Since the forum crash had destroyed this thread and the helpfull info it contained regarding this issue in RvS and with the new 8800 cards I decided to post this again here for the help of other fellow 8800 owners.

The thing is that there have been reports floating around the web for a while now about 8800 users experiencing split second pausing / jitters in the game.

I also started to have this problem when I changed my old GeForce7800GTX to a new GeForce8800GTX

This stuttering problem with the G80 cards does not seem to have anything to do with the dual core processor as I had this solved already when I was still using the GeForce7800GTX by installing the AMD processor and dualcore optimizer drivers (I've got a AMD64 X2 4400+) and following the multicore processors power management and performance state policy behavior fix instructions from the Microsoft pages http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=896256

So there were NO problems with the GeForce7800GTX but after switching to the 8800GTX the stuttering problems started. All other hardware has remained the same in my system and in the cases of many other users reported in the web.

I have tryed several different driver versions and even the new 97.92 drivers seem to have no effect to this problem. I have also made a clean reinstall of WinXP but this does not have any effect to the problem either. Also running the game with only one of the processors does not help in any way.

The problem seemes to be either in the RvS / Unreal2 engine code or in the Forceware drivers and with how they handle hardware Transforming and Lighting with the G80 cards as when I investigated the problem further I found that by setting UseHardwareTL to False in the ravenshield.ini the stuttering problem was not there anymore and the game ran smooth as silk.

However when setting UseHardwareTL to False this results to some very ugly ground textures in the maps where there are curved terrain in them (Training for example) but otherwise everything else seemes to be visually fine and crisp.

One other thing that I found to help at least a bit (if you do not want to disable the hardware transforming and lighting from the ravenshield.ini) is that if you toggle the firstperson weapon off from the games HUD menu. By doing so the game runs a bit smoother than before and with a bit less jerkiness.

I've searched the web and several other forums for other GeForce8800 users ideas on how to solve this problem but have not found any clues which would help with this so unfortunately there really just does not seem to be anything else at the moment that would help us 8800 users other than to disable the HW TnL and to just live with the ugly ground textures in some of the maps.

If anyone else has any other ideas on how to tackle this problem with the G80 cards (other than reinstalling the OS, the game, the dual core optimizer drivers etc. that have already been adressed here and several other forums and which are NOT the cause nor the solution to the problem) please post them here

PS
As this seemes to be a problem with the Unreal 2 engine based games, the same tweak in the games ini file should also help 8800 users having the same jitter problems for example in UT2k4.

thanks for the repost and overcap

still loking for a better solution

No problem I just thought that this topic would still need attention as the original post had vanished in to a black hole...

Unfortunately it seemes that the only better solution to this problem is for us to just wait for Nvidia to release a new set of drivers in which these jitter problems with the Unreal 2 engine based games and the 8800 series cards would hopefully be addressed.

Please test any new set of drivers they might release to check if the problem would be solved in them and post your results here, thanks.

What happened to the tech forum? Why are Raven-Shield technical problems here in the off-topic forums? That's what I'm wondering, hehe.

Hmm.. good point Did not even notice that tech forum being there as this topic was discussed here before the forum crash.

Well if some moderators might be checking on these forums then please feel free to move this thread under the Rainbow Six Tech Support - Self Help forum. Thanks

Anyone find a fix????? Vegas is gettin old already and a bunch of us want to play it but cant!


Dont tell me we are gonna have to throw are oldy's back in.

Apparently no, there still does not seem to be any new solution to the problem I'm afraid

We just need to wait for new driver releases from Nvidia and keep our fingers crossed that they will fix these problems in them eventually (there is a greater amount UT2k4 players there that are experiencing the same problems and Nvidia should be aware of this concerning the 8800 cards and their drivers with Unreal2 based games).

If you guys are experiencing these problems now with your new 8800's and are willing to join the fun RvS games again then just set the UseHardwareTL to False in the ravenshield.ini and come play some great oldschool online tactical gaming with the still very live and kicking RvS community

It's possible to change the hardware T & L value on the fly, while gaming, using console commands, script files and binds. Very easy to do.

Some maps run OK with T&L enabled, others simply must run T&L disabled.


/Save/Profiles/user.ini


So, open and edit user.ini, choose your two keys to enable/disable T&L. In example below I chose the numpad + and - keys


GreyMinus=exec off.txt
GreyPlus=exec on.txt


Next, the script files, enables/disables T&L and resets graphics (choose your own resolution)

/System/on.txt


SET D3DDrv.D3DRenderDevice UseHardwareTL True
setres 1280x1024


/System/off.txt


SET D3DDrv.D3DRenderDevice UseHardwareTL False
setres 1280x1024


I just tested this on Training, pressing + and - really switches within 1 second.

Thanks Triton for the good tip

If I remember correctly, with TnL disabled the maps which suffer from the crappy ground textures in places with curved terrain in them (eg. Training and Peaks) had no stuttering problems in them even with TnL enabled and this option to toggle the TnL on/off on the fly may come in handy.

