Beta Engine issues

[0hater0]

Hi guys,

I've got a weird problem with the new engine. Everything looks nice and sharp, but some selected textures refuse to load properly, leaving me with a blurry mess. These textures are mainly found in Arete, which would make me ignore the problem - but this also includes Phasefront vehicles and LE mechs (at least that's what I have found so far). These textures literally look like 16x16px images stretched on the models.

I have tried reinstalling the game - twice. Once without removing the settings files from AppData, and the second time it was a completely clean install with all traces of AO deleted from my computer. I have also tried switching rendering device to all the ones listed in settings, tried fullscreen, windowed, windowed borderless, messed around with every single tick and slider in Video Settings, etc - all to no avail.

This problem is quite frankly infuriating me, as I'm a YouTuber and I wanted to start a video series on AO, but I don't want to show that blurry mess to my viewers and give AO's new engine a bad name.

Here is an album with example screenshots, including my video settings and a world picture with old textures, showing that everything else looks fine: http://imgur.com/a/AOtoI

Thanks for any help/tips in advance.

P.S. My computer and system is always well maintained and no other game gives me any problems, let alone something as weirdly selective as this.

Best Regards,

[Caloss2]

That is strange, what GPU are you using and what drive is AO installed to ?

Few things to run through, install dx9 onto your system to just to make sure all the .dll's are there https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/down....aspx?id=34429
Also if you want to tweak the beta engine a little, then I'd suggest this :- http://nanoclan.com/forums/index.php/topic,17157.0.html

If you're using an nvidia GPU, I'd ensure that it's running correctly https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULQeBDvRzE8

[Ophiuchus]

nvidia driver updates are a bit shonky atm. I don't know that upgrading to the troubled latest release will be much help...

But the texture issues do sound very weird. If anything the custom Phasefront textures look stunning compared to everything else in the new engine! Silly question but have you tried toggling the antialiasing when the sliders are all maxed?

[PixelPolish]

Hey guys,

A word of explanation. The above issue was posted by my friend (as until now I couldn't use the forums), but it's me who's struggling with all this.
I have already contacted FunCom support, but so far I have only received the most generic replies, about updating drivers and DirectX (also running the game as an Administrator). While I appreciate the attempts, it doesn't really help me at all.

This is exactly why I came here, hoping that maybe someone encountered that problem before.

For clarity's sake, here's my rig info:

Windows Version: Windows 7 Corporate (Service Pack 1) (64 bit)
CPU Type: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3770K CPU @ 3.50GHz (8 CPUs), ~3.0GHz
System Memory: 16 GB
Graphics Chipset: AMD Radeon HD 7870 Series, Memory Size: 2048 MB, Memory Type: GDDR5, Core Clock: 1100 MHz, Memory Clock: 1200 MHz
Radeon Software Version: 16.3 (released last week, also tried on older ones), Radeon Software Edition: Crimson
DirectX Version: the latest thing that can be installed under Windows 7, so including 9 up to 11.

Today I have tried great many things, including installing AO on my office computer (which is old as dirt, yet the textures worked fine), then copying the entire AO folder from the office PC over to my gaming rig - no change.
Installing the latest hotfix driver for my GPU (released on March 9) - no change.
Reinstalling DirectX for the Nth time, running the game in all sorts of compatibility modes, removing Prefs, adding every single executable and the entire AO folder to exceptions in my firewall, antivirus and sand-box - no chage.

As for your posts guys:

@Caloss2: Hey, cool vids As you can see I already did everything you have mentioned (and yes, I'm also using SweetFX). Nothing worked so far.
@Phiuchus: Not nVidia, so yeah. I did try like a couple dozen of slider/checkbox combinations - including your suggestion - still no go.

