S.T.A.L.K.E.R has gone gold

[NYHoustonman]

Originally posted by: pontifex
this is kind of pissing me off. i'm not really seeing any performance gains in any of my games.

I figured I could at least turn some settings up in my games and have them work well.

I was hoping to tun on dynamic lighting in STALKER but that doesn't seem like it will work because I get such low FPS.

DMM&M came with the video card and I get 20-30 FPS with everything on high and AA and AF on 2x. Haven't tried it without either or lower settings yet.

CoD2 I think i might get a little better performance with everything turned up than i did before but its still not great. i get about 40-50 FPS there.

I just see lots of other people who have similar systems that perform way better and its annoying. Am I doing something wrong? do i have a setting not set correct or what?

My system:
Opteron 175 @ 2.4 Ghz
8800 GTX 320 MB
2 GB RAM

I got a 12153 on 3dmark05

I definitely recommend you try clearing out all NVidia drivers and reinstalling from scratch. I had a similar issue (try running 3DMark06... get ~75fps in the first test? You're fine. A third of that? ...problems), and that fixed it.

 

[40sTheme]

ponti, are you still using the 97.20s? If so, upgrade to a newer version; they have optimized the 8800 series so much more since those.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: NYHoustonman

Originally posted by: pontifex
this is kind of pissing me off. i'm not really seeing any performance gains in any of my games.

I figured I could at least turn some settings up in my games and have them work well.

I was hoping to tun on dynamic lighting in STALKER but that doesn't seem like it will work because I get such low FPS.

DMM&M came with the video card and I get 20-30 FPS with everything on high and AA and AF on 2x. Haven't tried it without either or lower settings yet.

CoD2 I think i might get a little better performance with everything turned up than i did before but its still not great. i get about 40-50 FPS there.

I just see lots of other people who have similar systems that perform way better and its annoying. Am I doing something wrong? do i have a setting not set correct or what?

My system:
Opteron 175 @ 2.4 Ghz
8800 GTX 320 MB
2 GB RAM

I got a 12153 on 3dmark05

I definitely recommend you try clearing out all NVidia drivers and reinstalling from scratch. I had a similar issue (try running 3DMark06... get ~75fps in the first test? You're fine. A third of that? ...problems), and that fixed it.

why? i know nvidia drivers aren't unified ... but is the 8800 that picky?


12K in 05 seems reasonable ... maybe a bit low ...

i guess no biggie to run driver cleaner ... but a reinstall is the *last* thing i would consider
[if you have another partition, you can set it up just with the necessary drivers and stalker]

try the newest drivers and work back from there

Did you fix your own STALKER problems, NYHoustonman?

 

[TheRyuu]

Whats the quick save key? (if there is one?)

 

[gorcorps]

F6... F7 quickload

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Jsut went ot the web site. Their screen shots use interlaced Jpegs. INTERLACED!!!! So 2001

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

POLL ADDED by OP. Very nice!!!

 

[NYHoustonman]

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: NYHoustonman

Originally posted by: pontifex
this is kind of pissing me off. i'm not really seeing any performance gains in any of my games.

I figured I could at least turn some settings up in my games and have them work well.

I was hoping to tun on dynamic lighting in STALKER but that doesn't seem like it will work because I get such low FPS.

DMM&M came with the video card and I get 20-30 FPS with everything on high and AA and AF on 2x. Haven't tried it without either or lower settings yet.

CoD2 I think i might get a little better performance with everything turned up than i did before but its still not great. i get about 40-50 FPS there.

I just see lots of other people who have similar systems that perform way better and its annoying. Am I doing something wrong? do i have a setting not set correct or what?

My system:
Opteron 175 @ 2.4 Ghz
8800 GTX 320 MB
2 GB RAM

I got a 12153 on 3dmark05

I definitely recommend you try clearing out all NVidia drivers and reinstalling from scratch. I had a similar issue (try running 3DMark06... get ~75fps in the first test? You're fine. A third of that? ...problems), and that fixed it.

why? i know nvidia drivers aren't unified ... but is the 8800 that picky?


12K in 05 seems reasonable ... maybe a bit low ...

i guess no biggie to run driver cleaner ... but a reinstall is the *last* thing i would consider
[if you have another partition, you can set it up just with the necessary drivers and stalker]

try the newest drivers and work back from there

Did you fix your own STALKER problems, NYHoustonman?

