pops Posted September 4, 2000 Share Posted September 4, 2000 I have a 16 meg Banshee (3dfx) which works with every game I've tried (and that's a lot), but the smoke graphics in CM don't work.....is it impossible to get a fix for this?.......I've tried the latest drivers to no avail.... thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugger Stein Posted September 4, 2000 Share Posted September 4, 2000 Hi Pops I have the same problem (smoke comes up in squares?). But then again I´m using a lowly voodoo 2, luckily enough I have a quite good imagination, and can easily get carried away (like that time in the kitchen when I used the peppershaker as a divebomber to take ut the evil peas, but thats another story...) Try posting on the tech forum for more qualified help. But I think it´s a voodoo problem that can´t be patched... think I read that somewhere here some time ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PvK Posted September 4, 2000 Share Posted September 4, 2000 I have a 16-MB Banshee too, and it basically works fine unless I set the resolution too high, when it apparently runs out of texture memory and the landscape can dissolve into a regurgitated Pepto-Bismol nightmare and crash. The smoke does have a funky rectangular outline, but that doesn't bother me much. PvK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TURBO Posted September 4, 2000 Share Posted September 4, 2000 pops with my voodo3 card i had to get directx7 for the smoke and graphics to work. Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Clark Posted September 4, 2000 Share Posted September 4, 2000 Being completely new here... and a Voodoo 2 12MB user, I have performed detailed searches on the topic. BTS does say that there is NOTHING they can do about the problem... I find this hard to believe, considering transparent smoke and explosions work well in all my other games. So, let me first say that I'm not crying or complaining... I love the game (well, the demo, my game is one the way), but I would at least like to see an ATTEMPT at getting the smoke to work on the Voodoo 2! Pleeeease? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugger Stein Posted September 4, 2000 Share Posted September 4, 2000 Well Mr.Clarke I second your plea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col Deadmarsh Posted September 4, 2000 Share Posted September 4, 2000 I have a Voodoo 3 2000 card and my smoke graphics are transparent squares which don't really look too much like smoke but enough for me to realize what's going on. Is this the way it's supposed to look in the game or is it my Voodoo card? ------------------ Everything in moderation...except CM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugger Stein Posted September 4, 2000 Share Posted September 4, 2000 I think it´s the voodooo-card. It don´t look a bit like some of those screenshots I´ve seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col Deadmarsh Posted September 4, 2000 Share Posted September 4, 2000 I don't understand why there is a problem with the best selling graphics card on the market. Wasn't this tested in the alpha and beta stages? I can understand there being a problem with a video card with some obscure company...but Voodoo? How the hell did this happen and why can't it be fixed? ------------------ Everything in moderation...except CM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TURBO Posted September 4, 2000 Share Posted September 4, 2000 Col. Go to www.3dfx.com get the latest drivers for yor card and install directx7 if you do not have it. This should fix your problems, I have the same card and it works fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiny Posted September 4, 2000 Share Posted September 4, 2000 I am running 2-12meg V2 cards and have same problem (only with CM though). I have all latest drivers but still no joy. If it annoys you turn down the smoke compatability. (doesn't look as nice but is ok) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Clark Posted September 4, 2000 Share Posted September 4, 2000 Yes, from my extensive use of the search button I have found that if you have a VOODOO 3 you are in luck... simply go grab the LATEST drivers and DX 7 and you are good to go. Now, for us Voodoo 2 people, there is apparently no fix yet to the squared smoke graphics except to use fast smoke mode. Like I said before, I love the game and am not crying about one little thing... but I just want to understand why this is un-fixable when my Voodoo 2 can run transparent smoke in the other games I own. I know Voodoo 2 is an outdated card, but it suits my gaming needs... besides, that's not really the point. I can accept the blocky smoke, I just want to know why it's being called un-fixable. Really, I'm not trying to be un-pleasant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted September 4, 2000 Share Posted September 4, 2000 I have a 12meg V2 and the transparent buildings work great. I just don't know why smoke wouldn't be transparent!!! ------------------ And if we abandon any platform, I can assure you it will not be the Macintosh. -Steve My website! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Clark Posted September 4, 2000 Share Posted September 4, 2000 I know what you mean Colin. Everything else in the entire game seems to work fine (and once again I'm only speaking from the demo... as the valiant US postal service strives to deliver my full game on Tuesday) so I don't understand the smoke thing either... That's all I'm asking... why? If I know, then I can stop obsessing about it and get on fighting the war. The quick smoke and standard explosions don't even bother me... I just NEED to know man!