Video Card Bugs

[Gyrfalcon]

I don't think I've ever seen the disco ball.

[sven]

Aye I stil am seeing the discolight twitching in the left corner.. I played yesterday, I haven't checked today but I will.

Ok, amusingly, it looks like the disco ball may be something that happens on most 6000 series cards, a few 5000 series, and not much else. I'll get it fixed eventually... The bigger concern is the between-turn crashing. I *think* a patch I pushed on Saturday may have fixed these. Graphics glitches we can live with, but, CTDs are a bigger deal.

So, please let me know if you hit any new crash-to-desktop bugs.

[icekatze]

hi hi

I can confirm that the disco ball bug is happening on my ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series card.

I wonder if the bug has anything to do with the way video drivers handle the different form-factors on the video cards? (Some have 2 DVI ports, and some only have 1. Some have a display port, and some do not.) I recall different programs having troubles with that in the past.

[Big Imp]

Still a twitching disco ball, on the latest build .

[sven]

Still a twitching disco ball, on the latest build .

ok, as of the latest stable build (r12005), it looks like *fewer* people are seeing this bug. is it still there for you? (and if it is, could you tell me specifically what color stars it's happening for (yellow, orange, red-dwarf, red-giant, or blue-giant)?

[Big Imp]

Still a twitching disco ball, on the latest build .

ok, as of the latest stable build (r12005), it looks like *fewer* people are seeing this bug. is it still there for you? (and if it is, could you tell me specifically what color stars it's happening for (yellow, orange, red-dwarf, red-giant, or blue-giant)?

Sven!

You have done it...hurray.

[icekatze]

hi hi

I am not sure if this is a problem with the animation or a problem with graphics cards, but as I've been playing the Phidi, I've been noticing that the churning water animation that plays over certain sections of their ships and over their adviser panels will occasional skip or flicker. It happens pretty regularly, about every 5 seconds or so.

[Arioch]

I am not sure if this is a problem with the animation or a problem with graphics cards, but as I've been playing the Phidi, I've been noticing that the churning water animation that plays over certain sections of their ships and over their adviser panels will occasional skip or flicker. It happens pretty regularly, about every 5 seconds or so.

What graphics card do you have?

[sven]

I am not sure if this is a problem with the animation or a problem with graphics cards, but as I've been playing the Phidi, I've been noticing that the churning water animation that plays over certain sections of their ships and over their adviser panels will occasional skip or flicker. It happens pretty regularly, about every 5 seconds or so.

What graphics card do you have?

icekatze's on an older radeon (HD 5xxx series). i've seen versions of this glitch myself when testing on certain hardware -- it's basically a less-severe manifestation of the notorious 'disco lights' behavior we were seeing inside some of the dynamic suns. it's probably fixable. but, it's also a relatively low-priority issue. if anyone else notices 'flickering' glitches like this -- please let me know (ideally, by making a post in the Video Card Bugs thread).

[Gyrfalcon]

I'm seeing this on the Orthin colony ship, too.

[sven]

I'm seeing this on the Orthin colony ship, too.

hrm. as of r12182 (now on stable), i've switched the Radeon HD 5xxx series to a simpler caustics shader. let me know if you still notice glitches.

[Gyrfalcon]

I'm still seeing a very distinct blink on the Orthin colony ship, where the water seems to blink out for a moment before coming back.

EDIT: just noting that I'm still seeing this on Orthin and Phidi colonizers as of r122247.

[JohnnyW00t]

SiS is running fine on my laptop, but had an issue on my older desktop. This desktop was a beefy gaming/dev machine in 2005 but is showing it's age now. Personally I wouldn't sweat this issue from a business standpoint as most machines this age have been put out to pasture. It does play almost all 2D and most 3D games just fine, sometimes with the effects turned down a bit for 3D.

Another thing I might note is this desktop has dual monitors.

Here are the details from the popup dialog and the logs:

First run crash

nvidia.png (30.95 KiB) Viewed 64845 times

The link from that dialog:
http://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3007

The second time I ran SiS it delayed on the splash screen for some time. I thought you would want to note the loss of transparency around the splash logo. It showed up like this after I alt-tabbed around a bit:

Second run hung up

splash.png (830.11 KiB) Viewed 64845 times

Another note - should both of the A's in STARS and SHADOW have the same dot in the middle?

