Sylvanus

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We look forward to having other MMOs in the same genre. It'll most likely be good for us and this game in the long run.

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All I'll add is things I've seen from those who used to work on this game remind me of how glad I am that they're gone.

Are there other things on the horizon? Sure. Until then, I'll enjoy my time here. I have a feeling I'll keep coming back.

The x1950 Pro is a good choice. If you can purchase from other vendors, you may be able to get a better card at a better price.

A side note for all, 7.12 drivers were released.
Release notes: http://www2.ati.com/relnotes/catalys...ase_notes.html

I keep coming here in the hopes that ATI CoX issues are resolved one day. Best to all.

IIRC, the issues started about 2-3 years ago. ATI and Cryptic pointed fingers at each other. I'm not even going to bother getting into it. BillZ has done quite a bit for the ATI owners. The history is there if you want to look for it. Regardless, the end result is a game that isn't what it's supposed to be.

I believe Cryptic stated they were making standard OpenGL calls to a buffer. For the longest time, ATI's hardware was simply not capable of functioning properly. That was supposed to be addressed with the X1000 series. We're on the X3000 series now and it still isn't properly addressed.

So, call it what you will. I'm sure Bill can chime in and set the record straight with this.

As side note, the richer graphical differences I saw in other games was addressed by simply modifying the Gamma settings. Nothing wonderus at all. It was sitting right in front of me. I'm actually not very happy with myself. I'm better than that and let my ATI fanboi spirit create something that wasn't there.

EDIT: Add to that, I've never had a game promoted as made for ATI that had odd graphic issues with an Nvidia card, but I've had odd graphic issues for games promoted as made for Nvidia that had odd graphic issues with ATI cards. What does that mean? Historically, ATI focused on DirectX support and waned on OpenGL support while Nvidia's strengths have been in OpenGL and (the key) Developer Support. Anyone can feel free to chime in here, but that's the gist of it. There's more I could delve into or debate, but there's really no point. Best to all.

Un-done.

Done...

It's really frustrating. I really like and want to like the card. With the 3870, LotRO did look better. Any idea if NCSoft or ATI is ever going to address the issues in CoX? Given that it's been what, 2+ years since they first appeared, I doubt it. It's just annoying.

The only conclusion you can come to is if you want a gaming rig, go Nvidia or go MAD.

Well, that didn't take long. Saw the ghosted imaging after I set AA in driver. I hate to say this, but I'm going back to Nvidia. I don't feel this is really worth further testing. The capabilities might be there, but no one seems to have really addressed much - wherever the blame is.

Best wishes ATI owners. I have to agree with BillZ. If you love CoX, there's nearly no reason to go ATI at this point when seemingly no one is working on fixing anything.

Best to all.

Running 1680x1050. I'm looking back as to if I'm going to keep it or not. Unfortunately, today's not a good day for it. More to follow at some point.

BillZ, I'm stealing your layout for now. I did some brief testing and am likely sticking with the HG 3870 even though I see issues. The quality of the display is better in DX10 games and worthy of not only staying with it, but shifting my gaming platform over to AMD. I may have lost my mind, but after seeing LotRO with this card after seeing it on an 8800GT, it's hard to go back. There is a difference.

I MUST STRESS - THIS IS QUICK AND DIRTY TESTING. IT IS NOT THOROUGH BY MY STANDARDS - IF YOU'RE CONSIDERING MAKING A PURCHASE BASED ON THIS POST ALONE - DON'T.

RADEON HD 3870 QUICK OVERVIEW OF ISSUES IN VISTA
FSAA
Having the game manage FSAA NO LONGER causes the world, but not your in game windows/menus to go black. It works a little wonky though. More testing is needed.

Ghosted Image when Overlooking Water
A ghosted image NO LONGER seems to appear over water if Water FX is set to High. That said, the in-game controls for this were also really wonky. At one point, I had it. Then I futzed with something and lost it. Regardless, I never saw a ghosted image.

Crytpic's HDR Implementation
NO CHANGE - Water FX set to High and/or Depth of Field are still incompatible with FSAA.

NOT TESTED - Bloom will NOT break FSAA if FSAA is managed in game rather than with the Catalyst Control Center. VERIFIED - Bloom and Depth of Field used together cause the screen to be washed out and bright.

NOT TESTED - SEEN ON NVIDIA CARDS AS WELL THOUGH - The Contact and Character Information Windows
As of Issue 8, opening the contact screen causes a drastic reduction in FPS and a jittering effect as the contacts are being loaded. Once completed, however, FPS returns to normal. This issue is universal for ATI and Nvidia users.
For ATI users with AGP cards, you will probably experience an application lockup when opening the Contacts screen if you do not have Fast Writes enabled.

NOT TESTED - Enhancement Screens and X1*** series cards
If you have an X1*** series card, (may be present with the 2*** series cards as well, but this has not been verified by this author) either on the normal enhancement screen, or when putting enhancements into slots during a respec, the cursor becomes erratic when placed on the enhancement icons. In order to grab enhancements, you must have the cursor above and left of where it should be.

NO PROBLEMS SEEN (renderthread switch used) - Task Switching, alt-tabbing, use of windows key while playing
It's broken. Use of -renderthread 1 flag to enable multithreading often breaks it. Having the Catalyst Control Center manage FSAA and/or AF may be part of the issue. Running Full Screen may be the problem. You'll have to play around with those three to find out what fixes it for you.

I'm off to the computer store - My the Gods have mercy on my soul...

Honestly, it looks like it might be a long time (3 weeks or so). Backorder madness. At least I'm not paying up the wazzoo for it.

HD 3870 on order. We'll see if I keep it or the 8800GT.

Click here for the Tom's Hardware Article on it.

I've got a deadline crunch, so I don't have time to read it. Take a look though and share your thoughts, everyone.

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There's also a tidbit about ALL antialiasing functions working with HDR. We'll see about that.

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From what I gathered at pcper.com the advances will be via shaders after an 08 Vista update. No idea how useful it will be for XP users or DX9 titles.

I may still get it. Is anyone interested in an 8600GTS? PM me.

I saw a "leak" that they'll be ~8-10% slower than the 8800GT and $30-$50 cheaper as well w/ DX10.1. I dunno. It's tempting to at least try. Life with an Nvidia card (bah only an 8600 GTS) is nice. We'll see.

I'm wondering if I should dip my toe into ATI/AMD waters again with their 38xx series release mid-November.

Black_Cats_Paw, your work is outstanding. Inspirational to say the least.

Very impressive!

Sounds erratic: Just start sketching. Your artist's juices will start flowing again. Sketch anything and everything.

From another artist who had to put off his art for responsibilities, go for it! You might be suprised at how quickly the rust can come off. Looking forward to seeing more.