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Test Subject
#26 Old 7th Feb 2005 at 3:38 PM
I have a GeForce FX 5200 128Mb (I know it's pretty old, but it is enough for me :P) and the latest version of DirectX installed. The bumpmapping didn't show up at first, but it worked fine when I edited the Graphic Rules files. Thanks a lot for the great skin semloh :D

“Who knows what lies or threats took him from his home, one wonders if he would have just rather stayed there. Be at peace. War will make corpses of us all.” Faramir says, looking at a dead enemy soldier, Lord of the Rings: The Return of The King movie
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Instructor
#27 Old 7th Feb 2005 at 4:16 PM
THANK YOUUU!!!!!!! :D
i recently got a GeForce Mx5200/256mb and it was worth it
i didnt have the bump mapping, now i do!!! thanks SOOOO much!!
Test Subject
#28 Old 7th Feb 2005 at 7:07 PM
Quote: Originally posted by semloh
Atlas:

I think your problem is the fact your card is one of the GF 4 family - no DirectX9 feature support. Must be annoying as hell 'cos the Ti was a pretty awesome piece of kit not too long ago.



Then how do I have DirectX 9.0c installed and working?
Test Subject
#29 Old 7th Feb 2005 at 9:07 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Atlas
Then how do I have DirectX 9.0c installed and working?

Atlas

Please do not take this post a gospel. Hopefully someone can either confirmthe following or correct any errors, but from what I understand, and I stand to be corrected here, Directx9.0c is a set of microsoft instructions that are used to control graphics. Other sets are OpenGL and Glide. Sims2 was written using the DirectX9.0c instruction set. Some games are written using more than one instruction set, thus the game player can use set the game to use the instruction set that best suits their graphics card, Half Life I beleive had this option.

Different graphic card manufacturers set their cards to use one of the above options in an attempt to set an industry standard for all cards. It would seem that DirectX won that battle.

Unforetunately for yourself and for me, the Geforcecards used OpenGL as their instrution set. While it can understand most of the DirectX instructions the way bumpmaps are handled is completely different and the cards cannot understand the DirectX instructions so bumpmapping does not show.

I dont know if this is a software problem that maybe could be sorted by modifying the card drivers or if it is a hardware problem that cannot be solved. Maybe someone with programming knowlegde could answer this.

As I have already said this is MY understanding of the situation. I have placed this post in good faith and if the informationis incorrect I apologise now. I may be well wide of the mark with this post. If anyone knows better, please feel free to correct me.
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#30 Old 7th Feb 2005 at 9:20 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Atlas
Then how do I have DirectX 9.0c installed and working?


Atlas, there is a common misconception that because a card such as a GeForce 4 'works' under DirectX9 it is therefore DirectX9 compliant.

DirectX9 introduced a number of new instructruction sets in order to enable game developers to address new graphics processing features that card manufacturers have introduced. These new instructions are in addition to all the old instruction sets to maintain backward compatibility.

Most modern/new games carefully test what type of card is installed and will modify the sort of instructions they issue to the graphics card in order to avoid crashes. This means that certain functions are just not executed for older cards or they are done in a less efficient manner. As a game player you will often not notice that your older card isn't doing something as sometimes it just gets there slower via a less efficient method, or produces an effect in a different way with perhaps a little less quality. It is only with things like bump mapping which in this case is either there or it isn't that you really begin to notice a difference.

As an example to illustrate this; Last year an excellent military flight simulator called "Lock On - Modern Air Combat" was released. It's specifications clearly stated that it required a DirectX9 'compliant' graphics card. Unfortunately most people took this to mean "Yes I have Directx9.0b installed and it works on my old Geforce 4 MX440". For people with GeForce4 and other older cards the game started crashing all over the place with lockups and BSODs when it tried to produce certain graphical effects. The reason? The programmers had, perhaps unwisely, neglected to tailor the sort of instructions they issued to older cards and just isued DirectX9 instructions regardless.

