Warhammer Dark Omen Forum

Warhammer Dark Omen => Help Section => Topic started by: olly on March 21, 2009, 12:17:41 AM



Title: Dark Omen in Full 3D Mode High Res XP and No Flicker!
Post by: olly on March 21, 2009, 12:17:41 AM
***2 new fixes for Win 7 & 8 Full 3d Mode *****

http://forum.dark-omen.org/help-section/3d-mode-and-win8-dark-omen-t1164.0.html;msg12011#msg12011 (http://forum.dark-omen.org/help-section/3d-mode-and-win8-dark-omen-t1164.0.html;msg12011#msg12011)






Below describes the original investigation and testing ->

(http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/6607/finall.jpg)

***BackUp Your Dark Omen Folder Before Attempting Any Modifications****

***Use the Intro crash Fix to Restore Dark Omen Graphics Options******

***Do Not Use Alt Tab, Unless You Press Esc to Pause the Game First******

GUIDE TO FIX - > http://forum.dark-omen.org/help-section/dark-omen-in-full-3d-mode-high-res-xp-and-no-flicker-t248.0.html;msg1394#msg1394 (http://forum.dark-omen.org/help-section/dark-omen-in-full-3d-mode-high-res-xp-and-no-flicker-t248.0.html;msg1394#msg1394)


Today I have been Testing Dark Omen Running in Full 3D Mode on my XP Laptop.

My Guide Allows it to Work BUT it requires connecting to a CRT Monitor to

Achieve Refresh Rates of 100Hertz or more. This will Help Stop the Flickering.


1) Download the latest Nvidia Forceware Graphics Card drivers (haven't Tested on ATi and others yet)

2) Open NVidia Control Panel and go to Manage 3d Settings and Add EngRel.exe of Dark Omen.

See Above Posts for Detailed Pictures:-          

Set Options to:-


Anisotropic Filtering                           = Off
Antialiasing -Gamma Correction            = Use Global setting (Off)
Antialiasing - Setting                         = None
Antialiasing - Transparency                 = Off
Conformant texture clamp                   = Off
Extension limit                                   = On
Force mipmaps                                  = None
Multi-display/mixed GPu accer              = Single Display performance mode
Texture filtering -Anisotroipc mip          = Greyed out (Off)
Texture filtering -Anisotroipc  sample    = Greyed out (Off)
Texture filtering -Negative LOD bias      = Use Global Setting (Allow)
Texture filtering -Quality                     = High Quality
Texture filtering -Trilinear optimisation   = Greyed out (Off)
Triple buffering                                  = On
Vertical Sync                                     = Force On



3) Then Connect the latop to a CRT Monitor and Set the CRT as the Primary Display (Fn -F8)

4) Then Set the Adaptor Refresh Rate to 100Hertz or more, even use 640x Screen Res at 100hz.

5) Start Dark Omen and Set to 3D Mode and High Resolution and Start Campaign

6) Perfect! and no Flicker!


:)




(I will continue to Optimise this Guide and of course seek for a way to Allow Flat

Screen Monitors to Work, although it may require them to have a 8ms Response Time

that also Runs at 100hz and my Laptop Screen only does 60hz.


http://computing.kelkoo.co.uk/p-computer-monitors-114401/samsung-syncmaster-460p-46-15418285#specs (http://computing.kelkoo.co.uk/p-computer-monitors-114401/samsung-syncmaster-460p-46-15418285#specs)


*Update April 2012 using latest Forceware drivers*
(http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/3653/forcewareapril2012.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/651/forcewareapril2012.jpg/)


Title: Dark Omen in Full 3D Mode High Res on Windows XP and No Flicker!
Post by: olly on March 21, 2009, 03:25:24 AM
Dark Omen Finally Running in Full 3D Mode High Res on Windows XP! and No Flicker! 

After much Experimenting (see above Post) I was still getting the same Old Flicker on XP 3D Mode.

Until I Set my "CRT Monitor" Refresh Rate to 100Hertz and it Worked!

:)

(http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/6607/finall.jpg) (http://img21.imageshack.us/my.php?image=finall.jpg)


(http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/6977/final3i.jpg) (http://img17.imageshack.us/my.php?image=final3i.jpg)



Now I have Certainly Tried this in the Past, To Out Flicker the Flicker!