Then to wrap up my second run I got an "exe is not responding" message at the main menu:

not_responding.png (989.15 KiB) Viewed 64845 times

Here are the logs files from the first run:

gl_extensions.txt

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OpenGL vendor string: NVIDIA Corporation
OpenGL renderer string: GeForce 7950 GT/PCIe/SSE2
OpenGL version string: 2.1.2
OpenGL shader language version: 1.20 NVIDIA via Cg compiler
OpenGL extensions (GL_):
    GL_ARB_color_buffer_float, GL_ARB_compressed_texture_pixel_storage,
    GL_ARB_conservative_depth, GL_ARB_copy_buffer, GL_ARB_depth_clamp,
    GL_ARB_depth_texture, GL_ARB_draw_buffers, GL_ARB_ES2_compatibility,
    GL_ARB_explicit_attrib_location, GL_ARB_fragment_program,
    GL_ARB_fragment_program_shadow, GL_ARB_fragment_shader,
    GL_ARB_framebuffer_object, GL_ARB_get_program_binary,
    GL_ARB_half_float_pixel, GL_ARB_half_float_vertex, GL_ARB_imaging,
    GL_ARB_internalformat_query, GL_ARB_map_buffer_alignment,
    GL_ARB_map_buffer_range, GL_ARB_multisample, GL_ARB_multitexture,
    GL_ARB_occlusion_query, GL_ARB_occlusion_query2, GL_ARB_pixel_buffer_object,
    GL_ARB_point_parameters, GL_ARB_point_sprite, GL_ARB_provoking_vertex,
    GL_ARB_robustness, GL_ARB_sampler_objects, GL_ARB_separate_shader_objects,
    GL_ARB_shader_objects, GL_ARB_shading_language_100,
    GL_ARB_shading_language_420pack, GL_ARB_shading_language_include,
    GL_ARB_shadow, GL_ARB_sync, GL_ARB_texture_border_clamp,
    GL_ARB_texture_compression, GL_ARB_texture_cube_map, GL_ARB_texture_env_add,
    GL_ARB_texture_env_combine, GL_ARB_texture_env_crossbar,
    GL_ARB_texture_env_dot3, GL_ARB_texture_float,
    GL_ARB_texture_mirrored_repeat, GL_ARB_texture_non_power_of_two,
    GL_ARB_texture_rectangle, GL_ARB_texture_rg, GL_ARB_texture_storage,
    GL_ARB_texture_swizzle, GL_ARB_timer_query, GL_ARB_transpose_matrix,
    GL_ARB_vertex_array_bgra, GL_ARB_vertex_array_object,
    GL_ARB_vertex_buffer_object, GL_ARB_vertex_program, GL_ARB_vertex_shader,
    GL_ARB_window_pos, GL_ATI_draw_buffers, GL_ATI_texture_float,
    GL_ATI_texture_mirror_once, GL_S3_s3tc, GL_EXT_texture_env_add, GL_EXT_abgr,
    GL_EXT_bgra, GL_EXT_blend_color, GL_EXT_blend_equation_separate,
    GL_EXT_blend_func_separate, GL_EXT_blend_minmax, GL_EXT_blend_subtract,
    GL_EXT_compiled_vertex_array, GL_EXT_Cg_shader, GL_EXT_depth_bounds_test,
    GL_EXT_direct_state_access, GL_EXT_draw_range_elements, GL_EXT_fog_coord,
    GL_EXT_framebuffer_blit, GL_EXT_framebuffer_multisample,
    GL_EXT_framebuffer_object, GL_EXT_gpu_program_parameters,
    GL_EXT_multi_draw_arrays, GL_EXT_packed_depth_stencil, GL_EXT_packed_pixels,
    GL_EXT_pixel_buffer_object, GL_EXT_point_parameters,
    GL_EXT_provoking_vertex, GL_EXT_rescale_normal, GL_EXT_secondary_color,
    GL_EXT_separate_shader_objects, GL_EXT_separate_specular_color,
    GL_EXT_shadow_funcs, GL_EXT_stencil_two_side, GL_EXT_stencil_wrap,
    GL_EXT_texture3D, GL_EXT_texture_compression_dxt1,
    GL_EXT_texture_compression_s3tc, GL_EXT_texture_cube_map,
