Graphic Issues in TL version.

[Foxloaf]

I used to play this game a lot, so when I saw the entire collection go on sale for about a buck, you can imagine I jumped at it. Only problem is, I have two options when running it and both are wrong.

I'm running windows 8.1, but running it in compatibility mode changes absolutely nothing, and I used to run this on my other machine which runs off of windows 7.

When I run the first option, the standard europa gold executable, I get an abyssmal framerate to the point of being downright unplayable. When I run the T&L version, I get a perfectly smooth framerate, but the graphics are cut off on the right side on just about any menu element beyond the main menu (Storeroom, carts, the setting menus, et etera) and it drives me crazy to no end. I want to relive the joys of playing this game without it being a giant eyesore. To make matters worse, no one else seems to be documenting this issue.

What causes this problem and how do I fix it?

[lonetrav]

Same problem, related with the screen format, I guess (4:3 vs. others). Menus only, the game screen itself appears to be ok.
Annoying and immersion-breaking, but not a real game-killer. Possibly difficult to fix, too - simply stretching or compressing the images to fit the screen might lead to undesired results.

[Kazuia2300]

I once had the guild cd game and there was the T&L.exe never for "newer graphic cards", but i believe it was for pcs without nvidia like ati or something. And there shouldn't be any differences between normal and t&l. It's just for compability issues. So run the normal exe, if you have smooth fps like me and my nvidia card.

[Mystic Referee]

Originally posted by Kazuia2300:

I once had the guild cd game and there was the T&L.exe never for "newer graphic cards", but i believe it was for pcs without nvidia like ati or something. And there shouldn't be any differences between normal and t&l. It's just for compability issues. So run the normal exe, if you have smooth fps like me and my nvidia card.

"T&L" refers to, in this case, "SW T&L" which is "Software Texture and Lighting".

Back before DX9.0c. you could run lighting affects and such off of the processor (Software). Cause for a while, your processor was your graphical capability. With DX9.0c, Hardware T&L is forced. Ergo - If you're using a GPU incapable of HW T&L then the game wouldn't function at all.

So it IS a compatibility, but I figured if someone wanted the short explanation that I'd give it.

[Foxloaf]

Originally posted by Kazuia2300:

I once had the guild cd game and there was the T&L.exe never for "newer graphic cards", but i believe it was for pcs without nvidia like ati or something. And there shouldn't be any differences between normal and t&l. It's just for compability issues. So run the normal exe, if you have smooth fps like me and my nvidia card.

I /don't/ have a smooth FPS. Hence this thread.

[Mystic Referee]

Originally posted by The Cleric:

Originally posted by Kazuia2300:

I once had the guild cd game and there was the T&L.exe never for "newer graphic cards", but i believe it was for pcs without nvidia like ati or something. And there shouldn't be any differences between normal and t&l. It's just for compability issues. So run the normal exe, if you have smooth fps like me and my nvidia card.

I /don't/ have a smooth FPS. Hence this thread.

I'm assuming it's hardware related. Windows 8 doesn't cause this issue - even without compatibility mode.

My assumption is that you either have a GPU that is more specific to it's generation i.e. an Nvidia card, or one that is just all around horrible, like an Intel card.

But after having fired up this game again on my preferred OS - Windows 8 - I cannot recreate your issues.

[Morgan Bernhardt]

I used to play with cd version on xp and win 7,worked fine in normal mode but always had problems with the t&l option. Now even the normal mode in win 10 doesn't work right, slow frame rate. Conclusion, it doesn't like win10. Have not tried this game with win 8.

[Mystic Referee]

Originally posted by Finger:

I used to play with cd version on xp and win 7,worked fine in normal mode but always had problems with the t&l option. Now even the normal mode in win 10 doesn't work right, slow frame rate. Conclusion, it doesn't like win10

Works in Windows 10 too. I tested that when I tested Windows 8 as well.

Either I have an amazingly compatible system or you guys are doing something wrong.

But be mindful Windows 10 is only now just being considered a mostly stable release just yet so your Windows 10 issues could actually still be a bug. Windows 10 didn't change compatibility a lot from Windows 8 so there shouldn't be much of a reason why things don't work.

[Morgan Bernhardt]

Its windows 10 that's the problem, haven't tried win 8. I've played on multiple PCs though and t&l doesn't work right on any.

[Mystic Referee]

Originally posted by Finger:

Its windows 10 that's the problem, haven't tried win 8. I've played on multiple PCs though and t&l doesn't work right on any.

Are they any similar builds at all? Like, do they all have same generation processors, are they all AMD or Nvidia GPUs? I've got it to work with no effort on my end on Windows 10. So it will work. I don't know why it worked for me and not you though.

I ask because Nvidia has poor support for legacy anything. Newer Nvidia GPUs coming out have poor DX9 performance for example.

My build is a Newer AMD GPU and an 8year old AMD processor of the phenom II generation.

[☢ Echo]

I got a Titan Black and I have some issues like written above... derp

[Mystic Referee]

Originally posted by S.E Kevin ♥ Lily:

I got a Titan Black and I have some issues like written above... derp

Not trying to do any sort of Nvidia hate, but they have a well documented issue with compatibility and performance with previous generation and legacy graphics.

When I build machines for clients, I have a flowsheet I go through, that I have to follow or I end up with upset clients. That goes like this:

1. Are you running recent programs? If yes = goto questions 3 and 4.

2. Are you running Legacy graphics programs/games? If yes = AMD

3. Are you using a 1080p Monitor? If yes = Nvidia

4. Are you using a 4k or higher monitor? If yes = AMD

This is based off of experience and research. Sell a client a machine with Nvidia so they can run an Autocad-esque program from 2002? Well, they now want a refund cause that Nvidia card can't run the legacy software.

So yes, I'm assuming that your Titan Black is the problem due to well documented problems of legacy support.

If you have an onboard chipset you'd be best trying to get that to work tbh.

[Foxloaf]

Well mine is AMD and I'm still having the issues. Any more suggestions?

[Mystic Referee]

Originally posted by The Cleric:

Well mine is AMD and I'm still having the issues. Any more suggestions?

Then that brings me back to the drawing board.

I can't personally recreate the issue on a Windows 10 machine with an AMD card. Was able to do so with an Nvidia 530 - which was surprising considering that's a much older card. And that small sample comfirmed everything I said - mostly. But that's also just a small sample and I definitely can't repair the failure to create a rendering device with the Nvidia card as that is driver related.

I'm more inclined to think it isn't the OS and rather a device or driver. Because I imagine that I would never have been able to play it at all if it was the OS. So that's the theories. In Practice, if it only works on Windows 10 with a very specific combination of hardware then it might as well not work on Windows 10.

So I hate to say it, but unless I had the ability to just poke around with one of these troubled machines *Which I'm not advertising that as something that I am going to do*. Just saying that I'd have to delve through system logs and other logs and I may or may not ever come up with an answer tbh. I know exactly why mine failed with the Nvidia but it's an error from the device driver.

[Mystic Referee]

So I found an Nvidia 285 sitting in a box and thought maybe I could run PhysX with it. WEll, you can't.

However, it did run The Guild in Windows 10.

[randommonicle]

I have the exact same problem, running win 10, 980 TI
However it was running fine with my 570 on win 7 and 8.1