By Increasing my Refresh Rate to 100hz  and it Never did anything!

So here are all My Settings that I also changed tonight!


(http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/1403/final2tbo.jpg) (http://img21.imageshack.us/my.php?image=final2tbo.jpg)




(http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/5496/noflicker1.jpg) (http://img21.imageshack.us/my.php?image=noflicker1.jpg)


There was alot Of Nvidia Graphics Property Chages!


(http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/7754/noflicker2.jpg) (http://img21.imageshack.us/my.php?image=noflicker2.jpg)


(http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/2329/noflicker3.jpg) (http://img21.imageshack.us/my.php?image=noflicker3.jpg)


(http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/625/noflicker4.jpg) (http://img21.imageshack.us/my.php?image=noflicker4.jpg)


(I must also state that I copied ShadowOfTheHornedRatCD\DIRECTX files and

ShadowOfTheHornedRatCD\DIRECTX\DRIVERS\DISPLAY\MSDDRAW   

Into C:\WINDOWS\system32 which replaced my original ddraw.dll) 


and Perhaps most Crucially altering the Registry to 252  that my Tests saw Less Flicker

(http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/282/noflicker5.jpg) (http://img21.imageshack.us/my.php?image=noflicker5.jpg)




Just as I was nearly collapsing with Epilepsy at 2:26am, after 6hrs of Flickering Dark Omen

I remembered I had tried ages ago to solve The Flicker using Screen Refresh Rate but to no avail.


So I thought I would to give Tonight's Tests one last try and increase My CRT's refresh Rate to 100hz.

and it Worked! Unfortunately alot of your Flat Screen Monitors may not be able to do this as they may

only go upto 75hz and are different Technologies so no Refresh Rate but Response Times instead.



So i will try and keep the noise Down as I celebrate!

I Can't Wait to Test it Online Multiplayer Dark Omen in Full 3D on WinXp!


 8)




At this point in Time I belive it to be the Registry Tweak that Appeared to make it Flicker slighty less

which allowed my CRT at 100hertz Refresh Rate to Finally OverPower the Flicker by Refreshing Faster.

Although the Combination of Nvidia Settings were also causing different Optimal Graphical Effects.




Us Modders will of Course Test this fully and should be able to

Produce a Guide based on my Further Testing to determine the FIX!

To Hopefully Allow Everyone to Finally Play Online Dark Omen in Full 3D on XP /Vista on Flat Screen Monitors!


:)



Title: Dark Omen in Full 3D Mode High Res XP and No Flicker!
Post by: Flak on March 21, 2009, 01:39:54 PM
hehe my goblin campaign is used  ;D

(http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/6607/finall.jpg)


Title: Dark Omen in Full 3D Mode High Res XP and No Flicker!
Post by: olly on March 21, 2009, 07:47:05 PM
Today I have been Testing Dark Omen Running in Full 3D Mode on my XP Laptop.

My Guide Allows it to Work BUT it requires connecting to a CRT Monitor to

Achieve Refresh Rates of 100Hertz or more. This will Help Stop the Flickering.


1) Download the latest Nvidia Forceware Graphics Card drivers (haven't Tested on ATi and others yet)

2) Open NVidia Control Panel and go to Manage 3d Settings and Add EngRel.exe of Dark Omen.

See Above Posts for Detailed Pictures:-          

Set Options to:-


Anisotropic Filtering                           = Off
Antialiasing -Gamma Correction            = Use Global setting (Off)
Antialiasing - Setting                         = None
Antialiasing - Transparency                 = Off
Conformant texture clamp                   = Off
Extension limit                                   = On
Force mipmaps                                  = None
Multi-display/mixed GPu accer              = Single Display performance mode
Texture filtering -Anisotroipc mip          = Greyed out (Off)
Texture filtering -Anisotroipc  sample    = Greyed out (Off)
Texture filtering -Negative LOD bias      = Use Global Setting (Allow)
Texture filtering -Quality                     = High Quality
Texture filtering -Trilinear optimisation   = Greyed out (Off)
Triple buffering                                  = On
Vertical Sync                                     = Force On



3) Then Connect the latop to a CRT Monitor and Set the CRT as the Primary Display (Fn -F8)

4) Then Set the Adaptor Refresh Rate to 100Hertz or more, even use 640x Screen Res at 100hz.

