Can't get any of the ddraw.INI DX9 modes to work without lagging terribly in-game

Updated versions of killap's Unofficial Patch and Restoration Project.
NomadAI
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Joined: Tue Aug 31, 2021 5:58 pm

Can't get any of the ddraw.INI DX9 modes to work without lagging terribly in-game

Post by NomadAI »

Hi,

Last time I ran Fallout 2 with Restoration mod plus Alt Miria mod by Endocore, I had zero issues with anything.

However, this time, I'm having issues right from the beginning. My main issue seems to be that I can't get ANY of the ddraw.IONI's DX9 options to work.

The closest I got is the following setup:

- In my ddraw.ini, in the [Graphics] section, I have "Mode=0" (without quotes obviously), which is 8 bit fullscreen.
- in my f2_res.ini, in the [MAIN] section, I have:
-- "GRAPHICS_MODE=2", for DX9 mode.
-- "SCALE_2X=1": This is how I made it truly full-screen and not small window with smaller text.
-- "COLOUR_BITS=32"
-- also SCR_WIDTH and SCR_HEIGHT set to 2560 and 1444, respectively.
Note: The only problem with my current setup is that there is terrible screen tearing happening across the screen. However, on the flip side, at least the gameplay seems to be smooth, no lag when moving character around, outside the Temple of Trials. There is lag however when opening and closing dialog. So perhaps not everything is quite fixed, even with the above setup. I think the conflict is between the SFALL implementation of resolutions/graphics and the High-Res patch implementation (which seems to stick better).

So my question to you is how come the ddraw.ini Modes 4 through 6 do not work? I did try to tinker with the speed settings and I think I got them right, but perhaps I messed up with the RPU version 22's installation somehow?

I mean they do work, but as soon as I'm in-game, it's very stuttery, not just the mouse lag, but even just running my character outside the Temple of Trials is very very slow and jagged.

Yet, even WITHOUT any ddraw or f2_res INI changes. On the Main Menu, the mouse lag is atrocious. Something about the mouse pointer is off, no matter what mode I use. Especially lags when clicking on Options and trying to see either Gameplay or Screen Settings. So perhaps something even more fundamental is off or not installed correctly.

I'm going to try to uninstall everything and restart from scratch. And before installing RPU v22. I'll try to play Fallout 2 "as-is" from Steam and see if it's an original fault or not.

I even tried Peixoto's injector here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/Peixoto
However, I didn't see much change visually and it felt to me like the F2 High-Res was still the top dawg in terms of whose changes/implementations get actually transferred and reflected in-game.

Thank you for your  time and kind consideration. Much appreciated! Cheers!
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Magus
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Re: Can't get any of the ddraw.INI DX9 modes to work without lagging terribly in-game

Post by Magus »

You have to set GRAPHICS_MODE=0 in f2_res.ini to use ddraw.ini modes 4-6.

Alternatively, you can try to use WINDOWED_FULLSCREEN in HiRes to see if that helps with tearing in your original setup.

I don't think your installation is screwed up.
Please do not PM or email me about my mods and projects. Use forums. Also, see our talk channels.
NomadAI
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Aug 31, 2021 5:58 pm

Re: Can't get any of the ddraw.INI DX9 modes to work without lagging terribly in-game

Post by NomadAI »

Thanks for responding so promptly Magus! Much appreciated! :D

Yes, I do set GRAPHICS_MODE=0 in f2_res in order to use ddraw.ini modes 4-6. It's just whenever I do so, I get tremendous lag in-game. I'm trying to figure out why and how come?

At first, I thought it was maybe because I was forcing V-Sync through my Nvidia Control Panel. I went in there and made sure to reset everything to defaults and not force V-Sync or any other thing, except for the Frame Limiter to 60 fps, which I set for most games. Perhaps that is to blame, because I read other forums where RivaTuner and other frame limiters had issues with Fallout 2.

