Drexel Ringbloom Posted June 8, 2002 Share Posted June 8, 2002 I prurchased CM when it first came out in 2000 and it ran just fine. I have a OEM computer at 450 MHZ, 64 RAM,Intel 740 graphics accelerator. I then set the game aside( removed from my computer) and recently reloaded it to get back into CM. But now my colors are corrupted. The game runs fine, I have installed the ver1.12 patch but with the colors fouled up I can't play the game. Obviously something happened to my settings in the last 2 years. Any ideas? I've changed resolutions, deleted the prefs files, rebooted, etc but get the same result. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted June 8, 2002 Share Posted June 8, 2002 What Windows version are you running ? What version of DirectX and which driver version for the Intel 740 do you have loaded ? Though I think it wouldn't load without the proper color depth selected, what color depth are you running at - it should be 16, 24 or possibly 32-bit color. Sometimes colors can get screwed up by the drivers and there may not be much that can be done. Have you adjusted any color/gamma properties for your display card in the Display control panel ? I've also seen occasions (but not with CM particularly) where if another application is loaded up that it may screw around with the colors in another application. This is typically true when the color depth is 256 colors or possibly 15/16-bit color. Do you have any 'tweaker' programs or other programs that adjust display properties outside of what comes with the Intel drivers (the Display control panel controls) ? You can get the latest i740 driver from Intel. These are all a bit older since they haven't been updated in awhile (all of them are older than CMBO is). Windows 9x/ME has v. PV4_09, while Win2000 has v. 1.0. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drexel Ringbloom Posted June 8, 2002 Author Share Posted June 8, 2002 Thank you for your quick response: I'm running Win98, my intel740 driver is gfxdrv.drv,ver.4.10.01.2029 at 1024 x768 resolution. 16bit high color. I'm also on directx 8.0 and have run the diagnostic and it seems to be running correctly. I've tried different resolutions and different color settings. Something that I did not mention before was that when I hit alt-Q to quit the program, the color briefly changes to the correct color scheme before leaving the screen. It certainly might be another program that is interfering but how do I determine that? Cm does run but without correct color I can't make out the units,etc and so it is unplayable. there must be a simple correction to change this problem. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted June 8, 2002 Share Posted June 8, 2002 Though you'll lose performance, have you tried 24 or 32-bit color ? In Win98 you can perform a Ctrl-Alt-Del and you'll get a listing of programs that are running. Explorer and Systray should be left in there, while other programs will be optional. These could be anti-virus programs, various utilities, printer drivers, etc. Some of these will be programs in the System Tray in the lower right hand corner. Usually the biggest culprit when it comes to messing with display card palettes will be graphics programs. Also if you have a picture on your desktop that ISN'T a BMP, then you may want to remove it and set your desktop for no graphic (just a plain background color). It's possible that a desktop wallpaper app or special screensaver could also be the culprit. In the final analysis it may just be the video drivers. I can't correlate the actual internal numbering version to the external numbering scheme that Intel uses, so I can't tell if you have the latest drivers or not. In some cases the latest drivers aren't always the best. Some people have had problems with CM when they've installed the latest Intel 815 drivers (not applicable to you since you're running the i740). They had to go back to an earlier version. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drexel Ringbloom Posted June 8, 2002 Author Share Posted June 8, 2002 Well I don't have other graphics running, but I eliminated all the running programs except systray and explorer and still no change. I also downloaded an upgraded driver and still no difference. Its probably something very simple because I used to run CM on this same system. Are there any other games that would interfere with CM's color? I usually only play SPWAW and just got Uncommon Valor. I've taken all other games off the computer. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted June 9, 2002 Share Posted June 9, 2002 I don't believe just the presence of a game would cause your problems. Possibly loading up (playing) one of these games before playing CMBO may cause some video palette funkiness. What resolution are you attempting to play at ? You may want to stay at 800 x 600 or lower with an 8Mb card. Do you have any graphics mods loaded ? CMBO basically works in 16-bit color. Even though a number of the textures are in 24-bit color CM still renders then in 16-bit color. Do you know what kind of control panel options you have for your driver under DirectX ? You can adjust your display performance slider in the System control panel > Performance tab > Graphics button. Slide the slider one notch to the left (this may require a restart) and see what kind of difference it makes for CMBO. It will reduce your display performance (typically 2D) and CMBO may redetect the resolution and set itself for 640 x 480 (and possibly 'software rendering'). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drexel Ringbloom Posted June 9, 2002 Author Share Posted June 9, 2002 I did as you suggested with no change. But I previously ran CM at 1024x768 so why would it be different now on the same machine? Just before I quit the game, it reverts to the correct color scheme so I know there's an adjustment somewhere. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drexel Ringbloom Posted June 9, 2002 Author Share Posted June 9, 2002 also I have no mods loaded and am back to 16 bit high color although I have tried 24 bit and 256 settings also. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted June 9, 2002 Share Posted June 9, 2002 I have no idea why a computer that could run CMBO earlier with no problems all of a sudden has problems with the color palette. You're fairly certain that not much has changed about your computer since CMBO worked without problem last and now ? Have you upgraded your version of DirectX since CMBO last worked ? The next suggestion I have is to remove your current video driver entirely, install the default Windows SVGA driver and then install DirectX 8.1 and then reinstall your video driver. You can get DirectX 8.1 from Microsoft, make sure you get the version for Windows 98/ME (it's approximately 11Mb in size). While there shouldn't be that much of a difference between DirectX 8.0 and 8.1 regarding the Intel 740, I'd suggest getting and installing the latest version anyway. Admittedly this might cause problems with some drivers (though I don't think that going from 8.0 to 8.1 is that much of a difference), but with the 740 I think going from DirectX 6.x or 7.x to 8.0 is more of a change that would cause problems. Follow the instructions I posted in this thread. Though they actually pertain to NVidia GeForce-based cards, some of the info is similar. In your case look for files that start with GFX*.* instead of NV*.*. Also, if you know the chipset of your motherboard I'd suggest downloading the latest drivers for it. Non-Intel chipsets often have unique AGP drivers that can help with certain problems. I know the Intel 740's had compatibility problems with a number of non-Intel chipsets (although that generally shouldn't be the problem here since things were working in the past). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drexel Ringbloom Posted June 9, 2002 Author Share Posted June 9, 2002 i already have DirectX 8.1 but of course when I first got CM it was ver 6.0 so that much has changed that I'm aware of. I will remove my drivers and reload the default as you suggest. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted June 9, 2002 Share Posted June 9, 2002 Unfortunately if DirectX 8.x's compatiblity with your current Intel 740 drivers is the culprit here, you won't find out with these methods. DirectX can't be unistalled (officially). Basically it pretty much requires a clean install of Windows to 'downgrade' DirectX. Win98 SE has DirectX 6.1 built-in and I believe that Win98 1st Ed has DirectX 5.0. DirectX 6.1 I believe is the minium for CMBO. If DirectX is the culprit then the issue isn't one of CMBO's compatibilty with DirectX 8.x, but with your Intel 740 drivers and their compatibility with DirectX 8.x. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drexel Ringbloom Posted June 9, 2002 Author Share Posted June 9, 2002 The problem has been solved and it was related to DirectX but I'm not sure how. I had upgraded to DirectX 8.0 after I had stopped playing CM. In fact i had upgraded to 8.1 at the same time I reloaded CM into my system. I decided to reload ver 8.0 again and guess what happened: CM works just fine now. I may upgrade to 8.1 but why fix something that works? anyhow thanks for staying with me and getting me to try different things. I'm back playing CM and many thanks. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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