5) Start Dark Omen and Set to 3D Mode and High Resolution and Start Campaign

6) Perfect! and no Flicker!


:)




(I will continue to Optimise this Guide and of course seek for a way to Allow Flat

Screen Monitors to Work, although it may require them to have a 8ms Response Time

that also Runs at 100hz and my Laptop Screen only does 60hz.


http://computing.kelkoo.co.uk/p-computer-monitors-114401/samsung-syncmaster-460p-46-15418285#specs (http://computing.kelkoo.co.uk/p-computer-monitors-114401/samsung-syncmaster-460p-46-15418285#specs)

*Update April 2012 using latest Forceware drivers as latest nvidia drivers caused black artefacts *

(http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/3653/forcewareapril2012.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/651/forcewareapril2012.jpg/)





(Yes Flak, your Goblin Campaign has never Looked So Good!)

;)


Title: Re: Dark Omen in Full 3D Mode High Res XP and No Flicker!
Post by: alavet on March 24, 2009, 09:18:03 AM
so do you basically think that if i have flat monitor which has 8ms response at ability of handling 100Hz i may use DO in 3d without flickering?

should i test it?


Title: Re: Dark Omen in Full 3D Mode High Res XP and No Flicker!
Post by: olly on March 24, 2009, 10:47:21 PM
If you have time Test, that would be Great!

Pleas tell me your Pc Specificitions:-

WinXP/Vista
Nvidia/ATi
TFT/CRT

etc ..

:)



Title: Re: Dark Omen in Full 3D Mode High Res XP and No Flicker!
Post by: alavet on March 25, 2009, 07:38:27 AM
sorry bro i just have rather good monitor (24') and thought that it may handle 100hz
but actually as i got yesterday it may handle only 85 hz so i guess there is no point for test?

for futher questions you may talk me in irc (exe) or hamachi


Title: Re: Dark Omen in Full 3D Mode High Res XP and No Flicker!
Post by: gatovaca17 on April 02, 2009, 11:15:09 AM
I'll test it today on my Asus 24"@75hz 2ms refresh & my Sony Bravia TV 26"@60hz 5ms refresh
Graphic Card: nVidia GTX260Top
WinXP32Pro
But i doubt it works on LCDs.

Thx a lot for ur researching :)
CRT ftw!


Title: Re: Dark Omen in Full 3D Mode High Res XP and No Flicker!
Post by: alavet on May 08, 2009, 08:42:39 PM
hey very very mnice q-ty picks, is it possible to create .reg file to make all these nvidia settings? would be very nice cause im lazy!


Title: Re: Dark Omen in Full 3D Mode High Res XP and No Flicker!
Post by: olly on May 10, 2009, 02:34:17 PM
After Discussing the Merits of 3D mode with Ghabry I mentioned some old 3rd party

Force Refresh Rate software that I once tried, when forcing Operation Flashpoint 1

to play on a Radeon 9800pro 256mb card. Now I certainly don't like to Force Monitors

to go Higher than their maximum settings, so we are considering Sync'ing the Game Frame

Rates to hopefully eliminate the Flicker/Blinking in 3d mode when using a TFT Flat 60hz screen

and not CRT or very latest new TFTs with 8ms repsonse Times, now with 100hz as well.


http://www.pagehosting.co.uk/rf/ (http://www.pagehosting.co.uk/rf/)


Refresh Force actually helps my 3d mode work better on this Nvidia and CRT monitor as now i can play

at 1024 x 768, 32bit @ 75hz Refresh Rate (normal mode) and doesn't Flicker, where as 640 @100hz was best


I have tried it with and without and it does have a positive effect on stopping flicker,despite the game always

running in 640 resolution as default,so at very least saves me swapping Screen Resolutions and Refresh Rates.




The problem with Laptop TFT is that I can almost reduce the flicker in 3d mode but the game looks dull, until

I disable Vsync in Nvidia Control Panel but then it creates Bands of Black lines that Flicker worse, however it is

worth pursuing and here are some other usefull tools that I am currently testing. Ideally we want to fix the Sync

Rate, rather than turn it Off or On- possibly.


