Experienced the same thing in Kotor1: there was no GLOW!
I had hoped that Sith Lords would not have the problem, but it's here. Just to let you guys know, everything runs perfectly.
Frame buffer effects are ON but the only things that work are speed blur and noise. BUT there is no glow.
I really want to get the glow for lightsabers, mines and surroundings. Can someone please tell me what to do?
Sounds like you've got an ATI card. The current video drivers (Catalyst versions 4.12, 5.1, and 5.2) do not properly display the glows. You'll have to either install the older 4.11 driver or wiat for the fix from ATI.
If you're not on an ATI card, then I'm not sure what the trouble is. I've only seen ATI users reporting this problem.
Thank you very much! I've really been needing these shots to prove A> I'm not crazy and there are actual glows ;) and B> what the actual difference looks like.
If you could get me a bigger shot or a closeup of the lightsaber, that would work even better. I can easily cut down a large screenshot if you are able to post one.
BTW, did you take these screenshots yourself and have gotten glow to work, or are these someone else's screenies and you still need help?
hmm, i think i'm starting to form a theory here. but before i start making conclusions:
If you have an ATI card, then please post which card you're using, the drivers that you're using, and whether or not the Frame Buffer Effects are working properly.
thanks folks. :)
edit: to start things out:
Radeon 9700 Pro
Catalyst 5.2
no problems w/ Frame Buffer Effects
Ati Card: Sapphire X800Pro 256MB
Catalyst 5.2
(atiodlxx) openGL used (in chronological order)
5.2 - game ran smoothly with everything cranked up. no glow.
4.1 - game was unplayable due to very low frame rate. glow is back.
4.3 - playable condition. slightly less frame rate compared to 5.2. Glow is back as well. (NEW PROBLEM!)
Alright, a new problem arises. Look at the edges of the screen in the following pictures.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v508/s3an_looi/Star%20Wars%20-%20Sith%20Lords/lines3.jpg)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v508/s3an_looi/Star%20Wars%20-%20Sith%20Lords/lines2.jpg)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v508/s3an_looi/Star%20Wars%20-%20Sith%20Lords/lines1.jpg)
Alright, a new problem arises. Look at the edges of the screen in the following pictures.
ARTIFACTS!!!! *runs*
j/k. anyways, i have an idea that may work out for you: try using the 5.1 catalyst drivers (w/o using the older openGL drivers). if that doesn't work, then you could also give the Omega drivers a shot (they're based on catalyst 5.1).
Originally posted by stingerhs
ARTIFACTS!!!! *runs*
j/k. anyways, i have an idea that may work out for you: try using the 5.1 catalyst drivers (w/o using the older openGL drivers). if that doesn't work, then you could also give the Omega drivers a shot (they're based on catalyst 5.1).
if i use 5.1 catalyst without old openGL drivers, there won't be glow. which defeats the purpose. catalyst5.2 (without openGL) runs perfectly
I'm doing a search on omega drivers. Does it fix the glow and the artifacts?
ps: downloading drivers with a 56k modem is a pain!
Didn't bother using the 4.2 openGL driver because i had to download the whole catalyst (25mb).
Tried the 4.1 openGL driver instead. Result = Sith Lord refused to launch.
Question 1: how do i get rid of the artifacts?
Question 2: which is the best version of openGL that give maximum performance and still give me glow.
I'm using 5.2 Catalysts, game plays near perfect with small skips near the start and end of movies. Frame Buffer Effects enabled, no glows.
Are you really using Catalyst 4.1 for glow? 4.11 is recommended.
as i've stated before: i use the 5.2 drivers. ;)
and the glow works just fine. :)
I've created a new page at
http://www.magestrix.com/games/Framebuffer.html)
to demonstrate the pictures that j3di_sean kindly posted.
Just to be clear, can you list the Catalyst version and Frame Buffer Effects setting for each pic, j3di_sean? I believe that the 'bufferwith.jpg' shot was taken under Catalyst 4.1 and Frame Buffer Effects enabled, while the 'bufferwithout.jpg' was taken using Catalyst 5.2 and Frame Buffer Effects enabled. Correct?
j3di_sean, what ATI card are you using?
If I can pin this issue down and figure out who is having issues and who isn't, there's a much better chance of getting this fixed.
Graphic Card: Sapphire X800Pro
Btw, with this card, i'm getting average26FPS. Is this acceptable?
Currently Using:
Catalyst Driver: 5.2
OpenGL Driver: 4.3
Screenshots were taken using:
Catalyst 5.2
OpenGL:4.3
As mentioned earlier, to get the with/without glow effect. I just enabled and disabled the frame buffer effects at the graphic options. The 5.2 OpenGL didn't give any glow, so I didn't use it.
