ATI Radeon 9800xt and UT/INF OpenGL

[geogob]

Hey! Got a little problem with my new vid card... radeon 9800xt with the Catalyst drivers 22.03.2004.

I can't get that thing to work properly in UT with OpenGL. With the original OpenGL dll from Epic, I get green static all over the full screen window or the image in the menu. With Chris' OpenGL module the static problem is solved, but I can't change de gamma at all. It's permenantly stuck at "too dark"...

In the meantime, i'm using Direct3d which give a pretty crappy rendering. I'm also getting a 1 pixel border left and at the top like if the viewport wasn't aligned with the screen. But at least I can set my gamma properly.

I'm also getting two horizontal one pixel lines in the menu and in the image from the logo entry map when Anti Aliasing is on (using 6x hardware AA either in Direct3D or in OpenGL). I'm not even talking about Anisotropic Filtering... that thing better be turned off for UT!


Anyway, got any suggestions? The lines with AA aren't too bad... but the gamma thing in OpenGL is. I'd like to switch back to OpenGL but that must be solved. Thx for your inputs!

 

[Crowze]

PowerStrip. The gamma in UT with ATI cards has been broken since catalyst 3.9 I believe.

 

[geogob]

Wow! thx for the info... didn't know that.

 

[geogob]

For Sterno, as requested, my UT/INF config files.

Relevent system specs for reference with those files:
P4 3.2 Ghz
Asus P4C800-E Deluxe
OCZ PC4000 1024 Optimized Gold Dual Channel X2 (2 Gb)
ATI Radeon 9800xt
SB Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro

If you need anything else, just ask!


EDIT: Arrr... if I'd attach the file it would help!

 

[Sterno]

Thanks Geo

 

[geogob]

you're welcome

 

[Nitchell]

as im using ati 9800 too, and openGL im having this problem too.
what helpes here is too just alt-tab it and go back.. then i can adjust the gamma correctly..

 

[Crowze]

That tends to give me a BSOD.

 

[geogob]

never had a bsod alt-tabbing inf... but it didn't help gamma wise either.

 

[zeep]

I'm also getting two horizontal one pixel lines in the menu and in the image from the logo entry map when Anti Aliasing is on (using 6x hardware AA either in Direct3D or in OpenGL). I'm not even talking about Anisotropic Filtering... that thing better be turned off for UT!

I get those lines too with AA enabled. Haven't noticed anything with AF tho. Why do you say it should be turned off?

 

[geogob]

One exemple is with the bullet impact decalc... they look like bright white squares with AF turned on...


Anyway I got a new problem... it suddenly appreared (and in UT ONLY)

The screen becomes all black for a second or less then switchs back to normal... the frequency of this varies from very sparse to almost every second!. Happens even in the menu, in full screen only.

I saw that a few times before but never as intense as last night! kept me from playing on GD last night

I wen't into UT2004 to see if all was ok there... no problems.

I too am getting sick already of the ATI/9800 support for the ol' UT engine. But somehow I feel the problem ISN'T with the 9800 but rather with the old UT crap. New engine anyone? Yes please!

 

[geogob]

well I'll be damned... fixed. I reseted my vid settings from within the INF laucher and now everything "seems" fine... *ugh*

 

[ilan.SEAL]

yeah the only thing i've been able to do to get gamma workin again.. is after you enter UnrealTournament..

1) click your tilday key to bring up your console

2) type: preferences

3) go into "display" and set the gamma to 1.000000

4) after you do that..close the little mini menu that opened..and you are BACK into your UT main screen.

you can then use F11 to adjust gamma in the game.

you will need to redo this everytime you re-enter UT.

I use the Omega drivers:
http://www.omegacorner.com/

with the Chris Dohnal Driver for open GL

and the following open gl settings for the unrealtournament.ini:
[OpenGLDrv.OpenGLRenderDevice]
NoFiltering=0
MinDepthBits=32
HighDetailActors=1
RefreshRate=85
UseVertexProgram=0
LODBias=-2
MaxAnisotropy=2
MaxTMUnits=2
UseZTrick=1
UseMultiTexture=1
UsePalette=1
ShareLists=0
AlwaysMipmap=1
DoPrecache=1
UseTrilinear=1
DetailTextures=1
UseAlphaPalette=1
UseS3TC=1
Use4444Textures=0
UseTNT=0
UseFilterSGIS=0
SupportsLazyTextures=0
VolumetricLighting=1
ShinySurfaces=0
Coronas=0
HighDetailActors=1
UseSmoothAlpha=1
UseVSync=False
UseBGRATextures=0
UseAA=1
NumAASamples=2
UseSSE=2
UseTexIdPool=1
DynamicTexIdRecycleLevel=100
TexDXT1ToDXT3=1
DisableSpecialDT=0
UseDetailAlpha=1

 

[geogob]

Interestingly boring solution... that sucks. I wish ATI do something about this.

 

[ilan.SEAL]

Interestingly boring solution... that sucks. I wish ATI do something about this.

yeah using the preferences menu does suck.. but trust me - try those settings for the UT.ini - textures will come alive!

the LODBIAS alone is a huge improvement. Coupled with the high resolution textures - it makes the game amazingly colored with the lighting..and surface detail.

anyhow - Omega drivers are the way to go. they have them for nvidia too.

 

[zeep]

lodbias -2 will have a big impact on fps tho.

 

[Lightzout]

I have a 9800 too but never bothered with OpenGl. Isnt it still too dark on most indoor maps?

 

[Cleeus[JgKdo]]

No, D3D is too bright

Chris OpenGL driver outperformes D3D by ~100% and you can turn up brightness enough.

 

[ilan.SEAL]

lodbias -2 will have a big impact on fps tho.

yes with DIRECT 3 D it will...but with the RADEON running open GL - i can easily push between 90 and 150 FPS depending on map. Open GL is not as Video Card 'hungry' as Direct 3D AND it looks miles better

to answer the next post - YES it IS dark because of the gamma problem.. to correct this you have to do the following every time you enter Unreal Tournament (until they fix the drivers in future ATI releases):

1) once in UT, open up your console by hitting the tilday button

2) type: preferences in console

3) go to the 'display' tab and scroll to the gamma

4) set the brightness to 1.000000 and then close the preferences window

5) it will still be dark until you enter a Map/server in UT and then start hitting F11 to scroll to the desired brightness (1 - 10 )

OpenGL rox... specially with the LodBias and even MORE if you have a server that supports High Resolution textures (then you install them from CD2 of GOTY edition).

cheers!