Riva Turner -
Power Strip-
Force Refresh-
Nvidia Control Panel-

:)


Title: Re: Dark Omen in Full 3D Mode High Res XP and No Flicker!
Post by: sipax on October 30, 2009, 10:18:31 AM
There is one trouble: i cant set 100hz, 85 is max. (Geforce 5200)


Title: Re: Dark Omen in Full 3D Mode High Res XP and No Flicker!
Post by: MadMaxx on September 16, 2011, 04:20:02 PM
After many experiments, I believe that the cause of flickering is bypassing of blitting functions by the graphics card drivers.

1. On a Windows 98 SE system, I had the following results:
- Voodoo2/Voodoo2 SLI with pre-DX7 drivers : no flickering
- Voodoo3 with pre-DX7 drivers : no flickering
- Voodoo2/Voodoo2 SLI with DX7 drivers : flickering/crashing
- Voodoo3 with DX7 drivers : flickering/crashing
- Voodoo5500 with DX7/DX7+ drivers : flickering/crashing
- TNT2/GeForce2MX/GeForce4MX/GeForce6800GT with latest drivers : flickering/crashing
- GeForce6800GT with latest drivers and forced blitting : no flickering !!!
  The game still runs fine with anisotropic filtering enabled, but has problems with the antialiasing function.

To force blitting on a nVidia card, use RivaTuner (Driver Settings/DirectX Settings/Blitting -> check "Always wait after blit"), this seems to solve the problem.

On a Windows XP Pro system with GeForce8800GTS 512 using the latest drivers, forcing blitting resolves the flickering issue, but the image is distorted (deformed/off-place "polygons"), as seen also with other older games (e.g. Incoming).
Possibly using and older driver may help running fine the game in Windows XP.


Title: Re: Dark Omen in Full 3D Mode High Res XP and No Flicker!
Post by: olly on September 17, 2011, 12:30:32 AM
Good research & investigation, thnx

:)


Title: Re: Dark Omen in Full 3D Mode High Res XP and No Flicker!
Post by: AnmanIndustries on September 17, 2011, 03:48:04 PM
I also gave this a shot earlier today. After reading all of this thread and playing with a number of tools, I could not get it to stop flickering. However, the computer does have 2 GTX 580 DCU 2's in SLI. I was physically unable to bring it down to 10 year ago technology. I did get close when modifying the refresh rate and adjusting various settings. Zoomed all the way in and it was good, zoomed out and a zebra crossing slowly made its way across the screen.

After all of that, I am now unable to turn on 3d at all. Stuffed if I know what I did after all of that.

Also discovered that leaving the game in compatibility mode made my sound break into white noise and stuff up good like.


Title: Re: Dark Omen in Full 3D Mode High Res XP and No Flicker!
Post by: olly on September 18, 2011, 04:01:11 PM
yep, the only way is to have an Nvidia card and a monitor/TV capable of 100mhz (as well as a good response time if a TFT Flat screen) but luckily they are becoming more affordable now. However, as Ghabry points out, it would make your FRAPS video recordings 100 FPS as well (huge filesize), if you ever want to record your battles in full 3d mode.

My Guide Allows it to Work BUT it requires connecting to a CRT Monitor or new Flat screens to

Achieve Refresh Rates of 100Hertz or more. This will Help Stop the Flickering.


1) Download the latest Nvidia Graphics Card drivers (haven't Tested on ATi and others yet)

2) Open NVidia Control Panel and go to Manage 3d Settings and Add EngRel.exe of Dark Omen.

