Author Topic: Custom graphics driver for FF7/FF8 [v.1-.7.6] (Read 760967 times)

Goku7 · « **Reply #1925 on:** 2010-04-05 22:41:04 »

Looks like my driver errors are somewhat related to the "Something tried to use Hardware Lights, expect funky looking models" glitch -- as in, I get the message before the video goes all wonky with the previous errors. Not that there's a problem with Aali's driver -- the fact that no one else is getting these errors is good enough evidence that its my old Radeon drivers that are to blame -- but it sure is causing some odd looking stuff at times.

Case in point: Exhibit 2:

Odd, eh? I wonder why my drivers can't understand the instructions that Aali's driver is feeding them. I think they're deaf.

Aali · « **Reply #1926 on:** 2010-04-06 07:13:26 »

Actually, that glitch happens even with the original D3D driver, it's simply a problem with the original data.

The "Something tried to use hardware accelerated lighting, expect funky-looking models" message doesn't really mean something _will_ go wrong, it simply indicates a broken .p file that will end up with some weird colors, it may not even be noticeable if the piece has a dark texture or is very small.

Goku7 · « **Reply #1927 on:** 2010-04-06 08:55:10 »

It's there in D3D mode? Hmm, I should check that out.

As to the Hardware Lights glitch, all I'm saying is that I've noticed a strong correlation (but not causation) between getting that message and the errors I get. I've also noticed that most of the whited-out textures on the world map appear to be animated textures (i.e. ocean texture, quicksand-around Corel texture)

Kranmer · « **Reply #1928 on:** 2010-04-07 20:00:39 »

@Timber - Well i am working on trying to make a Hotkey so that people can speed there game up without having to ALT+TAB when running in Fullscreen to change it on a GUI but it really isnt going well so i wouldnt expect that anytime soon. (i am trying to make a trainer that will change the speed when you press a certain button then i need to try and insert it into the game like i already have done with the speed hack so that more external programs arnt needed)

@goku7 - your using a MOBILITY Radeon 7500 ? if you are then maybe you should try "ATI MobilityModder" i have heard it allows people with old Mobility cards to install newer drivers (not the latest drivers but newer then the ones you are using) which might be worth a try if your desperate.

AngeBleu · « **Reply #1929 on:** 2010-04-07 22:13:50 »

When we play game with Custom Driver 7.6b, we can notice several messages (glitch or error), So I would know if it's possible to hide all messages for the next version ?

AlbusJC · « **Reply #1930 on:** 2010-04-07 22:40:08 »

speaking of this messages, what the meaning of zero count in blue color?

Aali · « **Reply #1931 on:** 2010-04-08 06:08:28 »

You should never see a blue message, that usually means something that doesn't make sense happened. In this case, zero count means that a draw call was made to draw 0 vertices, obviously this should never happen. You probably have a broken model from some mod if you're only getting this message and have no other problems.

I don't want to hide these messages because that allows people to get away with broken data, if you're not using any mods (or only mods with correct data) you won't see any of these messages.

Sure you could still find them in app.log but obviously that didn't stop anyone from pushing out this kind of stuff. I know I might do the same if I was an artist, who cares about this strange message that appeared in the applog? Unless it's in your face you're probably not gonna care if your model looks more or less okay.

sl1982 · « **Reply #1932 on:** 2010-04-08 06:29:11 »

Arg, you mean we have to make models and make them properly now?

Aali · « **Reply #1933 on:** 2010-04-08 06:37:18 »

Heh, actually I think the latest versions of Kimera is quite unable to produce such broken models, so as long as you're not using old software it should be okay.

Also, the next version of the driver will be able to tell you which models are broken so you can actually complain to the right mod author.

Changeling · « **Reply #1934 on:** 2010-04-08 07:47:20 »

I'm experiencing a weird effect. Hopefully this hasn't been mentioned before but there are a lot of pages in this topic.

I'm getting these dark black lines around the two dimensional aspects of battle mode and it seems like the characters eyebrows and eyelashes are a lot darker than they should be...I'm not sure if it is the same problem or just 32 bit color but it does look a bit off.

I also used the new time mechanism for the battle swirl, and it helped a little but it still lags some.

If anyone could help me I would greatly appreciate it!

And I'll ask one last time and then I'll forget it. Aali, could you make a new DirectX driver? If not, why are you using OpenGL, what are the benefits?
DirectX is universal, everyone would be able to use it to its full potential.

sithlord48 · « **Reply #1935 on:** 2010-04-08 11:55:20 »

Quote from: Changeling on 2010-04-08 07:47:20

DirectX is universal, everyone would be able to use it to its full potential.

DirectX is not universal it only works on windows.... Where as Open GL is universal since it works on every OS.

AlbusJC · « **Reply #1936 on:** 2010-04-08 14:23:38 »

Quote from: Aali on 2010-04-08 06:08:28

You should never see a blue message, that usually means something that doesn't make sense happened. In this case, zero count means that a draw call was made to draw 0 vertices, obviously this should never happen. You probably have a broken model from some mod if you're only getting this message and have no other problems.

Aali, are you talking about transparent color (color 0) right? I used this to make transparent the cloud's hair. look at this:

With transparent color:

Without transparent color:

Is that the problem that you say?

Hellbringer616 · « **Reply #1937 on:** 2010-04-08 14:27:22 »

As music as i love the tought of DX11 with textesselation (i spelled that wrong i believe) in FF7, the ORIGINAL FF7 used i think DX.. 6 or 7. and unless you make the game work with the extra code, it wont do anything to FF7 (such as a dx9 game looks no different on dx10 or 11) that being said, I find no issues with the OGL driver from Aali. Perhaps you should point out REAL advantages of DX over OGL (that facts not perferance like you you comments in other theads...)

