Graphics problem T2

[Nightwalker]

Hi

I've been away from home for almost 3 weeks on personal business and I'm staying with a friend. She'd like to try Thief and we have T2 installed on her computer. However, there's something weird with the graphics. Whole walls, etc. light up like you can see light through from the far side, which is something I've never seen mentioned before that I can recall. I can't try it with TG because I don't have it with me. She has a Cicero computer with sound and video built in to the motherboard.

System specs (taken from Belarc printout):
1.53 gigahertz AMD Athlon XP
128 kb primary memory cache
256 kb secondary memory cache
Main Circuit board Seanix 7VKML 1.x

Display is listed as S3 Graphics ProSavageDDR Compaq (Display adaptor) Is this the onboard video card? Is there a way to update the drivers for it?

Any help would be appreciated. :)

[John D.]

S3 savage? ewww that's an onboard video card, it sucks. I remember trying a
Unreal engine game on one and saw some color distortions like you described. The best thing to do would be to go ahead and get a new card (Nvidia if you dont want to jump through hoops to get the fog working). However for right now it would be better to try to update the drivers to see if that helps. I'm sure someone here should know where the right place to download it would be.

[Peter Smith]

Hi Nightwalker :)

Sounds like John D has the right idea. On board video is notorious for not working. Yes, the S3 is the on-board video chip (not a card), which is located on the motherboard. A search of the internet should locate drivers for the S3 given the model information you quote. I would not be too hopeful, but it can't hurt to try. The most likely solution, IMO would be to get a cheap separate graphics card such as an older model Nvidia, if the motherboard has an interface for one (e.g., AGP slot, or at worst PCI). You need to have a way to disable the on-board video in the BIOS for the separate card to work. Boot it up and go into BIOS setup and attempt to find that setting before buying the separate card. I am afraid I have never heard of any of the computer or motherboard components you mentioned.

[Nightwalker]

That's pretty much what I thought. She can't afford to upgrade the video card so she'll just have to stick to her Yahoo games, etc. Thanks for the help, as always! :)

[John D.]

Well if she gets any extra cash later on try http://www.pricewatch.com/ I've seen plenty of cards that can play T1 and 2 for under $100. Just be sure it's at least 64 megs.

[bravus]

I had a similar problem trying to play on my laptop, and installed a third party set of drivers (Omega?) I think they only exist for the more mainstream cards, though (nVidia and ATI). Worth looking around for updated drivers, though.

[ycdeo]

if u want to buy a new card. Get anything above FX5500 AGP 128MB.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v490/ycdeo/146_h3.gif