See Above Posts for Detailed Pictures:-          

Set Options to:-


Anisotropic Filtering                           = Off
Antialiasing -Gamma Correction            = Use Global setting (Off)
Antialiasing - Setting                         = None
Antialiasing - Transparency                 = Off
Conformant texture clamp                   = Off
Extension limit                                   = On
Force mipmaps                                  = None
Multi-display/mixed GPu accer              = Single Display performance mode
Texture filtering -Anisotroipc mip          = Greyed out (Off)
Texture filtering -Anisotroipc  sample    = Greyed out (Off)
Texture filtering -Negative LOD bias      = Use Global Setting (Allow)
Texture filtering -Quality                     = High Quality
Texture filtering -Trilinear optimisation   = Greyed out (Off)
Triple buffering                                  = On
Vertical Sync                                     = Force On



3) Then Connect the latop to a CRT Monitor and Set the CRT as the Primary Display (Fn -F8)

4) Then Set the Adaptor Refresh Rate to 100Hertz or more, even use 640x Screen Res at 100hz.

5) Start Dark Omen and Set to 3D Mode and High Resolution and Start Campaign

6) Perfect! and no Flicker!


:)




(I will continue to Optimise this Guide and of course seek for a way to Allow Flat

Screen Monitors to Work, although it may require them to have a 8ms Response Time

that also Runs at 100hz and my Laptop Screen only does 60hz.


http://computing.kelkoo.co.uk/p-computer-monitors-114401/samsung-syncmaster-460p-46-15418285#specs (http://computing.kelkoo.co.uk/p-computer-monitors-114401/samsung-syncmaster-460p-46-15418285#specs)


Title: Re: Dark Omen in Full 3D Mode High Res XP and No Flicker!
Post by: Thoreg on November 11, 2012, 09:24:56 AM
Hi,

At first, I'm new to the forum so hello everybody! I've been a Dark Omen fan for ages and it's good to see that I'm not alone with this.

Since I reinstalled the game after some years I've been wondering why does the screen flicker if I turn on 3D and finally I found the answer here. Well, another good reason to get a good old CRT next to the fact that light guns also work only with them (The House of the Dead powa).

Well, I couldn't find anywhere a comparison of the graphics of Dark Omen with 3D turned on and off, so I decided to make one. Since it flickers with 3D on I had to pause the game with Esc but luckily the menu doesn't hide too much of the screen.

Screenshot 1 3D OFF:
(http://www.blindguardian.hu/dark-omen-screenshot1-3d-off.jpg)
Screenshot 1 3D ON:
(http://www.blindguardian.hu/dark-omen-screenshot1-3d-on.jpg)
Screenshot 2 3D OFF:
(http://www.blindguardian.hu/dark-omen-screenshot2-3d-off.jpg)
Screenshot 2 3D ON:
(http://www.blindguardian.hu/dark-omen-screenshot2-3d-on.jpg)

Well there IS difference between the two modes, especially the faces are smoother with 3D on (the black squares are also just rendering flaws). But in the end the game's resolution is 640x480 and if I resize the screen to Full HD the difference won't matter that much. :) I hope somone will find this interesting!

Cheers,
Thoreg


Title: Re: Dark Omen in Full 3D Mode High Res XP and No Flicker!
Post by: Ghabry on November 11, 2012, 02:10:05 PM
We have no idea why it flickers.
But the "solution" is really to run Win98 or run a monitor at 100 or more Hz.
I guess that it still flickers, but our eyes are too slow to see this.


Title: Re: Dark Omen in Full 3D Mode High Res XP and No Flicker!
Post by: olly on November 11, 2012, 08:11:49 PM
Nice comparison pictures thanks, here's some more info ->

Full 3d mode has transparent Water
(http://img600.imageshack.us/img600/5884/fortr.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/600/fortr.jpg/)

and also allows Sprite filtering (Options Menu) that improves their looks
(http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/6402/itzeko.jpg) (http://img17.imageshack.us/my.php?image=itzeko.jpg)

In 3d mode there are a Higher amount of Dead bodies that remain alot longer on the Battlefield and also more Particle Effects (polygons)
(http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/959/itzeko2.jpg) (http://img17.imageshack.us/my.php?image=itzeko2.jpg)

(http://img366.imageshack.us/img366/3720/pepijin2.jpg) (http://img366.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pepijin2.jpg)


At least in the near future, when all TFT Flat Screen Monitor/Tvs (100Hz capable) are cheaper, then we can all play each other in 3d mode again! (Also Requires Nvidia Graphics Options etc..)

http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1&sku=376160&~ck=bncat&~bk=gr:CategoryRec_catpab2,g:MostBought,rk: (http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1&sku=376160&~ck=bncat&~bk=gr:CategoryRec_catpab2,g:MostBought,rk:)

:)


Title: Re: Dark Omen in Full 3D Mode High Res XP and No Flicker!
Post by: Thoreg on November 12, 2012, 04:59:53 AM
We have no idea why it flickers.
But the "solution" is really to run Win98 or run a monitor at 100 or more Hz.
I guess that it still flickers, but our eyes are too slow to see this.