I tryed RvS a while ago on Vista with the new Forceware 100.65 WHQL Vista 32-bit drivers and there were no stuttering with TnL enabled with these and the game ran as smooth as silk so I have high hopes that by the time of the new Forceware XP driver set for the 8800 cards this TnL stuttering issue will be solved in them

Good to see drivers took care of it. Now just wait for XP drivers (not even beta drivers to dl yet...)

...already did my part of bashing at nvidia's forum little whisky and few beers makes wonders to typing

OK, checked the log file to see what happens when switching these values:

Init: D3D Driver: CreateDevice: will use software transform and lighting.
Init: D3D Driver: CreateDevice: will use software vertex processing

Then after fiddling more, I finally found solution for the ugly textures:
MaxPixelShaderVersion=1
default it's 255

So, the new script files:

on.txt

SET D3DDrv.D3DRenderDevice UseHardwareTL True
SET D3DDrv.D3DRenderDevice UseHardwareVS True
SET D3DDrv.D3DRenderDevice MaxPixelShaderVersion 255
setres 1280x1024


off.txt

SET D3DDrv.D3DRenderDevice UseHardwareTL False
SET D3DDrv.D3DRenderDevice UseHardwareVS True
SET D3DDrv.D3DRenderDevice MaxPixelShaderVersion 1
setres 1280x1024

LOL, I found a FINAL best solution, that both plays well and looks good. Simply edit the ravenshield.ini to fix all.


UseHardwareTL=False
UseHardwareVS=True
MaxPixelShaderVersion=1

Good find. Now with UseHardwareTL set to False and MaxPixelShaderVersion set to 1, even the textures look fine and crisp and the game runs without a hitch

Still looking forward thou for the new set of drivers so that the hardware TnL could be enabled again as this would give greater framerates compared to the current situation in which we are now suffering a slight hit.

Yes, with the tweak CPU will do T&L work, reducing fps to half..but I still get better than with VSYNC on. 99,9% with 8800 card also has good cpu, I guess nobody gets too low frame rate this way.

Pros: GPU runs cooler
Cons: CPU runs hotter, lower fps (I run 1280x1024, 4xAA, 16xAF, highest texture setting, and Island map gives 80-150fps, thats much better than A64 3000 + X800XL...designed 2-3 years after RvS release !)

I have 3 different unreal engine games. RvS, UT2004 and Devastation

The T&L False tweak works for all, but some maps on Devastation (it has much terrain built in map). With tweak on, terrain texture was "invisible", and w/o tweak it was 50 fps, playable but useless.

UT2004 has 1000000 custom maps, I guess they have biggest difficulties there.

OMFG ! Let this not be true....

Just installed Windows Vista Home Premium Full version 32bit. installed the beta 101.something coz 100.65 WHQL didnt do anti-alias properly

Got all drivers installed and patched up RvS, curious to see 8800GTS in Vista drivers...

THEIR FIX: probably the hardwareTL ! coz I got 55-120fps without AA or AF from panel, and at 1280x960 rez...I always got 1280x1024 with XP

NO...I dont see that as a FIX...this NEW RIG plays like a 3 year old pc

i set console command "unlock all" o fast get to play Island map, press again for menu to activate.

low fps..all the time..until ! I start shooting shader material, the glass on swimming pool !! fps bumped up 75% while crushing glass...and stayed low when glass down. surely gpu was involved there, but not elsewhere..i see vista ppl have problems elsewhere from google

Hello, i have two 8800s and i have been running them in SLI mode, i experience alot of jitteryness in any game i play and the new drivers have not helped this at all. I doubt its my specs, im running an MSI MSI-7350 with four gigs of ram (windows only says two), an intel dual core, SB X-FI Audio sound card, and an Ageia physx card. If anybody can figure out how to make these cards work, email me at bizcut72@hotmail.com. I spent around four thousand dollars on this computer, and ide really like to get it working, thanks!

I just bought my new comp about a week ago... Intel core 2 duo, 2GB ram, Intel P965 Express ATX MoBo, Apevia 680W PSU, and the winner of this forum, the geforce 8800...

i have 2 problems, im not sure i have the same problems as you guys experience though. its not so much a jitter... more like frame by frame play or a continuous repetition of a few frames... my second problem is sometimes i cant even see the game almost like being in spec with no death cameras on... but i can still see the text and the scoreboard is accesible...

ive asked everyone i could about this and collectively have not fixed the problem... newest drivers, changing the affinity, these .ini changes, so on...

was wondering if i could get some help here maybe???

Vista + AMD Dual Core + Unreal Engine 2 games also no good combos = slomo !

Vista is said to have complete dual core drivers, but only after I manually installed "AMD Dual Core Optimizer" the problems disappeared.

Without this driver:
Sometimes there is a new kind of stutter (with high fps) where the player character almost stands still ! While running, the speed is not even half of walking speed ! Another UE2 game 100% always crashed with "Negative time delta!" msg.
I'm not sure it was "sometimes" or "always" since I've removed and installed this driver many times, from now on I will keep it with amd dual core cpu in Vista (32bit)

Intel dual core owners, check Intel and Microsoft website to see if there are additional drivers.