D2X-XL on Windows Vista?

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Aus-RED-5
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D2X-XL on Windows Vista?

Post by Aus-RED-5 »

Anybody got or getting Windows Vista yet?

I'd like to know if D2X-XL will work on it?
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Post by Shadowfury333 »

I'm pretty sure that Vista has a poor implementation of OpenGL (though I haven't personally tested it), so I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't work well.
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Post by Sirius »

Vista has the best it can. It's just that the new desktop system uses D3D and it interferes with it.

There was another thread about this; it's a common misconception that Vista either doesn't support OpenGL or has to run it in emulation. This is only true in some cases.
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Post by Atixtasy »

Actually Vista supports OpenGL like its native D3D. In fact, Microsoft has said that in vista openGl will run better than its own API. It has full support I was a beta tester for that. The drivers are, mind you, hard to install and/or find but once they're in it works just like XP....BTW yes i have vista.
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Post by Shadowfury333 »

Atixtasy wrote:Actually Vista supports OpenGL like its native D3D. In fact, Microsoft has said that in vista openGl will run better than its own API. It has full support I was a beta tester for that. The drivers are, mind you, hard to install and/or find but once they're in it works just like XP....BTW yes i have vista.
So, where can these drivers be found? (I'm also in Vista Beta, though I can only use it at school.)
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Post by Atixtasy »

google vista beta version (fill in blank) and openGl drivers. I found em on a forum and they work awesome! They aren't even that hard to install.
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Post by Aus-RED-5 »

Link
Spooky wrote:......Beta 2 release would load Descent 3 and run the intro. When the user tried to play the game the 3D functions would not work as "Open GL" "Direct X" etc. were not in the current driver.
When RC-1 was loaded the video driver had been updated just enough that Descent 3 would fully work.
I guess if D3 will work, then surely D2X-XL would work too.

I should try this.
I do have Vista Beta 2 and the RC1 DVDs. Just not installed. :roll:

I just want to know how things are for gaming and D2X-XL since the full release?

EDIT
Ok, installed Vista RC1. Got all updates and the needed drivers for my video card and sound card. :)

D2 Win95 will run, but it has a huge frame rate!

Image

D2-Dos does not work. No surprise there. :P

D2X-XL does work! YAY! :D

Image

Not bad for a start. :)
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Post by Chaos Death Saurer »

Slick.
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Post by Sirius »

lol XL has a robots/powerups remaining option? Novel.
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Post by Aus-RED-5 »

yep ;)
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Post by DescentMax »

Hi This is DescentMax, How does D2x-xl react to the new Windows Vista. I hear it works but how good?
:)
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Post by Aus-RED-5 »

Gday DescentMax,
Welcome to the D2X-XL forum! :)

Works well as far as I know.
Though keep in mind this was on the RC1 32bit version of Vista.

Though I wouldn't know now with the latest versions of D2X-XL and Vista Full.
Haven't been using Vista RC1 ever since. ;)
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Post by heftig »

I'm trying to run it, but it fails.

See this thread at the SF.net forums:
http://sourceforge.net/forum/forum.php? ... _id=523091
heftig @ SF.net forums wrote:I'm trying to run D2X-XL 1.9.178 on Vista 64. When loading a profile, the game crashes without any error message. -printlog and -debug yield no output. It appears the last thing t does before shutting down is reading from descent2.hog. I tried a variety of ini settings (including no ini at all), nostalgia, removing optional files, disabling DWM and compatibility mode. Nothing helped. Can you help me?
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Post by BUBBALOU »

Heh - Vista 64 might be the issue

I seem to have a better workout dodging your stupidity than attempting to grasp the weight of your intelligence.
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Post by Aus-RED-5 »

BUBBALOU wrote:Heh - Vista 64 might be the issue
Yeah, I replied to his thread at the SourceForge site about that.