Yeah, I too don't think that the installation is messed up. On Main menu, I do see in the bottom-right corner Fallout 1.02d version, RP2.3.3.u22 and SFALL 4.0.3.2.

Also on character creation screen, I see that I can choose different styles for males and females with Long-Haired dude and Blondie, Redhead and Punk Girl variants, which were all NOT in the base game, so came with the Restoration mod's Appearance sub-mod. So that's how I know for sure that RPU is working as intended. I don't know yet whether Miria mod is working as intended (whether I installed it correctly), but I'm going through right now and trying to get to Modoc. Ugh, it's very frustrating and painful with how laggy and screen tearing the game is. It's definitely NOT how I remember Fallout 2 last time I played back in 2019 or so.

Last time, I did use an older RP and SFALL. Perhaps those were somehow more compatible with my Windows 10 configuration and setup. I do have an AMD Threadripper with 32 cores and 64 threads. However, I made sure that I'm on Legacy mode only using 8 cores/16 threads. In the past, that was the issue which didn't allow me to play some old games like Dawn of War II. Yet, I checked and DOW2 and DOW3 work, so it's not the CPU issue.
I also checked to tick on CPU usage under "f2_res.ini".

; Set to 1 to reduce CPU usage and heat generation by allowing the system to go idle.
; This setting should not be enabled if Sfalls "ProcessorIdle" setting is also enabled as this will likly cause slowdowns.
CPU_USAGE_FIX=1

So, I'm not sure what gives.
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Magus
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Re: Can't get any of the ddraw.INI DX9 modes to work without lagging terribly in-game

Post by Magus »

So did you try WINDOWED_FULLSCREEN? Does it have tearing too?
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NomadAI
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Joined: Tue Aug 31, 2021 5:58 pm

Re: Can't get any of the ddraw.INI DX9 modes to work without lagging terribly in-game

Post by NomadAI »

Yes, actually windowed_fullscreen is the one working the best. I have tried fullscreen as well, but still I'm at a loss at why my performance in Fallout 2 is so atrocious still. Haven't found out the culprit yet.
NomadAI
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Aug 31, 2021 5:58 pm

Re: Can't get any of the ddraw.INI DX9 modes to work without lagging terribly in-game

Post by NomadAI »

On an unrelated note, I can't seem to use FALCHE2, F2SE or F12SE for character editing.

Only the first one before Temple of Trials I can edit... but any subsequent ones, F12SE sees as "combat mode" and F2SE has error of "Access Violation at address 041B95F in module 'F2se.exe'. Read of address 00000065."

So I can't edit any savegames or characters or slots. I don't remember this either. I recall that previous RPU versions, I could use F12SE with no problem.
NomadAI
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Aug 31, 2021 5:58 pm

Re: Can't get any of the ddraw.INI DX9 modes to work without lagging terribly in-game

Post by NomadAI »

Progress Update: Got rid of screen tearing!

Apparently, it was something with my Nvidia Control Panel. Basically what I did is to turn off ALL optimizations/changes that I forced via Nvidia Control Panel.

Main culprit I think was to turn off Frame Limiter at 60 fps.

FINALLY! DX9 mode 6 worked. Here are my settings. I followed mostly from the article below:
https://www.nma-fallout.com/threads/how ... -2.213432/

ddraw.ini settings
NOTE: BOLDED is what I had changed.
[spoiler]
;XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
[Graphics]
;Set to 0 for 8 bit fullscreen
;Set to 4 for DX9 fullscreen
;Set to 5 for DX9 windowed
;Set to 6 for DX9 fullscreen windowed (the resolution in f2_res.ini should be set to the same aspect ratio as your desktop resolution)
;A DX9 mode is required for any graphics related script extender functions to work (i.e. fullscreen shaders)
;Modes 1, 2 and 3 are no longer supported
Mode=6

;If using a DX9 mode, this changes the resolution
;The graphics are simply stretched to fit the new window; this does _not_ let you see more of the map
;If set to 0, use Fallout's native resolution
GraphicsWidth=1920
GraphicsHeight=1080


