software rendering

dani · Post by **dani** » Tue Oct 11, 2005 8:47 am

I was trying out the different video settings on my 2nd pc to see which looked best. at first i couldnt get software rendering to work because the screen was really shaky and it looked like the picture was in quadruple vision. (kinda hard to explain) so i tried d3d and it was laggy so i went to open gl. less lag but very dark picture no matter how bright i set it. Im not sure how but at some point i got it to run in software rendering and it looked much better.well i added a stick of 128 ram to the existing 128 and changed to d3d. (figured lag would be alot less.) it was but the details are pretty crappy. so i changed back to software rendering and i am getting that shaky picture again and the menu quadrupled. I cant see crap. what the heck is going on?basically i should of left it in software rendering when i had it working but i didnt so how do i get it back?
Oh i know some one will ask so i am having this problem on an emachine T1150 with 1.3 ghtz processor 256 ram and 32mb onboard video. i know it needs better video card but i just bought an ati raedeon 7000 64mb for a really old pc i got from a neighbor. was trying to get it to play ut online but its only got 300 mghtz processor and 128 in ram. then i acquired the emachine which is a newer pc so i decided to get it up to par. the problem is the video card i bought for the other pc is agp and the emachine is pci.

Being "PO FOLKS" i dont have the money to buy another vid card. (was lucky to buy the first one) so any suggestions on how to get my software rendering back?

DARKMATTER · Post by **DARKMATTER** » Tue Oct 11, 2005 9:14 am

hmm when running the open gl did you update the file in system if not that could be a problem look in hermskii's manual he gives full details
Find it here
I run this and can change the brightness mine now runs pretty bright becouse of the sniper server i go on (ok other sniper players ignore that last remark)
Dark ....

dani · Post by **dani** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 7:13 am

my friend set up the open gl for me and said he followed hermskii's tips all the way. i set the brightness up all the way and it would not get any brighter. i dont know maybe i should just reinstall and try again. i will just have to deal with poor detail til i can find someone to swap me this 64mb agp card for a pci or i find another good deal on ebay.

DARKMATTER · Post by **DARKMATTER** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 11:07 am

Hey dani do you know if the other disk with the bigger textures was also installed ??? that will make a difference

Dark

Ps if you dont have it leave a message to hermskii i know he hosted it not sure if he still is

dani · Post by **dani** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 12:33 pm

i only have one disk to install the game.

a nameless entity · Post by **a nameless entity** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 5:35 pm

When you say you are turning the brightness up all the way; are you hitting F11 to increase the gamma within the game, or are you adjusting the brightness of your monitor?

I often find that the game begins very dark for me. I hit F11 and go to 7/10 brightness, which with my monitor is the best setting for most maps. Sometimes a map change will throw the setting off again, and I have to scroll through the gamma settings until I reach 7 once more.

dani · Post by **dani** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 7:40 am

actually no i go to options and slide the bar all the way right. i willhave to try that. my husband towed a guy yesterday (he is a tow truck driver) and this guy might have a better video card for me. I also have gotten ahold of disk 2 from my good friend so we will ee if that helps too. I still dont understand the shaky screen and all with the software rendering.

DARKMATTER · Post by **DARKMATTER** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 11:51 am

after reading back thru this thread i'm thinking it is your card at fault one with a bigger memory would help also what detail level do you have set and screen size ???

Dark

dani · Post by **dani** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 2:46 pm

i have it on 16bit because the desktop only gives me the option of 16 or 24 bit and 800x600 and textures high skins high. here is what is going on in d3d. i can see the weapons thru the tables and health too and on the dm server i go to there is a map called dawns bathroom and when i look at the vent above the tub it mostly looks like a square hole not detailed like on this pc. Im only running 64 onboard video here but the detail is much much better. on this pc i can see the slots in the vent and whats inside. sooooo, im thinking i need at least a 64 mb video card to see things better. i would like a 128 or more but if i did that i would just end up putting it in this pc lol. i bought a 64mb card for my kids pc that is very old and slow but it is an agp and the emachine i am talking about is pci

otherwise i would just put it in the emachine and put my kids back to 16 mb lol.

