Since the new account manager made all the classic titles available digitally, I started playing Starcraft and D2 again.

I have an XP box and Vista laptop. After reading some posts here and experimenting a little I found that the game performs best with Direct Draw 2D.

However using this setting in Vista makes the game take five minutes to start. Has anyone else seen this, or found a way around it? I run the game full screen on both machines. Have not tried windowed mode.

---

Q u o t e:
You can also get the game to run just fine in D3D using a glide wrapper.

---

I guess you ment 3dfx Glide mode, not D3D. With a glide wrapper D3D is the first thing you'll kick out of your Diablo universe ;-)

When I installed a glide wrapper and ran D2's Video Test I had 3 options:

• 2D Direct Draw
• Direct3D
• 3dfx Glide

I couldn't tell a difference between D3D and 3dfx in-game, but the 3dfx was screwing up my screenshots and video captures, so I uninstalled it and went back to D3D.

---

Q u o t e:
When I installed a glide wrapper and ran D2's Video Test I had 3 options:

• 2D Direct Draw
• Direct3D
• 3dfx Glide

I couldn't tell a difference between D3D and 3dfx in-game, but the 3dfx was screwing up my screenshots and video captures, so I uninstalled it and went back to D3D.

---

Never noticed a problem with screenshots or videocapture .. prolly some gfx or wrapper setting wasn't set correctly.

To tell the difference between D3D and 3dfx you need a lot of gfx effect going, like an areas that has a lot i.e. the River of Flame. Check this comparison i made once:

http://www.realmsbeyond.net/forums/showpost.php?p=34794&postcount=11

It shows the same realm game and character and spot of the map. The only thing changed was gfx mode from D3D to 3dfx.

---

Q u o t e:
Never noticed a problem with screenshots or videocapture .. prolly some gfx or wrapper setting wasn't set correctly.
Dr.`disaster

---

Just out of curiousity, which wrapper are you using?

---

Q u o t e:
huzzah JD?
I'm using sven's.
just follow instructions in readme file. play around with it to get optimal function.
Keiyac

---

Yeah, Sven's is the one I have. If I remember correctly, there was nothing to install. You just copy the .dll file into your Windows/System32 folder. I didn't try to adjust any settings; I just went with the default. I didn't have any problems with it in-game. It's just that, on my computer, Direct3D looked as good as 3dfx.

I use a third-party program for screenshots. With 3dfx I was getting a solid black image, although I was still getting the jpegs in the D2 folder. My video captures didn't seem to be as sharp as I was used to, but that may not have been because of the wrapper.

Perhaps I'll try it again, sometime.

---

Q u o t e:

Just out of curiousity, which wrapper are you using?

---

I use Sven's Wrapper of course.

My settings are similar to Keiyac's, but i don't use that much texture memory. Anything past 64mb at 1024x1024 is more than enough for the game. On extensions i use only GL_ARB_fragment_program and WGL_EXT_swap_control. Activating all extensions may work but this very much depends on both gfx chip and driver version. A gfx driver update alone can cause huge changes on in-game results.

For screenshots i use the build-in D2 Print Screen option. Videos and screenshots captured with Fraps work fine too.

Thank you everyone for the input. And Shogg, yes, I was quoting Doc at the time, but the question was for anyone willing to share the information. So, thank you.

Information

1. My monitor refreshes at 60Hz, so my D2 fps is 60. I use Fraps to capture video at 60 fps to get the smoothest playback possible.

2. I use TechSmith's Snagit for screenshots. I use TechSmith's Camtasia Studio to produce my videos at the standard 30 fps in .mp4 format for a quality video with an acceptable file size. Original file size = 4 to 8Gb. Final file size = 200 to 300Mb.

Results

1. I copied the glide3x.dll to the D2 installation folder (this time) and ran the glide-init.exe program to adjust the settings. I started with the settings Keiyac posted. I tried various settings, but Keiyac's settings ended up giving me the sharpest graphics. The only thing I left unchecked was TextureMass under Wrapper Stats. I don't really want this information captured on my videos.

