VP 8 Problems

[Itchigo]

I'm having a problem setting up my new computer. I can't get VP8, I have to go in though VP9 to play VP8 tables because I don't have blue start buttons. They all look like cache files. I copied all my games (all working with fonts and vbs files) to external hard drive from my laptop (windows xp pro) and copied them to my desktop (windows xp home). I'm sure it's a simple fix but I have limited computer experience, so it's not so simple to me. Any one have any ideas??

 

[Itchigo]

I figured it out, the tables were not in the right place so the installer could't find them. When I put things in the right place I got my blue buttons back, but when I start a game the screen looks "smeared". I had this problem once before with one game, but I don't remember what I did.

 

[scapino]

Make sure to run full screen.

Kurt

 

[Itchigo]

Thanks Kurt, I also found that if I start it manualy through VP it clears up also. Problem is to do them all- I have a lot. The only problem I have with full screen is my close/ minimize/ buttons are just off the edge of the screen. I'm running 1024x768 and use vp the next notch down from that.

 

[scapino]

There shouldnt be any close/minimize buttons in full screen. You are just running a maximized window, which isn't true full screen.

Go to the video settings in VP and choose a true full screen resolution.

This should help.

Kurt

 

[Itchigo]

New Issues

Any idea why I would get a "can't create offscreen surface" on certain vp8 games running in vp8? EM games are ok but "newer" (eight ball dlx.) say and others give this error. I thought this was a vp9 error. All files should be there.

 

[scapino]

Usually that is due to not having enough actual memory on your video card for the textures the table is using, which is different for every table.

Try lowering seting your resolution to a 16 bit setting.

Kurt

 

[Itchigo]

I did try that and it did help on some games, but I have a hard time believing that my laptop with ati radeon 7500 and 16 mb of memory could run vp 99.5% vpm 99% and fp so so depending on the game, and my desktop with nvidia quadro fx 1400 128 mb of memory can't do the same. The desktop runs fp better than vp which doesn't seem right as fp takes a lot more resources than vp to run, right? I have an ibm intellistation m pro 3.6 ht with 2g of ram. (xp home ) Also when my friend helped me change the administrator settings so my desktop would come right up without having to hit user all of my settings reset, like the one on my video card went from performance to quality. I reset it back to performance with not a lot of difference.

:D

 

[scapino]

Is the laptop running XP and DX 8 or earlier? That would explain why its faster. Any computer with a DX 9 accelerated card had a harder time with VP, because older DX 8 calls were dropped from the DX 9 hardware, and are emulated, which is a lot slower. BAck when I was running a DX 8 card and XP, all of my "reel" tables ran smooth as silk. This ended when I upgraded to to a DX 9 card.

You have to blame the way VP was written, not DX 9, or Vista or Win 7.

Some of these problems have been somewhat aliviated with VP 9.

Kurt

 

[Itchigo]

You were right!

Not that I didn't believe you, I just could believe that a 7 yr old laptop (2.0 with 1g of memory) could run as good as a 2.5 yr old desktop with much more stought capabilities (3.6 p4ht 2g of memory). I set it to 16 bit color with better results. Although vp9 still has it's plunger issues. Vp9 will not run very well on the laptop, but I suspect that it's a video issue not a memory one as the desktop will boot up vp9 ok on the desktop even if the plunger doesn't work. I'm still learning this stuff (like the lawnmower man) so I know when something doesn't work, but I try to learn why as well. Your info really helps, thank you. By the way, both machines are running direct x 9.0c, laptop xp pro, desktop xp home. Do you think I should upgrade the Nvidia Quadro fx 1400 video card for a better one (any suggestions). With my gamebooster program the ball rolls better, but I've heard that that video card is better suited for 3-d modeling than games.