KotOR, discussions of technicalities.

[Kella]

Alrighty, so, long story short, I've played KotOR on a different system, up 'till the escape from Taris, but that computer died, so I'm trying to get it to work on a different, older computer...

Okay, that bit doesn't really matter, but ah well. I am now attempting to run the software on a different computer, one that should meet all the technical requirements; and does. Even so...

The Problem: The frame-rate in-game is extremely slow, refreshing about once every second.

I don't think the problem is my CPU, since I have double the recommended Ghz, and there's no lag in the cursor movement, or on the in-game menus.

I'm thinking the graphics card isn't the problem either, because it runs the opening cutscene smooth as silk, and it has adequate MB.

Which leads to the fact that on the system analysis, I noticed that KotOR is attempting to treat this computer's recovery memory as another harddrive, which is the only area in which this computer fails the analysis.

Any recommended patches/ potential fixes?

I would run the updater, but this particular disk is running from a Best of Star Wars Disk, and so has a different launch menu, minus the option to update.

I'm at a bit of a loss here... I can post the system report if anyone wants to take a gander at the tech specs. (And this is on XP, because I know Vista is a total nightmare.)

I absolutely love this game, and it's quite depression to not be able to play it...

~Ashley

[Vex]

Would need more system stats. OS? RAM? Type of Graphics card. If you're running Vista and not a lot of RAM, the OS will hog a lot and not leave much for the game, which could cause problems.

I've heard there are some issues sometimes with KotOR and ATI graphics card. Are the drivers for it completely up to date?

The opening video isn't necessarily an indicator of what the frame rate is going to be, as that is one single file that needs to be loaded and then run, whereas playing the game requires multiple paging requests as the computer responds to your input.

Also...what version of Direct X are you running? Could either be too early of a version or maybe its conflicting with the newer version. KotOR wouldn't be the first video game that runs badly with, say, DirectX 10 but smooth as silk with, say, DirectX 7. Could either try updating it or running an older version, see if that affects the gameplay.

Last but not least, here's a link for a tweak/troubleshooting guide. It's for KotOR 2, but the fixes should still be applicable in a lot of cases. www.actiontrip.com/rei/comments_news.phtml?id=031905_4

Just shooting in the dark based off what you've told me. Try it out, see if it works.

I'll keep my fingers crossed.

[Apillis]

Hmmm. Since you're not using Vista, then I'd ask the same thing as Vex, are you using an old ATI card? Because on my old gaming comp I was using an old ATI and good god was it horrific. Despite the card was perfectly well spec'ed for KotOR, it's drivers for some reason had issues with it, so had to update the drivers which helped some. But the other issue I ran into when using that same comp was, I was using a very outdated monitor. KotOR had trouble reading the drivers for my monitor because to be quite frank it was very frickin' archaic. It wasn't able to read the game's soft shadows, so I had to going into the swkotor.ini and disable the games ability to display soft shadow feature just so I could get into the main menu itself. While that's not the problem you're having, main point being your monitor's drivers play a role, too, if those are outdated it'll effect the game. Last thing I can think of is DirectX 10, if that's all your comp has, download DirectX 9c or better from some where. Because KotOR 1 and 2 is not compatible with DirectX 10 by itself, you will need DirectX 9c or better with it.

[Kella]

Much thanks guys. ;D Here follow zee technical specifications...

~~~~~~~~~~

DirectX

Version 9.0c
d3dx9_30.dll Yes

~~~~~~~~~~
Display devices

Device ATI RADEON XPRESS 200 Series
TnL Yes
Pixel shader 2.0
Vertex shader 2.0
Driver ati2dvag.dll
Version 6.14.10.6599
VendorId 4098
DeviceId 23137
Memory 256.0 MB

~~~~~~~~~~
Sound devices

Device Realtek HD Audio output
Driver RtkHDAud.sys
Version 5.10.0000.5211

~~~~~~~~~~
CPU

Device Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU 2.66GHz (2 CPUs)
Total 2
Speed 2666 MHz
MMX Yes
SSE Yes
SSE2 Yes
3DNow No

~~~~~~~~~~~
RAM

Total 1919 MB