The Vista RC1 I tested D2X-XL in was the 32bit version.
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Post by DarkFlameWolf »

Sirius wrote:lol XL has a robots/powerups remaining option? Novel.
I believe I suggested that a while back, didn't really think it'd get implemented! XD
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Post by DescentMax »

Hi, thanks for the welcome to the forum of D2x-xl :) I am planning on upgrading to Vista but I am not sure ;) I am glad d2x-xl works on the Vista RC132Bit version. I might just find out on the Vista full version later on in time ;) man D2x-xl is a great project to the D2x project. Does anyone know if Descent 3 will run on Vista?
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Post by Aus-RED-5 »

DescentMax wrote:Does anyone know if Descent 3 will run on Vista?
I think I've read somewhere it does, but only on the 32bit version of Vista and in D3D, not OGL?
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Post by Valin Halcyon »

I've been trying to get it functioning under Vista, 32-bit. No luck. It just keeps right on crashing right at or after the pilot selection screen.

Also, before my driver update, the movies played fine..now they stutter terribly.

Running Vista 32 bit with all updates and latest sound/video drivers. Can't figure out what's wrong. Logs don't output a thing. The app simply stops responding.
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Post by Aus-RED-5 »

Hi Valin.

Keep in mind that the version of D2X-XL I used was version 1.9.116. Plus this was under Vista RC1.

At this point in time I have no way of knowing if the latest version/s of D2X-XL even works in Vista RC1 since version x.x116.
Nore do I even know if it works in the Full Retail Version of Vista.

What you can do is this.
Try the D2X-XL version 1.9.116 I used and see if it works.
But before extracting the files. I would suggest uninstalling anything and everything regarding D2. Even your player file/s.

Reinstall D2 and then extract D2X-XL 1.9.116 files into the D2 folder.
Be sure to create a new player file once you run D2X-XL.
Sometimes the old player files don't mix well with new installs.

Good luck, and anymore probs....
Feel free to ask here. ;)

Regards,
Aus
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Post by heftig »

The current D2X-XL runs fine here (Vista64).
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Post by Aus-RED-5 »

heftig wrote:The current D2X-XL runs fine here (Vista64).
There is an update almost everyday.

What D2X-XL version are you "currently" using?
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Post by Valin Halcyon »

Thanks Aus, but unfortunately your link does not work.

EDIT: Now using .216 and I got it past pilot selection once and into the new game dialog. As it switched dialogs, the D2X-XL window would go white and \"not respond\" for several seconds before it'd load the next dialog. I've tried to set the old style of menu in the d2x.ini, but I get the same problem. Also, all keyboard input seems to make it crash outright, screen goes white and never responds after minutes of waiting. Only Mouse has a favorable response, and then it's not consistant.

Oh, and your link works now.
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Post by heftig »

Aus-RED-5 wrote:
heftig wrote:The current D2X-XL runs fine here (Vista64).
There is an update almost everyday.

What D2X-XL version are you "currently" using?
I was using 211. 216 works, too.
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Post by Aus-RED-5 »

heftig,

What CMD lines are you using in the d2x.ini file?

Can you post it for Valin to copy so he can try them?

If that doesn't work. You'll probably have to wait till next update and try that.

Diedel sometimes makes and then has to fixs the bugs that pop up. It's the nature of the program. Sorry.

I wish I could help in the programing bit, but I know nothing about that area. :(
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Post by Valin Halcyon »

It's the same problem with any version of D2X-XL I can get my hands on, with or without d2x.ini.

Laptop's video is GeForce 6150 GO, and I've tried drivers from several releases of this year. Using the absolute latest ones with any geforce 6 series updates in it is the only way I've managed to get past the pilot list.

As a result, I'm assuming it has something to do with this machine or it's drivers, but having loooked where I can, I can't seem to find a problem anywhere. I only wish D2X-XL would output SOMETHING so I'd have an idea where exactly in it's execution it's failing.

