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For those with invisible characters/models/skeleton problems

Discussion in 'Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor' started by Desphex, Jun 6, 2011.

  1. Desphex Gems: 1/31
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    This worked for me on Windows 7 Ultimate X64 / Radeon 5770, hope it works for you too.

    Download the MS Application Compatibility Toolkit from here :
    http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...e9-b581-47b0-b45e-492dd6da2971&displaylang=en
    And install it.

    Run ACT (the 32 bit version), and rightclick on new database(1) [Untitled].
    Select Create New/Application Fix.
    Name the program, and browse to the PoR2Main.exe.
    NOTE: You might have to uncheck the read only in the file's properties though. You can do this by going to the map where the game is installed, rightclick on PoR2main and select Properties. Uncheck Read Only at the bottom.

    Click next twice, skipping the Compatibility Modes screen.

    In the next screen, Check the following boxes :

    ForceDirectDrawEmulation,
    CorrectBitmapHeader,
    CorrectCreateIcon,
    CorrectCreateSurface,
    DirectXTrimTextureFormats,
    EmulateDirectDrawSync and
    EmulateDrawText

    Click next, and Finish.

    Press the Save button on top to save the database (give it whatever name you like).

    Then, Rightclick on New Database(1) [Untitled] and select Install.
    Press OK, and close the program.

    The game should work like a charm now.

    Good Luck!
     
    SlickRCBD and ZalmanP like this.
  2. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    Nice, thanks for the info.
     
  3. T2Bruno

    T2Bruno The only source of knowledge is experience Distinguished Member ★ SPS Account Holder Adored Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    Looks like it should work for Vista and XP as well ... I'll have to give it a try.

    It does work for Vista -- my characters are ghosts when hidden behind a wall but they're not stick men anymore.
     
    Last edited: Jun 7, 2011
  4. Mereinid Gems: 1/31
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    Works like a charm

    Hey Desphex, I just wanted to say thank you. The workaround you provided worked great. Smooth, a bit large on my screen but the resolution cannot be fixed yet. I am still looking for a widescreen mod for PoR: RoMD. Perhaps someone will make one for it one day.

    Thanks again.

    Mereinid
    Asus G73jh
    i7-720QM - 1.60 GHzre
    8 GB Memory
    1TB HDD
    ATI-5870 1GB
    LG 32" 1080p
     
  5. Desphex Gems: 1/31
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    You are all welcome :)

    Credits do not go to me though, this was just some information i found on the internet, and tested it out :)
     
  6. nearmint67 Gems: 1/31
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    Probably a stupid question, but when I run the ACT it prompts me to complete a lot of configuration data, such as "enter your SQL Server." Uhm...I ain't got one, and never really thought it was important in a home network situation. I may be missing something completely, so any help would be appreciated.
     
  7. SlickRCBD Gems: 29/31
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    It should detect the SQL server automatically if you have one.

    In any case, you can ignore the things you don't have, it's designed to be generic for all versions of Windows 7 from home starter to ultimate and from all the possible uses.
    (I'm working on upgrading my MCDST to MCITP, so I'm not an expert on this yet)
     
  8. Legion_X51 Gems: 1/31
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    Hi there,

    I've used the above fixes, but in parts of my screen, there are still invisible models/spell effects. The models themselves appear translucent, and there are no weapons or shields on them.

    Any advice?

    I am using Windows 7 Home Edition on a Sony VAIO laptop, with an ATI Mobility Radeon 5470 GFX card, with a Quad-Core Intel i5 CPU M 430 @ 2.27 GHz.

    EDIT:

    Fixed now, if you are using the fixes available via the Microsoft ACT, do NOT use compatibility mode on the program involved.
     
    Last edited: Aug 26, 2011
  9. ZalmanP Gems: 1/31
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    [​IMG] Thank you so much for this. I wasn't experiencing the same problems, but my screen was frequently flashing black and this fixed it.

    Edit: Wow, it even fixes the long load times I had. This is amazing.
     
