XWA Craft Pack 1.2 Performance question

In here you can discuss what is going on in the project, offer help, praise or critique!
Post Reply

XWA Craft Pack 1.2 Performance question

vipe155
Recruit
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Mar 07, 2015 11:11 pm

Post by vipe155 » Sat Mar 07, 2015 11:18 pm

Hi,

I played X-Wing Alliance last a couple of years ago, and am ready to get back in with the new 1.2 patch & backdrops. I have a question about the performance though after I've now downloaded this new patch.

I'm getting a pretty significant amount of horizontal screen tearing in the game, and it's especially noticeable in the backgrounds/planets. I've tried forcing v-sync in the NVIDIA control panel, but that didn't help. I read the game may have a 30fps cap that could be part of the problem. Is there anything I should be looking for to fix this?

Windows 7 64-bit
NVIDIA 560 GTX
8 GB RAM
Last edited by vipe155 on Sun Mar 08, 2015 1:35 am, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Darksaber
Vice Admiral
Posts: 10931
Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2000 12:01 am
Contact:

Post by Darksaber » Sun Mar 08, 2015 12:22 am

Sorry can't help, as I've no experience with Nvidia.

But I would upgrade your Ram 8MB seems a little low, I'm guessing you mean 8GB, but I could be wrong :)
“You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time”.”
- John Lydgate

Good Things Come To Those Who Wait....
Darksaber's X-Wing Station

vipe155
Recruit
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Mar 07, 2015 11:11 pm

Post by vipe155 » Sun Mar 08, 2015 1:41 am

Yeah, little typo there.

Maybe others can weigh in...I don't know if it's the backgrounds causing the issue or something else. I don't remember having any performance problems before on virtually the same system. I did do a completely new install for this, perhaps some performance fix step I found out about before I missed this time.

vipe155
Recruit
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Mar 07, 2015 11:11 pm

Post by vipe155 » Sun Mar 08, 2015 3:07 am

I took a few screenshots. I had to actually take a picture with my phone, because for whatever reason fraps/printscreen don't pick up the sync issue. I circled one area, but you can see really see it on the edge of the planets. Those areas actually look like one long horizontal screen tear when playing, and almost like it's too slow drawing the background image. Can the FPS cap in game be lifted?

http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp55 ... lanet1.jpg
http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp55 ... net3_1.jpg

Tuskin
Ensign
Posts: 457
Joined: Sat Aug 13, 2005 11:01 pm

Post by Tuskin » Sun Mar 08, 2015 5:43 am

In regards to the Frame Limit, its an older game, lifting it might break it, things could be tied to frame rate being 30.
Some older games, lifting the frame rate causes AI to go out of sync or the game runs really fast.

I don't know anything about the XWA's engine so don't quote me on that :D

vipe155
Recruit
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Mar 07, 2015 11:11 pm

Post by vipe155 » Sun Mar 08, 2015 7:13 pm

Is there a way the new backdrops can be disabled or removed manually? I'm pretty sure for whatever reason they are the issue on my system, and I would rather be able to play the game (with all the other content) and forgo the new backgrounds then have it play like it is.

User avatar
Darksaber
Vice Admiral
Posts: 10931
Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2000 12:01 am
Contact:

Post by Darksaber » Sun Mar 08, 2015 7:21 pm

No there isn't a way to disable the Backdrops. :(
“You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time”.”
- John Lydgate

Good Things Come To Those Who Wait....
Darksaber's X-Wing Station

vipe155
Recruit
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Mar 07, 2015 11:11 pm

Post by vipe155 » Sun Mar 08, 2015 11:39 pm

In that case I guess I'll try doing some things on my end to remedy the issue. Something in the new changes must have broken things for those with similar hardware to mine. I do wish I had kept my older install version that did work.

I appreciate the level of work here, and it all must have taken a lot of time. If there is no remedy, than I guess that's the way it goes.

User avatar
rogue518
XWAU Member
Posts: 2856
Joined: Wed Jul 12, 2000 11:01 pm
Contact:

Post by rogue518 » Tue Mar 10, 2015 9:59 pm

Vipe155, I use a Nvidia Card GTX 780ti. I have a few questions...


First, Have you updated your Nvidia drivers?

Second, Are you using X-Wing Alliance CD's or GOG.com?

Since you are using Win 7 64-bit try using GOG.com version. I had no problems using that version with Win 7 64-bit. It supports Win7 and Win 8. Also, I have Win 7 32-bit version (use XWA CD's and DSUCP for this version) and I use GOG.com version with DSUCP for Win 7 64-bit.

Also since you are using Win 7 64-bit and you only have 8gb RAM... try to upgrade your RAM to 16GB of RAM ( No, not for XWA.. but for other things like your OS itself, will run better.


Vipe155 for me XWing Alliance with the help of DSUCP v2.2 runs really smooth, for me



I am thinking it maybe your drivers.

