Crazy Video (with ES) Anyone else ever had it?

[Peacenote]

Hi, guys!

I've been having problems with my computer lately and what's been happening is that if I play games on it, once the game has been running for a while and it gets more complicated, the video starts going absolutely crazy.  The game will then quit or restart my computer.  This is not an AA problem (or even just a ZT problem as it happens with other games) since I don't have it yet, but a problem that I'm trying to actually fix before I get it so I can enjoy it.

I was able to borrow a hard drive and reload my machine, so I did that and JUST put ZT2 on it, and the problem still happened, so I don't think it's a software problem unless it's some type of settings issue.  I have a Dell Inspiron 9100 with 1 GB RAM, and the video card is ATI Radeon 9700 with 64 MB RAM (discrete card, dedicated video RAM).  I thought at first the computer might be overheating but I cleaned out all the fans, they are passing tests, and the temperature readings are normal.

What I'm wondering if anyone else has had this happen to them, and if they were able to fix it by anything other than replacing hardware.  I am starting to think it's a problem with my video card.  Posted below are screenshots I was able to get before the game quit.  I'm pretty sure if it's happened to you you'll recognize it!


Please click on the thumbnails to get a better look but just so you know the pictures ARE big!

[Artemis]

Mine hasn't been quite that kaleidoscopic, but more or less the same thing happens to me. Little errors start appearing, like the hill tool will make elevation lower sometimes, or trees will refuse to be placed due to water (there's no water there), or an animal becomes transparent. Sometimes the cursor appears half an inch to the left of where it actually is, so I click the wrong thing. When those things happen, I have to quit the game or they'll get worse and ZT2 will eventually refuse to be shut down! As it is, when I exit the game, a program called "ddhelp" has encountered an error and shut down, and then the computer won't turn off so I have to hit the on/off button and go through ScanDisk when I turn it back on.

Sometimes, of course, the game will spontaneously close on me! This is all highly annoying, but I haven't been able to fix it. Sometimes I can prevent it by saving every ten minutes and restarting the computer every half hour. I've got a very high quality graphics setu, too (I think).

[penguinman]

I had something similar except it effected the terrain more than objects. I put "Terrain Texture Size" to low and it worked. Try putting that, or maybe "Object Detail" or "Detail Object" on low. One of them will probably fix the problem. But if it happens on other games too... who knows?!? I am not much of a techincal person. Good luck!!

[Pavocristantus]

sometimes i used to get big 'walls' of what ever colour the floor was like the brown bit going up on the right of the  bottom image but it stoped happening when we got the new harddrive...

[Peacenote]

Thanks for the replied, you guys.  I will try setting some things on low and see if it helps.

I was thinking it could be a setting because even though my video card is good, it's NOT a desktop card and is a few years old so there might be something that it just doesn't like.  I also get around the problem by saving often but I feel like I shouldn't have to do that!

@Artemis:  I get that trees in water problem too.  Also sometimes other objects.

[Artemis]

My settings are pretty low already, so I can't really make them any lower without completely killing the quality. X_X I think I'll just wait for twenty or so years, until amazingly high-speed computers are practically obsolete, pick one up cheap, and enjoy my ZT2 once again. :laughing:

[Peacenote]

OK just as a follow up to this.  I ordered a video card under warranty for my machine.  It did not solve the issue.

However I discovered while doing this that my video card only has 64 MB Video RAM.  Now it's discrete, so it's dedicated RAM, but I could have sworn I was supposed to have 128 MB.  No way to prove it now though, my fault.     I am going to contact the guys at Dell to see what they have to say, but I am starting to wonder if it's simply a case of not having enough Video RAM, which would be extremely disappointing since my computer is a laptop (and a discontinued one at that) so upgrading the RAM means replacing the whole video card which would be VERY expensive (I checked).  I also have 1 GB of regular RAM and an 80 GB HDD.

The minimum requirements (I think) for ZT2 are like 16 MB VRAM so you'd think 64 would be enough.  Does anyone have only 64 MB VRAM and have a game that runs without going crazy like this?  Or at least runs at what they feel is an acceptable rate of performance?  Any input would be appreciated.

I will also add that since starting this topic, I've upgraded to AA and had to uninstall and reinstall everything to do so.  The problem I have is still the same.  

[Amazon Serpentis]

This sometimes happens on my dad's CPU. Not mine anymore, after I completely sooped it to the max. I have an overkill on RAM, and I think that might be your problem. Maybe the laptop part has a play in it to.

Plus, you have a great video card, but not enough RAM for it. Just wondering... is your RAM from your Video card the same as the stuff you have in just your CPU? (Like, the 64 MB the same as the GB). If it's not, that's your problem; you don't have compatible RAM. It'll work as long as you're only using the basic RAM, but as soon as you dip into the other RAM, you have a crash.:pinch:

[Peacenote]

Hmm.  Well the VRAM is separate - on the video card.

If it helps, I have a Dell Inspiron 9100.  It came with a choice of three video cards, and unfortunately mine came with the lowest version: ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 w/64 MB VRAM.  You can also get the 9700 w/128 VRAM or the 9800 w/256 VRAM.  I then have 2 512 PC3200 MB RAM chips.

So if I'm understanding you correctly, the problem IS that I only have 64, because then it's trying to use my other RAM and not working, is that right?

In a way, I guess that makes sense as the problem seems to happen much more often when I have larger zoos (or larger more complicated civilizations, depending on what the game might be).

My other question would be then: Are there good settings to put on low that eat up video RAM when they are set to high?

Thanks.  :original:

[ndmpatriot]

I have the same computer as you do. Did you try installing the newest drivers for the video card? It's odd, since they all work like a charm for me.

[Peacenote]

Really?  That's really good to know, because if it's working fine for you that means it SHOULD be working for me.    Do you have the same version video card (the lowest one, with 64 VRAM)?  Would you mind also posting the graphics settings you play at?

I have installed the latest drivers to my video card.  I also made sure it has the latest firmware update.  My BIOS version for the computer is also the latest.

I actually wanted to rule out software/drivers as an issue, so I was able to get a test hard drive and I reloaded my computer with it, again making sure all the latest drivers were installed.  Then the ONLY thing I installed was ZT2 and ES.  No other programs at all, not even Office.  No user downloads, nothing.  The same problem still happened after about a half hour of zoo building.  That's what led me to order another video card, which, sadly, didn't solve anything.

These computers are known for overheating, so I thought that might be the problem.  But I cleaned out all the fans, and I downloaded a program that puts out temperature readings, and even when the video starts going crazy if I flip out of ZT2 before it restarts the computer and look at the temp, it's well within normal range.  Plus if it was overheating it would always take time to duplicate the problem, and I can pretty much get it to fail right away now if I open a complicated zoo and start walking around in zookeeper mode and zooming in and out.

It's not looking good over here, I'm afraid.  : :

[WolfXQueen]

My animals turn into "ghosts" a lot and sometime, I'm walking along in Zookeeper mode and I come to a place in my zoo where everything is completly white. I can see the shape of everything but there's no color, it's just white. About three seconds afterwords, ZT2 shuts off.
The only thing I've done was to save the game every time I make a new exhibit or I lose everything.