    GL_EXT_texture_edge_clamp, GL_EXT_texture_env_combine,
    GL_EXT_texture_env_dot3, GL_EXT_texture_filter_anisotropic,
    GL_EXT_texture_format_BGRA8888, GL_EXT_texture_lod, GL_EXT_texture_lod_bias,
    GL_EXT_texture_mirror_clamp, GL_EXT_texture_object, GL_EXT_texture_sRGB,
    GL_EXT_texture_sRGB_decode, GL_EXT_texture_storage, GL_EXT_texture_swizzle,
    GL_EXT_timer_query, GL_EXT_vertex_array, GL_EXT_vertex_array_bgra,
    GL_EXT_import_sync_object, GL_IBM_rasterpos_clip,
    GL_IBM_texture_mirrored_repeat, GL_KTX_buffer_region, GL_NV_alpha_test,
    GL_NV_blend_minmax, GL_NV_blend_square, GL_NV_complex_primitives,
    GL_NV_copy_depth_to_color, GL_NV_depth_clamp, GL_NV_ES1_1_compatibility,
    GL_NV_fbo_color_attachments, GL_NV_fence, GL_NV_float_buffer,
    GL_NV_fog_distance, GL_NV_fragdepth, GL_NV_fragment_program,
    GL_NV_fragment_program_option, GL_NV_fragment_program2,
    GL_NV_framebuffer_multisample_coverage, GL_NV_half_float,
    GL_NV_light_max_exponent, GL_NV_multisample_filter_hint,
    GL_NV_occlusion_query, GL_NV_packed_depth_stencil, GL_NV_pixel_data_range,
    GL_NV_point_sprite, GL_NV_primitive_restart, GL_NV_register_combiners,
    GL_NV_register_combiners2, GL_NV_texgen_reflection, GL_NV_texture_barrier,
    GL_NV_texture_compression_vtc, GL_NV_texture_env_combine4,
    GL_NV_texture_expand_normal, GL_NV_texture_lod_clamp,
    GL_NV_texture_rectangle, GL_NV_texture_shader, GL_NV_texture_shader2,
    GL_NV_texture_shader3, GL_NV_vertex_array_range, GL_NV_vertex_array_range2,
    GL_NV_vertex_program, GL_NV_vertex_program1_1, GL_NV_vertex_program2,
    GL_NV_vertex_program2_option, GL_NV_vertex_program3,
    GL_NVX_conditional_render, GL_OES_compressed_paletted_texture,
    GL_OES_depth24, GL_OES_depth32, GL_OES_depth_texture,
    GL_OES_element_index_uint, GL_OES_fbo_render_mipmap,
    GL_OES_get_program_binary, GL_OES_mapbuffer, GL_OES_packed_depth_stencil,
    GL_OES_point_size_array, GL_OES_point_sprite, GL_OES_rgb8_rgba8,
    GL_OES_read_format, GL_OES_standard_derivatives, GL_OES_texture_3D,
    GL_OES_texture_float, GL_OES_texture_float_linear,
    GL_OES_texture_half_float, GL_OES_texture_half_float_linear,
    GL_OES_texture_npot, GL_OES_vertex_array_object, GL_OES_vertex_half_float,
    GL_SGIS_generate_mipmap, GL_SGIS_texture_lod, GL_SGIX_depth_texture,
    GL_SGIX_shadow, GL_SUN_slice_accum, GL_WIN_swap_hint, WGL_EXT_swap_control.
GLU version string: 1.2.2.0 Microsoft Corporation
GLU extensions (GLU_):
    GL_EXT_bgra.
WGL extensions (WGL_):
    WGL_ARB_buffer_region, WGL_ARB_create_context,
    WGL_ARB_create_context_profile, WGL_ARB_create_context_robustness,
    WGL_ARB_extensions_string, WGL_ARB_make_current_read, WGL_ARB_multisample,
    WGL_ARB_pbuffer, WGL_ARB_pixel_format, WGL_ARB_pixel_format_float,
    WGL_ARB_render_texture, WGL_ATI_pixel_format_float,
    WGL_EXT_create_context_es_profile, WGL_EXT_create_context_es2_profile,
    WGL_EXT_extensions_string, WGL_EXT_swap_control, WGL_EXT_swap_control_tear,
    WGL_NV_float_buffer, WGL_NV_render_depth_texture,
    WGL_NV_render_texture_rectangle.


