slow response in fullscreen mode

ametamorphosis · #1 November 8th, 2005, 11:29 PM

I am experiencing a strange problem with my game.
I notice that my game runs faster in windowed mode than it does in full screen. I am running version 2.5 on a 500mhz amd k6/2 with a voodoo banshee 16mb card and 300+ megs of ram. Does anyone have any suggestions on how i can improve the animation speed in fullscreen? I would much prefer running the game fullscreen versus windowed. The problem seems even stranger since the documentation suggests that fullscreen runs much faster than windowed.

(the speed i am refering to is in the tactical mode when moving units)

thanks in advance

Mobhack · #2 November 9th, 2005, 01:49 AM

It is normal for full screen mode to be faster than windowed mode, but this may not be the case with an LCD screen, as it is probably having to interpolate an 800 screen onto a constant 1024 dots or even 1280, whereas a CRT monitor would only be having to draw the 800 dots wide screen. That could be partt of your problem?.

That aside, have you tried adjusting the preferences for the unit move delay and perhaps graphic delay (if explosions etc are too slow for your taste) on the MISC tab of the Game Options Screen?.

(Game Manual, "Tuning Your Machine" link)

Cheers
Andy

ametamorphosis · #3 November 9th, 2005, 02:55 AM

I am using a crt monitor and the windowed mode is faster than full screen....

I have adjusted the move delay and graphic delay to the fastest settings

I have had no issues with speed in windowed mode, only in fullscreen.... which makes no sense to me at all.

Mobhack · #4 November 9th, 2005, 05:22 PM

Well - that is most strange.

The only thing I can think of is that some driver is not up to date, or your DirectX installation is not right.

Try running Dxdiag, and seeing what the test results show?.

Cheers
Andy

ametamorphosis · #5 November 9th, 2005, 10:23 PM

here is the text from my dxdiag tests
The file 3dfx16vb.drv is not digitally signed, which means that it has not been tested by Microsoft's Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL). Current drivers tested for a WHQL logo are only available on Windows ME, Windows 2000, and Windows XP. New Windows 98 drivers are no longer tested for WHQL logos.
DirectDraw test results: All tests were successful.
Direct3D 7 test results: All tests were successful.
Direct3D 8 test results: All tests were successful.
Direct3D 9 test results: All tests were successful.

i am using a 3rd party driver for my card, as it is no longer supported by the manufacturer. i have had no issues with more intensive programs such as quake 2/quake 3

Mobhack · #6 November 10th, 2005, 03:53 AM

It may well be that the drivers are not doing something correctly in full screen mode.

Difficult to tell really, unless you have another video card with manufacturer-supported drivers to install and test against.

Have you tried setting all sounds to OFF (include the windows click sound, switched in the game options launch program misc tab as well as the two sound types in the in-game options screen). If everything then perks up, something in these drivers does not do DirectShow properly - used to play MP3 sound streams here, not full movies.

Cheers
Andy

ametamorphosis · #7 November 10th, 2005, 04:58 AM

i do not notice a difference in speed when turning the sound off.
unfortunately, i don't have another graphics card to try (certainly wish i did, my card is circa 1997).
I have just been using the windowed mode with my desktop set near the resolution of the game window, and that is working OK for me.

ah, the sacrifices I have to endure....
anyways, i'll just use the windowed mode until i get my new machine

thanks for trying to help