8800GTS 512 - Call of Juarez Antialiasing Problem

[Buck Armstrong]

Video Card: EVGA 8800GTS 512
Driver: 174.74 Beta
OS: Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit
Game: Call of Juarez 1.1.1.0, DirectX 10

In Call of Juarez, in-game AA works, but causes severe screen door effect in trees and dense foliage. Forcing AA on in the Nvidia Control Panel does not work at all. Choosing Enhance Application Setting in the Nvidia Control Panel also has no effect.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

 

[Keysplayr]

Have you tried these?

WHQL 169.25

And, if you could manage a screenshot or two of the effect you're having, that would be great.

 

[Buck Armstrong]

I just tried the 169.25 WHQL...same problem.

 

[Buck Armstrong]

Looks like this:

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3029&p=3

And this:

http://img504.imageshack.us/my...creen0610085552jz6.jpg

 

[Buck Armstrong]

OK, when I use MSAA in the CoJ DX10 benchmark, I get the screen door thing. But when I use SSAA, it looks fine. However, like I said, I can't seem to force AA from the Nvidia control panel.

Also, when I use 8xQ in-game instead of 2x or 4x, it also looks fine. Unfortunately, its too slow at 8xQ...

 

[Keysplayr]

Downloading the demo. I'll see if I can reproduce your problem. I can try it under XP and Vista32.

 

[Buck Armstrong]

Thanks Keys.

I just noticed the Anandtech link actually discusses the problem I'm seeing, and a few people at HardOCP and NVNews have seen it as well. Apparently, Techland screwed up AA on Nvidia cards in the latest version of the full game (so you might not see it in the demo).

Still seems like there should be a way to force it on from the Nvidia panel...

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: Buck Armstrong
Thanks Keys.

I just noticed the Anandtech link actually discusses the problem I'm seeing, and a few people at HardOCP and NVNews have seen it as well. Apparently, Techland screwed up AA on Nvidia cards in the latest version of the full game (so you might not see it in the demo).

Still seems like there should be a way to force it on from the Nvidia panel...

That sux. Does Techland say their coming out with a fix? Patch?

 

[BFG10K]

Still seems like there should be a way to force it on from the Nvidia panel...

You'll probably need to set the game to DX9 to do this.

 

[Buck Armstrong]

I tried that and of course it worked fine. I was also shocked by how much faster the game is in DX9 (almost twice as fast).

Problem is, DX10 looks so much better...

 

[apoppin]

it appears that CoJ just runs better on AMD cards .. i believe when it first came out, NVIDIA "warned" that there was something 'unfair' especially about the way G80 rendered the grass textures compared to r600, i think .. CoJ is actually pretty playable on my own Crossfire Rig in DX10 with everything maxed [no AA ] at 16x10.

there is no artifacting

 

[Buck Armstrong]

I'm playing DX10 everything maxed at 1920x1200 on my 8800GTS 512, so I'm not worried about it running better. I just can't force AA on in the Nvidia control panel, and in-game AA causes the screen door effect on trees.

AA works fine in DX9.

 

[apoppin]

How many different drivers did you try? .. go back before December ... maybe they broke it in the last one and didn't fix it in the beta

atm, i have no way to confirm it for you

 

[daction]

Funny, I was just testing this game today as well with my 9600gt SLI setup and noticing the same things when turning on AA.
Another thing I noticed, also with the 8800gt that I had, is that when turning everything up in DX10 AND turning texture quality to high, on certain levels the game CHUGS down to like 10-15fps for some reason, no matter if I have AA on or not. I've tested this quite a bit and the only thing that immediately fixes the slow performance is dropping the texture quality to medium.

Have you noticed anything like this Buck?

 

[apoppin]

Have you guys tried the "official" CoJ DX10 benchmark? You can force AA in the benchmark.

Your GTS should *choke* when it first starts to render the grass scene. it's something about the way CoJ uses shaders. The AMD cards do not have this issue.

i cannot *imagine* you playing with ANY AA if you are playing at 19x12 or higher with a single GPU.

 

[evolucion8]

I heard that with the latest patch, the engine forces the videocard to use shader anti aliasing, which would choke the 8800 series (It will not affect the HD series because they already use it)

 

[Buck Armstrong]

The only place it became unplayable was aboard the train for some reason. I dropped filtering to anisotropic, shadow map to 1024, and shadows to medium, and that helped enough to get through it.

 

[Buck Armstrong]

Originally posted by: apoppin
How many different drivers did you try? .. go back before December ... maybe they broke it in the last one and didn't fix it in the beta

Have you guys tried the "official" CoJ DX10 benchmark? You can force AA in the benchmark.

Your GTS should *choke* when it first starts to render the grass scene. it's something about the way CoJ uses shaders. The AMD cards do not have this issue.

i cannot *imagine* you playing with ANY AA if you are playing at 19x12 or higher with a single GPU.

I tried every driver that came out after the 8800GTS 512 did. Same thing. And Nvidia didn't break it, Techland did.