machine.txt

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Win32_OperatingSystem:
  FreePhysicalMemory = 1873864
  OSArchitecture = 64-bit
  Version = 6.1.7601
  Caption = Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate N
  LocalDateTime = 20150420130728.407000-240

Win32_Processor:
  Name = AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 3800+
  NumberOfCores = 2


shaders.txt

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GL_RENDERER=GeForce 7950 GT/PCIe/SSE2
  OpenGL Version: 2.1.2
  DriverVersion: 9.18.13.908
  DriverDate: 20150130
  MAX_COLOR_ATTACHMENTS:8
  MAX_TEXTURE_SIZE:4096
  max_arb_native_instructions: 4096
  max_arb_alu_instructions: 4096
  GL_SHADING_LANGUAGE_VERSION_ARB: 1.20 NVIDIA via Cg compiler
  cgGLDetectGLSLVersion: CG_GL_GLSL_120
Using Cg profile: fp40

loading: shaders\downsample

update_log.txt

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2015-04-20 17:00:45.837:
 updating with C:\Games\StarsInShadow\Stars in Shadow\update.exe, VERSION="nil"
trying to connect to server
checking on 01:00.47PM Monday, 04/20/15 : (none)
  update to version "03:45.40PM Saturday, 04/18/15 (12272) : 40e4b851615299c9a25f0d299b60594d5477ff4d" complete

video_controllers.txt

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GL_RENDERER=GeForce 7950 GT/PCIe/SSE2
  OpenGL Version: 2.1.2
Controller 1:
  CurrentNumberOfColumns=0
  MaxRefreshRate=240
  DitherType=0
  Availability=3
  Caption=NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GT
  AdapterDACType=Integrated RAMDAC
  AdapterCompatibility=NVIDIA
  DriverVersion=9.18.13.908
  CreationClassName=Win32_VideoController
  ConfigManagerErrorCode=0
  VideoModeDescription=1920 x 1200 x 4294967296 colors
  PNPDeviceID=PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0295&SUBSYS_C6353842&REV_A1\4&5F83F54&0&0070
  Description=NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GT
  CurrentNumberOfColors=4294967296
  VideoArchitecture=5
  DeviceID=VideoController1
  CurrentNumberOfRows=0
  MinRefreshRate=50
  CurrentRefreshRate=59
  CurrentVerticalResolution=1200
  AdapterRAM=536870912
  DriverDate=20150130000000.000000-000
  ConfigManagerUserConfig=0
  VideoMemoryType=2
  Monochrome=0
  VideoProcessor=GeForce 7950 GT
  InstalledDisplayDrivers=nvd3dumx.dll,nvd3dum
  SystemCreationClassName=Win32_ComputerSystem
  Status=OK
  InfFilename=oem1.inf
  CurrentBitsPerPixel=32
  CurrentScanMode=4
  CurrentHorizontalResolution=1920
  Name=NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GT
  InfSection=Section001_sec


On the second run the shaders.txt file was different:

Code: Select all

GL_RENDERER=GeForce 7950 GT/PCIe/SSE2
  OpenGL Version: 2.1.2
  DriverVersion: 9.18.13.908
  DriverDate: 20150130
  MAX_COLOR_ATTACHMENTS:8
  MAX_TEXTURE_SIZE:4096
  max_arb_native_instructions: 4096
  max_arb_alu_instructions: 4096
  GL_SHADING_LANGUAGE_VERSION_ARB: 1.20 NVIDIA via Cg compiler
  cgGLDetectGLSLVersion: CG_GL_GLSL_120
Using Cg profile: fp40

