy with the download? lol
3. When I attempt to play the demos that come with T3D (not the extra downloadables), one of two things happens. Either nothing happens (except the toolbox minimalizing), which is the case when I try to play "Pacific", or I get an error message that reads something like this for the others:
Unable to load game library: C:\Torque\Torque 3D Pro 1.1\Demos\SectorT3D\game\Bram.dll. Please make sure it exists and the latest DirectX is installed.
I've checked to make sure the file exists and it is where it should be, and I downloaded DirectX 9, which I believe is the latest version (correct me if I'm wrong). I assume this problem is somehow related to one of my first two questions, but in any case, if anybody knows why I'm having this problem your help would be appreciated.
1. I got the little message when I first loaded the T3D toolbox that said I need PhysX, but I'm not entirely sure what that is or that I actually need it. From what I have read, it is an SDK for NVIDIA that is required for versions of T3D prior to 1.1. Now, to my knowledge, I am not running NVIDIA (I believe I have ATI Radeon) and I am using T3D 1.1 Pro, so do I even need PhysX?
2. Speaking of graphics cards, is my ATI Radeon going to be sufficient for this software, or did I get a little trigger happy with the download? lol
3. When I attempt to play the demos that come with T3D (not the extra downloadables), one of two things happens. Either nothing happens (except the toolbox minimalizing), which is the case when I try to play "Pacific", or I get an error message that reads something like this for the others:
Unable to load game library: C:\Torque\Torque 3D Pro 1.1\Demos\SectorT3D\game\Bram.dll. Please make sure it exists and the latest DirectX is installed.
I've checked to make sure the file exists and it is where it should be, and I downloaded DirectX 9, which I believe is the latest version (correct me if I'm wrong). I assume this problem is somehow related to one of my first two questions, but in any case, if anybody knows why I'm having this problem your help would be appreciated.
#2
Pacific uses PhysX for its destructable objects and some other effects, so it also won't run unless you have the PhysX runtime installed. You can download that here. Also available on their site is the developer section where you can sign up to download the libraries if you intend to use those features in your game.
If you can't get any of the samples to run, try generating an Empty Template project and see if you can run that. Also, you said you have an ATI Radeon but the model would help. A friend of mine had to upgrade to a newer card (not top-of-the-line, around $120) to get up and running. Before you get to that, though, you could email me your console.log file so I can try to troubleshoot a little.
09/16/2011 (5:02 pm)
PhysX is a physics library owned by Nvidia. It is only required if you are going to use this as your physics solution, and to run the PhysX demos.Pacific uses PhysX for its destructable objects and some other effects, so it also won't run unless you have the PhysX runtime installed. You can download that here. Also available on their site is the developer section where you can sign up to download the libraries if you intend to use those features in your game.
If you can't get any of the samples to run, try generating an Empty Template project and see if you can run that. Also, you said you have an ATI Radeon but the model would help. A friend of mine had to upgrade to a newer card (not top-of-the-line, around $120) to get up and running. Before you get to that, though, you could email me your console.log file so I can try to troubleshoot a little.
#3
Size: 11.2MB
MD5: 633DEB4BACFABF37431AFB308D1B4EF4
I'd also say try upgrading your graphic driver to the most current, stable one. If you are on Windows Vista/7, you might also want to disable the Aero interface for testing too.
09/16/2011 (5:31 pm)
Check to make sure that C:\Torque\Torque 3D Pro 1.1\Demos\SectorT3D\game\Bram.dll is present. Sometimes I've had a problem with the installer. Size: 11.2MB
MD5: 633DEB4BACFABF37431AFB308D1B4EF4
I'd also say try upgrading your graphic driver to the most current, stable one. If you are on Windows Vista/7, you might also want to disable the Aero interface for testing too.
#4
I'm not sure how to find the model number of my graphics card. I just read the make off the side of the computer.
09/17/2011 (6:48 am)
OK, I installed the DirectX SDK and the PhysX runtime. The demos are working now, but they are super laggy and it makes them difficult to control. Anything I can do about that?I'm not sure how to find the model number of my graphics card. I just read the make off the side of the computer.
#5
When you're in a demo, use ctrl-o to open the options dialog and click the Auto Detect Quality button and then click Apply. That should help to get your framerate up a little.
Can you rate the demos from most to least "laggy?" I'm guessing that the Pacific is probably the choppiest.
Can you open the toolbox and create a new project using the full template and tell me how it performs? If the Empty Terrain mission is smooth then the problem is probably that your processor is over-stressed by PhysX. Of course, the Pacific demo is pretty high-detail, too, but it'll give us something to work with.
09/17/2011 (7:07 am)
How old is your computer? Do you know if the graphics card is built into the motherboard?When you're in a demo, use ctrl-o to open the options dialog and click the Auto Detect Quality button and then click Apply. That should help to get your framerate up a little.
Can you rate the demos from most to least "laggy?" I'm guessing that the Pacific is probably the choppiest.
Can you open the toolbox and create a new project using the full template and tell me how it performs? If the Empty Terrain mission is smooth then the problem is probably that your processor is over-stressed by PhysX. Of course, the Pacific demo is pretty high-detail, too, but it'll give us something to work with.
#6
After Auto Detect, Pacific is about 7 on a scale from 1 to 10 (1 being not laggy at all and 10 being unplayable) and SectorT3D is about a 5. Pacific looks like poor quality stop animation even when standing still, and SectorT3D is laggy but after the AutoDetect it isn't as difficult to control the character/bot-thing.
I opened up a new project under full template and ran it in empty terrain with no AutoDetect and there was barely, if any, lag.
09/17/2011 (8:59 am)
A few years old. It came with Windows 7, so no older than 2009. I have no idea if the graphics card is built into the motherboard or not, though.After Auto Detect, Pacific is about 7 on a scale from 1 to 10 (1 being not laggy at all and 10 being unplayable) and SectorT3D is about a 5. Pacific looks like poor quality stop animation even when standing still, and SectorT3D is laggy but after the AutoDetect it isn't as difficult to control the character/bot-thing.
I opened up a new project under full template and ran it in empty terrain with no AutoDetect and there was barely, if any, lag.
Torque 3D Owner Greg M
DERP Studio
www.garagegames.com/community/forums/viewthread/90355