I'm completely at a loss here... :/

UPDATE: a true "WTF"moment just happened. Logged into the game, right in front of the Bronto Burger vendor on Arete, and the texture was hi-res, just how it should be. Looked around, and the mountains/shuttles were still a blurry mess. Ran to the starting platform - still same thing. Then I came down to the burger joint and the texture on it was no longer hi-res, like just 2 minutes ago - it turned back into a blurry mess. This to me confirms it's an issue with Texture LOD on my specific system (GPU?). Now I'm even more confused.

[metaluv]

running an older HD series card, i'd recommend trying an older catalyst driver version, rather than the new crimson drivers, they're still kinda funky especially on the older cards

[PixelPolish]

running an older HD series card, i'd recommend trying an older catalyst driver version, rather than the new crimson drivers, they're still kinda funky especially on the older cards

I was already running a much older driver (becasue the newer ones would either notoriously BSOD or OpenCL was broken, and I need that for professional use) when I have noticed this problem and I have only installed the latest one because of that. Didn't change a thing. Thing is, I have tested all of the 30 something games installed now on my drive, from Dawn of War to Crysis 3 and they still work perfectly. It's just this, AO new engine that gives me grief. Thankfully HD 7870 is still supported, as it's the 7600 and below that were dropped with Crimson release. I've got new info on the issue in video form, but it will have to wait until tomorrow since I'm already 1h past my bedtime because of this issue. I'll be the zombie at the office tomorrow :P

[Caloss2]

Humm, what happens if you adjust the sliders to something like this http://i.imgur.com/EZW4rbO.png ?

For me, it gives the far distance a more real blurring effect as though the air is as dusty as it would need to be for all the god-rays everywhere.

[PixelPolish]

MAJOR UPDATE:

I've got great video example of this problem manifesting itself outside of Arete in a major and chaotic way. Please be patient and sit throught the entire 5 minute material, as the changes occur literally in a split second: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txpEEjYwyKk

This is driving me nuts. Short of wiping Windows and reinstalling everything, I have tried every troubleshooting step I can think of or was suggested by you or the sypport team.

The video example from Southern Artery Valley furthers my su****ion that it's a problem with the new engine's texture LOD mechanism. It just sux that it had to affect me, right as I wanted to start a video series on AO :/ Most people that I know are plagued by client crashes instead, so sure, I'll take texture problem over constant crashes any day (only crashed once or twice since installing the new engine beta), but it's no good for video production.

I'll be sending that video to the support team, as I'm sure it will help more than a text description and a couple of screenshot. Support team has informed the devs about this so here's for hoping...

@Caloss2: I'll try that tonight. Somehow I doubt it will do anything to fix my problem, but god rays man, god rays

P. S. Please excuse my language in the video, but it's just my frustration levels peaking.

[Caloss2]

MAJOR UPDATE:

I've got great video example of this problem manifesting itself outside of Arete in a major and chaotic way. Please be patient and sit throught the entire 5 minute material, as the changes occur literally in a split second: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txpEEjYwyKk

This is driving me nuts. Short of wiping Windows and reinstalling everything, I have tried every troubleshooting step I can think of or was suggested by you or the sypport team.

The video example from Southern Artery Valley furthers my su****ion that it's a problem with the new engine's texture LOD mechanism. It just sux that it had to affect me, right as I wanted to start a video series on AO :/ Most people that I know are plagued by client crashes instead, so sure, I'll take texture problem over constant crashes any day (only crashed once or twice since installing the new engine beta), but it's no good for video production.

I'll be sending that video to the support team, as I'm sure it will help more than a text description and a couple of screenshot. Support team has informed the devs about this so here's for hoping...

@Caloss2: I'll try that tonight. Somehow I doubt it will do anything to fix my problem, but god rays man, god rays

P. S. Please excuse my language in the video, but it's just my frustration levels peaking.

That is so strange; I can't force my system to recreate it either, I have no problem with swearing, I just choose not to on my channel

[Anonimofied]

Polishpixel: sav is known for lagging place, and this looks like a lagging issue were the texture takes time to be loaded. But it also can be that bad beta build can causes the texture to not loading correctly. What you should do is try the same in a different area where is not so much lag, why the same problem occurs?

