Graphical Glitches. (out of video memory)

AlkadorAlkador Join Date: 2012-12-02 Member: 173909Members
in Technical Support
<div class="IPBDescription">Glitches - Ends in Crash to desktop.</div>Used to play Natural Selection the Mod back in the day, saw this sequel come by, bought the game and convinced some mates to do the same so we could team up.

Alas, I have graphical glitches and crash to desktop. I fixed the performance by lowering graphical settings, but its still buggy.

Basically models aren't always loaded, I'll enter a game but won't see my marine's weapon/alien teeth, or any of the players (I do see their nametags). Or when I shoot the wall it doesn't show pretty sparkles, it'll show squares and blots. Or the background of the nametag is squared/checkered with varying funky colors.

Here is the debug log when it crashes:

<a href="http://pastebin.com/wfYqS7aj" target="_blank">http://pastebin.com/wfYqS7aj</a>

And here is my DXdiag log:

<a href="http://pastebin.com/Gbp0EqiG" target="_blank">http://pastebin.com/Gbp0EqiG</a>

I would like to point out that I run a very clean machine. No bloatware, no unnecessary programs running in the background. Hard Drives are defragged weekly, I'm a big fan of CCleaner, checked for virusses and spyware. Its all clean.
The programs I have running usually are: Game Booster 3. Teamspeak. F.lux . Steam. Trackballworks.

Stuff I tried:

- Run game without Game Booster 3 - Teamspeak.
- Updating my Graphic card drivers.
- Lowering graphical settings (E.g. 1024x768 - no AA - No shadows - etc.)
- Run game in windowed-mode.
- Have steam check the game file integrity.

I checked the thread: 'KNOWN ISSUES AND POSSIBLE FIXES, Another collection topic.'

I tried the steps listed there:

-Run dxsetup in drive\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Natural Selection 2\redist\directx\
-Delete the folder drive\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Natural Selection 2\ns2\shaders
-Press the Windows key and R (Win+R) and type %APPDATA%\Natural Selection 2 then press enter.
Delete all the files in this folder
-Verify the Integrity of the NS2 Game Cache.

I checked the thread: 'Trouble Shooting, Game not working? Check here for some solutions.'

Saw the part about the error message 'Out of video memory', so I tried:

Lowering the number of Pre-Rendered frames to 1.

Alas, none of these suggestions work. Hoping someone could give me a hand here, I'm at a loss.

Thanks in advance.
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Comments

  • Kouji_SanKouji_San Sr. Hινε Uρкεερεг - EUPT Deputy The Netherlands Join Date: 2003-05-13 Member: 16271Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
    edited December 2012
    AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4400+, that one seems quite underpowered in any case for NS2 which is very CPU dependent, it is also below minimum requirements. Have you tried the "Texture Streaming" setting in the graphics settings?

    I'm not sure if your PC can handle texture streaming with that CPU (its experimental). Basically what it does is load and unload the textures in and out of memory on the fly with what is visible. So it reduces the amount of video memory required, but might introduce a bit of hitching on lower end rigs...


    Might not be relevant:
    Also your description sounds familiar to what a forced Anti-Aliasing setting in your GPU control panel might cause. Would it be possible to post a screenshot of how you see the game? The game cannot run with forced Anti-Aliasing settings due to it using FXAA. It needs to be set to "application setting"
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  • AlkadorAlkador Join Date: 2012-12-02 Member: 173909Members
    edited December 2012
    @ Kouji_San:

    Yes, I fear my rig is about 5 years behind the times ;)

    The AA setting is set to Application controlled, but as I checked 3d-Settings in the Nvidia Control Panel I did notice:

    Antialiasing - FAA - OFF

    Sounds like I should set that to On?

    I'll post a screenshot

    //: And thanks for the quick reply of course!
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  • AlkadorAlkador Join Date: 2012-12-02 Member: 173909Members
    Screenshot:

    This time the player models and gun models did load, but other textures did not. This seems to be a bit random, if I disconnect and connect to another server it might only load gun models, but not the player models, etc.

    <img src="http://i47.tinypic.com/35b9o9t.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
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  • AlkadorAlkador Join Date: 2012-12-02 Member: 173909Members
    Update:

    I turned on that experimental function Texture Streaming and I noticed immediate effect: It loads the gun models and player models and no more graphical glitches like chequered purple walls. I'll do some more testing but it looks like this setting did work..