Mmm so you say under Win98 we wouldn't need a 100 Hz monitor? What about Virtual PC? Is it possible to create a virtual Win98?

Olly, thanks for the screens they're great! :)


Title: Re: Dark Omen in Full 3D Mode High Res XP and No Flicker!
Post by: Ghabry on November 12, 2012, 05:26:44 PM
No VirtualPC has no 3D support (and all other Virtual Machine Programs dont support 3D under 98)


Title: Re: Dark Omen in Full 3D Mode High Res XP and No Flicker!
Post by: Sark on November 27, 2013, 07:28:14 AM
Oh man, I've been trying to get 3D mode to work for hours. I've tried everything I could find here to no avail, the 3D setting is still greyed out for me. Does anyone have any idea what could be wrong?


Title: Re: Dark Omen in Full 3D Mode High Res XP and No Flicker!
Post by: olly on November 27, 2013, 02:07:51 PM
If your are using Windows XP there is no fix for full 3D, unless you use Win 7 or Win 8

http://forum.dark-omen.org/help-section/3d-mode-and-win8-dark-omen-t1164.0.html (http://forum.dark-omen.org/help-section/3d-mode-and-win8-dark-omen-t1164.0.html)

Then you can use a Hex Edited EngRel.exe to make it work, if you do have Win 7 or Win 8 then I can send you my EngRel.exe and registry settings to allow 3d mode not be greyed out.

:)


Title: Re: Dark Omen in Full 3D Mode High Res XP and No Flicker!
Post by: Ghabry on November 27, 2013, 04:48:19 PM
Do you have the Vista/Win7 Fix installed? That compatibility fix disables the 3d mode, sorry. :(



Title: Re: Dark Omen in Full 3D Mode High Res XP and No Flicker!
Post by: deffnator on December 25, 2019, 01:39:46 AM
Good Night and Merry Christmas Everyone, i've been lurking these forums for a long time and i love WHFB.

For years Dark Omen always hated modern pc's and even to make it run on win 10 was a chore.
Well Recently, Dege, the author and dev of the miraculous DgVoodoo2 Wrapper for old games, created a patched EXE for the game that fixes the atrocious rainbow bugs and it enables the use of wrappers to 4k resolution, and even reshade.

https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?p=803101#p803101 (https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?p=803101#p803101)

this thread has some screenshots testing it.

i've wanted to share these news with all of you, this since these news went off radar for everyone.
and sorry for the joke there, but this needs to be spread!

merry xmas and may 2020 be a good year for Fantasy Gaming, mainly now that the old world is coming back!

[attachment=1]

AND YES 3d WORKS!


Title: Re: Dark Omen in Full 3D Mode High Res XP and No Flicker!
Post by: olly on December 25, 2019, 06:10:41 PM
Great  will test it out, thanks.


Title: Re: Dark Omen in Full 3D Mode High Res XP and No Flicker!
Post by: olly on December 27, 2019, 12:19:24 AM
Works really well with the latest dgVoodoo v2.63 after copy and pasting its D3DImm.dll & DDraw.dll files into Dark Omen's PRG_ENG folder, along with Dege's new DARKOMEN.exe

https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=70449&p=811580#p811580 (https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=70449&p=811580#p811580)

[attachment=1]

Can Dege's latest fix be incorporated into our Mod Pack EngRel.exe?


Title: Re: Dark Omen in Full 3D Mode High Res XP and No Flicker!
Post by: aqrit on December 27, 2019, 10:38:14 PM
One would use a hex-editor to "diff" Dege's patched executable with the original executable to obtain the patch sequence.  I wonder about the "fullscreen window mode" hack currently in the Mod Pack...