;Window position data. Do not modify
;Set to 0 to reset if the window position is incorrect
WindowData=0

;Uncomment the option to use a hardware shader (requires DX9 graphics mode)
;The shader file <name>.fx must be placed in <GameRoot>\<master_patches>\shaders\ and must contain one technique with one or more passes
;You can specify multiple shader files, separated by commas
;GlobalShaderFile=global.fx

;Set to 1 to automatically enable linear texture filtering when the scale factor is not an integer
;Set to 2 to force-enable linear texture filtering
;This can be used in conjunction with the GlobalShaderFile option
TextureFilter=1

;Set to 1 to do the palette conversion on the GPU
;Set to 2 to do the palette conversion on the CPU (used for compatibility with old video cards)
;Set to 0 to pick automatically
;GPU is faster, but requires v2.0 pixel shader support
GPUBlt=1

;Set to 1 to allow using 32-bit textures for talking heads
;The texture files should be placed in art\heads\<name of the talking head FRM file>\ (w/o extension)
;The files in the folder should be numbered according to the number of frames in the talking head FRM file (0.png, 1.png, etc.)
;See the text file in the modders pack for a detailed description
;Requires DX9 graphics mode and v2.0 pixel shader support (see GPUBlt option)
Use32BitHeadGraphics=1

;Set to 1 to automatically search for alternative AVI video files when Fallout tries to play the game movies
;Set to 2 to force AVI videos to fit the screen width
;Requires DX9 graphics mode
AllowDShowMovies=0

;Fade effect time percentage modifier
;Default is 100. Decrease/increase this value to speed up/slow down fade effects
FadeMultiplier=100

;XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
[/spoiler]
NomadAI
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Aug 31, 2021 5:58 pm

Re: Can't get any of the ddraw.INI DX9 modes to work without lagging terribly in-game

Post by NomadAI »

f2_res.ini
[spoiler]
GRAPHICS_MODE=0

; Set the Fullscreen resolution here.
SCR_WIDTH=960
SCR_HEIGHT=540


COLOUR_BITS=32

; Set WINDOWED=1 to enable windowed mode.
WINDOWED=1

WINDOWED_FULLSCREEN=1
....
....
[OTHER_SETTINGS]
; Set to 1 to reduce CPU usage and heat generation by allowing the system to go idle.
; This setting should not be enabled if Sfalls "ProcessorIdle" setting is also enabled as this will likly cause slowdowns.
CPU_USAGE_FIX=1
[/spoiler]

Hopefully this helps others out there!
NomadAI
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Aug 31, 2021 5:58 pm

Re: Can't get any of the ddraw.INI DX9 modes to work without lagging terribly in-game

Post by NomadAI »

Just for completness sake, here are my Nvidia Control Panel settings that got rid of the screen tearing and stuttering/bad performance in Fallout 2, and allowed the ddraw DX9 mode to function as it should. So, the culprit was definitely my Nvidia driver and Nvidia CP settings, NOT RPU, SFALL, or High-Res Patch settings.

Nvidia Control Panel Settings 1/3
[img]https://i.imgur.com/pVYRDYt.png?4[/img]

Nvidia Control Panel Settings 2/3
[img]https://i.imgur.com/gaIVU86.png[/img]

Nvidia Control Panel Settings 3/3
[img]https://i.imgur.com/YOM6lVq.png?1[/img]

PS: Now, just one last issue left. What savegame/character editor works with RPU, Project Restoration? For cheats and such, more than just FO2Tweaks? For me, F2SE and F12SE both don't work, unfortunately.
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Magus
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Re: Can't get any of the ddraw.INI DX9 modes to work without lagging terribly in-game

Post by Magus »

OK, good to know that you got it working.

F12SE is supposed to work with RPU. What's the error?
Please do not PM or email me about my mods and projects. Use forums. Also, see our talk channels.
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