I have had one hair puller of a day with this! I fired up SC4 today and decided to check out some night lighting and saw something similar to this:
These are kinda dark
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi180.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fx262%2Fsithlrd98%2FGraphics1.jpg&hash=cd2ecd430f83f1378c272db524ed0168f5d76cfb)
My first thought was my EVGA geforce8600 Gt card since I noticed that it was possibly a little too fast for the game (strange water flickers,etc.) so I put my older Geforce6800 back in.Driver is 7.15.11.8206. Still getting the strange graphics. Now I know this is related to Gizmos mod and he/she (never can tell with a Mogwai :)) has there own support site, but up until today , I had never noticed any issues.Now I know your saying , "don't use the mod" , but is that the actual cause?
After clearing out individual files that had to do with terrain and slope , it didn't mater because it was either still there or it had a odd effect around heights:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi180.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fx262%2Fsithlrd98%2Fgraphics2.jpg&hash=7c70474f8d70e81548f519946f5dff26fd53c1ba)
OK , so I remove every file except for the DayNight v2 mod , and still get the same problems. Switching to software rendering solves that bug , but gives a new one:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi180.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fx262%2Fsithlrd98%2Fgraphic3.jpg&hash=95c7a95f7ee4d32da5d71dc3c7ff76880b21a4fd)
I have un-installed/re-installed and patched. I have not added anything to my plugins. Doesn't matter what city/region I'm playing. The Nvidia control panel options are default.
Vista64,AMD quad core with optimizer program installed,6gigs of ram, all SC4 graphics are on high , shortcut parameters are "C:\Program Files (x86)\Maxis\SimCity 4 Deluxe\Apps\SimCity 4.exe" -CustomResolution:enabled -r1440x900x32 -f -intro:off
Any ideas , except "don't use that mod" :D
Jayson
don't use that mod :)
Joke aside, do you have an older driver that you can reinstall and see what happen ? ( you'll need to desinstall the current one, as it certainly won't install on top of the new one )
Try also without a custom resolution, or a smaller one
Thanks for that Wou!After un-installing , clearing the registry of any thing that I could find related to EA or Maxis , or Simcity,re-installing again and fully patched I tried again.Upon closer inspection , it appears that Gizmos mod is not the culprit after all as I have noticed dark green"splotches"on the terrain , with empty plugins!. After downgrading drivers and still having the same problem , I went all the way to the latest 7.15.11.8208. I have gone as far as reverting to the on-board video...same results. I have no idea what could be causing this.I'm not sure if it is a issue with Vista64 that suddenly reared its ugly head , or if DX10 doesn't like SC4 , or if it's just someones sick way of getting me to quit playing ;D. It's not that big of an issue once the city has plenty of content , it just bothers me cause I know it's there!
Jayson
The first two images are too dark for me to be able to see anything but about the last image -
If it's the rounded shadow glitch there under the highway- that's not a glitch. That shows up if you have shadows set on "Medium." You should set them to "high" for best effects. (Low is only slightly better than what you have there - there are no shadows shown whatsoever)
Nerdly: I'll try to explain the first 2 images. It appears that there are roads or tunnels In the terrain. The background and edges where there are transitions , ie,beach to flat , look like they are being rendered in "Safemode". This happens with or without Gizmos mod , empty plugins , whatever. The last pic actually was done with software settings at high! These problems only seem to be extremly visable at night ,(Maxis night and Gizmos night)
Jayson
Here are three examples from blank cities in different regions with no plugins except the background pngs. Notice the dark green splotches?The terrain is flat!
Hardware
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi180.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fx262%2Fsithlrd98%2Fsplotches.jpg&hash=1c200fa992fa58f28a5548f2aae070dbe6ee3669)
Software
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi180.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fx262%2Fsithlrd98%2Fwhat.jpg&hash=8eba12b8969887fd6b131c5e8c6e0f58c16d3ea2)
Default water.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi180.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fx262%2Fsithlrd98%2Fwater.jpg&hash=53b6162927d2f16d843dca97fe7b3b17e0808960)
Your running windows, so you should be using Direct3D(Hardware) rendering. If you get the bug there too, try installing DX9, or set some sc4 exclusions for DX10(so it doesn't use it).
The Shadows is the result of using software rendering + medium/high shadow setting.
Never seen the dark green night splotches though.
Gotta rush for work, ill come in later and see how it fares
Quote from: Xiziz on March 17, 2009, 02:31:06 AM
Your running windows, so you should be using Direct3D(Hardware) rendering. If you get the bug there too, try installing DX9, or set some sc4 exclusions for DX10(so it doesn't use it).
The Shadows is the result of using software rendering + medium/high shadow setting.
Never seen the dark green night splotches though.
Any ideas on how to add exclusions?I have searched and can't find info on SC4 anywhere.
Jayson
As SC4 was created long before DX10, it won't try to use DX10
From some of my memories, it might be helpfull to install DX9 even if you have DX10, as it seems that the "emulation" of DX9 under DX10 is not 100% exact all the time. And changing drivers might make the emulation less than 100%
Let me dust off this thread as I hope some "fresh eyes" can help me with this annoying problem!
OK , I have been having this issue with the on board Nvidia GPU , a Nvidia 6800GT , Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT cards on my x64XP,x64Vista as well as my Win7 RC 7100 install.
I have even added the card to the Graphics.sgr...no luck. I plugged my old 2100xp machine in , copied all plugins from my Win7 install which is the same as the Vista...so there are now 3 exact copies , fired it up , Zero graphics problems.
I am using Gizmos Day/night mod , but even without it the results are the same...just not as dark
Here is how the XP machine is :
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi180.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fx262%2Fsithlrd98%2FOWR_XP_Machine.jpg&hash=287c9501b1c3efd6987731a20675421c19b0ddcc)
I did brighten this slightly....
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi180.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fx262%2Fsithlrd98%2FNight_XP_Machine.jpg&hash=872631ce192393da0a401c9cb3f81141721d54a5)
OK , now same place , same plugins , same everything:Notice the arrows that are not in the first pic? (They're not supposed to be there at all)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi180.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fx262%2Fsithlrd98%2FOWR_Vista_Win7.jpg&hash=0a925b14e1169c9a95b408b70572696fa884a97e)
and night...no brightness , but notice the "Safe Mode" effect...
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi180.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fx262%2Fsithlrd98%2Fnight_Vista_Win7.jpg&hash=7f23a3716ef731be4f28f7ec6e6cd4e2cd591891)
OK now here is how the Nvidia Control panel is set up:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi180.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fx262%2Fsithlrd98%2FCNTRL-1.jpg&hash=303c642a9d36b925237fd4c5d0f568768f81522a)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi180.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fx262%2Fsithlrd98%2FCNTRL-2.jpg&hash=eaa7b4569ceaa7fa5d54c64cd22dcf4cc60e2081)
Any clues now?
Jayson