Zt2es Problem

[The Veezer]

Everytime I play Endangered Species, the graphics go berserk. If I zoom to far out huge blocks of white and black and blue appear everywhere on the ground, the objects go multicolor, and shadows appear from both animals and objects that are like huge squares of solid colors. Is there a patch for any issue like this? I definitely know that my computer can handle this game, but the graphics still get messed up. Guest Mode is especially bad.  :sad

[csleesburg]

Hello, The Veezer! Nice to meet you! I saw this was your first post, so after this, you should go over to Introduction and introduce yourself. You'll meet a lot of nice people here! :happy

The most common reason for the graphics 'going crazy' (assuming you have checked that your graphics card can handle the game, not just your computer) is that you've got your graphics settings too low. For ES to run properly, you need to have them at LEAST set on Medium. High is the best, of course. The graphics controls are under Options, right by the Downloads button.

If that doesn't work, then check for updated drivers for your graphics card.

Hope that helps you out! :happy

[penguinman]

Hi and welcome to the site.

Cleesburg is correct that often higher settings help, but I had this EXACT same problem, and here is how I fixed it.

In game options put the settings on Custom. Then on the right you can change anything to whatever you want, except "Terrain Texture Size". Find this and put it on low. Then it fixes everything!!!  

[The Veezer]

Thanks, I'll try that right away! I do have all of my settings Customized to high and very high though.

EDIT: It worked!    Thanks so much csleesburg and penguinman! (Yes, and sry, by computer being able to run it I meant the graphics card, and the video card and everything)

[tor]

Hi,

Just to add to this thread (a bit late, I know):

I upgraded ZT2 to the "Endangered Species" version for my kids today and they immediately complained about it not working. After upgrading the graphics drivers, the program improved, but "guest mode" still didn't work.

After 3 hours of troubleshooting (missed most of today's NFL football game...  :sad), I finally got things to work. I found that a few of the sliders under "Custom mode" did impact performance, and that setting the "terrain texture" slider to "medium" caused the "guest mode" not to work at all. During this process I tried quite a few things learned from readme documents and literature off Microsoft's site. I also ensured I had the latest DirectX and graphics card drivers installed. Except for the DirectX and graphics card drivers upgrade, none of the hints/tips made a difference.

The conclusion is that there's either a bug (game or DirectX) or an incompatibility with my graphics card that causes problems when "terrain texture" is set to medium.

The computer is an older PC that I have ugraded over time. It currently has a Celeron 1.1 ghz CPU, and an NVidia GeForce 2 MX/MX400 graphics card.

Hope this helps,
Tor.

[csleesburg]

Howdy, Tor! Nice to see another adult :rolleyes  :lol

I can pinpoint your problem instantly - it's the Celeron processor. They can NOT handle the game easily. I know because I actually called MS and asked, way back when I had problems, too. It works, but not well. I now have a Pentium IV, and the game works with no problems.

Now, I'm not saying you have to replace your processor, but there might be driver updates for it, just like for the graphics cards. I would check your manufacturer's website for them and/or MS Windows update (they sometimes have driver updates). I think Blue Fang and MS are gong under the assumption that most people who buy ES have newer computers, many of which have the Pentium processors.

Now that you're depressed :whistle go on over to Introductions and meet everyone else - THEY'LL cheer you up! :happy

oh - almost forgot - did you check your graphics card against the "non-compatible" list that MS has? (Although I've seen others that use that card). Actually, I may have that card, too (I forget).

[tor]

Hi csleesburg,

Unfortunately this computer is pretty much maxed out. I chose the fastest CPU and graphics card that the motherboard/chipset supports. It's alright, though, the kids are happily playing the game now, after I lowered the settings here and there. They loose some quality and details of course, but it doesn't seem to be much of a problem.

I'm planning on replacing the computer later this year when Windows Vista is shipping.

Tor.

[csleesburg]

Well, glad to know we were SOME sort of help!  :rolleyes Do keep coming, though, you'll find a lot of good stuff here! :happy