So, in summary, Sims2 is issuing Directx9 specific instructions to display bump maps and it will only do that for cards it 'thinks' will be capable of understanding the instructions. Other games may be issuing older DirectX8 commands to render bump mapping which is why some people are seeing inconsistent results across different games. I hope this helps clear up the confusion (but probably jus adds to it! ).
Guest
#31 Old 7th Feb 2005 at 11:25 PM
Quote: Originally posted by tjwish
Sigh... :fallen: I only have a Radeon 9000 series graphics card and "Obviously" nothing showed up... :weep:


I have a laptop with a Mobility Radeon 9000, so I just had to test Sims 2 on it, and bumpmapping works.
Lab Assistant
#32 Old 8th Feb 2005 at 12:02 AM
Ok I don't understand half of this (I don't speak pc - I'm mac-y and when I "created new parts" and choose the underwear in Bodyshop, the bump did not show (although I could swear it does on acne and such). I followed the instructions for the config files and nothing broke, Bodyshop and The Sims2 both still load fine, but still no bump on the underwear Anyway, being totally clueless (please don't laugh if this *shouldn't* work I dunno if what I have should work properly or not. I have an emachine T3958 (running XP of course) and it says it has an:

Intel® Celeron® D 340 processor, 512MB DDR 333 memory and Intel® Extreme Graphics 3D

I *thought* extreme graphics 3d meant it was for 3d games (and it's rather billed that way). There's nothing on the machine but a bunch of games and whatever junk it comes with and the few things I needed for the sims (winrar, simpe, etc.), that's what I got it for

So am I just dumb and this machine shouldn't be able to handle the bumpmapping or should it be able to and I can't figure it out?

TIA
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#33 Old 8th Feb 2005 at 12:14 AM Last edited by semloh : 8th Feb 2005 at 12:17 AM.
Sagana, I don't think the Intel Extreme 3D Graphics chipsets offer the same levels of performance and function as the ones from nVidia or ATI. I could be wrong on this but I think they are more marketing blurb than substance when it comes to demanding 3d games.

Go here for some specs on your graphics processor http://www.intel.com/design/graphic...m+eg2_techinfo& You will see it mentions 'DOT3 bump mapping' but it is only listed as being DX7, DX8 (Directx7 and Directx8) compliant. Once again, without DirectX9 compliance you are stuck without bumpy sims I think. :weep:
Lab Assistant
#34 Old 8th Feb 2005 at 12:20 AM
Ah, thanks for the answer... I guess I'll have to get a better video card... a $300 card for a $500 computer?... do people *really* say that pcs are cheaper than macs? (silly computer, remind me not to listen to salespeople - who said this was a great game machine for new games
Lab Assistant
#35 Old 8th Feb 2005 at 12:38 AM Last edited by sagana : 8th Feb 2005 at 12:41 AM. Reason: PS
Simster, I think mine is this one:

card 0x2562 "845 (82845G/GL[Brookdale-G]/GE Chipset Integrated Graphics Device)"

That's what it says (or very close - it doesn't say "Brookdale") under System Info, Display Adapters:

Intel(R)82845G/GL/GE/PE/GV Graphics Controller

PS: Oh I did add this line "boolProp skipTangentsInVertexData false" as per the instructions above, and the game (and bodyshop) didn't crash or anything. It runs... it just still doesn't do the bumps on the underwear. My game runs pretty well, so I guess it is compatable... just not quite good enough for extra features
Test Subject
#36 Old 8th Feb 2005 at 12:40 AM
Semloh, thank you for those test clothes O_O it was getting really difficult for me to find out if bumpmaps really worked. But they do not problem with my ASUS Geforcefx5700 256 mb
Field Researcher
#37 Old 8th Feb 2005 at 12:41 AM
Well Sagana....any sales person telling you that an integrated graphics device is good for games should be shot on the spot.:devil:
Test Subject
#38 Old 8th Feb 2005 at 12:43 AM
Thanks for this, now I know my bump mapping is working properly (and without needing to enable it too!).

BTW, I have a Radeon 9600 working with an Athlon XP 2600+ (2.0 GHz) and 1Gb of RAM.
Lab Assistant
#39 Old 8th Feb 2005 at 12:47 AM
What's an integrated graphics device?

Oh well, my G5 always does everything I expect it to. I just don't expect it to run TheSims2 (but I wish lots).

Shooting him works for me. What recommendations? What should I *actually* get to do what I want (only run games)? And how much should I expect it to cost? (Is that too off-topic for this thread? I can move the question if anyone likes. It sure isn't skinning - except I was fine but I *want* to do skinning, and how can I if my machine isn't good enough?
Lab Assistant
#40 Old 8th Feb 2005 at 12:52 AM
Well folks and semloh .. Still no go... I took all advise, tested and retested with trying diffrent settings.. I bet its somthing simple thats why i can't figure it out..