    Also, I checked the console with ~ button and there weren't any 'Video Memory' errors. It did show errors loading things from the \Models folder.
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  • Kouji_SanKouji_San Sr. Hινε Uρкεερεг - EUPT Deputy The Netherlands Join Date: 2003-05-13 Member: 16271Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
    edited December 2012
    Don't change your control panel AA settings, it needs to be set to the application one, always. As I said FXAA (the thing NS2 uses) is incompatible with any forced setting. But it is usually free from a performance hit and that 9800GTX should be able to run with it. I've ran the game on a HD4850 512Mb with a C2D E6420 @3.2Ghz, 2Gb DDR2 a while back and it did run at a "playable" state. Overall that rig is a bit faster though, but in terms of memory it should be able to run it without the "out of memory" issue you're having... But combined with the already underpowered CPU it might be something else messing with the thing.


    Have you tried the "texture streaming" setting to on? It reduces your GPU memory usage significantly, but might also introduce microstutter when loading new areas. Which will be more of an issue on older systems


    Also could you pull up the console (~key) when in a game and type r_stats and maybe post a screenshot of that. It will show your current render memory usage.
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  • AlkadorAlkador Join Date: 2012-12-02 Member: 173909Members
    edited December 2012
    <!--quoteo(post=2038803:date=Dec 2 2012, 07:59 AM:name=Kouji_San)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Kouji_San @ Dec 2 2012, 07:59 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2038803"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Don't change your control panel AA settings, it needs to be set to the application one, always. As I said FXAA (the thing NS2 uses) is incompatible with any forced setting. But it is usually free from a performance hit and that 9800GTX should be able to run with it. I've ran the game on a HD4850 512Mb with a C2D E6420 @3.2Ghz, 2Gb DDR2 a while back and it did run at a "playable" state. Overall that rig is a bit faster though, but in terms of memory it should be able to run it without the "out of memory" issue you're having... But combined with the already underpowered CPU it might be something else messing with the thing.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    I kept the AA setting to 'Application-controlled', but there is a <u>separate</u> setting called <u>FXAA</u> and its default setting is 'Off'.
    Since you said that NS2 uses FXAA I thought that perhaps I should turn that setting to 'On'?



    <!--quoteo(post=0:date=:name=Kouji_San)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Kouji_San)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Have you tried the "texture streaming" setting to on? It reduces your GPU memory usage significantly, but might also introduce microstutter when loading new areas. Which will be more of an issue on older systems<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    I turned 'Texture Streaming' On and I noticed immediate effect: It loads the gun models and player models and no more graphical glitches like chequered purple walls.

    Also, I checked the console with ~ button and there weren't any 'Video Memory' errors. It did show errors loading things from the \Models folder.


    <!--quoteo(post=0:date=:name=Kouji_San)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Kouji_San)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Also could you pull up the console (~key) when in a game and type r_stats and maybe post a screenshot of that. It will show your current render memory usage.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    This should be it.

    <img src="http://i50.tinypic.com/xkq808.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />

    Apart from the error messages about not being able to load some Models the Texture Streaming setting seems to have fixed the graphical glitches.
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  • Kouji_SanKouji_San Sr. Hινε Uρкεερεг - EUPT Deputy The Netherlands Join Date: 2003-05-13 Member: 16271Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
    edited December 2012
    Hmm, I haven't had a NVIDIA card in quite some time now, but I don't think it matters if you have the FXAA setting active in your control panel, NS2 forces it in any case if you turn it on in game. Good to hear it's fixed now!

    The missing models are exclude internal dev version models, which have not been released yet but are linked in game. No need to worry about those errors :)
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  • AlkadorAlkador Join Date: 2012-12-02 Member: 173909Members
    <!--quoteo(post=2038811:date=Dec 2 2012, 08:39 AM:name=Kouji_San)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Kouji_San @ Dec 2 2012, 08:39 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2038811"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Hmm, I haven't had a NVIDIA card in quite some time now, but I don't think it matters if you have the FXAA setting active in your control panel, NS2 forces it in any case if you turn it on in game. Good to hear it's fixed now!

    The missing models are exclude internal dev version models, which have not been released yet but are linked in game. No need to worry about those errors :)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->


    Aha, well I won't be worried about the models then.

    Another thing that struck me, in <u>none</u> of the stickied threads describing possible fixes is the <b>Texture Streaming</b> option mentioned! Would be good if its added, might help someone else in the future.
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  • FunkyMikeFunkyMike Join Date: 2012-11-05 Member: 167455Members
    <!--quoteo(post=2038833:date=Dec 2 2012, 08:59 AM:name=Alkador)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Alkador @ Dec 2 2012, 08:59 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2038833"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Aha, well I won't be worried about the models then.

    Another thing that struck me, in <u>none</u> of the stickied threads describing possible fixes is the <b>Texture Streaming</b> option mentioned! Would be good if its added, might help someone else in the future.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    Don't hold your breath. I have been waiting for 2 years : P
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