Thief 1/2 & SShock 2: DDFix and Enhanced Resolution Patch - discussion - by bikerdude
smithpd on 31/10/2007 at 02:27
One important point you missed, sNeaksieGarrett: In addition to sky and stars, DDFix provides good rendering, as good as Nvidia has ever done, of a whole bunch of darker textures that looked absolutely terrible with recent cards, especially with the 8000 series. +20. This was the reason for its development. The other stuff is minor detail in comparison.
@Timeslip,
We haven't heard from you in a while. Is this becoming too much like a real job? ;) Hang in there! Your work is greatly appreciated. :)
I have been using ddfix extensively in testing FMs. Enjoying the views and the general rendering improvements. I am still keen on having a few issues fixed:
fog;
ability to blur doors and similar textures, so they look as good as before;
avoiding the need to hit escape/continue when resuming from desktop;
slightly erratic speed.
I found another little issue. When you escape to desktop and resume, it seems like some timing mechanism does not stop as it did before. When you resume, you hear a lot of staccato audio, such as rapid footsteps, as if the sounds were entered into a stack and the stack is emptied fast. The old dark engine bug of hearing loud sounds on resume is still there. Do you think these things are related?
On another subject, how can we recall old versions like 1.1.0, ,which works better than the latest, according to biker? Is there an archive?
Asaki on 31/10/2007 at 03:17
Quote Posted by Bikerdude
Just a bug update, version 1.1.1 is very choppy, I have tried various settings and none seem to fix it. I was running 1.1.0 before - which was fine.
Where do you keep finding updates at? Is there another thread I'm unaware of, or do you just download the ZIP every day to see if it's been updated?
Quote Posted by smithpd
slightly erratic speed.
Turn on vsync.
sNeaksieGarrett on 31/10/2007 at 03:29
Quote:
One important point you missed, sNeaksieGarrett: In addition to sky and stars, DDFix provides good rendering, as good as Nvidia has ever done, of a whole bunch of darker textures that looked absolutely terrible with recent cards, especially with the 8000 series. +20. This was the reason for its development. The other stuff is minor detail in comparison.
Never really noticed.. but I only was testing in running interference, and my main objective was to see if the sky was fixed. which it was.:)
Timeslip on 31/10/2007 at 06:48
Quote:
We haven't heard from you in a while. Is this becoming too much like a real job? Hang in there! Your work is greatly appreciated.
Remember that the main reason for me writing my patch was because I wanted to play thief, and if it works for anyone else, that's just a bonus. :). As of 1.1.1, I was happy with it, so I've been playing rather than patching recently.
tbh, I think it's about as good as it's going to get. I have no idea why fog isn't working, which makes it rather hard to fix. The sharpened textures are afaik a difference between the way DX6 and DX9 renders, and not something I have control over.
The obvious method to fix those bugs would be to stick with DX6 instead of wrapping everything to DX9, but I couldn't think of a sane way to use a 32 bit render target and still let thief lock it to draw text. Does any version of thief2.exe work with any version of the game? If so, I could modify the exe to be able to use 32 bit targets and distribute the modified exe along with the patch.
smithpd on 31/10/2007 at 07:04
Quote Posted by Asaki
Turn on vsync.
vsync is on. I mean slightly erratic speed, not wild and crazy.:) I see variable speed when running in a straight line. Maybe nobody else noticed. Maybe it is the performance issue people are describing.
frogdude on 31/10/2007 at 11:21
@Timeslip - 1.1.1 is ok for me.:) The problems introduced by your patch are nothing compared to the lack of dithering & stars that you fixed! Thanks to you, Thief 2 is an enjoyable experience once more.
As a side note, i haven't heard any news from Nvidia lately. So far, I see they are currently pulling every resource to optimize gameplay on Crysis, so i wouldn't count on an official Thief 2 fix anytime soon.
Btw, how are things on the Ati front? Did they manage to come up with a fixed driver set for our problems?
Asaki on 31/10/2007 at 19:52
Quote Posted by smithpd
I see variable speed when running in a straight line.
Idunno, I only get that problem when vsync is disabled.
DJ Riff on 1/11/2007 at 07:41
smithpd, "slightly erratic speed" might be because of CPU frequency optimization (Qool'n'Quiet etc.). Try to turn it off using utilities for your motherboard or use power profile "Always On" or "Presentation".
bikerdude on 1/11/2007 at 21:43
Quote Posted by Asaki
Where do you keep finding updates at? Is there another thread I'm unaware of, or do you just download the ZIP every day to see if it's been updated?Turn on vsync.
TimeSlip has just been updated his main linke, i have asked him to pm/email me, but thus far haevnt heard back from him.... I hafve to keep checking myself and then updating the first post of this thread.
biker
frogdude on 2/11/2007 at 05:31
Maybe we could add Timeslip's patch to www.thief-thecircle.com's patch page, here: (
http://www.thief-thecircle.com/media/patches/) ? This way, others will find it a lot easier. That is, if both Timeslip & the site admins agree, of course.