~~~~~~~~~~~
Operating system

Name Windows XP
Version Service Pack 3

~~~~~~~~~~~
Drives

Name C:
Device ST3250824A
File system NTFS
Total 233970 MB
Available 110198 MB

Name D:
Device ST3250824A
File system FAT32
Total 4494 MB
Available 2428 MB

Name E:
Device TSSTcorp CD/DVDW TS-H552D

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now, as I look over this, I realize that this computer is indeed running an ATI card... which is probably the source of all the trouble. X) I ought to have caught that sooner...


Oh, and thanks for the bit about the monitor, though we've a nice shiny one hooked up. Relatively new. ... relatively...
Direct X is swell as well, as evidenced by the above, though I know it can definitely be a stinker. X)

In light of the previous, I shall attempt to locate an updated driver for this video card... Any recommendations? Of course, I shall have to wait for my Dad to let me mess with said drivers. xD Seeing as it's technically his computer. Probably won't be a problem, but better safe than sorry, eh?

Thanks so much, both of you. With any luck, I'll be able to get this game running...

[Vex]

Meh, shoulda caught that you said it was XP...but was after 11pm my time and I should have already been sleeping already. Actually surprised my post was coherent.

I'd definitely check out the drivers and see about the update. Good call on the monitor issue, Apillis, I'd forgotten about that. Your DirectX looks fine, can't really see too much that would give you issues other than the graphics card. If your monitor is anything newer than 2004, you should be good to go if you are saying it's relatively new.

Let us know how it goes once you get your dad's permission. Shouldn't be a problem, he's better off running with updated drivers anyway.

As a tweak, you could see how much virtual RAM you are running. VRAM basically allocates a portion of your Hard Drive to act like RAM. Not as fast as RAM, but faster and good for the computer to store page requests that aren't used so much. Games will tend to use them a lot to store less essential info. More room in that might free up more memory for your computer to use. *shrug* Just food for thought.

Good luck...everyone needs to have KotOR!

[Apillis]

Device ATI RADEON XPRESS 200 Series
TnL Yes
Pixel shader 2.0
Vertex shader 2.0
Driver ati2dvag.dll
Version 6.14.10.6599
VendorId 4098
DeviceId 23137
Memory 256.0 MB

lmao Yeah, that immediately caught my attention. ;D Everything else looks just fine. But ATI, when playing pretty much any game in existence, even when they claim their vid cards are "great for gaming", is an immediate lie. With every game that I've played, even using a newer ATI card, I've always managed to have some sort of trouble with it, simply because of the damn ATI vid card. It's what convinced me to stick with Nvidia.

[Kella]

*elated Squeal*

It workded!

*huggles you all*

xD The drivers did the trick! Runs like a dream. ^^ I would've thanked you guys sooner, but I've been *cough* playing KotOR. xD Thank you both oh so much.

So if anyone wants to talk Taris... xD I love discussing such things.

[Apillis]

Eeee! Taris... oi... I don't like Taris... always bored me out of my mind, Tatooine is my favorite, solely for picking up HK-47 and talking to random jawas, they're so cute! ;D

[Vex]

No problem, glad I could help. Apillis and I now = New SWRP Tech Support.

Taris isn't bad...but does get bothersome after a while. Just want to leave after a point. Tatooine is always my first stop...gotta get HK, really makes the game.

Can you imagine how much cooler Episodes 1-3 would have been with HK as the comic relief instead of Jar-Jar?

[Apillis]

Oh man, that would have made the movies a thousand times better. Though, it might kill some of the more "serious" moments, like Order 66 - the assault on the Jedi Temple.

<HK-47> Exclamation: That's the way, Master! Kill everyone of these peace loving, meatbags!

[Kella]

roffle. I've actually never gotten a system to run past Taris, so I'm in the dark about the beyond... And I like it that way. XD roffle.

Taris didn't really bother me all that much, so if it only gets better from there... well, that's wonderful. Me, being the perfectionist that I am, had an amusing time exploring every nook and cranny of Taris. And beating the crud out of Bendak Starkiller... hm, good times, good times... and you have to love the double pay-out... ah, but I'm rambling again.


What did you guys do with the Rakghoul serum? Seemed to be a whole laundry-list of possibilities. X)

[Apillis]

For a quick "canonical" game I usually just give it to the doc. But, when I feel like being a jerk, I toss it to the Hutt. ;D

[Kella]

Next time I play through Taris, I'll have to see what happens if you cure the villagers before you give it to the Doc. Usually, I'll give it to him, purchase a second, then use it to cure the villagers... Curious if you'd just loose it if you attempted to cure the villagers first. Light side points galore, I just can't help myself. xD I'll have to play when I'm feeling ebil one of these days...

[Mr.Bøbert]

The Rakghoul serum can be found on a Sith Trooper's corpse in the underworld, surrounded by a gaggle or Rakghouls. lol. Bring grenades.... And personally, I loved Taris. Probably because I played KotOR II first, and Its just waaaay better then Peragus and Telos....



EDIT: Oh, wait, didn't see that last post there

[Kella]

Grenades? Bah! I only use those in the Duel Ring, and against Sith. Rakghouls are soooo easy to cream! ;D I can mow through them. ^^ It's fun. Great way to get experience points. Carth's Powerblast, and the Melee Improved Power Attack are my favorites to use against them. Carth can usually take 'em down with one hit; the extra damage is great, since the Rakghouls aren't very good at dodging.

Speaking of which, I love looting corpses. xD I explore with religious determination. Managed to find all the Promised Land journals. Not that that's any great achievement... xD

[Vex]

The Sith Lords could have been a great game...if it had been finished. So much seemed left out though and that ending....sucked, IMO.

Anyone else really want to know what actually happened to Revan? (I won't say anything more since I don't know what you do/do not know about what happens after the first game)

If I remember right, you can dose the sick people and still sell off/give away the serum. I want to say I've done that...but I can't be sure, it's been a while.

Just on a lark, I happened to find a program that allows you to edit your saved files. Since I've played the game so often, I decided to run around with a level 30 soldier with insane states. Amusing on Taris, but gets kind of old.

Also, found some mods to change up some of the characters and add some content. On my regular, (non-save edited game) I'm playing as Darth Maul using one of the mods. Very cool! Also, Mission is skinned to look like Darth Talon from the New Jedi Order comics. They put new spins on the game, keeping it fresh and awesome.

Just wait until you get to Tatooine and can get your hands on HK...he is by far my favorite character.

[Mr.Bøbert]

I'm assuming you've found knightsoftheoldrepublic.filefront.com? lol. Awesome site, it is.

[Vex]

lol...but of course!

[10Tickler]

Now, I REALLY want to Play KOTOR on my MiniHp, but I have no Disk Drive... I do, however, have Alcohol 120, the Mounting Program. Anyone have, or know where I can get, the .iso Files for KOTOR or KOTOR2?

[Kella]

No idea. Though, I thought I remembered reading somewhere that you simply cannot play Kotor with Alcohol... but I might be wrong about that, I was skimming for a solution to a different problem. X)

Speaking of which, I have played Kotor through to the end! mua ha ha. I already want to do it again. X) I've been browsing various mods... any suggestions? There were a couple side-quest add-ons that looked interesting.