On hardware vs Software

yrthwyndandfyre · Post by **yrthwyndandfyre** » Fri Jun 02, 2006 3:31 am

When I got VTMB, I had a computer that was barely able to run it. I had to turn down all of my video settings to max performance and minimum detail just to get the game to a decently playable level.
Well, in January, I treated myself to a new system. After five years, I figured an upgrade was in order. I went for a system that is easily 4x more powerful, has twice the memory, 3x the disk space, and a graphics card that has twice the memory.
Shortly thereafter, I got lost in Oblivion for a few months, and just came back to VTMB. It's astonishing how much detail I was losing. I figure I was skipping 2 frames out of 3, and audio/video synch was off by about 1.5 seconds. I didn't know any better - everybody said it was buggy, and I assumed that what I was seeing. I played VTMB for a year and a half, and now I'm stopping every few seconds with an, "Oooohh. I've never seen that before!" I can't wait to get to the major-league zombie battles. Those were a major sore point before. They should be a gas now. I was never able to beat the Hollywood Cemetery zombies. I think I'll take a shot at it now.
Short version: If your system is borderline, try an upgrade. I think you'll find yourself in a pleasant surprise.
In any case, my new system is borderline for Oblivion, so you're going to want a newer box for the next gen of games anyway.

Acleacius · Post by **Acleacius** » Fri Jun 02, 2006 4:50 am

Well if you want the orginal zombie battle, don't install the Unoffical patch, IIR Wesp5 toned down the generaters and reduced the number of generaters.

I look forward to a big upgrade and would imagine with the power of systems now days even compared to 18 months ago is at least double in many ways.

Anaximander · Post by **Anaximander** » Fri Jun 02, 2006 8:04 am

Upgrading hardware deffinately helps a lot, but I suspect that Bloodlines still has some software related performance issues. My system runs FEAR and Oblivion smooth as silk, but I still experience choppy audio and video in Bloodlines.

What I find really strange is that after recently upgrading my video card again, my performance improved in most games but actually decreased while playing Bloodlines. The new card is a 256 MB GeForce 6800 GT. Double the memory of my last card and 4 more pipelines. Latest drivers installed, of course. Now both my video and audio are choppier than they've ever been before. I don't know if this card is just not very compatible with Bloodlines or what. I haven't heard about any issues with this particular card, and as I said it works great with other games, so I'm not sure what's going on here.

yrthwyndandfyre · Post by **yrthwyndandfyre** » Fri Jun 02, 2006 8:32 am

[QUOTE=Anaximander]Upgrading hardware deffinately helps a lot, but I suspect that Bloodlines still has some software related performance issues. My system runs FEAR and Oblivion smooth as silk, but I still experience choppy audio and video in Bloodlines.

What I find really strange is that after recently upgrading my video card again, my performance improved in most games but actually decreased while playing Bloodlines. The new card is a 256 MB GeForce 6800 GT. Double the memory of my last card and 4 more pipelines. Latest drivers installed, of course. Now both my video and audio are choppier than they've ever been before. I don't know if this card is just not very compatible with Bloodlines or what. I haven't heard about any issues with this particular card, and as I said it works great with other games, so I'm not sure what's going on here.[/QUOTE]
I found out something new last night. I started a new game in my normal way with my normal character, but I'm getting dialog that I've never seen or heard before. I'm not talking about a changed word here or there, but whole sentences that I've never seen before. Whole lines of dialog that I've never heard before.
I suspect that VTMB attempts an adaptive approach, and, after assessing the hardware, provides a specific level of detail. That would explain a great many of the inexplicable bugs. Maybe some of us just aren't seeing them, or some of us are seeing them while others are not, simply because of different hardware configurations.