Also, if I wasn't clear, this is Vista Home Premium (stupid name for an OS), 32 bit.
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Post by Aus-RED-5 »

Valin Halcyon wrote:I only wish D2X-XL would output SOMETHING so I'd have an idea where exactly in it's execution it's failing.
Let me see what I can do. I'll get back to you in this. :)
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Post by heftig »

d2x.ini:

Code: Select all

;gamenet launch parameters
;-ng_player default
;-ng_file missions/d2-2plyr.hog
;-ng_mission dog1.rl2
;-ng_level 1
;-ng_name GameNet
;-ng_join host
;-ng_connect udp
;-ng_type anarchy
;-ng_team 0

;limit the number of segments D2X-XL uses
;-max_segments 900
;launch d2x-xl in fullscreen mode
;-fullscreen
;keep mouse focus in game window
-grabmouse
;use sound sampled at 22 Khz
-sound22k
;skip CD ROM check
-nocdrom
;use trilinear filtering and mipmaps
-render_quality 3
;display multiplayer game messages from other players
-playermessages
;suppress duplicate HUD messages
-noredundancy
;don't playback cut scenes movies, but allow robot movies
-nomovies 2
;use bitmap reticle
-gl_reticle 0
;use short multiplayer game data packets (not recommended for high bandwidth connections)
;-shortpackets
;send 10 updates per second in multiplayer games
-pps 10
;add your default player name here to make D2X-XL load it at program start
-player default
;use the following screen resolution at program start (will be overridden by player profile)
;-640x480
;set the following value to 0 to enable a backwards compatible camera rendering method
-render2texture 1
;set the following value to 0 to enable the original menu style
-menustyle 1
;set the following value to 1 to enable faster rendering of new style menus
-fastmenus 1
;set the following value to 1 to enable sound rendering via SDL_mixer (enables midi playback on non-Windows OS-s)
-sdl_mixer 1
;set the following value to 0 to enable original Descent 2 math data handling
-mathformat 2
;set the following value to 0 to use Descent 2 sounds in Descent 1 levels
-use_d1sounds 1
;specify the name of a custom menu background to use here
-altbg_name d2x-xl-wp-3-1500x1125.tga
;specify the brightness of the custom menu background here (0.0 < brightness <= 1.0)
-altbg_brightness 0.75
;specify the transparency of the custom menu background here (0.0 < alpha <= 1.0; -1.0 to keep what's set in the image)
-altbg_alpha -1.0
;tell whether to convert the custom menu background to a grayscale image
-altbg_grayscale 0
;let OpenGL handle rendering of layered textures
-gl_alttexmerge 1
;enable usage of hires textures if present
-hires_textures 1
;enable caching of resized hires textures on disk
-cache_textures 1
;enable usage of hires models if present
-hires_models 1
;set model texture size
-model_quality 2
;increase render speed of smoke effects
-vertex_arrays 0
;increase render speed of smoke effects even more (at the cost of graphics quality)
-point_sprites 0
;enable use of lightmaps
-enable_lightmaps 0
;enable display of progress bars during longer lasting loading or computing operations
-progress_bars 1
;enable real-time OpenGL lighting emulation
-gl_lighting 0
;enable usage of shadow proof robot and ship models
-fix_models 1
;use the shadow proof models for regular rendering, too
-alt_models 1
;Use shadows from low res models for hires models
-lores_shadows 1
;enable real time shadowing
-enable_shadows 1
;enable multithreading to speed up rendering
-multithreaded 0
;enable the German localization
;-altlanguage 1
;-text descent.tex.ger
;specify user songs for intro, briefings, credits and levels
;-introsong
;-briefingsong
;-creditsong
;-playlist
;make d2x-xl print diagnostic messages to d2x.log
;-printlog
;freeze robots
;-nobotai
Nothing special.

I had the same problem Valin describes. I remember having updated the NVIDIA video drivers before D2X started working.
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Post by Valin Halcyon »

What driver version ARE you using?
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Post by Aus-RED-5 »

Valin, try this.

Go here and do Option 1.

That feature will find the right drivers for your hardware!

