frogdude on 9/10/2007 at 20:22

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Well, finally, after several days of switching messages with Nvidia support i managed to obtain an answer. Here is the last message i got from Level 2 support:



"are already aware of this problem" - finally, Nvidia acknowledges the issue!

"it will be in the future" - finally, there is a dim light at the end of the tunnel. We may yet see our fix after all!:)

What can we do now? Well, i assume the only way to speed up the process is to show Nvidia the amount of people affected by this problem. Please, if you own a GeForce 8xxx card and you haven't done so already, go (http://www.nvidia.com/object/support_readme.html?p_sid=eSn8tMNi&p_accessibility=0&p_redirect=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPSZwX3NvcnRfYnk9JnBfZ3JpZHNvcnQ9JnBfcm93X2NudD0yNTYmcF9wcm9kcz0mcF9jYXRzPSZwX3B2PSZwX2N2PSZwX3BhZ2U9MQ**&p_email=&p_sla=) here and report the problems you're having with Thief 2 & System Shock 2. Every report helps.

How to report to Nvidia:
1.click on the above link. A page will open up, scroll down and hit "Continue".

2.next, you'll be prompted to complete some empty fields:
-enter a valid email address in the "User ID" field (preferably your primary one, or one you check periodically, as Nvidia uses that email address to notify you when they reply).
-complete the "Additional Information" that follows as it helps Nvidia to categorize the problem better.
-use the "Question" tab to describe the problems you're having with either System Shock 2, Thief 2 or both. Please be concise and polite. If you have screenshots, please submit one or two as well, they will help strengthen your case. If not, it's ok, it's the report that matters..

Note: all exchanges with Nvidia support are done through their site, you don't get to exchange emails. You get notified through your email address when they have posted a reply to your question. You can then respond by logging in on their site, again.

Please, i must stress out again that every report matters. Nvidia might be aware and willing to fix this issue, but they have lots of other problems on their hands and the only way to prioritize them is by the amount of people that are affected by each one. Thus, if we show them that this problem really hurts a lot of people, they will certainly move Thief 2 and System Shock 2 higher in their priority list and we get to see a fix sooner.

Timeslip on 18/10/2007 at 20:56

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I have an 8800 GTS, so I've had problems with this too. Luckly I'm a bit better placed than most to do something about it, so I've started working on a patch. So far I've got it looking like this outdoors:

(http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/8422/screenshot1ce4.jpg) http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/8422/screenshot1ce4.th.jpg

I don't have an older system to play on though, so I'm not sure what I'm should be aiming for. Is this banding around lights normal? It looks better than it does unpatched, but it still looks a bit broken to me.

(http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/9976/screenshot2dq6.jpg) http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/9976/screenshot2dq6.th.jpg

If anyone else wants to try, my patch is (http://timeslip.chorrol.com) here, under the October 17th entry. I've only tested it on thief 2 v1.18 with my 8800, so if you try it on something else let me know what happens. :)

smithpd on 19/10/2007 at 05:23

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WOW!!! :thumb: :cheeky:

This is just amazing! I have tried ddfix on my 7950GT using both the Russian modified 84.56 drivers and the 163.71 drivers, and it works great with both. It looks just like my Ti4200 except that there are now stars in the sky. I guess it is just like my old TNT. Boy, those stars are bright! I have been without stars for so long I forgot what they looked like. The graphics improvements I see are:
Good sky
Stars
The susceptible bad dark textures (bedspreads, tables, etc.) are rendered correctly.

Not only that, but a previously significant delay of a second or two when changing resolution in game, which used to occur when going to or from the main graphics or reading a book or scroll, is gone. All those things are instantaneous now.

Thank you so much, Timeslip. Excellent work.:thumb: You could teach Nvidia a thing or two. Indeed, I hope they follow your lead and straighten out their act as well.

There are a couple of issues, though.

The Print Screen option does not work for me. 0 causes solid black to be output in a PCX. With any other option set, the Print Screen button crashes Thief 2 to black screen. Fortunately for me I have another way, using Hypersnap.

The installation procedure is arcane to say the least.:) 7Z and hex editing are not obvious. Could a C code do it all? Since this fix will no doubt be used by thousands of people, some of which don't know a hex from a wrench, I think that would be useful.:) Don't forget to make a backup EXE.:wot:

Screen shots are below.

Running Interference start
http://home.comcast.net/~smithpd1/thief/running_interference_ddfix.jpg

Eavesdropping, Karras' loft
http://home.comcast.net/~smithpd1/thief/karras_loft_ddfix.jpg

DJ Riff on 19/10/2007 at 06:13

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AAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAmasing!!!

HH1A3__3.WAV :ebil:

I wonder, if that will work for Thief-1 to make it work with all nVidia's drivers without crash.

And I think we need some small program, that:

— Makes a backup of thief2.exe, changes that string
— Gives some checkboxes to user so that (s)he don't need to taff with INI.
— Searches and deletes PrintScreen bindings in *.bnd

Programmers?

frogdude on 19/10/2007 at 07:16

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@Timeslip

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!:D

I have been wanting to replay Thief 2 for a long time, but i just couldn't enjoy it with those awful rendering problems.... You fixed this AND brought the stars back! So thank you again!:)

Btw, you say you don't have an old system to test Thief 2 on, so you don't know how it should look like; I can get you screenshots from an older system where everything is fine, just tell me what places you would like me to capture.

Here is a screenshot of "Running Interference" from my laptop's integrated radeon card, which demonstrates how this level should look like (too bad T2 moves jerky on it). Brighteness has been increased considerably in order to make the shadowy details more visible.

(http://img89.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dump001sn5.jpg) http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/888/dump001sn5.th.jpg

I haven't tested your fix yet, but by comparing this screenshot with the one posted by bikerdude, i'd say you did it!:)

Btw, i found this passage in the readme:

"Textures sometimes have corrupted borders. This is most obvious when looking at large objects edge on or from a long distance."

Could someone post a screenshot of this or maybe indicate an in game location where this is obvious, so i can go and check it out?

Also, has anyone tested the fog yet, does it work well with this fix? I'll check it out for myself tonight, but until then i'm dying to hear more details about this fix! :D