Sincerely, Rogue518
'Stay in Attack formation!' Darth Vader aka: Anakin Skywalker During the 'Battle Of Yavin'

vipe155
Recruit
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Mar 07, 2015 11:11 pm

Post by vipe155 » Thu Mar 12, 2015 9:07 pm

rogue518 wrote:Vipe155, I use a Nvidia Card GTX 780ti. I have a few questions...


First, Have you updated your Nvidia drivers?

Second, Are you using X-Wing Alliance CD's or GOG.com?

Since you are using Win 7 64-bit try using GOG.com version. I had no problems using that version with Win 7 64-bit. It supports Win7 and Win 8. Also, I have Win 7 32-bit version (use XWA CD's and DSUCP for this version) and I use GOG.com version with DSUCP for Win 7 64-bit.

Also since you are using Win 7 64-bit and you only have 8gb RAM... try to upgrade your RAM to 16GB of RAM ( No, not for XWA.. but for other things like your OS itself, will run better.


Vipe155 for me XWing Alliance with the help of DSUCP v2.2 runs really smooth, for me



I am thinking it maybe your drivers.

Sincerely, Rogue518
Well, it may be my drivers, but only because the new changes are incompatible with NVIDIAs newest. Whether I need them or not I'm always on the newest release of video card drivers.

I am using the CD version on Windows 7 64-bit. Maybe that matters, I don't know. I didn't have this issue before, but perhaps the new changes have broken something with the CD version and my hardware. I may go for the GOG version at some point, but it's a gamble buying that version only to possibly have the same problems.

User avatar
rogue518
XWAU Member
Posts: 2856
Joined: Wed Jul 12, 2000 11:01 pm
Contact:

Post by rogue518 » Fri Mar 13, 2015 2:00 pm

Well Vipe155, I am using Nvidia's latest drivers 347.52 to be exact... no problems. Like I said I have the GOG.com version on my Win 7 64-6it it runs fine.

Sincerely, Rogue518
'Stay in Attack formation!' Darth Vader aka: Anakin Skywalker During the 'Battle Of Yavin'

User avatar
Driftwood
Admiral (Moderator)
Posts: 2174
Joined: Wed Oct 22, 2003 11:01 pm
Contact:

Post by Driftwood » Sat Mar 14, 2015 12:33 pm

vipe155 wrote:I am using the CD version on Windows 7 64-bit. Maybe that matters, I don't know. I didn't have this issue before, but perhaps the new changes have broken something with the CD version and my hardware. I may go for the GOG version at some point, but it's a gamble buying that version only to possibly have the same problems.
I have the disk version installed on WIN7-64bit with an Nvidia card with 1900x1080 screen 1080p screen resolution and have noticed no problems whatsoever. It's probably drivers or something funky going on with your aspect ratio? Dunno. Something isn't syncing quite right.

Vader424242
Cadet 3rd Class
Posts: 35
Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2005 12:01 am

Post by Vader424242 » Sun May 03, 2015 9:52 pm

Hi,

I have encountered the exact same issue, and my hardware is virtually identical to yours (Win7SP1 - 64b, 8GB RAM, Nvidia GTX560). I upgraded from XWAUCP 1.0, where the graphics were flawless. I am trying different hardware settings (both from within the game and from the Nvidia control panel) to see if I can eliminate the problem. I was a bit concerned that the graphics GPU tweak for newer cards in the craft pack 1.2 may mess things up (since it already worked), but I don't know why that would make a difference. Possibly something with the 560 GTX itself? Hopefully someone else with the same card can weigh in. I just can't bring myself to downgrade back to 1.0, as the other benefits far outweigh a minor graphics glitch... If we can get this thing figured out, the game is practically perfect!

Vader424242
Cadet 3rd Class
Posts: 35
Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2005 12:01 am

Post by Vader424242 » Wed May 06, 2015 1:43 am

OK, I have tried just about every combination I could think of with the 3D hardware settings, both from inside the game and from the NVidia control panel (AA, etc)... No success. I did notice that the cutscenes all seem like they are"squished," as if they were rendered for a 16:9 display (i.e. circles are ovals). I have a traditional 4:3... which I bought specifically for older games with no widescreen support. I am running at 1280x1024 (my monitor's max), but I have tried many other resolutions to try and fix the tearing, all to no avail. Is it possible that the fixes made to the cutscene player may have impacted more than was anticipated?

Vader424242
Cadet 3rd Class
Posts: 35
Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2005 12:01 am

Post by Vader424242 » Tue May 12, 2015 4:08 am

Well,

I just broke down and bought the GoG version, and installed the DSUCP (to get the Dark Forces ships). The new backdrops or something must have broken something with the disk version (or, more likely, the GoG version tweaked something to make it Win7 compatible), which solved the tearing problem. Now I just need to figure out how to get Emkay back in the concourse...:)

Thanks again to everybody who made this happen!

Post Reply