Title: Re: Dark Omen in Full 3D Mode High Res XP and No Flicker!
Post by: deffnator on December 28, 2019, 12:29:35 AM
One would use a hex-editor to "diff" Dege's patched executable with the original executable to obtain the patch sequence.  I wonder about the "fullscreen window mode" hack currently in the Mod Pack...
Vogons was off over this entire evening due to the new changes, but i think he would be fine, as long as you guys ask him.




Title: Re: Dark Omen in Full 3D Mode High Res XP and No Flicker!
Post by: ericdejager on December 28, 2019, 07:53:13 PM
Hi All Veterans,
Really sorry to ask this, but i'm struggling with this flicker. I've tried every suggestion, I'm using a downloaded version, which they say the fix is just a ALT + TAB combo, but still does not work...
I was so excited to get this again, so many good long memories, but super frustrating.
Regards
Eric


Title: Re: Dark Omen in Full 3D Mode High Res XP and No Flicker!
Post by: olly on December 28, 2019, 08:21:55 PM
Hi and welcome,

you need an English UK CD version and then follow my guide and you might have to use the dgVodoo emulator

http://forum.dark-omen.org/help-section/read-me-ultimate-dark-omen-xpvistawin7win81win10-game-fixes-t111.0.html (http://forum.dark-omen.org/help-section/read-me-ultimate-dark-omen-xpvistawin7win81win10-game-fixes-t111.0.html)

:)


Title: Re: Dark Omen in Full 3D Mode High Res XP and No Flicker!
Post by: olly on December 29, 2019, 09:23:04 PM
Have been testing Dege's excellent Vodoo patched Dark Omen. Great in game writing text but trees/terrain shimmer like original. Ignore audio as due to recording and not in game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fm39jq1ADWI (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fm39jq1ADWI)

[attachment=2]

 
However, if modified with his dgVoodoo2_63 to allow Screen Resolution up to 2560x1440 eliminates any shimmering of the of the trees/terrain but sadly corrupts the writing text (which can't be seen in the video below but screenshot shows the bad text a little but best to see for yourself in game). Also use coloured cursors to eliminate a ghosted mouse pointer when using black & white cursor and remember to return options to use black and white cursor afterwards.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3z9JvwWHlc&feature=youtu.be (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3z9JvwWHlc&feature=youtu.be)

[attachment=1]

[attachment=3]


Final test showing Dark Omen Mod Pack extreme camera zoom but trees/terrain shimmering like original. So would be amazing to have no shimmering but good writing text running at 2560x1440 screen resolution if possible. Dege is kindly investigating.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36ehfXqOh5E&feature=youtu.be (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36ehfXqOh5E&feature=youtu.be)




Title: Re: Dark Omen in Full 3D Mode High Res XP and No Flicker!
Post by: olly on December 29, 2019, 11:14:28 PM
It will be a good test to disable the Mod Pack EngRel.exe from running at its hardcoded screen resolution 640x480, since disabling it in compatibility mode doesn't unforce it. This will then enable Dege's dgVoodoo2_63 to run it at 2560x1440 to eliminate any shimmering of the trees and terrain. However, we will then need to test the good writing text of the menus etc.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDCz3LENJII&feature=youtu.be (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDCz3LENJII&feature=youtu.be)


Compared with running Mod Pack at 640x480 that has shimmering of trees and terrain like the original game

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hgr_EXcsh8M&feature=youtu.be (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hgr_EXcsh8M&feature=youtu.be)


https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?p=803101#p803101 (https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?p=803101#p803101)



Title: Re: Dark Omen in Full 3D Mode High Res XP and No Flicker!
Post by: olly on January 01, 2020, 07:18:35 PM
I followed Aqrit's advice and examined Dege's DARKOMEN.exe with an original EngRel.exe and noted the 7 changes, then applied those changes into our latest Mod Pack EngRel.exe and it worked. Then downloaded Dege's latest dgVoodoo-v2.63 and copied dgVoodooCpl, DDraw.dll & D3DImm.dll into Dark Omen PRG_ENG folder and used the following settings

[attachment=1]

http://dege.freeweb.hu/dgVoodoo2/dgVoodoo2.html (http://dege.freeweb.hu/dgVoodoo2/dgVoodoo2.html)

Dark Omen has never looked so good, running at 2560x1440 and the textures don't shimmer as much, even with the extreme camera zoom out and the 3d talking head portraits also look amazing. It also uses coloured cursors. The only slight issue is with the text writing that I'm not sure how to correct.  