Well Thanks again for your assistance on this.. I guess it was not meant to be.. for me...you see??
Poopie...
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#41 Old 8th Feb 2005 at 12:57 AM
sagana:

An integrated graphics device is a graphics processor built in to your motherboard. The nVidia and ATI devices that most people in this thread are referring to are seperate addon graphics cards.

It might be best to open a seperate thread for advice on what is best to get. ... and be preapred for a barrage of conflicting opinions. Asking which graphics card is best is like asking which religion is the best!
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#42 Old 8th Feb 2005 at 1:05 AM
simster, to be perfectly honest I have no idea!

I think 'caustics' are the sort of effects you get underwater from light refraction at the surface as in the sims pool. (Or they could just be nasty chemicals!).

Perhaps changing the 'setb forceLowSettings true' to 'setb forceLowSettings high' might have some effect - probably to make the game run as slow as a 3 legged dog!
Lab Assistant
#43 Old 8th Feb 2005 at 1:12 AM
I tested the bump mapping and it works fine on my computer. i have a ati radeon 9600 XT, P4 2 GH 512mg ram
Test Subject
#44 Old 8th Feb 2005 at 1:20 AM Last edited by Dreadrok : 8th Feb 2005 at 1:22 AM. Reason: grammar
sagana:

You don't need a $300 video card. A $100 video card will destroy your integrated one. Integrated video cards use your system ram for the textures. System ram is used by everything on your motherboard and the video card has to share. This is the main reason why integrated video cards are never good for 3D gaming(unless they find a way to add dedicated ram for the video card). A radeon 9200SE is faster and is below $50. Try to look for an OEM video card. Just make sure you have an AGP slot before buying one. AGP slots are a little farther into the middle of your motherboard than the PCI slots and are usually the closest slot to your CPU(Celeron).

Also, the reason why gamers use PCs over Mac is because you can upgrade more easily. You can install a video card and later on, get a new motherboard and chip(and ram if system quite old) and replace your current stuff, if you box isn't propriatary. And if your box is propriatary, computer box with power supply cost as little as $30(if not less).
Lab Assistant
#45 Old 8th Feb 2005 at 1:22 AM
Thanks for all your help. I really appreciate the thread - knowing what is and isn't working and why (and how) is half the battle I'll go reread all the threads I can find on graphics cards and see what (if anything) I can understand. Simster, thank you very much but I think I'll just buy a card that is supposed to do what I want rather than trying to make this one do it Safer in the long run.

Thanks again, everyone.
Lab Assistant
#46 Old 8th Feb 2005 at 1:40 AM
I'm having problems with try in to get the graphics rules. sgr file to open and I've followed the steps on how to get into the file.... I can't seem to figure out what I could be doing wrong. I went through notepad to open up the file only to find that it's not there!
Can someone please give a few suggestion on what eles I could do to get this file to open in order to make those changes to get the bumpmapping to work.
Thank you.
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#47 Old 8th Feb 2005 at 2:11 AM
Konecoshushi, if you are using 'File | Open' in Notepad, make sure you set the 'Files of type' box on the 'Open' window to 'All Files'. This normally defaults to 'Text documents (*.txt)' - the file you are looking for has a file extension of '.sgr' so notepad doesn't know it contains text and won't display it.
Test Subject
#48 Old 8th Feb 2005 at 2:59 AM Last edited by Paniscus : 8th Feb 2005 at 3:03 AM.
Default Thank you!!!!!!!
Thanks SO much!
I edited the .sgr files just as you said and it worked like a charm on my nVidia GeForce FX5200 (same card as the OP has).

And now, FINALLY my clothes from peggygirl (among others) look like they do in the screenshots!!! The difference is huge, the clothes look very real. I thought I'd have to buy a new video card to see that stuff, and I even wondered if some screenshots were 'doctored'. But no, they're wonderful and you're wonderful and my sims are SPIFFING HOT now!!
THANKS!
Yay!
Test Subject
#49 Old 8th Feb 2005 at 8:02 AM
I'm wondering what this actually is? Does it have to do with fuzzyness in the game?

I have an ATI 7500 All-In-Wonder RADEON, but I can't see the words on the shirt.

I've made some floor tiles and I'm trying to make a dress right now, but I can't seem to get the dress to show up the same way in the game like it shows up in Bodyshop. It's very fuzzy.
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#50 Old 8th Feb 2005 at 9:58 AM
ArellaEliora:

To fix the fuzziness I think you just need to set the texture detail to 'High' in the Graphics Options screen in Sims2. Be aware though that this might make the game run more slowly.
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