joanieS on 16/5/2013 at 19:36
I apologize for asking a question that I KNOW has been asked before, but, after almost an hour of trying to find an answer I must bug you all. I recently bought a laptop with Windows 8. I paid someone to install all 3 Thief games because I am so technically challenged. I have only tried Thief II so far and find it is SO dark I can barely see anything. Besides which I am probably the oldest Thief player (77) and have really OLD eyes. The brightness is turned up full blast. Messed with the resolution but that didn't seem to make a difference. Is there somewhere I can go on this laptop to change something so I can play again? :( :confused:
Al_B on 16/5/2013 at 22:28
I've split this into a new thread to make it more obvious.
If your game has been patched with NewDark then the instructions in (
http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=141389) this thread may help, particularly if your laptop uses Intel graphics.
joanieS on 19/5/2013 at 15:52
I am so happy you all are out there. Being so technically challenged, I use a regular keyboard rather than the laptop touch thing. None of you can reduce your technical sides to my level to fully understand the depth of my computer ignorance. Be patient. On the regular keyboard there is a half-sun next to a quarter moon above the arrow keys. I will, with fear and trepidation, try that after I finish this. As to the model laptop I have, does Intel HD Graphics 4000 answer that question? And, yes the computer person who installed my games did mention that he included the New Dark patch. You know, I surely will take my laptop carrying Thief II back to him again if I can't resolve this here. Another $75 is more than worth whatever has to be done to get my Thief back into my daily life. I only hope if I succumb to dementia that my brain can still wrap itself around Thief in case I live to 90. You all surely understand that, even tho you are years away from that particular scenario. THANK YOU...yes that's a shout of praise!
:):)
joanieS on 19/5/2013 at 16:16
O.K., I just got up the courage to try this stuff out. I should have mentioned that I also use a regular large monitor rather than the laptop screen....now, looking for the Fn key I find I can see on the laptop screen that the brightness is really quite good. I hadn't noticed this before since I keep the laptop closed all the time. Of course, that is all quite meaningful and I did not think to mention the use of another monitor. I see on the laptop keyboard an f3 key with what looks like a sun. I also see an Fn Lock key. I see now that I can use the laptop screen to play, (thank heaven) but, would prefer the larger monitor I have plugged into the laptop. Anyway, clicking on the regular keyboard on the half sun, did nothing. And, there isn't any Fn key.
Also, I don't know which version I have. Since I have bought 3 separate Thief II games since the '90's (I am paranoid about losing use of the cd's), I don't know which of the supporting pamphlets in the cases go with which game. The cd itself does not identify the version. Hope this additional info helps. Maybe the use of a separate regular monitor is not the way to go.
Briareos H on 19/5/2013 at 16:31
"Intel HD Graphics 4000" precisely answers Al_B suggestion about "Intel Graphics", so that's very helpful.
In the video options of the game, you will find a "Gamma adjust" slider, which will turn the game brighter or darker (the same effect as using the keys + and - in-game). With certain Intel graphics cards, including yours, this gamma adjust slider has no effect, because of a bug in the graphics card software. The problem can be solved with a simple tweak.
The first step is for you to go to the in-game options, find this slider, crank it up and confirm whether it has an effect or not. If it has an effect on the brightness but not enough for you to play properly, please report here again. If the slider has no visible effect on brightness at all, you are experiencing the problem I was describing. To solve it:
* Navigate through your computer files to the directory where Thief was installed.
* Locate a file called "cam_ext.cfg" or simply "cam_ext" in this directory. Open it using Notepad or any other text editor: even if it doesn't seem obvious at first, it is just a plain text file. If the file doesn't exist, the game was not patched properly, so please report here again.
* In that text file, find the following line:
;d3d_disp_no_rgb10_buf
It is near the middle of the file, you can also use the search feature of Notepad to find it.
* Remove the semicolon (;) at the start of the line, and save the file you are editing.
* Start Thief, the gamma adjust slider should now be working.
sNeaksieGarrett on 19/5/2013 at 17:28
Ah, so it's an intel card. Yeah, I'd say just follow Briareos H's guide and see if that fixes it.
That said, yeah, the regular keyboard won't have Fn, that's just on laptops to my knowledge. The sun icons should be on the arrow keys on your keyboard near the Enter key. If they are not, I'm surprised. I guess your laptop model just doesn't have that. In any case, it sounds like you'd have to hold down Fn and then hit the F3 key you mention to change the brightness?
Also, I know you'd rather use your larger monitor and in that case you would have to find the buttons on the monitor (assuming it has any) until you can find the Menu button and then look for brightness settings. Usually there's a menu button on the monitor and then other buttons you'd press to change the values up or down or to move within the menus.
At this point it doesn't matter though, since you can use Briareos H's fix, but just wanted to tell you anyway so you know another way to change brightness if you ever need it down the road. Hope that helps and you get Thief bright enough to your liking.
joanieS on 24/5/2013 at 20:03
Thank you both so much for taking the time to help me. Yes, I AM able to change a light bulb by myself. But, that's about the extent of my technical knowledge. My son-in-law is coming over tomorrow to see why my printer is not responding to my new router and I will just turn your instructions over to him to save myself another melt-down. Thanks, thanks again.....I HAVE to have my daily Thief fixes!:thumb::thumb::thumb::)
