Graphical Corruption

from GalCiv2 Forums
So, I recently bought a notebook computer, and decided that GalCiv2 would be a perfect game to play with, so, I it loaded on this machine just fine, and it starts and runs just fine, except when I try to start a game I get:


And then when I go back to the menu all the text is "messed up" on the menu. Help?

I have all the latest drivers for video and sound.

Debug Message: Version v1.4x last updated on: Mon Oct 23 17:43:56 2006
Debug Message: GalCiv2 is activated.
Debug Message: Checking DX Version.
Debug Message: *********DXDiag info follows.*********
System Info
Time: 12/9/2006, 17:45:59
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
Machine Name: LAPTOP
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp.051011-1528)
Languages: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
System Model: MM061
BIOS: Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version 1.10 A09
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU T7200 @ 2.00GHz (2 CPUs)
Physical Memory: 2046MB RAM
Page File: 529MB used, 3409MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS


Display Info
Display device 1:
Device Name: \\.\DISPLAY1
Card Name: ATI Mobility Radeon X1400
Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.
Chip Type: ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 (0x7145)
DAC Type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
Key Device: Enum\PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_7145&SUBSYS_20031028&REV_00
Display Memory: 256.0 MB
Current Display Mode: 1680 x 1050 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor Name: Default Monitor
Monitor Max Resolution:
Driver Name: ati2dvag.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.6618
Driver Date: 5/23/2006 12:06:54
DirectX Acceleration Enabled: Yes



Sound info
Sound device 1:
Description: SigmaTel Audio
Default Sound Playback: Yes
Default Voice Playback: Yes
Hardware ID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_8384&DEV_7690&SUBSYS_102801BD&REV_1022
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Driver Name: sthda.sys
Provider: SigmaTel
Driver Version: 5.10.4995.0001
Driver Date: 3/24/2006 21:34:30
Type: WDM
Other Drivers:
Acceleration Level: 3
Cap Flags: 0
Min/Max Sample Rate: 0, 0

Sound device 1:
Description: Bluetooth Audio
Default Sound Playback: No
Default Voice Playback: No
Hardware ID:
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Driver Name: btaudio.sys
Provider:
Driver Version: 5.00.0001.2609
Driver Date: 5/24/2006 18:07:18
Type: WDM
Other Drivers:
Acceleration Level: 3
Cap Flags: 0
Min/Max Sample Rate: 0, 0



Debug Message: *********END dxdiag info.*********
Debug Message: Entering WinMain
Debug Message: ******* Starting Game Shell *******
Debug Message: Going Fullscreen
Debug Message: Preparing to change display settings.
Debug Message: Using multilsample setting: D3DMULTISAMPLE_4_SAMPLES
Debug Message: Game Resolution: 1680 x 1050
Debug Message: Running fullscreen.
Debug Message: HAL (hw vp): ATI Mobility Radeon X1400
Debug Message: D3DPRESENT_INTERVAL_DEFAULT
Debug Message: Refresh rate: 60
Debug Message: Bit Depth: 32 bit.
Debug Message: *********Checking D3DDevice Caps***********************
Debug Message: A full-color cursor is supported in hardware at high resolution modes.
Debug Message: RGB in format 6:6:6, Masks reported as ff0000:ff00:ff
Debug Message: Now Fullscreen
Debug Message: Shell initialization complete
Debug Message: ***** Initializing Game *****
Debug Message: Timer Frequency is 0 369e99
Debug Message: Initializing sound card.
Debug Message: initailizing bink
Debug Message: Create setup screens.
Debug Message: Clear galaxy settings.
Debug Message: Clear influence.
Debug Message: Clear up laws.
Debug Message: Clear first time events.
Debug Message: Clear wonders and trade goods.
Debug Message: Clear sector mapper.
Debug Message: Set mouse.
Debug Message: Set update timer.
Debug Message: Clear data definitions.
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Documents and Settings\Travis\My Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\ships\*.xml
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Documents and Settings\Travis\My Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\ships\*.shipcfg
Debug Message: Reading Star Names
Debug Message: Reading Star Names... Done
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Program Files\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2\Mods\Default\Data\CustomMaps\*.gc2map
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Program Files\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2\Mods\Default\Data\Scenarios\*.gc2scenario
Debug Message: Creating Galaxy
Debug Message: Killing threads.
Debug Message: Kiling civs.
Debug Message: Killing ships.
Debug Message: Killing rallypoints.
Debug Message: Killing misc objects.
Debug Message: Killing stars.
Debug Message: Killing anomalies.
Debug Message: Killing space resources.
Debug Message: Killing colonies and planets.
Debug Message: killing scenario.
Debug Message: Clearing Turn Event Log
Debug Message: Clear galaxy settings.
Debug Message: Clear influence.
Debug Message: Clear up laws.
Debug Message: Clear first time events.
Debug Message: Clear wonders and trade goods.
Debug Message: Clear sector mapper.
Debug Message: Galaxy Size Set: 4 x 4
Debug Message: Creating Random Map
Debug Message: Creating Random Map... Stars
Debug Message: Number of Unplaced Stars: 5.
Debug Message: Creating Random Map... Planets
Debug Message: Creating Random Map... Anomalies
Debug Message: Num Anomalies: 42
Debug Message: Creating Random Map... Resources
Debug Message: Creating Random Map... Done
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Program Files\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2\Mods\Default\Data\CustomMaps\*.gc2map
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Program Files\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2\Mods\Default\Data\Scenarios\*.gc2scenario
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Program Files\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2\Mods\Default\Data\CustomMaps\*.gc2map
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Program Files\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2\Mods\Default\Data\Scenarios\*.gc2scenario
Debug Message: TitleWnd: Quit Button.
Debug Message: Posting WM_CLOSE message.
Debug Message: WM_CLOSE message received.
Debug Message: GameUninitialize start
Debug Message: Killing Galaxy
Debug Message: Killing threads.
Debug Message: Kiling civs.
Debug Message: Killing ships.
Debug Message: Killing rallypoints.
Debug Message: Killing misc objects.
Debug Message: Killing stars.
Debug Message: Killing anomalies.
Debug Message: Killing space resources.
Debug Message: Killing colonies and planets.
Debug Message: killing scenario.
Debug Message: Clearing Turn Event Log
Debug Message: Clear galaxy settings.
Debug Message: Clear influence.
Debug Message: Clear up laws.
Debug Message: Clear first time events.
Debug Message: Clear wonders and trade goods.
Debug Message: Clear sector mapper.
Debug Message: Clear data definitions.
Debug Message: Killing Galaxy: Completed
Debug Message: Shutting down sound system.
Debug Message: Clearing sound and music handles.
Debug Message: GameUninitialize end
Debug Message: Device not cleared. 1 counts left.
Debug Message: D3D not cleared. 1 counts left.
Debug Message: Destroying Window.
Debug Message: Main Shell terminating normally