DARKMATTER · Post by **DARKMATTER** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 5:46 pm

lol yea the memory on the card makes big difference i found i couldnt play most maps with 128 mb mem untill i turned the settings down to medium then it managed a little better but i was playing on a 350 pantium and the proccessor speed had something to do with it too.

Dark

a nameless entity · Post by **a nameless entity** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 6:40 pm

The shakey screen and video lagginess you get are directly attributable to running in software mode. When you do that you throw all of the work for drawing the screen onto your CPU. When I tried running the game in software mode on my old computer, I got the same sort of problems. A slow laggy video rendering, and lots of missing detail.

Running in D3D or better yet Open GL with that improved renderer (the one that comes with the game sucks) puts your graphic card to work and greatly helps speed up the rate at which your computer can redraw the screen as you move and look around.

Cliffy B has said on his website that UT uses computer resources in the following order of importance:

1) CPU

2) Graphics card

3) RAM

Considering how old the game is now, a 1.3 gig CPU is plenty. Your 32 MB card isn't bad either, I believe it was standard when the game came out, but if you can get a better PCI card then go for it. If you can find some used RAM you might want to go up to 512 MB some day, but as you can see from the list spend your money on the card first.

Post by **Hermskii** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 7:00 pm

I managed a great game of UT in the beginning with a Pentium 233mhz machine, a 16mb Voodoo3 3000 PCI and 64mb ram. I was getting over 30fps and all was great. DOn't use software rendering as it is the worst of all available renderers. I find it hard to believe that you are having trouble with the tutorial at all. It usually does very well for everyone. You may need to reinstall UT and just start over. Follow the instruction guide as it is written and you will see great results usually. Don't mess with the 2nd CD textures at all until you get it all worked out using the original ones first. Most people don't ever use the larger textures anyway. Later!

dani · Post by **dani** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 8:02 am

hey hermskii i didnt really have any trouble with the tutorial it was very helpfull in fact and i sent it to my mom to use on her older pc. (I got my whole family playing, 2 kids and mom in CA) I guess I just get really good play on my good pc and my friend does too on a much lesser pc then my 2nd. I just get annoyed with the graphics sometimes and was frustrated with not being able to get the software rendering to work. Guess what though guys!!!! My husband talked to the guy he towed the other day and he said he has a 128 pci so Joe (my hubby) is supposed to pick it up today after work. Here is my dilemma now lol. My good pc has 64 mb onboard, 2.67 ghtz proc and 768 in ram. It plays ut really well but some other games not so great. i wanted to upgrade it to 128 one day. The game i play daily is ut and others once in a great while. so its hard not to just put that 128 in my good pc because thats what i have been waiting for but on the other hand my other pc needs video help much more. I guess i just hate putting a better video card in my lesser pc if you see what im saying. I think i will go ahead and put it in the emachine for now though and when i can come across a 64 i will swap it for the 128. lol okay i will shut up now. im sorry i ramble too much. I will let you guys know how it goes.

thanks so much for all the suggestions.

derdak2rot · Post by **derdak2rot** » Sat Oct 15, 2005 4:34 am

my first pc was a pentium3 500mhz with a voodoo2 8meg on it , and he ran UT very nicely in D3d.

honestly , i dont think its come from your graphic card , the problem could come from your pc ram , only 256 is not enough , 512 could help better your video card to cache the textures and stuff . pc ram and video ram works in association , if your vidcard handle 128ram , your pc need only 256ram to have a confortable play .

dani · Post by **dani** » Sat Oct 15, 2005 7:31 am

when i got my compaq which is my better pc it only had 256 in ram and i got a really good game from that. when i added the extra 512 i noticed alittle difference but not much. the emachine only had 128 at first and it was real laggy but now with 256 no lag just poor graphics