DirectQ 1.7.3 Graphical Issues

Monster · Post by **Monster** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 11:53 pm

I recently just downloaded the latest version of DirectQ and it appears I'm having some graphics problems. It appears to load normally, but all I get is a pure gray screen with the status bar showing. I can access the menus fine as well. After doing a vid_restart and updating my video card drivers as well as DirectX drivers I still get the same problem. I tried an earlier version of DirectQ as well and had a similar problem, except with a black screen and the menus/console not updating and running together.

Any help would be much appreciated =)

Here is a screenshot of the problem I had with an earlier version:

Here is the problem I'm having now. Console and menus behave normally:

System Specs :

Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 6000+
Memory: 3070MB RAM
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GX2

mh · Post by mh » Thu Oct 22, 2009 8:31 am

There's a known issue with certain NVIDIA cards which may be at the root of this. I have added code to detect an NVIDIA card, shutdown the video subsystem and then restart it at game startup, which has resolved things for most users but it appears as though this isn't working too well in your case. For my part I'm completely unable to reproduce it, so I'm limited in what I can do.

The standard fix was to bring down the console and issue a "vid_restart" command. I can see however that you've tried that already. Also try switching to a different video mode (possibly a windowed one) and see if that resolves anything.

Monster · Post by **Monster** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 3:05 pm

Trying various video modes and windowed modes didn't resolve anything. I also on accident turned on chase_active which made quake freeze completely.

Seems to be an odd problem.. I've never had any other similar problems in other quake engines or games. Thanks for replying quick !

mh · Post by mh » Thu Oct 22, 2009 5:37 pm

OK, it's not a driver issue; the reference to the earlier problem had misled me so apologies for that. What's happening is that for some reason the engine thinks you've noclipped out of the map and are now floating somewhere in empty space. Can you set "sv_protocol BJP3" at the console and tell me if it's back to normal? If that doesn't work try "sv_protocol 15". You'll need to reload the map after each change of sv_protocol, by the way.

If neither work, can you set gl_clear 0, give yourself the rocket launcher, and fire a few rockets, just to confirm the theory?

Could you also tell me what map it is, and if you're using a custom progs.dat? There may be something in either that I need to take account of in the engine (a link where I can download either would be nice too).

Monster · Post by **Monster** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 8:08 pm

That screenshot was just of the starting demo.. I did start a singleplayer game though and try both of the protocols with a restart after each one. Still the same problem. I also did gl_clear 0, which made it appear similar to how it was with the older version, just pure black with a bunch of weird overlapping stuff.

I did however attempt firing rockets with the protocol changes, still just a pure gray screen.

The only custom progs.dat I'm using is FrikbotX. I tried with a fresh Quake install and still the same issue.

Thanks again for the help !

Spike · Post by **Spike** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 8:37 pm

no viewmodel either.

mh · Post by mh » Thu Oct 22, 2009 8:50 pm

OK, the overlapping stuff confirms that the engine thinks you've noclipped. Either it's positioned you in space somewhere or it's positioned the world geometry in space somewhere.

I can't reproduce it with an original 1.7.3 and the FrikBotX mod on my machine.

I think I know what this might be. Are you using a custom "optimised" driver, or are you using the manufacturer's driver?

Also, can you check the value of r_norefresh and make sure it's 0? Then set r_wireframe 1 and tell me if you can see anything.

Monster · Post by **Monster** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 9:03 pm

hmm, I noticed that if I aim straight down with the rocket launcher on the Start map , I can still kill myself. On the opening demo as well is still a pure gray screen, how would the player be noclipped outside of the world?

I'm using the latest drivers from Nvidia's site.

r_norefresh was indeed 0 and with r_wireframe 1, couldn't see anything =( I did notice that with r_norefresh set to 1 I got the odd overlapping again.

I've tried it with a new Quake install and running no custom mods, and I still seem to have the same problem.

mh · Post by mh » Thu Oct 22, 2009 10:16 pm

OK, just checking. Can you try it with this build and let me know?

https://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php? ... NlJFQlE9PQ

(note - identical to stock 1.7.3 aside from a minor change in the modelview matrix handling).

Monster · Post by **Monster** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 10:24 pm

No luck... same problem =(

mh · Post by mh » Thu Oct 22, 2009 10:33 pm

Bummer, I'm running out of ideas here. It's great that you're working with me to try fix this and I hate sending you around in circles with stuff, but I'm gonna have to ask you to try it with an earlier version of the engine (grab them from the codeplex site). Working backwards would be a good idea.

Monster · Post by **Monster** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 10:58 pm

Version 1.0 gave me the black screen / overlapping problem.

Version 1.1 - all that happens is the console goes down, and i can't do anything else. can't access menus or anything, all that happens is the console stays fixed on the screen

Version 1.1.2 - goes back to the black screen/overlapping

Version 1.2 - same black screen/overlapping, but this time I seem to be able to access and navigate the menu fine.

Version 1.3 - same as 1.2

Version 1.4 - same as above

Version 1.5 - same as above

Version 1.6.3. - same as above

Version 1.7.2 - same as above

I also noticed that when I blow myself up with the RL, I can't hear any player pain sounds...

mh · Post by mh » Thu Oct 22, 2009 11:48 pm

Something's badly wrong there, and unfortunately it's gotten late and I won't be able to pick this up again till Saturday.

I would be interested in knowing if there is anything else unusual about your machine; literally anything at all. Multiple monitors, multiple video cards, a hardware DVD decoder, K-Lite codec pack (

) installed, anything.

revelator · Post by **revelator** » Fri Oct 23, 2009 4:58 am

noticed one strange thing from the console shot it says stencil is not supported

my mom got the same card so i tried it on hers and it worked there but and heres the weirdy on her card stencil is supported.

and before its mentioned lack of stencil support shouldnt be doing this but something else might be fubared

mh · Post by mh » Fri Oct 23, 2009 8:33 am

reckless wrote:noticed one strange thing from the console shot it says stencil is not supported

my mom got the same card so i tried it on hers and it worked there but and heres the weirdy on her card stencil is supported.

and before its mentioned lack of stencil support shouldnt be doing this but something else might be fubared

It should work fine without stencil anyway, but your guess that something else is fubared is probably correct.