FSSA and shadows problem

[Valo]

Hello!

I'm kind of new to the series although I played TR1 and some of the old TR's when I was young. I started again with Anniversary and I encountered some small problems.

I have a quite good PC that probably is enough to run TRA decently, here are the specs:

AMD Athlon X2 5200+ (2.6GHz)
Kingston 4GB DDR2 800MHz
ASUS GeForce 8800GT (no o/c) 512MB (256-bit) (PCI-E)
Windows Vista Home Permium 32-bit

The problems I have are related with FSAA. If I enable it and set to 2x or more (up to 16xQ) Lara's shadows dissapear. If I disable AA the shadows are back and everything is working perfectly. I'm running the game at 1280x1024 resolution.

The second problem is that, when I enable FSAA the game seems a little sluggish and I notice a small mouse lag occasionally. Mostly in main menu, it doesn't affect the gameplay much but it annoys me a little. Also when AA is set higher I notice framerate drops when particles are around Lara. When jumping in water or any smoke or dust.

I don't know if this is something with the game engine or my hardware/software because when I turn off AA completely I don't have this kind of problems.

Edit: I also want to note that I have the latest drivers for my graphic card (ForceWare 181.22 that is) and here is my DxDiag:

------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 2/24/2009, 19:06:38
Machine name: POWAAA
Operating System: Windows Vista™ Home Premium (6.0, Build 6001) Service Pack 1 (6001.vistasp1_gdr.080917-1612)
Language: Polish (Regional Setting: Polish)
System Manufacturer: System manufacturer
System Model: System Product Name
BIOS: BIOS Date: 07/01/08 Ver: 08.00.14
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5200+ (2 CPUs), ~2.7GHz
Memory: 3326MB RAM
Page File: 1095MB used, 3204MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 10
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 6.00.6001.18000 32bit Unicode

------------
DxDiag Notes
------------
Display Tab 1: No problems found.
Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
Sound Tab 2: No problems found.
Input Tab: No problems found.

--------------------
DirectX Debug Levels
--------------------
Direct3D: 0/4 (retail)
DirectDraw: 0/4 (retail)
DirectInput: 0/5 (retail)
DirectMusic: 0/5 (retail)
DirectPlay: 0/9 (retail)
DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
DirectShow: 0/6 (retail)

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce 8800 GT
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0611&SUBSYS_82671043&REV_A2
Display Memory: 1907 MB
Dedicated Memory: 499 MB
Shared Memory: 1407 MB
Current Mode: 1280 x 1024 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: Rodzajowy monitor PnP
Driver Name: nvd3dum.dll,nvwgf2um.dll
Driver Version: 7.15.0011.8122 (English)
DDI Version: 10
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 1/15/2009 08:19:00, 6070272 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
WHQL Date Stamp:
Device Identifier: {D7B71E3E-4551-11CF-496C-6CA202C2CA35}
Vendor ID: 0x10DE
Device ID: 0x0611
SubSys ID: 0x82671043
Revision ID: 0x00A2
Revision ID: 0x00A2
Video Accel: ModeMPEG2_A ModeMPEG2_C ModeVC1_C ModeWMV9_C ModeVC1_B ModeWMV9_B ModeVC1_A ModeWMV9_A
Deinterlace Caps: {6CB69578-7617-4637-91E5-1C02DB810285}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
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{5A54A0C9-C7EC-4BD9-8EDE-F3C75DC4393B}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY
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{F9F19DA5-3B09-4B2F-9D89-C64753E3EAAB}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY
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DDraw Status: Enabled
D3D Status: Enabled
AGP Status: Enabled

-------------
Sound Devices
-------------
Description: Głośniki (Realtek High Definition Audio)
Default Sound Playback: Yes
Default Voice Playback: Yes
Hardware ID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0883&SUBSYS_104382BB&REV_1000
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Type: WDM
Driver Name: RTKVHDA.sys
Driver Version: 6.00.0001.5464 (English)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
Date and Size: 8/10/2007 06:49:16, 1941848 bytes
Other Files:
Driver Provider: Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
HW Accel Level: Basic
Cap Flags: 0xF1F
Min/Max Sample Rate: 100, 200000
Static/Strm HW Mix Bufs: 1, 0
Static/Strm HW 3D Bufs: 0, 0
HW Memory: 0
Voice Management: No
EAX(tm) 2.0 Listen/Src: No, No
I3DL2(tm) Listen/Src: No, No
Sensaura(tm) ZoomFX(tm): No

Description: Realtek Digital Output (Realtek High Definition Audio)
Default Sound Playback: No
Default Voice Playback: No
Hardware ID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0883&SUBSYS_104382BB&REV_1000
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Type: WDM
Driver Name: RTKVHDA.sys
Driver Version: 6.00.0001.5464 (English)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
Date and Size: 8/10/2007 06:49:16, 1941848 bytes
Other Files:
Driver Provider: Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
HW Accel Level: Basic
Cap Flags: 0xF1F
Min/Max Sample Rate: 100, 200000
Static/Strm HW Mix Bufs: 1, 0
Static/Strm HW 3D Bufs: 0, 0
HW Memory: 0
Voice Management: No
EAX(tm) 2.0 Listen/Src: No, No
I3DL2(tm) Listen/Src: No, No
Sensaura(tm) ZoomFX(tm): No

---------------------
Sound Capture Devices
---------------------
Description: FrontMic (Realtek High Definition Audio)
Default Sound Capture: Yes
Default Voice Capture: Yes
Driver Name: RTKVHDA.sys
Driver Version: 6.00.0001.5464 (English)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Date and Size: 8/10/2007 06:49:16, 1941848 bytes
Cap Flags: 0x1
Format Flags: 0xFFFFF

Thanks,

Valo

[larafriend]

Well, it doesn't really depent on your hardware/sofware.

AA is an option that requires very much power of your videocard 2x and 4x can handle every computer with a good graphic card, for 8x you need to have a modern videocard and for 16x you need to have a very good videocard for gaming (such as Geforce 9 series or 200 series).

You should only enable the normal Aliasing, not with the Q. This needs VERY much power of your videocard and 512MB is not enough for 16xQ. I have an Nvidia 9600GSO with 768MB and that one has even trouble with framedrops with 16xQ. I think it also is a bug in TRA when you set it higher than 2x that the shadows disappear. Tomorrow I will test it on my XP and I will report what the outcome is. TRU can handle 16x with shadow.

BUT... it could also be that it's an Vista problem!

[Valo]

Thanks for the reply. I have to note that only Lara's shadow dissapear even with 2xAA but everything else seems normal. I would be very grateful if you would report if the bug exists on XP or your hardware. Thanks in advance.

[larafriend]

It's the same by me. AA off is Lara's shadow, bu no matter which AA option you chose further, the shodow stay away. It means it's a bug in the game engine:hmm:

[Valo]

Oh well, then I have to sacrifice either AA or shadows. I guess I stay with the shadows because without AA the game doesn't look bad anyway... BUT there may be a solution if you would force AA in nHancer/RivaTuner or anything like this rather then in-game. I will try this when I will have some time, thanks for your help.