Turning dynamic lighting off (in other words, dealing with static lighting) fixes it. But I'm not playing the game like that... I'll wait for a patch. It completely kills the mood, especially during the night (and for me, the atmosphere is one of the best parts of the game). It's a great game that I hope to enjoy soon, but apparently it's not to be right now.

I have Shivering Isles to hold me off .

 

[apoppin]

i would *hate* to be with out the dynamic lighting

it is such fun fighting at night with lightening illuminating the scene ... the mutant dogs glowing eye ...

petty cool

SI is next for me ... i am starting completely over

 

[chrismr]

Go the game, it runs brilliantly maxed on my machine (as below) but really, I am struggling to get myself to enjoy it. Whereas it has some deifnite pluses, such as the large areas, good sound... it all feels rather amaturish to me.

I can not believe that they have been making this delivered product for as long as they have. It's just feels so unfinished and rushed. I think a lot of people are being lenient with it as they have been anticipating it, and wanting to like it for so long. I have been looking forward to it for ages myself, but am not going to give the developers credit where none is due.

The enemy AI is not good (All it does is strafe), there are simply too many bandits (who just keep re-spawning and re-spawning), the list goes on.... and the multiplayer is just AWFUL!! After a couple of minutes I just quit the MP.

I just wish I had not spent the money on it. At least I have not registered and can sell it on Ebay.

I just don't understand how so many people can be rating this game to highly. It really is not very good.

 

[marmasatt]

That's what we all said, my friend. You're not alone. You *really* have to stick with it. The pro's so outweigh the cons once you get deeper into the game.

 

[videopho]

Just picked up the game @ CC a few days ago and here is my take, thus far:
STALKER's game play is definitely interesting, 2/3 FPS & 1/3 RPG, more or less I must add.
Overall the graphics/colors are not quite up to that of Oblivion's but still not bad.
My 2nd rig (7900GTO) which has no problem handling the game at full HDR and maxed out settings @ 1680x1050 resolution and still averages ~ 30fps using FRAPS measurement technique.
Though at that frame rate, the game does experience some slight lags here and there especially when venturing outdoors. Otherwise it's pretty smooth most of the time.
One technical caveat: whenever I hit F6 (QS) the game tosses me out back to window (which is x64 OS). :|

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: 40sTheme
ponti, are you still using the 97.20s? If so, upgrade to a newer version; they have optimized the 8800 series so much more since those.

its actually 97.92, thats the latest version on nvidia's website.

i did run driver cleaner and reinstalled the 97.92 and still get crap fps with dynamic lighting on.

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: NYHoustonman

Originally posted by: pontifex
this is kind of pissing me off. i'm not really seeing any performance gains in any of my games.

I figured I could at least turn some settings up in my games and have them work well.

I was hoping to tun on dynamic lighting in STALKER but that doesn't seem like it will work because I get such low FPS.

DMM&M came with the video card and I get 20-30 FPS with everything on high and AA and AF on 2x. Haven't tried it without either or lower settings yet.

CoD2 I think i might get a little better performance with everything turned up than i did before but its still not great. i get about 40-50 FPS there.

I just see lots of other people who have similar systems that perform way better and its annoying. Am I doing something wrong? do i have a setting not set correct or what?

My system:
Opteron 175 @ 2.4 Ghz
8800 GTX 320 MB
2 GB RAM

I got a 12153 on 3dmark05

I definitely recommend you try clearing out all NVidia drivers and reinstalling from scratch. I had a similar issue (try running 3DMark06... get ~75fps in the first test? You're fine. A third of that? ...problems), and that fixed it.

i really don't want to wipe windows and reinstall everything. that would take me forever.
unless you mean just reinstall windows over top of itself.

 

[videopho]

Pontifex...I suggest going to tweaksrus site and try their drivers.
I've been using their drivers for years and have not looked back (into Nvidia's ones)
Just saw your sig which reads

My system:
Opteron 175 @ 2.4 Ghz
8800 GTX 320 MB
2 GB RAM


Is GTX a typo? Shouldn't it be GTS?

