Post by Balbus Drusus in ERAS II Update comments

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Could not find another thread to post this issue, but when I started an English game now on ERAS, I saw colorful/firework-like visuals on distant scenery when I was in first-person sailing mode.

The issue occurs on all first person sea encounters during evening time.

https://gofile.io/?c=iBDD5Z

And this problem I just recalled since last time I played; now is evidently occuring as well: after ship surrenders via paying tribute (or you paying them tribute just to end battle), you cannot exit screen until you sink them or get out of range. They still attack you and you still attack them but the white color flag marker is still on, and not red:

https://filebin.net/yplud7ac3ut0ieu5/SpraggeJr_QuickSave_2.zip?t=vx4a0mak

With reference to first issue of the colorful sparks on screen - I now spotted it once I landed at port:

https://gofile.io/?c=BYSzZo

ChezJfrey4 years ago

I see the "fireworks" in the save thumbnail/screenshot, but have never seen that on my system and if I load either of them, I still don't see that effect. Since I have never seen that sort of thing, but it is obviously a phenomenon that can occur (given the evidence of the save thumbnails in more than one file), I'm guessing it is particular to the graphics hardware you have. What are your system specs (OS, video card GPU, etc.?) Also, is this 64 bit version or 32 bit version of DX9?

I only have a couple laptop systems to test on and unfortunately, are all relatively low-end graphics with OEM Intel chips. I will send these files to my major partner in ERAS, known as ModernKnight1, to see if he's ever seen that on his system. He plays the game much more than myself and is the primary content provider and a massive bug-finder given how much he plays. But I think he only has AMD systems...anyway, I'll see if he has ever seen it, or can reproduce it.

As for the surrender/tribute problem, I will load the save and research the issue. I do know that the surrender mechanic was kind of "broken" from GOF (it did not exist in COAS and was implemented in GOF 1) and we've tried to fix some of the problems that would sometimes occur, but there may be more work to do...

Balbus Drusus4 years ago (1 edit)

Yea the fireworks is quite frustrating lately - has been popping up and getting stuck on my screen whereever I go during evening period - in tavern, governors mansion, in port, etc.

Anyhow no worries let us see what modernknight discovers on his version.

My graphics; GeForce GTX 850M

Also have intel; not really sure how to see the full details on my video card

ChezJfrey4 years ago

Can you do me a favor and send me a couple screenshots, preferably in a recognizable location (like that one in town, or a tavern/mansion)? Though I can see them in your save thumbnails, they are a small and a bit fuzzy and I'm trying to determine whether the locations of these glowing orbs perhaps match up with something in the models or locators (there is an option to highlight locators and the colors bear a striking resemblance to that option); a better resolution screenshot might help me figure out whether these glow spots coincide with any actual model element or are just random.

Also, what operating system? Another thing I would like to know is whether you can perhaps run the 32 bit DX9 and even the DX8 version to see if they do the same thing?

Any help is appreciated...but this is a struggle because I can't reproduce it myself.

Balbus Drusus4 years ago

ChezJfrey4 years ago

Thank you. They are not locators, but they are all exactly the same shape, and suspiciously remind me of a texture filter for some sort of lighting effect. So, I sifted through a bunch of textures used in the game for lighting, lightning, fire, etc. effects and found that those are "stars" as in astronomy; they are sometimes "tinted" various colors in the night sky, but they are obviously also supposed to be very small. So, now the question remains, why are some of yours so big and so close? Because I don't get this effect at all and have never seen it, I'm also wondering if perhaps the "shader" techniques used are somehow handled differently on your GeForce card. Anyway, at least we know what they are. I will continue to investigate what it might be and how to resolve...at the very worst, you may just have to disable the stars. I'll keep you posted...

ChezJfrey4 years ago

I don't know if this will help or not, but I made a couple changes to try. The stars are rendered with what DirectX calls a "point list." This point list has a point size, minimum point size and a maximum point size defined for it. The code set the point size and the minimum point size, but did not define a maximum. So I set the maximum. I also tried setting the "z order" as well. Download the latest Maelstrom and see if that changes anything for you.

Balbus Drusus4 years ago

Hello.

Excuse me for late reply, been hectic past week or so

I just checked the game, and it is working alright for now.

Thanks for support.

Will keep updated on any new issues!

itch.io

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