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Katsunami · 09-29-2017, 02:17 PM

Heh. Talk about graphics. Sometimes, I don't understand computers.

I've (finally, after a pause of two years) returned to my Baldur's Gate savegame, in my quest of playing all of my old titles once more before they're shelved (probably forever).

As said, there are graphical glitches with the game on graphics cards from after 2008 and newer versions of DirectX. (You know it's possible to intstall DirectX 9 in Windows Vista-10, for games that actually need it? For some reason, it was *REQUIRED* for Baldur's Gate in Windows Vista and 7, but not in 10.)

There are three two solutions:
- Switch to 16-bit color and software rendering, but that makes the graphics very choppy. (Don't know how it EVER could have worked in the 90's.)
- Force Direct Draw Emulation through a mod, or a setting in the registry. (Worked with Windows Vista an 7, doesn't with 10.)
- Use a DirectX wrapper that restores the old/dropped functions. This works in Windows 7 and 10. Some guy was kind enough to write one around 2012. I don't know enough about DirectX to do such a thing.

When installed, graphics are fixed, and the game *seems* to run fine, but at some point, the animation gets stuck. Characters start to jitter up and down, and can't move.

The fix is to run the game in Administrator Mode, for whatever reason... it doesn't use ANY files outside of its own folder AFAIK, and I've set the security settings to allow anyone to read and modify the game's files.

I don't particularly mind giving the game Admin rights (as it would have had under Windows 98, for which it was written), but I don't understand why it's needed.

And yes, the DirectDraw wrapper is safe. It's open source, and if something had been wrong with it, someone would have reported it on GOG.com. Basically the entire RPG community that still runs, plays and mods the Infinity Engine games to this date uses it, because it's absolutely essential to make the game playable. (Along with the Widescreen mod to force at least an 800x600 resolution on BG and Planescape, or it's even blurrier than it is now.)

09-29-2017, 02:17 PM	#30913
Katsunami Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,111 Karma: 34000001 Join Date: Mar 2008 Device: KPW1, KA1	Heh. Talk about graphics. Sometimes, I don't understand computers. I've (finally, after a pause of two years) returned to my Baldur's Gate savegame, in my quest of playing all of my old titles once more before they're shelved (probably forever). As said, there are graphical glitches with the game on graphics cards from after 2008 and newer versions of DirectX. (You know it's possible to intstall DirectX 9 in Windows Vista-10, for games that actually need it? For some reason, it was REQUIRED for Baldur's Gate in Windows Vista and 7, but not in 10.) There are three two solutions: - Switch to 16-bit color and software rendering, but that makes the graphics very choppy. (Don't know how it EVER could have worked in the 90's.) - Force Direct Draw Emulation through a mod, or a setting in the registry. (Worked with Windows Vista an 7, doesn't with 10.) - Use a DirectX wrapper that restores the old/dropped functions. This works in Windows 7 and 10. Some guy was kind enough to write one around 2012. I don't know enough about DirectX to do such a thing. When installed, graphics are fixed, and the game seems to run fine, but at some point, the animation gets stuck. Characters start to jitter up and down, and can't move. The fix is to run the game in Administrator Mode, for whatever reason... it doesn't use ANY files outside of its own folder AFAIK, and I've set the security settings to allow anyone to read and modify the game's files. I don't particularly mind giving the game Admin rights (as it would have had under Windows 98, for which it was written), but I don't understand why it's needed. And yes, the DirectDraw wrapper is safe. It's open source, and if something had been wrong with it, someone would have reported it on GOG.com. Basically the entire RPG community that still runs, plays and mods the Infinity Engine games to this date uses it, because it's absolutely essential to make the game playable. (Along with the Widescreen mod to force at least an 800x600 resolution on BG and Planescape, or it's even blurrier than it is now.)