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: apoppin
i would *hate* to be with out the dynamic lighting

it is such fun fighting at night with lightening illuminating the scene ... the mutant dogs glowing eye ...

petty cool

SI is next for me ... i am starting completely over

i've been going without max settings with a few games, like CoD2 (mainyl for MP, i do raise them a bit for SP) and i've played STALKER with static lighting and its ok for me, i don't mind it when i know i can't play with the hardware i had. but now that i upgraded, over $500 worth, i feel like i should be able to get more out of it, not still run at the same settings!

i can't seem to see any noticeable difference in gaming.
i do notice a difference in multitasking with other programs because of the dual core, but for games i notice no difference at all, graphics or speed wise.

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: videopho
Pontifex...I suggest going to tweaksrus site and try their drivers.
I've been using their drivers for years.

yeah, i did go an get the one you linked earlier when i had my 7800GT but you said it didn't work with 8800 series cards which is what i have now.

i did see another version, 100.95 yesterday but when i try to install it, i get a crc check error so i can't install it. i don't even know if it would work with th 8800 yet. the descriptions aren't very detailed.

yeah, its a GTS, sorry, i'll fix that

 

[videopho]

pontifex
What's your STALKER game average frame rate right now with current driver?
Sorry being lazy and do not want to go back and read all 25 pages of posting.

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: videopho
pontifex
What's your STALKER game average frame rate right now with current driver?
Sorry being lazy and do not want to go back and read all 25 pages of posting.

right now i get about 70-80 with these settings:

1680x1050
static lighting
full object detail
full texture detail
50% view distance
real low grass density (maybe 2-3 settings from lowest)
maybe 25-30% light distance
sun and grass shadows off
I can't remember for sure but I think I have AA & AF maxed

(i guess i did get an improvement with static lighting because i think i had AA & AF at lowest settings and the detail settings like 1 or 2 settings from highest, so with static lighting and the 8800 i was able to raise the settings and still get good performance)


If i use dynamic lighting:
1680x1050
view distance is 50% or lower
grass density lowest
detail settings are maybe 3-4 settings from max
light distance about 25-30%
grass shadows off, sun shadows on
AA & AF lowest

i get about 15-25 fps with those settings. i even tried 1280x1024 and still got the same fps.


when i played CoD2 MP and turned on DX9 instead of DX7, i got this bloom type effect and almost made some things transparent. it also made it harder to see stuff.

when i played with DX7 on my old card i had textures set to normal, 1680x1050, shadows off or low, and everything else either off or medium settings. i got about 90-125 fps.
with the 8800 i changed the textures to high and i think everything else the same and get about 70-80 fps.

with DX9, textures to high, and everything else the same i get about 40-55 or so fps.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: chrismr
Go the game, it runs brilliantly maxed on my machine (as below) but really, I am struggling to get myself to enjoy it. Whereas it has some deifnite pluses, such as the large areas, good sound... it all feels rather amaturish to me.

I can not believe that they have been making this delivered product for as long as they have. It's just feels so unfinished and rushed. I think a lot of people are being lenient with it as they have been anticipating it, and wanting to like it for so long. I have been looking forward to it for ages myself, but am not going to give the developers credit where none is due.

The enemy AI is not good (All it does is strafe), there are simply too many bandits (who just keep re-spawning and re-spawning), the list goes on.... and the multiplayer is just AWFUL!! After a couple of minutes I just quit the MP.

I just wish I had not spent the money on it. At least I have not registered and can sell it on Ebay.

I just don't understand how so many people can be rating this game to highly. It really is not very good.

first of all i *stopped* looking "forward" to it ... i *thought* it was cancelled and had nothing to look forward to ... no expectations at all

patched or unpatched?

unpatched - as i played it - it IS quite a challenge .. like starting FarCry at hard on Level 2 .... HOWEVER, every issue you mention is *addressed* as you PROGRESS thru the game

in *this* respect ... it IS like RPG

you DO get more skilled, get much better weapons, and the AI really fits [most of those soldiers are drunk - if you want the whole picture]

STALKER is chernobyl
-it is very "russian" and unlike "regular" FPFes

very refreshing, comrade

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: pontifex

Originally posted by: apoppin
i would *hate* to be with out the dynamic lighting

it is such fun fighting at night with lightening illuminating the scene ... the mutant dogs glowing eye ...