loading: Lua state\Drawers\Effects\sun_shader<DSHORT_OFFSET_PERMUTATION<DSURFACE_SCALE=2.2999999999999998<DSURFACE_COLOR=pink_red<DRING_FUN=M_type_ring<DRING_NOISE=accum4_turb3<DSURFACE_NOISE=accum4_turb4
loading: shaders\downsample
loading: Lua state\Drawers\Planets\Clouds\cat_textures<DTEXTURE_COUNT=1
loading: Lua state\Drawers\Planets\planet_super<DAXIS_TILT<DCLOUD_LAYERS=1<DGLOW<DHEIGHT<DNIGHTSIDE_AMBIENT<DRING1<DRING2
loading: Lua state\Drawers\Planets\planet_super<DAXIS_TILT<DCUSTOM_LIGHT_DIR<DHALO
loading: Lua state\Drawers\Effects\sun_shader<DSHORT_OFFSET_PERMUTATION<DSURFACE_SCALE=2.5<DSURFACE_NOISE=accum4_turb4<DSURFACE_COLOR=white_orange<DRING_NOISE=accum4_turb3<DRING_FUN=K_type_ring
loading: shaders\max_downsample
loading: Lua state\Drawers\Planets\planet_super<DAXIS_TILT<DCITY_GLOW<DCITY_LIGHTS<DCLOUD_LAYERS=1<DGLOW<DHEIGHT<DNIGHTSIDE_AMBIENT<DRING0<DRING1<DRING2
loading: Lua state\Drawers\Planets\planet_super<DAXIS_TILT<DCLOUD_LAYERS=1<DCUSTOM_LIGHT_DIR<DGLOW<DHEIGHT<DNIGHTSIDE_AMBIENT<DRING1<DRING2
loading: Lua state\Drawers\Planets\set_alpha
loading: Lua state\Drawers\Planets\combine_color_with_opacity
loading: Lua state\Drawers\Planets\planet_super<DAXIS_TILT<DCITY_GLOW<DCITY_LIGHTS<DCLOUD_LAYERS=1<DGLOW<DHALO<DHEIGHT<DNIGHTSIDE_AMBIENT<DRING0<DRING1<DRING2<DSPECULAR<DTEXTURE_RINGS=1<DTEXTURE_RING_SIZE=1024
loading: Lua state\Drawers\Planets\planet_super<DAXIS_TILT<DGLOW<DHALO<DHEIGHT<DNIGHTSIDE_AMBIENT
loading: Lua state\Drawers\Effects\sun_shader<DSHORT_OFFSET_PERMUTATION<DSURFACE_SCALE=2.7000000000000002<DSURFACE_NOISE=accum4_turb4<DSURFACE_COLOR=brighter_yellow<DRING_NOISE=accum4_turb3<DRING_FUN=G_type_ring
loading: Lua state\Drawers\Planets\planet_super<DAXIS_TILT<DCUSTOM_LIGHT_DIR<DGLOW<DHALO<DHEIGHT<DNIGHTSIDE_AMBIENT
loading: Lua state\Drawers\Planets\planet_super<DAXIS_TILT<DCITY_GLOW<DCITY_LIGHTS<DCLOUD_LAYERS=1<DHEIGHT<DNIGHTSIDE_AMBIENT<DRING0<DRING1<DRING2
loading: Lua state\Drawers\Planets\Clouds\mod_alpha
loading: Lua state\Drawers\Planets\planet_super<DAXIS_TILT<DBRIGHTEN_SURFACE=1.2<DCITY_GLOW<DCITY_LIGHTS<DCLOUD_LAYERS=1<DCUSTOM_LIGHT_DIR<DGLOW<DHALO<DNIGHTSIDE_AMBIENT
loading: Lua state\Drawers\Planets\planet_super<DAXIS_TILT<DCITY_GLOW<DCITY_LIGHTS<DCLOUD_LAYERS=1<DHEIGHT<DNIGHTSIDE_AMBIENT<DRING0<DRING1<DRING2<DTEXTURE_RINGS=1<DTEXTURE_RING_SIZE=1024
loading: Lua state\Drawers\Planets\planet_super<DAXIS_TILT<DCITY_GLOW<DCITY_LIGHTS<DCLOUD_LAYERS=1<DGLOW<DHEIGHT<DNIGHTSIDE_AMBIENT<DRING0<DRING1<DRING2<DSPECULAR
loading: Lua state\Drawers\Planets\planet_super<DAXIS_TILT<DBRIGHTEN_SURFACE=1.2<DCITY_GLOW<DCITY_LIGHTS<DCLOUD_LAYERS=1<DGLOW<DHALO<DNIGHTSIDE_AMBIENT
loading: Lua state\Drawers\Effects\compose_start_screen
loading: Lua state\Drawers\Effects\frame_transparent<DFRAME_TEX
loading: Lua state\Drawers\Effects\frame_circular
loading: Lua state\Drawers\Effects\shadow_img
loading: shaders\copy

The third run had the same "not responding" result as the second, but I never made it to the main menu.

[JohnnyW00t]

...The third run had the same "not responding" result as the second, but I never made it to the main menu.

If I let it run for a while it does get to the main menu. Task Manager says that SiS is pegging my CPU on the main menu screen. I am guessing the issue is the rotating planet in the corner is being rendered in software on the CPU rather than in hardware on the GPU? If so, and you plan on supporting older machines you might want to have some configuration available in the launch app that lets you dial that down to a static planet image.

[sven]

...The third run had the same "not responding" result as the second, but I never made it to the main menu.

If I let it run for a while it does get to the main menu. Task Manager says that SiS is pegging my CPU on the main menu screen. I am guessing the issue is the rotating planet in the corner is being rendered in software on the CPU rather than in hardware on the GPU? If so, and you plan on supporting older machines you might want to have some configuration available in the launch app that lets you dial that down to a static planet image.

yeah -- a 2005-era NVIDIA card is at the outside limit of the hardware i'd like to support. (if it's any consolation, the game should run fairly smoothly on an 8000 GT series, which is the oldest NVIDIA card i currently have access to.) i will eventually add some options for throttling back the graphics quality (as this is important on some modern laptops, as well as on decade-old gaming rigs ).

my currently "minimum supported" test machine is running windows XP with a low-end 2008 ATI card (a 4000-series Radeon HD). it can render the planets at about 15fps -- and it does appear to be planet rendering that's the main bottleneck, in that case.

thanks for these tests -- it's good to have a stronger sense of just where the current compatibly falloff is.