1,362 views 6 replies
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
That is really strange. I have never seen that before.
I had not responded before, hoping you would get some advice from Kryo - I am at a loss.

Looks like no one responded, and you still have the problem.

Well, the only thing I can think of is possibly a problem with the 'default' monitor driver that Windows is using. If there is a specific driver for your monitor (You should have a cd that came with the notebook, and it may contain the driver. If you need instructions on how to go about installing the correct driver, I will try to help), perhaps you should install it and see if it makes a difference.

The Political Machine 2024
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
That is very strange (thought I had tagged this thread for Cari to look at when it was originally posted, bust I must have missed it--sorry about that).

Last time someone reported massive discoloration in game it turned out to be a hardware issue which he figured out on his own, though I can't recall the details. About all I could recommend to you is to check for updates on all your drivers, see if you can get a monitor driver, and try other resolutions and different settings in game and in the ATI CCC. You may also try running the game in windowed mode. To set that outside the game, edit the file My Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\prefs.ini and change the line fullscreen=1 to fullscreen=0 (you can also change the resolution in that file).
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Hmm, so, after y'all suggested that it might be a hardware problem, I completely removed the ATI drivers, and did a clean install with the newest version without the CCC, and voila! GalCiv2 works beautifully! So, I proceed to install the CCC and BAM! Back to the same problem. I've now cleaned, and reinstalled the driver sans CCC, and it works fine, but there is place to change display options (more than the basic windows ones). I'm thinking it might just be an issue with the drivers, as it tells me I can only get the ones through Dell, which haven't been updated since July? Do any of you guys have any ideas?
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
So, I proceed to install the CCC and BAM! Back to the same problem.


Odd indeed.

You can get Omega Drivers, modified versions of the Catalysts that will work on both standard and mobility Radeons of all types (though support for the older models was dropped recently, yours is still covered). They include ATI Tray Tool instead of CCC, which can be used to set all the same settings (and more) via a tray icon. The latest version is based on ATI's October release.
Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Aha! So, after installing the Omega Drivers, I again had the same problem, which led to believe some option was set in the drivers that was causing it. So before, when I would load just the driver, it would work, and then when I loaded the CCC, some default setting was enabled that caused the problem. So, after going through the options setting by painstaking setting, I found "Enable High Quality AF" to be the cause of the problem. When it's checked, all is well, when not, I get problems. I also noticed that enabling the Catalyst AI on High or Low leads to the issue, so I have disabled that as well.

Thank you very much for your help though! I've read that these Omega drivers are leaps and bounds ahead of the Dell ones, so that's a great plus as well.