Grandia 3: Cut Scene Border Flickers; Flickering Shadows
#1
I am experiencing two bugs in Grandia 3.

1) During cut scenes, black borders appear at the top and bottom, framing the scene. That is normal. However, sometimes part of the borders will flicker with an artifact that appears to be from whatever was on the screen before it shifted to a cut scene. Sometimes this flickering will stop when the game shifts from one cut scene to another, and it does not happen every time there is a cut scene.

2) When a character or an object projects a shadow (as though the sun was causing it), the shadows are not a consistent color, and parts of the shadows flicker. I believe this problem happens only during cut scenes, and inconsistently.
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#2
Are you using any non default settings? Speedhacks?

Also, try software mode(Press F9 while game is running)
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#3
Yes. I am using the "Enable INTC Spin Detection", "Enable Wait Loop Detection" and "mVU Flag Hack" speed hacks; i.e. the ones which are enabled by default.

When you ask about "non-default settings", what are you thinking of? I don't think I've enabled anything unusual - the only thing I've adjusted are the graphics settings, which I set for the proper compatibility considering my rig's specs.

When I pressed F9, the borders disappeared for that cut scene. I'm not clear on whether that made a permanent change to my settings. When I check my plugin settings, it shows it's still set to hardware.
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#4
F9 only toggles software/hardware temporarily.

If the problem disappears in software mode then it's just a problem with the GSDX plugin most likely. Software mode will be the most accurate. And also the slowest. It's limited to native resolution as well.

As for non default settings, I meant speedhacks like EE cycle rate, VU stealing, clamping modes, etc, but it seems like you don't have any of that going on.

What about the shadows? Are they okay in software(after pressing F9)?
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#5
(12-26-2013, 10:44 PM)Blyss Sarania Wrote: F9 only toggles software/hardware temporarily.
By pressing it again in-game, it returns to the hardware setting, correct? And the same thing would happen if I rebooted the emulator, correct?

(12-26-2013, 10:44 PM)Blyss Sarania Wrote: If the problem disappears in software mode then it's just a problem with the GSDX plugin most likely.
Could you expand on that concept, please? I ask only for my own edification, so I can better understand any future problems I have with this, or other games.

(12-26-2013, 10:44 PM)Blyss Sarania Wrote: Software mode will be the most accurate. And also the slowest. It's limited to native resolution as well.
Yes, the game does run slower when I run in software mode. It seems that if I switch back to hardware mode after putting it in software mode, the problems remain gone, and I regain my normal game speed.

Are there any intermediary fixes that will probably keep my emulation speed while fixing the border issue? Or should I simply rely on F9 to fix it whenever it comes up?

(12-26-2013, 10:44 PM)Blyss Sarania Wrote: As for non default settings, I meant speedhacks like EE cycle rate, VU stealing, clamping modes, etc, but it seems like you don't have any of that going on.
Correct; I have only the default, recommended speedhacks enabled.

(12-26-2013, 10:44 PM)Blyss Sarania Wrote: What about the shadows? Are they okay in software(after pressing F9)?
I will have to report back to you on that one, because the shadows appear surprisingly rarely, now that I think about it.

By the way, thank you for your swift and helpful replies.
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#6
(12-26-2013, 10:52 PM)The Sword Emperor Wrote: Could you expand on that concept, please? I ask only for my own edification, so I can better understand any future problems I have with this, or other games.

Okay, GSDX hardware vs GSDX Software.

A thread runs on your CPU that emulates the PS2's graphic synthesizer. The output of this thread is handed to the GSDX plugin(assuming that's the plugin you are using, and on Windows you almost certainly will be). In hardware mode, GSDX converts the PS2 GS calls into Direct3d calls, and renders out the data to the screen. It allows to do things like increase the resolution, filter textures, etc as well.

In software mode, instead of translating the calls to direct3d, the rendering is done right on the CPU. This is the most accurate way of rendering, as it avoids any "inconsistencies" between how a PS2 does things and how a PC does. However, a CPU is not ideal for rendering 3d graphics quickly. So, while it will be most accurate this way, it is also much slower. It also does not allow for increased resolution, etc. The goal of the software mode is to produce output that EXACTLY matches the PS2 output.

Hopefully that explains it well.
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#7
Thank you, yes, that helped explain things. I'm still just a layman, so some of the terminology went over my head, but I feel like I have a better fundamental grasp of the concept. I do have to say that it sounds like the names should be reversed: it sounds like "hardware" mode is the one that uses a piece of software (direct3d) to render; while "software" mode is the one that uses a piece of hardware (the processor) to render.

As for the shadows...
Entering software mode fixes the shadows problem. Unlike the border flickers, the problem returns if I switch back to hardware mode. It's a minor inconvenience compared to the possibility of slowdown during cut scenes, so I'm not going to worry about it.
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#8
(12-27-2013, 06:04 PM)The Sword Emperor Wrote: I do have to say that it sounds like the names should be reversed: it sounds like "hardware" mode is the one that uses a piece of software (direct3d) to render; while "software" mode is the one that uses a piece of hardware (the processor) to render.

They are called that because hardware mode is rendered by a specialized piece of hardware(the GPU, aka graphics card). Software mode has no specialized hardware - in this case it's the software that is specialized.

Direct3d is a middle layer between a program and the graphics card. You can think of it sort of like a programming language for graphics. It actually is being used in both hardware and software modes.
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