  10. TechnoMage38 Gems: 1/31
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    So, I was having some fairly significant graphics issues when tying to play this game again. I found this thread, and followed the instructions, and unfortunately still see the same issues... things like chests, furniture, and other room fixtures not even being displayed, stone partitions, adn stone walls partially displaying, sometimes there appears to be a solid surface in the middle of an open hall, adn my characters disappear as they pass under it..

    I am running the 1.4 patch, on an HP Laptop running Windows 7 Home Premium, with an Intel HD 3000 GFX chipset with 1Gb of dedicated VRAM. Should I enable any other compatability options from that ACT utility? Or will I be forced to maintain a WinXP instance somewhere in order for this game to work correctly?

    ** Added next day **
    So, I read where applying patches and fixes will make the game work better, but is more than likely not going to help games already saved... Going to try and start a new game and see if these fixes work from there... I'm not very far into the game at all... will post more later.

    ** Added later **
    So, the opening screens where you first battle the orcs and rescue Nottle appeared to be displaying fine, but when I went to the tree where Beriand and Faeril are found, the glyph on the ground was barely rendered and both Beriand and Faeril were not rendered at all... :( *grumble grumble* what do others think? Is my situation hopeless?
     
    Last edited: Aug 10, 2012
  11. ZalmanP Gems: 1/31
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    If this fix isn't working then the only think I can think of is that it doesn't like your integrated video. I hope you find something that works.
     
  12. Gafonator Gems: 1/31
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  13. Gafonator Gems: 1/31
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    Hi, I found out that switching off the Direct3D (or DirectDraw) helps. Of course you will need to turn it on again to play other games. There are probably many ways to do it, here are two:

    - via running DxDiag in Windows
    - orr if there is no option you may use executable called Directx.cpl and turning off the hardware acceleration. The program is free to download on the internets, just make sure you get virus free ^^
     
  14. catchaserguns Gems: 1/31
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    Would this MS Application Compatibility Toolkit work for me? I run Windows XP Professional SP3 and I have AMD Radeon HD 6670. I have a duo core 2.6Ghz and 2G of ram.
     
  15. xosmi Gems: 20/31
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    The download page lists the following on requirements as far as OS goes :

    Code:
    Supported Operating System
    Windows 2000 Service Pack 4, Windows 7, Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1, Windows Vista, Windows XP Service Pack 3
    and makes no mention on requirements for the actual GFX card or system itself.
    So yeah, you should be able to run it just fine - if it will solve your problems i can't comment on.
     
  16. catchaserguns Gems: 1/31
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    I downloaded the tool and when I ran it like you said following the steps the tool didn't show DirectXTrimTextureFormats on its list. they still show up as ghosts but more defined.
     
  17. James317 Gems: 1/31
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    We just bought a loaded Alienware 15 system (Win10; nvidia 980m) and for my wife it was the first opportunity in years to play her all-time favorite PC game. After installing the game/patches we noticed that during gameplay, large triangular regions would appear on the screen in solid colors. I found this forum and downloaded ACT. At first I tried all the checkboxes mentioned in Desphex's post, but they caused other problems particularly with the onscreen text. Through trial and error I found that if I only selected ForceDirectDrawEmulation the game seemed to work fine. My wife is very excited, so thanks for the assist!

     
    Taluntain likes this.
  18. Felipe

    Felipe ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful

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    Sorry for bringing this thread back but i believe what i'll say is important: The method taught in the 1s post worked partially for me because i could see the barrels/chests only partially: in one half of the screen i could see them while in the other half i couldnt, i had to move the screen with the mouse to the side to be able see them but i found something nice:

    I decided to enable only the "Force Direct Draw Emulation" and now everything can be seen correctly although the screen now seems to have what i believe some call "tearing" due to the lack of vsync perhaps? It doesnt matter since it doesnt harm the ability to play the game. I thank Desphex for bringing this nice tool/configuration system for us.

    Here is a link for Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) 5.6 - this needs be here since it's a tool that is hard to find (we cant find it on microsoft's site anymore):

    https://archive.org/details/ms-act-5.6

    Edit: Added the tool here https://sorcerers.net/community/resources/microsoft-application-compatibility-toolkit-5-6.155/
     
    Last edited: Sep 30, 2023
    Taluntain likes this.
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