TheGrimSmile on 2/10/2011 at 12:00
I installed Windows XP on VirtualBox and am now trying to get Thief Gold working all nice and tidy on it, but I've run into the problem where the game runs too fast.
I've tried to set Thief to Real Time but that just makes the game immensely slow, and setting it to low doesn't do anything.
I've tried to turn v-sync on in the Thief Gold menu, but when I try to change it (or try to turn hardware on) it stays off.
I think the problem is that VirtualBox doesn't use my computer's actual graphics card (TG runs fine on my host OS) and instead uses a virtual one.
People have suggested forcing framerate to 60, but I don't actually know how to do that.
Any help is much appreciated! I'm not so tech-savvy, but I'll do my best.
Thanks!
lost_soul on 2/10/2011 at 16:52
Short answer: Not gonna happen.
Long answer: I've tried to accomplish something like this many times now with different OSs and different virtualization systems and it has failed to work each time. Many virtualization packages come with 3D support, but the problem is that they only support D3d8 and D3d9. Sadly, nobody seems to give a crap about the older D3d 6/7 stuff anymore.
About the emulated graphics card: you're right. The virtual machines see a simulated graphics card that is nothing like your real one. Somebody needs to make a plugin that simulates a card with open drivers and specifications like a Radeon 8500. That would solve our problems.
I heard the Dosbox guys were making a voodoo emulator, which may end up working some day in the distant future. You can already install Windows 95 in DosBox. I've done it. The problem there is that Dosbox doesn't use AMDV/VTX, so I hope you have a fast CPU.
AMDV/VTX are special instructions that allow a virtual machine to run code on your native CPU when possible, which results in a MASSIVE performance increase. Without these features, everything has to be emulated in software.
Child Of Karras on 3/10/2011 at 10:19
May I ask what is your host system and why you want to take VirtualBox with XP and no "native" solultion?
TheGrimSmile on 3/10/2011 at 11:24
Ah well. Thanks lost_soul for the explanation. AMDV/VTX, I'll tuck that bit of information away.
Child of Karras, my host OS is Windows 7 and Thief actually runs fine on here, but being able to run it on a virtual PC it would fix things that no other solutions seem to fix (videos not working, being able to run Thief in a window, fighting the threat of losing fog) and with the ability to start the whole OS fresh.
I was really just playing around with VirtualBox after being dissatisfied with Windows Virtual PC, but I figured Thief might work. Not to be, I suppose.
Bonusbartus on 5/10/2011 at 10:31
You could try VMware? I think it has the best 3d/gfxcard support of those virtual pc software packages:)
TheGrimSmile on 14/10/2011 at 22:46
Ahh, I'll give it a shot! Thanks!
lost_soul on 15/10/2011 at 18:24
For playing in a window, someone posted about a program called D3D Windowizer a wile ago. I don't know how it would work for Thief though. You could maybe also use Wine on Windows because Wine has a virtual desktop feature and it runs on your native CPU. I've never tried Wine on Windows either. I mostly play Thief with Wine on Debian Linux. Also, I have never seen fog working on Wine with Thief.
TheGrimSmile on 25/10/2011 at 05:22
Quote Posted by lost_soul
For playing in a window, someone posted about a program called D3D Windowizer a wile ago. I don't know how it would work for Thief though. You could maybe also use Wine on Windows because Wine has a virtual desktop feature and it runs on your native CPU. I've never tried Wine on Windows either. I mostly play Thief with Wine on Debian Linux. Also, I have never seen fog working on Wine with Thief.
I tried the D3D windowizer and a few other windowing programs. Though there have been posts on this forum indicating they work, they haven't worked for me.
I actually haven't put the time into getting the machine up and running, taking a break form the projects when I managed to corrupt my usb drive from switching it between the two.
