FF7 - FRAME RATE GOES WORSE AND WORSE AND WORSE AND WORSE

[DLPB_]

ftp://606:[email protected]/ff7-speed-issue.mpg

If asks for pass and user it is as above:  606 and seifer

format is in mpeg1 for compatibility, all the ill effects you see there are what I see and are not a result of bad encoding.

In this example, cloud is actually moving at half the frame rate (which makes skipping appear to not happen.  When the frame rate is say 27 instead of 30, the skipping is worse.  The frame rate above in the normal gameplay is 15, and thus, the character appears not to skip (but is still noticibly not smooth at only half the intended frame rate)

You will notice
- text arrives on screen choppy
 - cloud is moving at half intended frame rate
-menu is opening and closing slower
-menu cursor is disasterously slow, emphasising the frame rate has dropped in menu from 60 to 12

The menu must use frame based movement, whereas the ingame uses tiem based.  This would explain why the cursor moves slow at slower frame rates, but cloud simply runs at same speed with frame skipping.

Then again, this isn't generally how games are made, so it is a bit of a mystery.  In any case, the frames don't seem to stop being dropped and I estimate that after 1 hour, the ingame frame rate would be 5 fps or less

[DLPB_]

game eventually crashes after around 30 minutes, with error:

ERROR: 88760028 Support is currently not available.  in file c:\lib\src\graphics\directx.cpp LINE 740

as well as another in file  file c:\lib\src\graphics\dx_rendi.cpp LINE 2295 <  these errors happened in window mode.  But crash happens in normal full screen after around 30 anyway.

Yup, game now refuses to play at all when I reload (hardware mode).  It just plays for 10 seconds then freezes.

So there you have it, in hardware mode after 30 minutes the frame rate drops so low that the game crashes.

[dziugo]

Did you try installing the newest drivers for your hardware and then experimenting with your GPU drivers? It's a long shot, but I remember that people were suggesting using the beta drivers from nVidia for black characters problem.

[DLPB_]

I have updated to latest nvidia and messed with all the settings I can think of.  But there is no chance I am gonna go back to old drivers because that would break other games.

There is another cpu option technology in my bios that I will look into, but the 2 theories I have for this are now:

1.   The cpu is gaining more and more to do with every passing second which is affecting the frame rate as it cannot keep up .  Bug in game or with the new addons (like NPC addon)

2.  The game is calculating the frame rate wrong and it is slowly going off with each passing second.

and then there is the possibility that:

Everybody has this bug but has not noticed that this is the problem or that a significant amount of people haven't noticed until the crash that something is wrong.

That is why I need some people here to test this with fraps

[Prince Lex]

Does your game do this when you're not using Fraps?

I thought FF7 had always had framerate problems while using Fraps. I don't think its very likely that this problem is affecting everyone, more people would have noticed. How would I test mine? Tell me what to do and I'll do it to see if this bug affects my game too.

[DLPB_]

yes, it does it without fraps.  Fraps simply shows me what is going on.


Download fraps It is free to test and you won't need to record.  Just have it in your task bar.,  When you open the game the frame rate will be displayed in the corner.

http://www.fraps.com/

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now, with ff7 open, go to the CONFIG screen and wait a few minutes.  You should see the frame rate drop from 60 and steadily drop.  Remember that the drop happens here faster than elsehwhere but all screens will be affected with time.

Remember you must be in hardware mode.
-----------

normal frame rates:

battle: 15
Movie: 15
normal walking about screen: 15-30  (usually 30)
menu: 60
Config menu:  60

[Prince Lex]

OK, I'll test it in about an hour and a half (have to go to my next door neighbour's for something) and I'l post results shortly after.

When should I start noticing a drop in frame-rates?

[DLPB_]

the first sign of trouble occurs on mine after around 1-2 minutes, it then slides at a rapid rate and will be at 45 within minutes.

The drop becomes much worse at 15-30 minutes.

So the drop starts after around 1-2 minutes, but you notice it first in the config screen

[Prince Lex]

Got started a little earlier than I thought ^_^

OK, spent about 40 minutes on this, and here are the results.

