PCA Forums

P3-550@688 w/Geforce1 DDR w/Det3 v6.50 running under Win2K. Updated Diablo2 to version 1.05b

I am NOT impressed with the image quality in this game. In 3D mode I get horizontal line glitches (almost like image tearing, and before you ask VSync is on).

It looks better in 2D mode BUT the mana orbs are dithered in both 3D and 2D mode and I can't believe that's right. It looks like the game is being rendered in 256 color from looking at the globes. I've run the demo and it looked much better.

When I exit the game, my wall paper is always resized to 800x600 (I'm using a larger desktop) and the paper is NOT that size. Very wierd.

Couldn't find anything on Blizzard's website except to use the latest reference drivers, which I am.

It's playable, but it certainly isn't visually appealing.

Anyone have any similar problems?

Thx.

First off, D2 isnt all the visually appealing to begin with. I mean 640x480...gimme a break. Second, I'm running in direct3d mode in win2k using a GF2 GTS, 1.4GHZ T-Bird, 256Mb Ram and the 11.something Det (not sure of exact version)...I have none of the symptoms that you describe. I also have the latest patch installed.

Have you tried switching drivers? I have never had, as you desribe, "horizontal line glitches (almost like image tearing", even when I used some of the earlier drivers.

Do you have any custom settings in the Det's Display panel? Try using the defaults if you do. If you want the 11.01's gimme a shout.

Good luck

I'd have to agree with n4s about the image quality of the game but, even though we all know you HATE beta drivers and the like and, sorry to say, are anal retentive about how clean your system is..... , you should really try the detonator 11.01 drivers. If anything they have really improved the image quality and speed on a W2K machine.

Nope, I'm a purist, all default settings no tweaks. The card is overclocked but on the conservative side and other games run fine (CS, Q2, Q3, Nolf, Sof, Alice, SS2).

Well I'll try anything once... I can always uninstall them. Give me a link to the driver.

Stability is of prime importance - I do web page design work on this system - that's why I'm anal about official drivers.

Also, I'm willing to overlook image quality if the gameplay is good. The game was a gift from a friend in payment for some work I did on his computer.

It's the dithered mana balls that REALLY bother me. Heck, Diablo1 looked better.

In the voice of Bevis ..... Dithered mana balls.... duhu duhu... he said balls....

Sorry, the link;
http://www.3dchipset.com/beta/nvidia/series1xxx.html

The drivers have been very stable for me, and even seem to perform a bit better (not solid proof of that, just be feel). Also, D2 is very resource and system demanding...god only knows why (refer to 640x480 rant) so maybe the fact that your card is OC'ed might be an issue. I'm just trying to reach for anything that might help you. I guess I would run the board at normal speeds just to confirm that this is NOT an issue with D2.

Keep us posted.....

As I understand it, D3D mode in diablo 2 has lot's of problems. it only works well with 3dfx cards(any glide cards), so plug in that old fuzzy and you should have a acceptable image.

D2 just looks like crud, even if you have everything setup perfectly. My advice would be not to bother at all with this POS, I really wanted to like this game but it was consigned to "on the shelf" status after only a few days and has not made a return.

All the models are badly drawn with really indistinct faces (even Starcraft has better detail) and yes the superimposed HUD looks like it's rendered in 256 colours independent of the screen depth.

As for the other problems it sounds like game glitches, I know from previous experience that D2 does not like Geforce cards much.

Bascially the game sucks so I wouldn't waste too much more time on it.

Darkheart

I certainly wouldn't say that the game sux...the graphics could be better, but that alone does not make a game sux. Also, I have used several Geforces on several different machines, and never had a problem. Maybe I got lucky, who knows. Let FP be the judge for himself as to whether the game sux for him or not.

I know that playing on win2k can cause problems especially with the 60hz glitch. It took me several different drivers to find the one that would work well under win2k.