petty cool

SI is next for me ... i am starting completely over

i've been going without max settings with a few games, like CoD2 (mainyl for MP, i do raise them a bit for SP) and i've played STALKER with static lighting and its ok for me, i don't mind it when i know i can't play with the hardware i had. but now that i upgraded, over $500 worth, i feel like i should be able to get more out of it, not still run at the same settings!

i can't seem to see any noticeable difference in gaming.
i do notice a difference in multitasking with other programs because of the dual core, but for games i notice no difference at all, graphics or speed wise.

i *hate* upgrades like that

no improvement in *any* games?
:Q

how are your 3DMark05/06 scores? .. they are awesome for tracking changes in a single system

i'd run a bunch of benchmarks before i started reinstalling Windows ... if you have *another partition* you can test it with just the drivers and STALKER [and benchs]

to compare your settings with mine:

If i use dynamic lighting: [check, FDL 'on']]
1680x1050 [14x9]
view distance is 50% or lower [60%]
grass density lowest [2nd lowest]
detail settings are maybe 3-4 settings from max [max]
light distance about 25-30% [60%]
grass shadows off, sun shadows on [GS-OFF/SS *ON*]
AA & AF lowest [4xAA/16x]

i get about 15-25 fps with those settings. i even tried 1280x1024 and still got the same fps.[not running FRAPS but it is fluid]

the resolution is in your CPU's dept ... the GTS takes care of the *details*

IF 3DMarkXX and your other game show improvement, then wait for a further patch or for nvidia to update their drivers

IF 3DMarkXX show NO improvement, try puttin Win on top of Win and THEN ... the complete reinstall

good luck, comrade

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: pontifex

Originally posted by: apoppin
i would *hate* to be with out the dynamic lighting

it is such fun fighting at night with lightening illuminating the scene ... the mutant dogs glowing eye ...

petty cool

SI is next for me ... i am starting completely over

i've been going without max settings with a few games, like CoD2 (mainyl for MP, i do raise them a bit for SP) and i've played STALKER with static lighting and its ok for me, i don't mind it when i know i can't play with the hardware i had. but now that i upgraded, over $500 worth, i feel like i should be able to get more out of it, not still run at the same settings!

i can't seem to see any noticeable difference in gaming.
i do notice a difference in multitasking with other programs because of the dual core, but for games i notice no difference at all, graphics or speed wise.

i *hate* upgrades like that

no improvement in *any* games?
:Q

how are your 3DMark05/06 scores? .. they are awesome for tracking changes in a single system

i'd run a bunch of benchmarks before i started reinstalling Windows ... if you have *another partition* you can test it with just the drivers and STALKER [and benchs]

well, i guess i overexaggerated about no performance improvement because there is some, but not like i was expecting.

i can run CoD2 with some higher settings than before and still get good FPS, except the DX9 settings seem to make the game look worse.

i can run STALKER with some higher settings and still get good FPS but I want to run it with HDR but i can't because i still get the low fps.

i can't even launch R6: Vegas now. I haven't tried any other games. C&C 3 should be here soon.

I have farcry, splinter cell: Chaos theory, SWAT 4, and UT2004 installed but I could run those at full settings or close to full with my old card.

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: apoppin

the resolution is in your CPU's dept ... the GTS takes care of the *details*

IF 3DMarkXX and your other game show improvement, then wait for a further patch or for nvidia to update their drivers

IF 3DMarkXX show NO improvement, try puttin Win on top of Win and THEN ... the complete reinstall

good luck, comrade

i never ran 3dmark05 with my old setup, only the new and i got 12135

 

[apoppin]

well, i get 9280 ... so i *suspect* it is nvidia drivers and g80

how are the *other* games?

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: apoppin
well, i get 9280 ... so i *suspect* it is nvidia drivers and g80

how are the *other* games?

I can run CoD2 with some higher settings than before and still get good FPS, except the DX9 settings seem to make the game look worse.

i can run STALKER with some higher settings and still get good FPS but I want to run it with HDR but i can't because i still get the low fps.

i can't even launch R6: Vegas now. I haven't tried any other games. C&C 3 should be here soon.

I have farcry, splinter cell: Chaos theory, SWAT 4, and UT2004 installed but I could run those at full settings or close to full with my old card.

oh and i have DM: M&M installed too, everything is maxed i think except AA & AF which are at 2x each. i get about 20-30 fps there. i should be able to have that set higher shouldn't i?