m2w: some thoughts (and a plea for help)

hey everybody

this is many months late, but i just bought a powerful new computer (along with the latest TW game, of course), and i thought i'd post my extremely late first impressions. i also have a request for veteran TWers, and i'd greatly appreciate it if they would read this (you know who you are) and throw in their two cents.

i should probably preface this with a short disclaimer: i really, really liked rome, and i also played and enjoyed shogun and medieval 1. there are a lot of great things about m2, and i think i understand people who really love it, but sadly you won't find a lot of positive feedback here. just for posterity, the things i like about the game: the graphics are great (sort of...), the campaign map & AI seem much improved (i began on 1.2), diplomacy is much more useful, and the medieval period of history is the perfect setting for a TW game, even though they left out a few of my favorite historical battles (golden spurs, poitiers) and mangled the ones they put in - agincourt, i'm looking at you.

my principle problem with m2 is something that, more or less, makes it unplayable. ironically, the greatest leap over rome - the graphics - also handicap the game to the point that i can't have fun in a large battle. in a nutshell, when i zoom out all the way in a battle, as i am wont to do, all present armies turn into vague smeers of color. the detail reduction for distance is severe, resulting in severe "pop-in" when moving the camera pretty much anywhere. the game is both hard to look at and hard to control.

i can't my janissaries from my jinetes when this happens. even when i zoom one or two clicks, the new, awesome, non-clone armies confuse the hell out of me, and i generally have no idea what's going on. needless to say, this makes winning any sort of battle with unfavorable odds somewhat difficult. i also find it extremely frustrating.

so what should i do? wait for kingdoms? load up rtw again? i have a truckload of other games waiting in the wings, but i want to love m2 so much that i haven't so much as glanced at them yet. should i install a mod (EB or RTW or LTC or whatever), or should i finally boot up supreme commander?

sorry for such a verbose post.

There are distance settings in the options on the main menu, well I thought there were, but go into video options, and select show advanced settings, and then set everything as high as possible. I am not having the problems you are, how do you play battles? what hud options do you use? I've never really had problems with fighting battles zoomed all the way out. Not sure what you should do if you don't want to play M2TW because I haven't played Rtw, or SUpreme Commander.

if my memory serves, there are no distance settings available in the game. of course, this may be incorrect.

does anyone know if there are any console commands for draw distance?

I have a similar problem.

When viewed from a distance the figures making up units appear as a blur, and cavalry in particular appear as static 2D figures (They actually remind me of the cardboard wargame figures you used to be able to buy) which seem to glide over the terrain, only becoming animated when they draw closer to the camera.

I assumed that was a manifestation of the shortcomings of my current graphic's card (NIVDIA 5600 FX). However, it was never a feature of previous TW games and I've played all of them on this PC. Another feature is that if I attempt to rack up the resolution beyond 1024, or the graphics settings too far beyond the detected levels on MTW2, then the game develops a incrementally increasing degree of strobic corruption in the bottom left and right corners of the screen which gradually invade the entire bottom half of the screen area.

My assumption has been that either I need a better graphic's card, or that my current graphic's card is being affected by some ancillary PC problem. (e.g. overheating, poor drive access etc.)

Waiting for Kingdoms is probably not a viable strategy. If the graphic's of MTW2 are too hungry for my current graphic's card, it seems unlikely that Kingdoms graphic's are going to be any less so. In fact, logic would suggest that things will merely get worse.

It might be worth comparing DXDiag's to see if we have a similar set-up, and it might help the more technically skilled to spot any problems with our system configuration. Always assuming that this is the cause of the problem.

------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 5/19/2007, 11:29:14
Machine name: HAL
Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.070227-2254)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Fujitsu Siemens
System Model: GA-8ISXT
BIOS: Award Modular BIOS v6.00PG
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory: 1024MB RAM
Page File: 329MB used, 2134MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.2180 32bit Unicode

------------
DxDiag Notes
------------
DirectX Files Tab: No problems found.
Display Tab 1: No problems found.
Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
Music Tab: No problems found.
Input Tab: No problems found.
Network Tab: No problems found.

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5600
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce FX 5600
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0312&SUBSYS_91241462&REV_A1
Display Memory: 256.0 MB
Current Mode: 1280 x 1024 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: HYUNDAI ImageQuest Q19 Digital
Monitor Max Res: 1280, 1024
Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.9371 (English)
DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 10/22/2006 12:22:00, 4527488 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: Yes

Quote:

---

However, it was never a feature of previous TW games and I've played all of them on this PC.

---

Yes it was, both RTW and M2TW have used 2d sprites at long distances to replace the 3d models to reduce lag.

the detail options in the vido settings seems to affect how far away a unit is from the camera before its rendered as a sprite instead of in full 3d.

shame the lowest detail setting dosnt just display sprites, then ppl could play without lag, especially in cities/castles.

I have a monster pc but i bought it becuase i dont want lag and anything less than 60 frames a second looks crap. given the choice between a responsive and easily comprehendable game or being able to see the bump mapping on a peasent backside when i zoom in too far to pay any attention to the tactical aspect of the battle or be able to control my army, i know which i find more important... of course for ca the screenshot's for their PR are all thats imporatant, its not like the game has any new features to sell itself with, just less of the same

shame the once leet world of computer games now only cators for noob lords who eat this @!$% for breakfast :furious3:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Katana

i can't [tell] my janissaries from my jinetes when this happens. even when i zoom one or two clicks, the new, awesome, non-clone armies confuse the hell out of me, and i generally have no idea what's going on. needless to say, this makes winning any sort of battle with unfavorable odds somewhat difficult. i also find it extremely frustrating.

---

Click on your faction's shield in the lower right corner of the battlescreen, all your men will glow bright green, and the enemy bright red for a few seconds, which definitely helps when dezoomed.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by abdecken5

the detail options in the vido settings seems to affect how far away a unit is from the camera before its rendered as a sprite instead of in full 3d.

---

Yes, this has been my experience. The sprites still are implemented on all settings, but I find that on highest unit details you get 3D models for most of the units you are focusing on even at the highest camera height. Units too far away or too far to the side of the camera view tend to be "sprited." The only weird part for me is that the sprites don't account for lighting at all, so typically you can see a dark ripple go along your units exactly where the line is that they start being sprites. It's a bit disorienting sometimes.

Quote:

---

I have a monster pc but i bought it becuase i dont want lag and anything less than 60 frames a second looks crap.

---

Television, movies, and DVDs are set at about 30 FPS and I don't hear anyone complaining about that. That amount was chosen because it is near the threshold of what is distinguishable to the human eye. Below 30 you may begin to pick out the fact that the picture is being refreshed, but you simply cannot do so above 30. Any benefits of having a FPS higher than 30 are minimal at best, and your game should be little different until the point where it drops below 30.