[PixelPolish]

As I have said in the first post, this area is the first place (that I know of) and the first time since the beta engine launch that these textures worked correctly at all. Everywhere else my Wraith looks like it's '96 again and Arete is forever broken. Same withthe tree coronas wherever I go, but before SAV I wasn't sure if they were supposed to look like that or not, since I haven't played the game since 2010-2011.

[Caloss2]

Do you have AO installed to a SSD ?

[PixelPolish]

Nah, I've got a hybrid SSD/HDD drive, but only the core Windows files reside in the 8GB SSD part.

[Caloss2]

Nah, I've got a hybrid SSD/HDD drive, but only the core Windows files reside in the 8GB SSD part.

I think it's might have something to do with the textures taking a little too long to load, I have AO on an SSD it is smoother that way for sure.

[PixelPolish]

I think it's might have something to do with the textures taking a little too long to load, I have AO on an SSD it is smoother that way for sure.

But then the question would be: why only selected textures (like literally maybe a dozen that I have found so far, if you count all Phasefront hevicles as one for the sake of simplicity) and why they "unload" at random, or never load at all, no matter how long will I stay in the area?

It's the engine thing, that much I'm sure of. Maybe not a widespread one, but still. My best educated guess is that the engine doesn't trigger the proper LOD for textures that are close to the camera and forever keeps the low resolution ones, that should only be displayed when the object is very, very far away. I can fly in my Wraith for 30 minutes straight and it won't load the hi-res texture no matter what - except in SAV apparently, and if I would spend a week trying every single area I would probably find something similar somewhere else. No matter how slow the drive would be, that shouldn't be happening.

[Vinkera]

There's a distance for high res texture setting somewhere isn't there? Maybe try fooling with that a bit. Either way, the new engine is far from perfect. Hell, I've had every single object (Mail, Save and Market terminals, billboards, other players, etc) in OA suddenly vanish once.

That was special.

[Ophiuchus]

Hell, I've had every single object (Mail, Save and Market terminals, billboards, other players, etc) in OA suddenly vanish once.

That was special.

When that happens to me it's the prelude to the desynch issue that I have to restart my client for. It happens depressingly often, but that's Omni cities for you.
Funnily enough, this happened to me right in the middle of Phobettor the other night and the only graphics my client displayed were my character in the arena. Nothing else at all. I had to finish the fight eyes glued to the PF map to know where the fire/boss/my pets for snare spam were etc

[PixelPolish]

So for now, it seems that I will have to live with the issue untill it will be hopefully fixed with a patch. My extensive conversation with support will hopefully help the devs to pinpoint the cause.

As for the issue itself, my research have yielded more results

Apparently, if I log off while in a Phasefront vehicle, quite often (but not always) the vehicle texture will be fine when I re-log. Ofc that changes when I recast it:

Phasefront video

I have also noticed that the same applies to my Yalm, but zoning often fixes the issue, until I re-equip it:

Yalmaha video

@Caloss2, thanks for the video settings. While they obviously won't fix the issue, the game does look a bit better and increases performance a bit at the same time, so both good things

@Vinkera, I have fooled around with sliders until my fingers bled. Sadly this isn't something that can be fixed with that

P.S. Also notice in my first video, how Z-ordering of the engine trail and the tree coronas is all messed up. The engine trail seems to be rendered *under* the coronas, while it should be rendered over them. Just another little glitch.

[Vinkera]

Yea, I figured you've already tried that.

I'm certainly in favor of them just fixing the New Engine. I'd say it's a pretty huge priority, myself. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like much is happening with it at the moment, though.

[PixelPolish]

Yea, I figured you've already tried that.

I'm certainly in favor of them just fixing the New Engine. I'd say it's a pretty huge priority, myself. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like much is happening with it at the moment, though.

Yeah, tried asking the support if they have any info on incoming patches, but they said they don't (or they do, but can't talk about it).