Wondering if anyone has come across this...

Ultraboy · 01-07-06, 07:45 AM

Just to forewarn, this is a tech question so if I'm posting in the wrong place feel free to harshly direct me to the right place.

This week I swapped my Radeon 9700 pro (128mb) with an All-in-Wonder 9800 (128mb), I know, not a big difference but it was free. So after I've done this I load up a couple of games and notice slightly better performance in some cases but when I get to SH3, it runs fine but there are little red dots appearing pretty much everywhere. On the crew, the boat, other ships, buildings etc. Doesn't affect the actual gameplay, it's just a pain in the you-know-what.

So after some googling, I'm fairly convinced that there is a physical problem with the card, until I notice someone is having the same problem with another game, F.E.A.R. As it happens, this is a game I have, so I load it up and sure enough, same problem. But in F.E.A.R. there is an option to "force DX8 shaders." Turning this on solved the problem in that game completely.

So my question is, since there is no such option in SH3, is there some way I can duplicate the process with a third-party program or other means? Or perhaps is there a different solution for SH3 that I have not come across/thought of?

I seek guidance because, though I was pretty knowedgeable about computers when I had my old Tandy 1000, I've since fallen off the technology wagon, and don't really have a clue anymore.

My specs:

ASUS P4PE mobo
Intel Pentium 4 - 2.4 gHz
1024mb PC2700 DDR RAM
ATI All-in-Wonder 9800 pro AGP (128mb)
Windows XP pro
...can't think of anything else that's relevant.

01-07-06, 07:45 AM	#1
Ultraboy Gunner Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: The Mysterious Canadas Posts: 99 Downloads: 20 Uploads: 0	Wondering if anyone has come across this... Just to forewarn, this is a tech question so if I'm posting in the wrong place feel free to harshly direct me to the right place. This week I swapped my Radeon 9700 pro (128mb) with an All-in-Wonder 9800 (128mb), I know, not a big difference but it was free. So after I've done this I load up a couple of games and notice slightly better performance in some cases but when I get to SH3, it runs fine but there are little red dots appearing pretty much everywhere. On the crew, the boat, other ships, buildings etc. Doesn't affect the actual gameplay, it's just a pain in the you-know-what. So after some googling, I'm fairly convinced that there is a physical problem with the card, until I notice someone is having the same problem with another game, F.E.A.R. As it happens, this is a game I have, so I load it up and sure enough, same problem. But in F.E.A.R. there is an option to "force DX8 shaders." Turning this on solved the problem in that game completely. So my question is, since there is no such option in SH3, is there some way I can duplicate the process with a third-party program or other means? Or perhaps is there a different solution for SH3 that I have not come across/thought of? I seek guidance because, though I was pretty knowedgeable about computers when I had my old Tandy 1000, I've since fallen off the technology wagon, and don't really have a clue anymore. My specs: ASUS P4PE mobo Intel Pentium 4 - 2.4 gHz 1024mb PC2700 DDR RAM ATI All-in-Wonder 9800 pro AGP (128mb) Windows XP pro ...can't think of anything else that's relevant.