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col Deadmarsh Posted September 5, 2000 Share Posted September 5, 2000 Thanks Turbo & Mr. Clark. I downloaded the new drivers to my Voodoo 3 2000 card, had to also update some Windows package in addition to this which my computer had a hard time doing for some reason, but I went in to try the game just now and the smoke thing is fixed. It looks considerably better than it did before. In other words, no polygons rising up into the air. Still, I'd like to see a mod pack that would address the smoke graphics. From what I've seen, there are some talented people on this forum who could probably do wonders. Thanks again guys. Never occured to me to try to update my Voodoo drivers. Duh. ------------------ Everything in moderation...except CM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darwin Posted September 5, 2000 Share Posted September 5, 2000 Hey guys, I'm running a 16meg voodoo as well. The transparency sucks, I get smoke but nothing like the beautiful stuff I've seen screens of and building transparency doesn't work for me at all. Regardless, the game is eminently functional. Of course I would prefer the better graphics I see others getting but the game works the same with or without. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Tiger22 Posted September 5, 2000 Share Posted September 5, 2000 Hey guys, i have a voodoo3 and i works fine. just thought i'd let you know! Buh bye! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col Deadmarsh Posted September 5, 2000 Share Posted September 5, 2000 I should also point out that I first downloaded the new Direct7.x update. So, for those of you with Voodoo cards, do this in addition to getting your Voodoo driver update. ------------------ Everything in moderation...except CM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted September 5, 2000 Share Posted September 5, 2000 The high-quality smoke can't be "mod-ed" to work with cards that don't support the type of transparency calls that CM is making. I don't know what the difference in the code is between the high-quality transparent smoke and the transparencies for the buildings - possibly that the smoke graphics are animated and the buildings are static. The "smoke" graphics that work on other programs - are they running in DirectX mode or in GLIDE or OpenGL ? Do they appear or work the same as CM's smoke ? The way the smoke is animated may be the difference between what you see in CM and other programs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Clark Posted September 5, 2000 Share Posted September 5, 2000 Schrullenhaft, I'll admit that I am not sure what "programming" went into the smoke on other games... but I do know it is D3D (DX7) smoke, because at the moment I own no Glide or OpenGL games. As one example, in the game SHOGUN, when my little units fire their "muskets", I can see some sweet looking transparent black smoke rising and drifting along the battlefield. Colonel_Deadmarsh, Glad to help! ---------------------------------------- Mr. Clark, Samurai for the Voodoo 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Madmatt Posted September 5, 2000 Share Posted September 5, 2000 I don't understand why there is a problem with the best selling graphics card on the market. There isn't! It works fine on a TNT card! Wasn't this tested in the alpha and beta stages? I can understand there being a problem with a video card with some obscure company...but Voodoo? How the hell did this happen and why can't it be fixed? That would require 3Dfx to start writing drivers that abide by the rules as set by Direct 3d and Direct X. CM supports Direct X and Direct 3D and follows the specs as laid out by Microsoft. Unfortuanely some video card makers cut corners or cludge through their drivers instead of playing by the rules. That's when problems occur. CM doesn't use any special custom DLL's and as such some problems will only be resolved by new drivers from the manufactorer. Maybe in the future either some new drivers from 3dfx, a new DirectX version or a change in the way CM handles the Direct 3D calls will fix this issue. There are many with V3 that have all the graphics working fine. My comments are about primarily the V2. Madmatt ------------------ If it's in Combat Mission, it's on Combat Mission HQ! Combat Mission HQ CMHQ-Annex, The Alternative side of Combat Mission CMHQ-Annex Host of the Combat Mission WebRing [This message has been edited by Madmatt (edited 09-05-2000).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiger Posted September 5, 2000 Share Posted September 5, 2000 The Voodoo2 is like 3-4 years old. Make sure you get the updated directx 7 version ("7a" I think?) and download the lastest drivers. Also, a complete video driver re-install often is required. Don't just write over the old drivers. With Voodoo2s, remember to use the driver sweep utility after installing new drivers. This will get rid of any old driver files. Also, I've heard that a number of problems like this are directx related and will "supposedly" be fixed with the soon to be released directx8.... I own a Voodoo 5 and it looks/works great, esp with the fsaa 4x. That's what I use to take those sweet looking screenies of my mods. -johnS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrixxTango Posted September 5, 2000 Share Posted September 5, 2000 I also have 2 Voodoo 2 cards, (running in SLI mode), and even though my PC is a dinosaur, (Pentium 166), I have not experienced any problems with the game graphics, other than the expected slow-down when running large scenarios. The only thing I can think of is that you might want to make sure you have the latest drivers. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hakujin Posted September 6, 2000 Share Posted September 6, 2000 Just to add to the mix... I have 2 Voodoo3 3000s (obviously on two different machines). Smoke looks great on one and lousy on the other. However, since the one that looks terrible is my girlfriend's which I don't update often, chances are it's the drivers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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