2. Snagit screenshots still come out as a solid black image. D2's built-in jpeg screenshots are okay.

3. In-game I'm still getting 60 fps. When I start recording with Fraps it drops to 30 fps. After several minutes of recording it will reach 40 fps. When I try to piece the Fraps' clips together in Camtasia Studio the clips are choppy and have problems playing back, although the sound is fine. Once the video has been produced and saved as .mp4 the final video plays back with no problems.

Summary

Perhaps I'm just lucky to have a computer setup that produces good D2 graphics. Even though Sven's wrapper can produce slightly sharper graphics on my computer, the difference is so subtle that, to me, it's not worth the other anomalies I'm experiencing. Therefore, I have returned to Direct3D.

Again, thank you all, for the information.

Justin Perusoe Darkwater

---

Q u o t e:

hmmm... interesting. after querying openGL, all available extensions were checked so i left it that way.
did you uncheck some? any performance gains in doing so? btw i'm trying 68mb tex mem now.

---

the OpenGL info tells me that 6 out of the 9 extensions are supported with my nVidia chip but i only use the 2 extensions stated in my post above. The extentions i disabled are:
- GL_EXT_vertex_array due to distored in-game display after a driver update
- GL_EXT_packed_pixels since my chip does not need to emulate 8-bit-textures
- GL_EXT_texture_env_combine since it's not triggered due to GL_EXT_ARB_fragment_program usage
- WGL_ARB_render_texture since i use full screen mode only

When i activate the last 3 there is no noticable difference on screen but my 85 fps goes slightly down by up to 10%, depending on the game area.

---

Q u o t e:

In-game I'm still getting 60 fps. When I start recording with Fraps it drops to 30 fps. After several minutes of recording it will reach 40 fps. When I try to piece the Fraps' clips together in Camtasia Studio the clips are choppy and have problems playing back, although the sound is fine. Once the video has been produced and saved as .mp4 the final video plays back with no problems.

---

Now this is a guess but i can kinda reproduce this. When i try to record at 85 fps it get's all choppy on screen. As soon as i reduce record rate in Fraps to 25 fps everything is great.

My conclusion is that your Fraps drops to 30..40 fps because your system does not have the horsepower to both run glide mode and record video at 60 fps. Retry at a lower record rate and all should be fine.

Actually you don't need to record at more then 25 fps because you can't tell the difference between a 60 and a 25 fps video.

---

Q u o t e:
Now this is a guess but i can kinda reproduce this. When i try to record at 85 fps it get's all choppy on screen. As soon as i reduce record rate in Fraps to 25 fps everything is great.
Dr.`disaster

---

Doc, I think you misunderstood me. You quoted me, yourself. Other than the drop in the record frame rate, I'm not having problems in the game. It's when I'm in Camtasia that I'm getting the choppy video playback while trying to "produce" the video. I also stated that once the video was saved as an .mp4 file, it played back fine.

---

Q u o t e:
My conclusion is that your Fraps drops to 30..40 fps because your system does not have the horsepower to both run glide mode and record video at 60 fps. Retry at a lower record rate and all should be fine.
Dr.`disaster

---

I admit my computer is two years old and probably not the biggest, baddest, fastest computer by today's standards. I'm running Vista 32-bit with an Intel Core 2, Quad @ 2.4Ghz. I have 4Gb RAM. The original video card was an NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GTS with 256Mb onboard, which I upgraded for Fallout 3 so I could play with the graphics set to Ultra High. My current video card is the EVGA NVIDIA GeForce 240 GT with 96 streaming cores and 1,000Mb (1Tb) onboard. I have a second, 1Tb hard drive that's dedicated to video capturing.