NO FRAPS RUNNING

In the config menu....
0 Min - Normal
1 Min - Normal
2 Min - Normal
3 Min - Normal
4 Min - Normal
At this point I exited the menu and ran around for a bit. No slowdowns.
5 Min - Normal
Then went back into config menu.
6 Min - Normal
7 Min - Normal
all the way upto 18 Min - No change at all.

WITH FRAPS RUNNING

Eidos Logo            - 15 FPS
Squaresoft Logo    - 15 FPS
World Map            - 30 FPS
Config Menu:-
0 Min - 59
1 Min - 59
2 Min - 59
3 Min - 59
4 Min - 59
Ran around for a bit again ^_^ No Slowdowns, Back to config.
5 Min - 59
6 Min - 59
Ran Around Some more, entered a few towns, Back to config.
7 Min - 59
8 Min - 59
Upto 21 Minutes - Absolutely no change in frame rate.


I was in Hardware mode.

The Patches I use are - NPC Recon, YAMP, FF7Music. I've also edited Kernel.bin and Kernel2.bin to my liking. I DONT have the SaINt's High-Res patch.

It could be (off the top of my head) the SaINt's High-Res patch (if you use it) or more likely an issue with your graphics card or graphics software. If its only happening in hardware mode for you this is probably the case.

[DLPB_]

Cheers.  Thanks A LOT.  so basically it is definately my end only

Well  what is your cpu and features?  And what graphic card do you have

I have now disabled all features except cpu thermal management but I can't see this being the issue. I don't have saints patch, and anyway all of the patches seem to do the same thing.  Please upload the ff7.exe and config.exe you are using to my server

(IE will allow uploads by drag and drop)

Go to ftp://606:[email protected]

Kernel.bin and Kernel2.bin   and those please and why have you edited them?
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another thing, i can't choose to have hadrware mode without clicking nvidia box??

[Prince Lex]

My EXE & Config are uploading as we speak. I also created a folder to put them in but was unable to rename it! ^_^

I've also just tested it again on Vista, same results as before.

CPU                    - Intel Pentium D Dual Core
Motherboard        - Foxconn P4M800P7MA
Operating System - XP SP3, Vista Ultimate
RAM                   - 2Gig DDR2-PC2 6400 (2x1GB)
Graphics              - ATI Radeon 9600 (This old bird has served me well! I desperately need a new one ^_^)

[DLPB_]

haha don't go for a 7900 GS nvidia then....that is my advice lmao

I have tested your files. Same old.  Maybe a reinstall ff7 would help and then i could test if its 1 of the addons doing it

[DLPB_]

Well this isn't looking good.  I have tried reducing hardware accelerations, I have taken away CPU features, I have reverted to no mods, full mods every mod

Same old scenario.  Where is qhimm   or someone who understands the code of FF7

I feel that is my only hope.   Surely FF7 doesn't get its timing instructions by the graphic card or directx?

I mean surely it uses timegettime or some other method

[Prince Lex]

I realise you've already stated that you're absolutely not going to backdate your drivers, but maybe you should try uninstalling them just to see if it works?

Just uninstall, test FF7 and no matter what the outcome, reinstall your drivers. That way you'll know if thats what the problem is.

It has nothing to do with the code of FF7.

[DLPB_]

If I uninstall my vid drivers, will hardware acceleration still work?

If it won't, the game won't run   I don't think it is likely to run without the drivers installed...

But what would I use as a substitute?  What other graphics drivers will work with the 7 series nvidia card

[DLPB_]

PROBLEM SOLVED

As requested a few times that I go back to older drivers, I researched the best one for the 7900 GS

the 92.91_forceware drivers have NO issue with FF7 and work fine with the game.

Therefore since that revision, an unwanted element has been introduced.  I have no idea what, if anyone has any ideas so I can go back to the new 178.24 drivers I would be happy.,

But maybe I was a little too skeptic to try the old "try different drivers" approach.  It almost never works in my experience but this time:

IT HAS.

Please make note of this problem, that nvidia cards using the latest drivers may have a severe problem with FF7.   can I thank the people (2?)  that helped me with this and went to the trouble of looking into it