DeusEx Invisible War-Video card incompatible

[jukeboxjoe]

I spent nearly 50 bucks for this game in anxious anticipation of loading on the new pc I built and playing all evening.
I installed, defragged and fired the game up and got a totally black screen. To make a short story longer, I went to Tech Support at the game site and read IN SMALL PRINT that this game "does not support Geforce4 Mx-440".
My question is this...the website says DirectX 9 must be installed for the game to work. They also say they DO support the Geforce Ti cards. But most of the Ti cards are designed to work with DirectX 8. I'm not buying another vid card. But would the Ti card work ok with the game if system is upgraded to DX 9? Or, since the card is "optimized for DX 8" is there something in the card's chip that will not allow it to perform to the DX 9 standard? Is it just a matter of updating the driver for the card, in other words, and not the chip on the card?

You may be as confused as I am after reading this post
I hope you're not as pissed off.
Thanks for your time and educational comments.

G.

 

[DaveSimmons]

"Requires DX9" just means you must install Microsoft's DX9.0b software. Every DX9-using game I know of will still run with old cards, just with less eye candy, but maybe Deus Ex2 is the exception.

If they aren't lying and you want to buy a new midrange DX9-friendly card, a Radeon 9600 pro or XT is the best choice for around $130-160.

 

[clicknext]

Sorry I can't help you with your problem, but I just think it would be really stupid if the game simply doesn't work with Geforce4 MX.

 

[sandorski]

I believe it requires Hardware Shaders. Not the DX9 Shaders, but the DX8 Shaders. The MX doesn't have them.

 

[styrafoam]

From what I can tell the game won't run on any derivative of the Gforce2 chip(of which your 440mx is a part). It was kind of sneaky of Nvidia to name it a "gforce 4" card but use a gforce 2 chip, but I guess that is marketing for you. According to this post on the support message boards this issue isn't going to be fixed. If you want to play the game you will need a new card.

 

[bootoo]

I've just bought this game, haven't even installed it, but the deus ex forums are full of the same complaint with no solution - sorry. Geforce 4 mx cards won't even start to run this game.

I think this sucks too, just telling you for your info, google the deus ex forums if you want; no one I read of got the patch to work.

Some folks with gf4 ti4600's can't get it to work. It really likes ATI.

Sorry; I'm looking forward to this game a lot; bet you are too; but think you are out of luck

 

[Atlantean]

Originally posted by: bootoo
I've just bought this game, haven't even installed it, but the deus ex forums are full of the same complaint with no solution - sorry. Geforce 4 mx cards won't even start to run this game.

I think this sucks too, just telling you for your info, google the deus ex forums if you want; no one I read of got the patch to work.

Some folks with gf4 ti4600's can't get it to work. It really likes ATI.

Sorry; I'm looking forward to this game a lot; bet you are too; but think you are out of luck

I wouldnt even say this game likes ati. I have an ati 9800 pro and this game didnt look that great. I am not overly impressed with the quality of the game, but the story seems to be ok. Aah well not every game can be great.

 

[yukichigai]

The story is crap, the performance is marginal at best, and the whole thing is blatantly made with the XBox in mind.It's short and lacks the complexity of the first game, as well as the character development. And to top it all off, there's no SDK planned. Any of us modders who wanted to "fix" the game have been effectively been given the finger by Harvey Smith. If you can, return you copy and wait two weeks, when (if there is any justice in the worls) the game will be going for $10.

 

[yukichigai]

Quick note: If you ever get a compliant card go here for the high texture pack. A few of the guys have done some amazing stuff as far as making the game look a lot better, and word has it they are close to fixing the horrible, horrible HUD. (Horrible at least for PC users) While it doesn't fix the plot or the performance it does make it look pretty enough to partially make up for it.

 

[BoomAM]

The GF4MXs are souped up GF2s. DX2 uses Pixel & Vertex Shading, meaning that non DX8/9 cards can`t run it.
For DX2;
1) Install the 1.1 patch. Helps out with ALOT of things.
2) DL the texture pack listed above. Its looks far better & there is 0-1% performance loss.
3) Search the same forums as the texture pack for the 3d sound fix. Someone there has made a wrapper that allows proper surround on non SoundStorm devices.
4) Dont bother with AA.
6) Dont expect high res smoothly. And dont whine if you dont get 60fps all the time.
7) Enjoy the game, its actually quite good!

 

[foofoo]

Originally posted by: BoomAM
The GF4MXs are souped up GF2s. DX2 uses Pixel & Vertex Shading, meaning that non DX8/9 cards can`t run it.
For DX2;
1) Install the 1.1 patch. Helps out with ALOT of things.
2) DL the texture pack listed above. Its looks far better & there is 0-1% performance loss.
3) Search the same forums as the texture pack for the 3d sound fix. Someone there has made a wrapper that allows proper surround on non SoundStorm devices.
4) Dont bother with AA.
6) Dont expect high res smoothly. And dont whine if you dont get 60fps all the time.
7) Enjoy the game, its actually quite good!

just wanted to add a second voice. do what BoomAM says above. the game is actually quite good and much better after the patch. it runs fine on my 9700 np. definitely not movie smooth but totally acceptable.

 

[yukichigai]

Well I'll admit the physics are flippin' amazing, but honestly I don't thing the game was anywhere near good enough to be considered a sequel to DX. It has its fun parts, but that's only if you ignore the blatant "streamlining". (read: dumbing down) The high-res texture pack does help alleviate some of the consolized feel however.

The plot is what gets me though. I'm not going to spoil it for you, but I'll just say that at the end it feels more like choosing the lesser of evils rather than the faction you most agree with.

 

[BoomAM]

Not a spoiler;
But imo, all 4 endings sucked. Only the 5th "hidden" one was any good......

 

[yukichigai]

Originally posted by: BoomAM
Not a spoiler;
But imo, all 4 endings sucked. Only the 5th "hidden" one was any good......

Yes, the flaming penguins certainly explained that interesting in-game glitch with animals + fire. Rats: the fuel of the future!

 

[BoomAM]

lol.

 

[titananandtech]

As others have said you have a GeForce4MX which is a tweaked GeForce2MX which is basically no different from the game's point of view from the original GeForce. It is a nice DX7 level card, but it is pretty obsolete these days.

You need a better video card. If you get a GeForce3/4Ti then you are on par with the xbox. If you get a GeForceFX or Radeon 9500+ (the 8500/9000/9100/9200 are DX8 level like the GeForce3/4Ti) you will have a DX9 level card and be able to run a lot of games for a long time. You really should look into getting one of those. You'll be able to play DX2 and all your existing games will run better.

DX9 is more than just Direct3D. For example Homeworld2 requires DirectX9, but it uses OpenGL, not Direct3D for its rendering. DX9 is used for the DirectPlay networking part. You can upgrade to DX9, but you still have a DX7 level video card and not be able to run games that require a DX9 level video card.

DirectX is basically a layer between the driver and your games. Newer versions will add new features or more improved ways for the driver and your game to talk. This is why a game may require DX9, even though it only requires DX5 level card. It'll still use only DX5 level features, it'll just use them through the improved DX9 interface.

 

[BoomAM]

Originally posted by: titananandtech
As others have said you have a GeForce4MX which is a tweaked GeForce2MX

Its actually just a normal GF2 on steroids. The GF2MX had half the pipelines of the standard GF2, so the GF4MX is`nt at all a tweaked GF2MX. Its a GF2GTS/PRO/ULTRA with the GF4s Memory Controller and image quality.