---

Q u o t e:
Actually you don't need to record at more then 25 fps because you can't tell the difference between a 60 and a 25 fps video.
Dr.`disaster

---

This was true when I was recording Fallout 3. In fact, I couldn't record Fallout 3 at higher than 30 fps because anything higher would introduce massive video lag in the game with the video set to Ultra High. This was not a problem because the Fallout 3 captures I got was so good that even playback on the internet was as good as they looked on my computer. And that was without using a glide wrapper. I'm not experiencing the same good fortune with Diablo II, with or without the glide wrapper. And for me, on my computer, I do notice a difference between recording at 60 fps and recording at 30 fps. Not only that, but playback of D2 videos on the internet doesn't look as good as they do on my computer. My thoughts are that even though when Diablo II came out, the graphics may have been state-of-the-art, by today's standards it's actually quite poor. And as we all know, your final product is only as good as what you start with. Still, I'm satisfied with the results I'm getting without using the glide wrapper.

---

Q u o t e:
i'm assuming you meant "returned to 2d".
Keiyac

---

Umm… no, Keiyac. I meant just what I said. I never use 2D Direct Draw. It's too pixelated and zagged for my tastes. I prefer using my video card's hardware, Direct3D (D3D). And again, I guess I'm lucky that I don't experience the lag that you refer to.

I'm glad that many of you are enjoying glide3dfx. I only wish you could be glad for me, as well. ;) Anyway, I'm sticking to what I said in Post #12.

Happy Huntin', all you Warriors !

JPD
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
Edit: 06/05/10
Typo: 1,000Mb = 1Gb, not 1Tb

---

Q u o t e:
sorry.. dyslexia. thought i read 2D there.
Keiyac

---

No problem. When I said "…my D2 fps is 60", I meant my frame rate in Diablo II (D2) is 60 fps. But, I guess you already figured that out. ;)

---

Q u o t e:
wow! i have to ask, ground/grass/docks aren't fuzzy with D3D?
Keiyac

---

For me? No. The graphics are quite clean and sharp. That's why I consider myself lucky, in regards to the problems others are having. The glide wrapper did sharpen the graphics, for me, slightly. But not enough for me to continue using it.

---

Q u o t e:
and i don't play ladder/bnet but what i gather from these posts is if you don't want to die from lag monster you best play 2D directdraw.
Keiyac

---

The first eight years I owned D2 I played Single Player. These last two years it's been strickly Ladder. When I said, "I don't experience the lag that you refer to", that was not entirely accurate. But yes, I do get lag, sometimes. From what I've read on these Forums, it's not nearly as bad as some players have experienced. The small amount of lag I have experienced, I guess I've kinda gotten used to it. I sort of just worked it into part of my strategy. I've never gotten lag-killed… yet, but I've come close. It keeps me on my toes and from nodding off at the keyboard. ;)

---

Q u o t e:

I admit my computer is two years old and probably not the biggest, baddest, fastest computer by today's standards. I'm running Vista 32-bit with an Intel Core 2, Quad @ 2.4Ghz. I have 4Gb RAM. The original video card was an NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GTS with 256Mb onboard, which I upgraded for Fallout 3 so I could play with the graphics set to Ultra High. My current video card is the EVGA NVIDIA GeForce 240 GT with 96 streaming cores and 1,000Mb (1Tb) onboard. I have a second, 1Tb hard drive that's dedicated to video capturing.

---

One would assume this should be more then enough to get a clean 60+fps video capture. Well as i said it was a guess.

As you correctly stated the game ain't state-of-the-art anymore. Prolly it's the game engine itself interfering. No matter what fps is on screen inside the game everything is handled at 25 frames per second. That's why i also suggested to record at 25 fps.

On your low-lag-situation with D3D: count yourself lucky! Depending on the action on screen i've seen D3D lag and freeze which is a baaad thing to happen in hardcore. That's a definate NO-NO! Now the only situation in the game when Glide ever starts to lag is after you killed Shenk when he had the Multishot modifier.