Thief 1/2 & SShock 2: DDFix and Enhanced Resolution Patch - discussion

bikerdude on 14/3/2008 at 21:16

Quote Posted by Nameless Voice

Since this now works so well with all three games, I've uploaded the hexedited files necessary to use DDFix for all three games and their respective DromEds.

Thanks for that NV

:-)

Hiatus on 14/3/2008 at 21:29

I plan to play test a few T2 OMs/FMs during the weekend to specifically search for and find any bugs still left when using latest ddfix.

if you got some spare time during the weekend, I'd like to ask you to play test T1DP/TG/T2/SS2 OMs/FMs and take notice of any potential graphical glitches/anomalies/bugs/stability! (using ddfix 1.2.4 updated version of course - redownload to have it if needed). Or simply use your save games with beaten missions (if you got them) and revisit the levels looking for bugs etc. Be careful/concentrated ;).

Goal is to find any visual bugs/glitches/anomalies which might be related/specific to current ddfix version in order to help Timeslip to improve it even further and squash any remaining bugs when he returns to us next week, hopefully :).

Please report any found bugs/stability issues here (1st check with vanilla exe's to make sure it's ddfix specific and not game engine wide bug etc). Also include your basic H/W graphics config (ATI/nVidia, graphics chipset used, driver version, OS used etc).

That would help Timeslip in fixing any possible remaining bugs next week :). So now is the time to act to help the community.

For now, ddfix looks great in its current version but I feel it still wasn't tested enough in various missions/games. Some more or less obscure bugs may still lurk in the shadows ;)...

Anyone with some spare time willing to help is welcome.

EvaUnit02 on 15/3/2008 at 03:58

Quote Posted by Nameless Voice

Since this now works so well with all three games, I've uploaded the hexedited files necessary to use DDFix for all three games and their respective DromEds. Using these without DDFix.dll being present will give you a crash, of course:

All FOUR, you mean.

(http://rapidshare.com/files/99633460/thief.zip.html) Thief: The Dark Project v1.33

Twist on 15/3/2008 at 18:10

I just played all the way through the Thief 2 demo, The Unwelcome Guest, and I didn't run into any problems. Works great!

Here's the edited executable:

(http://rapidshare.com/files/99779805/thief2demo-ddfix.zip.html) Thief 2 Demo: The Unwelcome Guest

smithpd on 15/3/2008 at 18:58

@timeslip,

Thank you so much for fixing DDFIX! Your continued involvement is greatly appreciated by the community. Now DDFIX can be used with no reservations. This is good, but in a way I am sorry we don't have to fight with Nvidia anymore. You have let them off the hook.:)

My only suggestion is that you modify your web page and put DDFIX in the left margin, like the other things you have developed. It deserves a place of prominence. Finding it in the news is not so obvious.

I tried it on Thief 2 with a Radeon X1950 Pro and Cat 10.1, and it works great with fog, stars, etc. Actually, since the X1950 Pro already had perfect rendering with fog (the reason I bought it), the only difference I noticed was the lack of resolution switching when reading a book (much faster and better with DDFIX) and the differences in screen shot behavior - file type and speed. I took screen shots using DDFIX with Thief 2 and Hypersnap. Used PrintScreen in both cases. The difference is that when using Hypersnap the image appears in the Hypersnap window and not as a BMP file. From the window I can edit its gamma and save it as any format I want (JPG), which is better than fussing with a separate operation. So, I am happy.:D

One thing I am curious about is why does the screen shot take so much longer than the original version? This is true using either Thief of Hypersnap.

I am going to swap the ATI card for an Nvidia 7950GT, which previously had bad sky and no stars. Assuming that works, and I have no doubt, then I can buy a faster Nvidia card and sell the X1950 Pro.

smithpd on 15/3/2008 at 19:06

I don't understand what DDFIX is supposed to do with Thief gold, since I never saw a problem with its rendering, other than it looks dated. What am I missing? Is it just the resolution switching for menus and books?

EDIT: I successfully applied DDFIX manually to my fixed version of Thief.exe, changing the first instance of ddraw.dll to ddfix.dll. After manually adjusting resolution in ddfix.ini, it works fine, and the resolution switching is gone.

@Nameless Voice,
I tried downloading your version, and it had an old date, behaved the same as my un-ddfixed version, and had no text "ddfix.dll" in its EXE. Might you have uploaded the un-ddfixed version?

Twist on 15/3/2008 at 19:37

Hmm... I just manually edited my own Thief Gold exe and it worked fine for me. Make sure you set your resolution the same in both the ddfix.ini and the cam.cfg.

I use a x1950, too. For us it will just enable 24-bit zbuffer (if you set UseCompatibleZBuffer to "0") and properly scale readables and the menu, map and objectives screens.

I honestly can't tell the difference between the 16-bit and 24-bit rendering. *shrug* Maybe if I took a few screenshots and compared them side to side... but Nameless Voice seems to think it makes a difference, and I trust he knows the Dark Engine better than me, so I just go with it. :)

But I love the quick and seamless transition for readables and the menu screens, so that's worth the effort for me.

smithpd on 15/3/2008 at 19:40

Thanks, Twist. Setting the resolution was my failing. It works now. Actually I edited my post before I saw your response. Sorry for the trouble I caused. :)

I agree that it is worth the effort.

Nameless Voice on 15/3/2008 at 20:35

My apologies, it looks like I accidentally uploaded the unfixed version of the Thief 1 / DromEd 1 files. I've uploaded the correct versions now, and fixed the links in the above post.

As for the difference between Thief 1 with and without DDFix, Thief 1 basically looks like vanilla Thief 2 on a DX10 card, since Thief 1 never supported dithering in the first place.

These two screenshots show the difference:

(http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/7482/noddfixii9.jpg)

Inline Image:

http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/7482/noddfixii9.th.jpg(http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/9819/ddfixxz3.jpg)

Inline Image:

http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/9819/ddfixxz3.th.jpg
(People will probably complain that I didn't apply enough gamma correction to these...)

Now, these screenshots aren't exactly fair, since they were both taken on an 8800GT, but I remember that it rendered the same on my laptop's ATI card (which I don't have access to right now.)

bikerdude on 15/3/2008 at 21:00

Quote Posted by smithpd

My only suggestion is that you modify your web page and put DDFIX in the left margin, like the other things you have developed. It deserves a place of prominence. Finding it in the news is not so obvious.

I second that, DDfix deserves pride of place along with your other achievements

biker