Very Slow Defcon w/Good Computer

[Aeracura]

I have the same problem. I'm using Vista on an AMD dual core TL50 laptop with a Nvidia Go 7300. The strange thing is that it used to run just fine. I've played it for many months on this very laptop without a hitch, perfectly smooth. I quit playing for a while and fired it up again a week ago only to find out that it has become completely unplayable. The main menu has like 1 fps and during a game it drops to approx. 0.5 fps. I suspected that it might be related to one of the Nvidia driver updates so I reverted them to the original ones supplied with my laptop. Unfortunately this didn't help.. I wonder if something internally has changed since patch 1.3? I'm sooo eager to play it again

[bert_the_turtle]

Reverting to the original supplied drivers is not a good idea; the ones that came with Vista do not support OpenGL at all. The manufacturer may have included workin drivers, but probably hasn't. What hit you may have been an automated driver update from WindowsUpdate, I don't know whether those are done, but I do know that the drivers you get from Microsoft that way do not support OpenGL as well. You need to manually fetch the drivers from NVidia and pray that they do support your Laptop.

Nate: there are a couple of completely free 3d games out there that use OpenGL, you could try those:
http://www.bzflag.org
http://www.armagetronad.net/ (shameless plug as I work on this, which also means I'll be able to diagnose the results)
http://www.gltron.org/ (its main competitor)
http://www.alientrap.org/nexuiz/
http://tremulous.net/faq/
(list is nowhere near complete, but should suffice for testing)

[torig]

My laptop comes with an NVIDIA GeForce GO 7600, and I have no problems running Defcon. I'm not running Vista, though, and using Nvidia's drivers.

[NeoThermic]

You can also try give this debugging tool of mine a try (if you need them, glut32.dll and opengl32.dll), and paste the results here (it'll create a file called ExtensionsSupport.txt detailing what it finds).

NeoThermic

[shinygerbil]

http://www.armagetronad.net/ (shameless plug as I work on this, which also means I'll be able to diagnose the results)

*bows down* I LOVE THIS GAME! In fact, I've mentioned it somewhere before (although a search doesn't pull it up), and I do know that martin plays it.

This is one of a handful of games that my girlfriend enjoys playing - she made me set it up nicely for 2-player splitscreen, and also install it on her laptop! Nice going, you're part of an elite club

[Aeracura]

You can also try give this debugging tool of mine a try (if you need them, glut32.dll and opengl32.dll), and paste the results here (it'll create a file called ExtensionsSupport.txt detailing what it finds).

Thanks, I'll give it a try when I get home.

Reverting to the original supplied drivers is not a good idea; the ones that came with Vista do not support OpenGL at all. The manufacturer may have included workin drivers, but probably hasn't. What hit you may have been an automated driver update from WindowsUpdate, I don't know whether those are done, but I do know that the drivers you get from Microsoft that way do not support OpenGL as well. You need to manually fetch the drivers from NVidia and pray that they do support your Laptop.

I think you're right about the WindowsUpdates. I've had a few during the time I didn't play Defcon. I guess I've to wait for Nvidia to write proper drivers. However, I must add that I think it's rather strange that Defcon ran fine on Vista during the first two months or so..

[bert_the_turtle]

NVidia has written good drivers, but you have to fetch them yourself and they do not support those laptops where the manufacturer wants to supply a driver on its own.

[Aeracura]

Well, apparently the problem was caused by a corrupted Nvidia driver. Using an online guide I've manually removed every trace of the Nvidia display drivers and installed the drivers supported by my laptop manufacturer and lo and behold, Defcon runs smooth as butter again. Yay

[NeoThermic]

Well, apparently the problem was caused by a corrupted Nvidia driver. Using an online guide I've manually removed every trace of the Nvidia display drivers and installed the drivers supported by my laptop manufacturer and lo a behold, Defcon runs smooth as butter again. Yay

Woo

Enjoy nuking nVidia's HQ in Defcon then

NeoThermic