Eternal thanks to Dege and of course Ghabry/Aqrit for the Mod Pack advanced features and deffnator for alerting the Dark Omen community to this latest dgVoodoo patch. So will combine into latest Mod Pack.

:)

Dege dgVoodoo
https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?p=803101#p803101 (https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?p=803101#p803101)

Dege kindly explains his fix ->

1. If the resolution is forced then the initial mouse cursor counter is a large negative number (I don't have a clue why) and the game gets stuck into a
for (; ShowCursor (TRUE) <= 0; )
cycle to make the cursor visible. I modified the cycle to run at most once. When resolution is forced then dgVoodoo draws its own cursor so the physical one shouldn't be visible anyway, while in unforced res case 1 ShowCursor is enough to make it visible.
2. When the game starts then it does a little test drawing by the 3D device to check out if it really works (and not some garbage driver is behind the scene [early 3D days with a lof of very buggy unusable drivers when the game was written...]).
It draws a simple white triangle or something then reads back one of its pixel by the CPU. If the readback pixel is not white then 3D is disabled in the options menu. With forced resolution the drawn (and downscaled) stuff gets offseted by a pixel so the pixel read back is black. I simply forced the pixel read back to (be thinked to be) white.
Btw, what's the problem with the menu text? What I can see is it's upscaled by a pointsampled filter (pixelated text) but that's normal.

****Just tested multiplayer via GameRanger still works with my Dark Omen 2 mod which reuses the Mark of Chaos & Battle March maps
[attachment=2]


Title: Re: Dark Omen in Full 3D Mode High Res XP and No Flicker!
Post by: olly on January 07, 2020, 11:14:58 PM
Dark Omen running at 2560x1440 no shimmering of trees so looks amazing. Watch in the youtube's highest quality setting to see how beautiful it really is

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p455XLNjOj8 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p455XLNjOj8)


Title: Re: Dark Omen in Full 3D Mode High Res XP and No Flicker!
Post by: deffnator on January 08, 2020, 05:07:05 PM
Sorry for taking too long, my config is the one that dege suggested, though im using Max FHD with MSAA and Anisotropy

also GDI hook enabled


Title: Re: Dark Omen in Full 3D Mode High Res XP and No Flicker!
Post by: deffnator on February 10, 2020, 11:44:18 PM
Sorry for taking too long, my config is the one that dege suggested, though im using Max FHD with MSAA and Anisotropy

also GDI hook enabled

One thing that i forgot to mention, im occupied lately with oblivion stuff and IRL issues
Im also using reshade to fix it up the image a bit, here is a pastebin of my config
https://pastebin.com/FEbaR5m1


Title: Re: Dark Omen in Full 3D Mode High Res XP and No Flicker!
Post by: olly on February 11, 2020, 08:18:05 AM
Great, will try it out. Thanks

:)


Title: Re: Dark Omen in Full 3D Mode High Res XP and No Flicker!
Post by: EvgenS on July 04, 2020, 10:30:04 AM
Hi Olly, long time no see!

After I moved all mods files, I managed to run the original DO in full HD (1920x1020) wide screen. But as I understan it can be launched in high res with mods as well. How can I do this?


PS.
Many thanks to Dege for this tweak with his DGVoodoo. Dark Omen looks just like in my old memories


Title: Re: Dark Omen in Full 3D Mode High Res XP and No Flicker!
Post by: olly on July 04, 2020, 04:50:23 PM
Welcome back and agree that original Dark Omen has never looked so good :)

Following the guide from Step 2 should fix it for you but I can always remote in via TeamViewer if necessary. The original game can always be chosen within the Mod Menu.

http://forum.dark-omen.org/help-section/read-me-ultimate-dark-omen-xpvistawin7win81win10-game-fixes-t111.0.html (http://forum.dark-omen.org/help-section/read-me-ultimate-dark-omen-xpvistawin7win81win10-game-fixes-t111.0.html)