Problem with the lighting/glow effect...

[Cakeordeath]

I've got this strange problem with the light effect in game. All light sources normally have this glow to them but on re-entering the map this effect is lost. For example, I entered the Asylum for the first time and all the light effects were there, I did a quick save and reloaded it only to find that the light glow had gone

I've linked to a few screenshots to show what I mean. Well, a picture is worth a thousand words... or so they say..

http://img78.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img78&im ... 0025xb.jpg
http://img78.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img78&im ... 0037mk.jpg
http://img158.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img158& ... 0008la.jpg
http://img65.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img65&im ... 0019yj.jpg

I've tried various methods to try and get the light glow back but nothing works. List of things I've tried but failed:

- Running a vanilla install makes no difference; problem still exists when using official 1.2 and later unofficial patches.
- Formatting hardisk with clean install of Windows XP, using both SP1 and SP2.
- Using a 5900XT and 6600GT with various drivers: 5x.xx, 6x.xx, 7x.xx and 8x.xx, plus other unofficial drivers. (Using Driver Cleaner 2 to remove drivers.)
- Reinstalling DirectX.
- Disabling all background applications within Windows.
- Running the game on two seperate computers: one with VIA mothboard chipset and one Intel chipset (Hey, I thought it might have made a difference!)
- Running the game in max graphical settings then on lowest.
- Using the nVidia control panel to set all graphical options on graphics card to highest then lowest.

Anyone have any more ideas? Given that the glow is present when first entering a map and then subsequently disappears upon re-entering it OR loading it from a save game, I thought it could be a problem with loading the sprites responsible for the glow effect around the lights. However, when checking the console after loading a map for the first time, and on subsequent loads, the loaded materials appear to be identical. If they're are being loaded, why aren't they being displayed???

I've tried messing with the console using the cvar list it provides, but to be honest, I have no clue what I'm doing! I did find something though. When you enter a map for the first time (with glow effects) I can disable them by using the following:

r_drawtranslucentrenderables "0"

This will remove the glow effect... along with a few others things that aren't affected by the reloading problem.

I'm all out of ideas. If anyone can help I would really appreciate it as this things been annoying me since release day! If you aren't experiencing this problem, could you please list what settings you run the game on and give the specs of your computer. Plus, and I know I'm clutching at straws here, could you also state what version you're running (US or UK/European). For the record, I've got the UK version.

EDIT: Could a mod please move this to the tech forum? Slight oversight on my part. Sorry.