(Earlier version OpenGL, not sure which number): - Glow worked, very low frame rate)
4.1 openGL - couldnt start the game
4.3 openGL - game runs fine WITH glow. But with artifacts.
5.2 openGL - game runs very fine WITHOUT glow.
Didn't try 4.11 because I read somewhere that the glow stops working AFTER catalyst4.3. Does the glow really work?
^^^^
only 26 fps on an X800?!? :eek:
what kind of graphics settings do you run your game at????
i keep mine @:
1028x726 @ 85hz
vsync disabled
8x AA (enabled via swkotor2.ini edit)
8x AF
soft shadows on
grass on
Frame Buffer Effects on
and i still get above 30fps (except whenever the screen fills up with 25+ characters).
Yes, it's a sad thing. Your card runs better than mine ... (stop smiling!) :confused:
Catalyst5.2
OpenGL4.3
FPS:
60% 25-30
25% 15-24
15% 30-45
Catalyst 5.2
OpenGL5.2
FPS: Average 45 (sacrifice the beauty of glow)
1028x726@85hz
8x AA
16x AF
Soft Shadows OFF
V-Sync ON
Testure HIGH
Grass ON
Shadows ON
Frame Buffer Effects ON
Btw, lowering the settings will improve the FPS insignificantly (say 1-2fps). So might as well keep everything on high.
Alright. Here are the results of the drivers I just tried and a recap of the previous ones.
Omega Catalyst 5.1 - No glow. Good FPS.
Ati Catalyst 5.1 - No glow. Good FPS.
by using Catalyst 5.2 driver with:
OpenGL 5.2 - No glow. Good FPS (25-45)
OpenGL 4.11 - No glow. Good FPS (25-45)
OpenGl 4.2 and 4.3 - With glow and artifacts. So-so FPS (15-40)
OpenGL 4.1 - Game will not start
OpenGL 3.? - With glow, no artifacts. Horrible FPS (15-25)
try turning off the vsync. sometimes, it has a drastic effect on the framerate.
i do know that i gained about 5-10 frames on kotor 1 when i did that. granted, i never tried running kotor 2 w/ the vsync.
Thanks for the clarification, j3di_sean. I am surprised that you get no glow on Catalyst 4.11 though. Most people are using it to bring back the glow.
As far as the FPS issue, you should be getting better FPS. I do recommend turning off Vsync and setting AA to 4x, AF to 8x. Soft shadows may or may not affect your performance greatly.
ATI has no capability of doing 8x AA, unless you are using 4x Temporal AA. So I do not suggest setting 8x in the ini file.
Ok. I'll do just that.
Also, I didn't have to edit the .ini file to enable 8x AA, the option was already there.
Anyway, i'm using 4.3 openGL as it gives the best performance with the glow. I can live with artifacts .. :)
Hope Ati solves this problem. It has been long overdue.
i'm not going to recommend this just yet, as i still have to run some tests, but there is a really easy to use program for ATI cards that will automatically deturmine the fastest reliable speed for any ATI card (thus, overclocking the card). granted, it took almost a full hour and a half for it to run the tests, but it did allow me to overclock the card even further than it already was w/o forcing me to run out and get a new cooler for the card.
as far as i know, however, the X800 has a really big cooling unit on it, so you could probably get even better results than i did. however, until i get more conclusive results on the actual reliability, i will not recommend the program (much less post a link). of course, overclocking often depends on your individual system configuration, so i still won't have truely conclusive results. but i will be able to tell you whether or not overclocking is a viable option for getting better performance w/o getting an aftermarket cooler for your card.
as for it restoring glow, well, it may help to improve performance whenever you run the 4.3 opengl drivers.
ATI has no capability of doing 8x AA, unless you are using 4x Temporal AA. So I do not suggest setting 8x in the ini file.
hmm, then it would be quite curious as to how i can run 8x AA on most games with my system, including kotor1 and kotor2......
Could be that your card is defaulting back to 6x AA. I'm not sure. But even on ATI's site they don't advertise the cards as being capable of 8x AA. So I'd assume that either it's an invalid entry and it's not actually applying AA at all, or it's falling back to the best option of 6x.
hmm, well, you were right. whenever i set the game to run @ 8x AA, the graphics default to no AA.
the difference is apparant:
"8x"AA (
http://img25.exs.cx/img25/8826/x8aatsl6nm.jpg)
6x AA (
http://img25.exs.cx/img25/9973/x6aatsl3ug.jpg)
note: both screens are at 8x AF quality.
Originally posted by j3di_sean
Also, I didn't have to edit the .ini file to enable 8x AA, the option was already there.
Sorry ... my mistake.
Checked again, maximum AA setting in the options was 6x, not 8x.Didn't edit the .ini file.