The demo runs much slower than the game, and also allows supersampling, which fixes the AA issue. The game does not. I was only hoping to get 2x, just enough to smooth out some of the worst edges, and was willing to drop shadow map and shadow quality to get it.

Instead, I'm playing at 1920x1200 with no AA but with everything else maxed...and loving it! This game is a refreshing change from the usual WWII/military/SF FPS.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: Buck Armstrong

Originally posted by: apoppin
How many different drivers did you try? .. go back before December ... maybe they broke it in the last one and didn't fix it in the beta

Have you guys tried the "official" CoJ DX10 benchmark? You can force AA in the benchmark.

Your GTS should *choke* when it first starts to render the grass scene. it's something about the way CoJ uses shaders. The AMD cards do not have this issue.

i cannot *imagine* you playing with ANY AA if you are playing at 19x12 or higher with a single GPU.

I tried every driver that came out after the 8800GTS 512 did. Same thing. And Nvidia didn't break it, Techland did.

The demo runs much slower than the game, and also allows supersampling, which fixes the AA issue. The game does not. I was only hoping to get 2x, just enough to smooth out some of the worst edges, and was willing to drop shadow map and shadow quality to get it.

Instead, I'm playing at 1920x1200 with no AA but with everything else maxed...and loving it! This game is a refreshing change from the usual WWII/military/SF FPS.

Techland didn't break anything .. they did everything as approved by MS ... just not the way NVIDIA likes it .. even the really demanding demo is a Poster Child for AMD graphics. As you note SS does Fix the AA but at a massive performance hit that a crossfire rig will have much less penalty with and can use regular AA as it is HDR corrected and i think CoJ is just pretty shader intensive the way r600 likes it. Unlike the reverse in Lost Planet where NVIDIA cards shine and AMD cards struggle.

i believe the only way you are going to appreciate CoJ with a NVIDIA card in DX10 with everything maxed is with GT200. Or set up an AMD crossfire Rig
--And you are right, the game IS refreshing from the Older Bro's PoV .. sneaky is suck.

 

[Buck Armstrong]

Originally posted by: apoppin
--And you are right, the game IS refreshing from the Older Bro's PoV .. sneaky is suck.

I didn't play the game before 1.1.1.0, but apparently they changed the "sneaky" levels. You get the bow, whip, pistols, rifles, etc., as Billy in every level but the very first. So even the Billy levels are now full of gunfights and action (except the eagle feather quest).

 

[apoppin]

"whoooah, cool dude"
--i feel like Neo in the matrix



- i never finished CoJ because i *hated* sneaky billy .. i will give it another shot
[ahem]
--both barrels


thank-you!

 

[Buck Armstrong]

Its great. Like I said, I never saw the original "sneaky" version, but I can't imagine trying to stealth my way through the levels where you have to get past the bandit camps to reach the mine, or the Apache war-parties to get to Molly's ranch. I killed every bandit and Indian in my way with the bow, the whip, a couple of Border guns, and a sawed-off shotgun, and many of them from horse-back.

I love this game...it just needs some AA.

 

[BFG10K]

I didn't play the game before 1.1.1.0, but apparently they changed the "sneaky" levels. You get the bow, whip, pistols, rifles, etc., as Billy in every level but the very first. So even the Billy levels are now full of gunfights and action (except the eagle feather quest).

Wow, is that right? I might get the patch then. I?d been holding off since I found the original sneaking levels challenging but fun, and I thought they had simply neutered them for the n00bs that couldn?t handle stealth.

But I must admit gun-fighting would make them more fun. :thumbsup:

Its great. Like I said, I never saw the original "sneaky" version, but I can't imagine trying to stealth my way through the levels where you have to get past the bandit camps to reach the mine

It wasn't that hard as you could stealth kill many of them with the whip under the cover of lightning strikes. Just aim for the head/face and one or two hits would make them keel over and you got their weapons too.

You could even fire guns under the cover of lightning strikes provided there wasn?t another enemy within earshot.

or the Apache war-parties to get to Molly's ranch

You don't have to sneak there, you just have to ration your rifle bullets a bit.

And you're right, the game is fantastic, one of the most underrated titles I've ever seen. People cry about developers sticking to formulaic titles but when we get something new they don't like it.

I?ve even seen people crying over the weapons degrading. :Q

 

[apoppin]

Billy's levels were *tedious*
.. Thief was fun and challenging - there is no comparison

the Reverend was really *fun*
.. again .. no comparison with sneaky-Billy .. i kept tossing him off a cliff [on purpose] .. and gave up [b-o-r-i-n-g; and i though of godmode to get thru it]
. . i'm looking forward to Billy playing with the whips and chains

:Q






i mean whips and dual pistols






that is for later back upstairs in the Saloon
:laugh:
:lips:




oh yeah, it does look better with AA and i am looking forward to r700 or GT200 to really experience these games.

 

[BFG10K]

I personally found Billy's original levels challenging but fun, and I particularly liked pulling off kills in situations the game was clearly designed to prevent.

But I would agree that the Reverend?s gun-fighting sections were more fun.