Works for me. ;)
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Post by Valin Halcyon »

Ah yes! The infinitely useless Nvidia driver's tool!

They don't support the GO series chips at ALL in their driver releases. I have to use a hacked inf file to use the latest drivers. Else the setup program simply tells me that there are no updates for my card.

Nvidia wants you to get support for laptop chips from your vendor, who in my case, is HP. Lo and behold! The driver availible from their site is OLDER than the one my laptop shipped with! Not only that, but it's now 6 months older than the one I'm currently using! Hooray for idiotic support outsourcing!

I am currently using the bleeding edge newest drivers. I've tried almost every driver since Febuary's 2007 first release up to now.

I'm not very sanguine about Nvidia's driver support atm if you didn't guess.
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Post by heftig »

Valin Halcyon wrote:What driver version ARE you using?
Im currently using 158.24. I was using 160.02 before.
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Post by Valin Halcyon »

101.41 Is what I'm using. Newer versions caused many glitches. I'll DL and try that exact version though and see what happens.

UPDATE: 158.24 is not availible for laptop users. Closest is 158.18, close enough you think?
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Post by Aus-RED-5 »

Valin Halcyon wrote:Closest is 158.18, close enough you think?
Couldn't hurt to try. ;)
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Post by Valin Halcyon »

Driver updated, but for some odd reason it shows it to be OLDER than the one I had. In any case, it still does not work. Same problem.
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Post by Valin Halcyon »

FINALLY. D2X-XL works at last. I found a hackable version of 158.24, and hacked in my device id as supported by the driver. It installed, and it worked. It still will lock and crash at the pilot selection screen, but only 1 in every 5-7 starts at least now. Aside from that, with .217 of D2X-XL, it works.

Only thing that I find annoying is the sound, as in, there is none. Music yes, SFX no. I suppose it might be a D2X.ini issue, so I'll go poke that for awhile and see what happens.

Thanks all for the help in getting this fixed. and for the record, D2X-XL ONLY works on Vista for nvidia cards with 158.24 drivers!
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Post by Aus-RED-5 »

Valin Halcyon wrote:I only wish D2X-XL would output SOMETHING so I'd have an idea where exactly in it's execution it's failing.
Valin,

In regards to this problem.....
Do you have the CMD line -printlog listed in the d2x.ini file?
If not. Please add this CMD line to enable D2X-XL to dump a d2x.log file.

Let me know when you have time.

Thanks
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Post by Diedel »

Valin,

tried to enable sdl_mixer (d2x.ini: '-sdl_mixer 1')?

You cannot be far away from having sound if the music is working.
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Post by Atixtasy »

Valin,

Do you have SLI GPU's, Nvidia and Vista are working on more compatible drivers for that but if you are using that type of setup you might want to turn it off for D2X.

Also, I have had problems with Nvidias latest drivers as well and they are working on it now actually :) let's just hope that they release some good news :P.

As for the sound, do you have a Creative sound card? They seem to resent releasing good drivers and Vista is even worse with it. They can't seem to get the new driver model or something because there hasn't been a driver out yet that supports everything. D2X MIGHT be trying to use something that either isn't supported, or isn't FULLY supported i don't really know. If you aren't using a Creative card but are using onboard sound from...say realtek (they are the most common) they have even worse drivers still and hate almost everything. I have tht onboard card and it absolutley refuses to work at all with any drivers.

Also for any Vista users out there M$ (yes I am still a beta tester for them but i don't care they are money grubbers lol) is releasing service pack 1 in the coming months and there is not delay in sight. It is supposed to fix a LOT of the driver issues, security.....again, compatiblity problems, and last but not least.....DRM issues are trying to be worked out :D :) .

Good luck to you Valin in your quest for sound :P
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Post by Carlos_Ed »

Hi, I'm just letting you all know, D2X-XL runs on Vista x64. Using ATi graphic card. I just had to tweak a couple of options in the d2x.ini. I had to disable multi-threading and use the legacy render path.

Hope this helps anyone. Cheers! :wink:
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