MS4 bugs?
by Dave · in Torque Game Engine Advanced · 09/07/2006 (2:56 am) · 24 replies
Well, couldn't wait until you guys woke up in America so I downloaded MS4. I ran the demo and have the following probs to report.
1) It's very jerky and slow compared with any previous build. I'm using two NVidia 7800GTX cards in SLI mode and have never had this problem with the earlier builds. I also have the latest drivers, released on the 1st of this month.
2) When the demo returns back to the hall before heading to the outside world, the orc goes completely black except for his glowing eye. Then the demo slows almost to a halt, staggers outside and crashes in a mostly white and yellow tinged landscape which has no textures.
3)When using the small windowed default mode, the glow buffers in the first scenes with the orc show through the orc chracter as if he's semi-transparent. Likewise the red glow on that funny snake-like-chrome-figure-eight thing in one of the other rooms also shows through the object itself.
Strangely, in a larger windowed (1024 x 768) mode or full screen mode (2560 x 1600 with fullscreen pref set to 1) this stops happening.
4) In the early scenes where the orc is dancing as explained in point (3), you can clearly see where the glow is being rendered in one GPU and not the other. That is, the glow appears on the floor plates only in the top half of the frame with a sharp line dividing the bottom half of the frame and cutting off the glow where the second GPU is rendering. Again, I've never experienced this with previous builds.
The water demo runs smoothly with no problems!
Cheers,
Dave.
1) It's very jerky and slow compared with any previous build. I'm using two NVidia 7800GTX cards in SLI mode and have never had this problem with the earlier builds. I also have the latest drivers, released on the 1st of this month.
2) When the demo returns back to the hall before heading to the outside world, the orc goes completely black except for his glowing eye. Then the demo slows almost to a halt, staggers outside and crashes in a mostly white and yellow tinged landscape which has no textures.
3)When using the small windowed default mode, the glow buffers in the first scenes with the orc show through the orc chracter as if he's semi-transparent. Likewise the red glow on that funny snake-like-chrome-figure-eight thing in one of the other rooms also shows through the object itself.
Strangely, in a larger windowed (1024 x 768) mode or full screen mode (2560 x 1600 with fullscreen pref set to 1) this stops happening.
4) In the early scenes where the orc is dancing as explained in point (3), you can clearly see where the glow is being rendered in one GPU and not the other. That is, the glow appears on the floor plates only in the top half of the frame with a sharp line dividing the bottom half of the frame and cutting off the glow where the second GPU is rendering. Again, I've never experienced this with previous builds.
The water demo runs smoothly with no problems!
Cheers,
Dave.
About the author
#4
09/07/2006 (4:12 am)
I don't have them either on a GeForce 7800. Hope that helps. 
#5
09/07/2006 (8:46 am)
I have non of these problems although I do have crashes at differnt points when I try to load a NEW mission I will post again when it happens today(if it happens),and i will write down the error types...it was just tooo late last night for me to think of it.....but I was wondering if you guys had some sort of AA turned on?
#6
09/07/2006 (9:44 am)
Havent changed any settings for the gpu and have no troubles with other highend engines or previous versions of TSE.
#7
09/07/2006 (9:57 am)
I have the same issues, which version of direct x should i be using? Also, I can not compile map2dif_plus. 
#8
Edit: Here's the thread in question, 3rd post is the one I'm referring to and has an image: www.garagegames.com/mg/forums/result.thread.php?qt=50110
09/07/2006 (10:26 am)
I read somewhere else that the glow problem is to do with antialiasing (and was present in previous versions, so not an MS4 bug per se).Edit: Here's the thread in question, 3rd post is the one I'm referring to and has an image: www.garagegames.com/mg/forums/result.thread.php?qt=50110
#9
In fact, the frame rate has increased since MS 3.5.
FRAME RATES avg
MS3.5 = 220
MS4 = 290
09/07/2006 (10:27 am)
I also have the Geforce 7800 GTX but I am not having any issues. In fact, the frame rate has increased since MS 3.5.
FRAME RATES avg
MS3.5 = 220
MS4 = 290
#10
Can others please verify/refute this, so that I can determine if it is a local problem.
Thanks
Todd
09/07/2006 (10:33 am)
I can run the "demo" mod with no problems, however I crash when running the "show" mod.Can others please verify/refute this, so that I can determine if it is a local problem.
Thanks
Todd
#11
Can others please verify/refute this, so that I can determine if it is a local problem.
Thanks
Todd
09/07/2006 (10:47 am)
I can run the "demo" mod with no problems, however I crash when running the "show" mod.Can others please verify/refute this, so that I can determine if it is a local problem.
Thanks
Todd
#12
09/07/2006 (11:32 am)
I have Geforce 7800 also, but I haven't been able to compile the engine. I've been trying all night. I uninstalled it and started over it doesn't seem to want to compile, I'm doing it the same way as last time in 3.5. Help!!! 
#14
09/07/2006 (11:57 am)
7600GT, haven't seen any of these problems. Not using the SLI though.
#16
edit: and yep, show tool is broken too.
edit: also, trying to add the reflecttest interior to the mission gives me the error "InteriorLMManager::RemoveInstance: invalid instance handle"
09/07/2006 (12:57 pm)
Well, the "demo" for me crashes as soon as it finishes. Also, I cannot seem to get any of the dts's in the "terrain_water_demo" to load up with their textures (I just get the orange "no material") and I cannot get them to cast shadows.edit: and yep, show tool is broken too.
edit: also, trying to add the reflecttest interior to the mission gives me the error "InteriorLMManager::RemoveInstance: invalid instance handle"
#17
@Dave - try turning off FSAA in your driver settings. Some people running SLI are having problems with the method I put in to stop the video card from rendering ahead a few frames, try setting this pref in client/prefs.cs:
$pref::Video::killFramesAhead = 0;
@Justin - I fixed the reflecttest interior crash. I'll look at the other problems.
09/07/2006 (5:45 pm)
Thanks for the feedback guys.@Dave - try turning off FSAA in your driver settings. Some people running SLI are having problems with the method I put in to stop the video card from rendering ahead a few frames, try setting this pref in client/prefs.cs:
$pref::Video::killFramesAhead = 0;
@Justin - I fixed the reflecttest interior crash. I'll look at the other problems.
#18
09/07/2006 (6:04 pm)
Wow, that was quick, thanks! As for the dts's not loading their textures correctly, any of my own dts's work fine, so I'm sure it was just an export error. Also, casting shadows may be something I simply do not understand how to do yet. The dts's all receive light from the sun, and other sources, but do not cast shadows on the terrain or themselves. This may be because I am trying to use a TSStatic shape, and it looks like they cannot handle shadows when the light is coming from a dynamic source. I am not quite sure what's considered dynamic, but I tried a greenLight and the sun, and neither cast shadows.
#19
09/07/2006 (6:28 pm)
When i activate DRL the problem with "glow show through the orc character" disappeard.
#20
09/07/2006 (7:18 pm)
Alienforce, the problem is likely caused by AA - the problem goes away when DRL is on, because the DRL texture targets don't support AA yet. Try disabling AA on your card and see if that helps. 
Torque Owner Stefan Lundmark
Computer 1: GeForce 6800 Ultra
(2005-04-01)
Computer 2: ATI Mobility Radeon 9700
(2004-08-25)