marklo on 8/6/2008 at 13:50
Need a little help and I can't find the answer on the forums (though I'm sure it's there somewhere :) ).
I've managed to get SS2 installed, patched fixed for dual core and running in widescreen (1680x1050) all under 32 bit Vista, I also have rebirth and Sthup in there too, but for some reason I can only get 16 bit textures and although it's pretty good, I know it could look so much better in 32 bit mode.
So first off is this possible, then if so, what do I need to do to get it going.
If DDFix is the answer that may be a problem as I get a "video hardware not supported error" with the DDFix patch installed.
My PC is a Core 2 duo E4300 (oc'd to 2900Mhz) in a Gigabyte P965 DS3 mobo, with 2 Gb of PC800 RAM and an 8800 GT.
Any suggestions?
Nameless Voice on 8/6/2008 at 13:57
You need to manually set DDFix to use the hacked widescreen resolution via DDFix.ini, otherwise you will get that error.
Harvester on 8/6/2008 at 22:13
SS2 does not support 32 bit mode. AFAIK there are no hacks or patches for it that let you enable 32 bit mode.
Nameless Voice on 8/6/2008 at 22:44
Of course DDFix lets you run it in 32 bit colour.
redrain85 on 8/6/2008 at 22:56
My understanding of how DDFix works, is that it forces the Dark Engine games to render the textures in 32-bit mode. Since 16-bit support in the latest drivers from both ATI and nVidia is broken/awful. But while the images are rendered in 32-bit mode, all the assets in the game are still 16-bit of course. So you're still seeing 16-bit color, so to speak. The game isn't taking advantage of the extra colors that 32-bit mode offers.
And so far, a way hasn't been found to make SS2 support 32-bit textures. Is that correct?
Nameless Voice on 9/6/2008 at 01:38
No, that's not right either.
Most of the assets in Thief are 8-bit (256 colours), but they use unique palettes, plus they will be shaded differently depending on how well illuminated they are.
So, all 32 bits of colour will be used. If you're running Thief 2 without DDFix, you'll see the dithering patterns where it attempts to emulate the extra colours in 16-bit colour. DDFix runs in 32-bit colour so there is no dithering pattern.
Also, assets can be 32-bit colour if you use DDFix's texture hack, but it only works in Thief 2 right now, not in SS2 or T1/G.
ZylonBane on 10/6/2008 at 16:18
Quote Posted by Harvester
SS2 does not support 32 bit mode. AFAIK there are no hacks or patches for it that let you enable 32 bit mode.
Someone hasn't been reading their newsletter.
Harvester on 10/6/2008 at 18:23
Yes I was wrong indeed, sorry for the confusion. I never did read up on DDfix because I don't need it with my old graphics card. I thought it was just a way to make the game playable and normal-looking on GF8 cards, nothing else.
marklo on 13/6/2008 at 11:53
So DDfix is the answer then?
Basically my problem is that a lot of the textures are dithered/posterised in game. Which means I may be running with 8 bit not even 16 bit textures.
I'll have another go at persuading DDFix to run :D One more patch can't hurt
Edit: It's working :) Widescreen/rebirth/Sthup/patched and everything and textures all look good now, wahoo.