I sadly no nothing of OGL and very little of DX Other then it can ONLY be used on Windows, while OGL is OS universal. So chak one up to OGL

Aali · « **Reply #1938 on:** 2010-04-08 14:33:30 »

Changeling:
Let me turn this around for you; why should I use DirectX? It is only supported on windows, it has an awful record of backward compatibility (case in point: FF7) and the documentation ranges anywhere from lacking to non-existant. Now of course I would never switch to DirectX anyway since that's a lot of work for little or no benefit, but if I were, what exactly would I gain from that?

AlbusJC:
What? I don't see how you could make that connection but anyway the answer is no, nothing you do to a texture can cause that problem.

AlbusJC · « **Reply #1939 on:** 2010-04-08 14:37:19 »

hehe.. okis and sorry, Im a noob in all this.

Mako · « **Reply #1940 on:** 2010-04-08 20:18:29 »

Quote from: Aali on 2010-04-08 14:33:30

Changeling:
Let me turn this around for you; why should I use DirectX? It is only supported on windows, it has an awful record of backward compatibility (case in point: FF7) and the documentation ranges anywhere from lacking to non-existant. Now of course I would never switch to DirectX anyway since that's a lot of work for little or no benefit, but if I were, what exactly would I gain from that?

AlbusJC:
What? I don't see how you could make that connection but anyway the answer is no, nothing you do to a texture can cause that problem.

Well I can think of one

. Just one though don't get you hopes up yet DX lovers. I for one found immense plugin documentation as well as countless ways to filter only the backgrounds and leave out the 3D. As well as free SDK and audio plugins found...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DirectX_plugin

A Quote from wiki...
"Until about 2005, another functional difference between the APIs was the way they handled rendering to textures: the Direct3D method (SetRenderTarget()) is convenient, while previous versions of OpenGL required the manipulation of P-buffers (pixel buffers). This was cumbersome and risky: if the programmer's codepath was different from that anticipated by the driver manufacturer, the code would have fallen back to software rendering, causing a substantial performance drop. However, widespread support for the "frame buffer objects" extension, which provided an OpenGL equivalent of the Direct3D method, successfully addressed this shortcoming, and the "render target" feature of OpenGL brought OpenGL up to par with Direct3D in this respect."

That would explain why Aali's driver performs poorly FPS wise for some. As I don't know if Aali's driver uses the "render target" feature.
Although they are equal on almost all levels some of the new features of DX11 would be nice to have. I do also want to note as you already know the impossible overwhelming amount of PC users in the market...My take DX=More power; OpenGL=More Flexibility.

Quote

it has an awful record of backward compatibility

Those days may be behind us we can only hope still is not looking good...

sl1982 · « **Reply #1941 on:** 2010-04-08 23:42:35 »

Open GL 4.0 brings opengl up to parity with dx11 anyways. So this whole debate is pointless.

Marine2k6 · « **Reply #1942 on:** 2010-04-09 00:28:21 »

Hi! i'm pretty new to this modding community for FFVII. I've been trying to install the custom OpenGL driver to my PC, but i keep getting errors anytime a video is played in the game. I get the Glitch: video playback is lagging error. There any way to fix this? Thanks!

titeguy3 · « **Reply #1943 on:** 2010-04-09 01:01:09 »

Quote from: Marine2k6 on 2010-04-09 00:28:21

Hi! i'm pretty new to this modding community for FFVII. I've been trying to install the custom OpenGL driver to my PC, but i keep getting errors anytime a video is played in the game. I get the Glitch: video playback is lagging error. There any way to fix this? Thanks!

Try using v0.7.3b

You can find a link to it in the wiki

Changeling · « **Reply #1944 on:** 2010-04-09 03:37:11 »

Nevermind.

sl1982 · « **Reply #1945 on:** 2010-04-09 03:44:36 »

Some people use mac, some use linux. Even though it was a windows only game why not let everyone enjoy it. Aali's driver allows this.

Mako · « **Reply #1946 on:** 2010-04-09 07:14:13 »

Quote from: sl1982 on 2010-04-09 03:44:36

Some people use mac, some use linux. Even though it was a windows only game why not let everyone enjoy it. Aali's driver allows this.

Couldn't agree more. I was just pointing out the difference on another small note I am trying to learn Basic Visual C and they only teach "managed DX". As a matter of fact at least at my local bookstore I found NO books on OpenGL!?!. Also all of the personal tutors I was looking at as well only taught DX. Would explain why it is so overwhelmingly popular. But none the less even what little I know I can tell OpenGL is the way to go for this game.

Changeling · « **Reply #1947 on:** 2010-04-09 09:41:52 »

That's cool then.

Does anyone know how to control OpenGL's Anisotropic filtering on some program other than Catalyst Control Center? Or is that even possible?

Colonel Ramsay · « **Reply #1948 on:** 2010-04-09 11:50:47 »

yes it is possible....

http://www.guru3d.com/category/nvopenglsettweak/

That one is Nvidia

There are more there for ATI, surely.

sithlord48 · « **Reply #1949 on:** 2010-04-09 14:22:40 »

Quote from: Changeling on 2010-04-09 09:41:52

That's cool then.

Does anyone know how to control OpenGL's Anisotropic filtering on some program other than Catalyst Control Center? Or is that even possible?

you should be able to just set forced filtering in the CCC , i know this works w/ the linux ati driver, its way behind the windows one so i would assume that it would also work in the windows version of CCC.