Graphics rules T440p

(03-06-2019 01:29 PM)celebkiriedhel Wrote:  @BoilingOil Yup, that's because whichever was added last, was what the file was called. It was ensuring that they got the latest one that they knew had their card in it. It was a way of making sure that the user had confidence in what they had. It also made sure that if they had an older version of the master, they couldn't just say that they did it and "it didn't work". It was a managing expectations sort of thing. I suspect that there would have been much better ways of handling this, but it started out very organically and I got stuck in the same method. Which, if I think about it now probably contributed to my sims burnout.


@Kunder

Download master

Thanks for taking this over for me. I am really glad that someone is doing it.

It could probably do with some sorting within the categories to speed it up.

How I have been doing:

I've been doing a lot of crochet. Actually it's pretty much all I do at the moment. I love it and it keeps me calm and stress free. I've made dragons and shawls and blankets, and beanies, and cushion covers, and pet beds, and... well yeah. Lots of different patterns and styles and I love learning the new stitches. So it keeps my hands busy, and my mind focused and active. I've got quite a few of what I've been doing on my instagram but I've been assuming that the sims community isn't really that interested in my crochet.

Apart from that - my blood sugars are really good, my sleep patterns are really bad, my depression has settled down a lot. I haven't been working since 2015 and that helps, and I think giving up the graphics thread has helped as well. Oh and menopause. Menopause has been really really good for me (apart from night sweats and hot flushes) - it's settled down a lot of hormonal related issues that I lived with all my life. So I think on the whole - life is good.

@celebkiriedhel

Thank YOU! Just downloaded it.

I'm SOOOO happy for you! Glad things are getting better! Nice to see you pop in once in a while, unstressed.

Yes, I'm working on re-organizing a mega file. Every computer I get for repair, that's capable of running TS2, gets it installed, and running, so I can steal the Video Cards.sgr files. I'm still trying to figure out the Graphics Rules, but hey, Gotta walk, before you run, 'ay?

I also have another game I'm working with the game files on. Mass Effect 2, and 3. TS2, is still my first priority.

It's good to hear from you!

@Kunder

If you want any help understanding the graphic rules.sgr let me know - I'm happy to explain it best I can.

That's a lot of games to work on - I've never played Mass Effect any versions.

(03-06-2019 08:51 PM)celebkiriedhel Wrote:  @Kunder

If you want any help understanding the graphic rules.sgr let me know - I'm happy to explain it best I can.

That's a lot of games to work on - I've never played Mass Effect any versions.

@celebkiriedhel

I'll take your schooling ANY day! I'll give it just a little time, so I don't bug the crap out of you. I don't want to stress you. I want to be as concise as possible.

We've all been trying to fill in.... You have some MIGHTY big shoes. All our feet together, can't fill 'em.

I'm reduced to giving advice on what old computer to look for, how to repair it, upgrade it, so we can keep playing. What video chipsets work well, what O/S works well, and what does not.

Mass Effect series, is one of the few games with re-play value, close to TS2, along with "The Long Dark".

I may be a bit of a hardware and software guru, but I still consider myself a bit of a TS2 "n00b".

Here's a thought. A large chunk of the master Video Cards.sgr file, can probably be eliminated, because almost NO one would have the hardware any more.

Keep it:

nVidia
ATI
Intel
And 3DFX

Dump it:

Just about any of the others, are in the scrap heap of history by now (I haven't seen a Number 9 card in 25 years, or a "SiS" card in fifteen years). Only reason for keeping the 3DFX card, is because they have a pretty big following, and people actually rebuild them for "retro" gaming (I have two of them).
What do you think?

....Or

Better yet, just compile these very old cards into its own "Older" Video Cards.sgr. However, I don't believe there will be much use for it, but for "Just in case". This alone may just speed things up.

Another suggestion is to just talk someone through making their OWN (i.e, "SiS"/Matrox/Tseng Labs/etc. Video Cards.sgr). I honestly don't believe we'll ever see anyone asking about most of these older cards anyways.

I noticed lots of duplicates in the master file. I'll go about correcting them, and adding any others that I have, although I've noticed only a few missing from your master file. You've done a pretty thorough job of it.



Have an AWESOME day, Kiri.

(10-04-2019 09:01 AM)BoilingOil Wrote:  On the other hand, if you know of a method where using on-board graphics fixes the issues that most new-system owners are struggling with, I would welcome you to add it as an alternative to the existing system. I'm sure it would be useful for a lot of people who currently cannot properly play at all.

@BoilingOil

Still testing the new .reg for the Intel graphics on my T440p (HD4600). So far, so good. No game crashes, and about 15-20% better framerates for HD graphics (YMMV). I'll post the "How to" this upcoming weekend, if all goes well.

For the most part though. the last two Win10 updates, killed most peoples ability to play TS2. I STILL advocate either the 16xx, or earlier version of Win10 AND follow my instructions for shutting off windows 10 updates, and LEAVING them off, or Win 8.1/Win7. BTW, if you have a pretty old VISTA, or XP machine, with dedicated graphics, TS2 will play pretty well on those too. Forget playing on Vista OR XP, without dedicated graphics though.

I just recently tried TS2, on a brand new Acer Nitro5 Special Edition, that had 1050Ti/HD630 graphics, and the latest Win10..... FAIL.

It ran, but was so jacked up, nothing I did, mattered. I think we're finally at the point where TS2 isn't playable at all, on new, "Off-the-Shelf" systems.

@Kunder

I'd go with removing them and putting them in a dedicated video cards.sgr of their own. Who knows what people will come up with.

Duplicates? Is that duplicates by name or by id? If by id - then certainly go reduce them, but if by name - then no. Quite a few cards have the same name but different id's and the id and name together is what the sims game registers them by. I thought I was generally pretty careful with the whole duplicate thing - but who knows.

As for cards that are not in the current vendor Id's - it's not possible to make new cards for them, so if we get any new vendors in the future we're in trouble. The current how-to update video-cards post *should* work for any of the existing vendor id's. I tried adding new vendors a few years ago for someone who was doing it on a linux box with a windows emulation, and couldn't get it to work - there's underlying code in the game that needs to be changed.

(05-06-2019 12:53 AM)celebkiriedhel Wrote:  @Kunder

I'd go with removing them and putting them in a dedicated video cards.sgr of their own. Who knows what people will come up with.

Duplicates? Is that duplicates by name or by id? If by id - then certainly go reduce them, but if by name - then no. Quite a few cards have the same name but different id's and the id and name together is what the sims game registers them by. I thought I was generally pretty careful with the whole duplicate thing - but who knows.

As for cards that are not in the current vendor Id's - it's not possible to make new cards for them, so if we get any new vendors in the future we're in trouble. The current how-to update video-cards post *should* work for any of the existing vendor id's. I tried adding new vendors a few years ago for someone who was doing it on a linux box with a windows emulation, and couldn't get it to work - there's underlying code in the game that needs to be changed.

Ones with same name, but different I.D, I leave alone. I was talking about the same I.D, and same name. Found a few of 'em.

We'll make two.... OLDER, and NEWER.

@Kunder

Sounds perfect! Thankyou so much for doing this.

No problem, Hon! Glad to be of service. Going to take a little time, I'm currently building four, T420 laptops for locals, who are TS2 players!!! Probably have the .sgr files finished before Monday, or Tuesday.