awful game performance

Ned Flanders · Post by **Ned Flanders** » Mon Jan 24, 2005 5:00 pm

I've been playing this for a couple of weeks now. The game is great, but it runs like garbage.

For instance, hitting the start button to pull up maps, journals, inventory etc and having to wait 30-60 seconds. Then having to wait another 30-60 seconds when using the L or R trigger (e.g. going from the equip character screen to the general inventory screen).

The game screen has also lagged for severe duration during play, go figure, especially with combat and cutscenes.

These are a couple of examples. I have changed the set I play on recently but haven't had many problems with other games.

Sometimes, the game runs fine for 30-40 minutes. Other times, it is awful.

I bought a wide screen sony wega, got the component video adapter for the xbox, and set the xbox video options to support widescreen (default is normal) and enabled the 740 progressive scanning. I'm not certain what is going on but the game runs miserable.

It could be a bad game disc. Possibly the optics are fried on the xbox drive (though most games play well). Maybe a memory issue. The xbox is old, it's a first generation obtained in November 2001 and it's had heavy use for several years. It's been reliable to a game thus far, but sith lords is giving me a tough time.

Jedi Master Oni · Post by **Jedi Master Oni** » Mon Jan 24, 2005 5:06 pm

Mine does the exact samething...i have also had my xbox since they first came out...

Ned Flanders · Post by **Ned Flanders** » Mon Jan 24, 2005 5:10 pm

I wonder what the problem is? I can't believe a game could be sold that runs this poorly. There has to be a variable affecting the game's performance

It's good to know I'm not alone. MS has used different vendors for optical drives throughout the brief xbox history. I forget but there is a particular drive they used for a while which made a mess of Morrowind for the xbox.

I'm tempted to make some calls about this and see where I get.

Jedi Master Oni · Post by **Jedi Master Oni** » Mon Jan 24, 2005 5:42 pm

Go for it....i might too...i didnt pay $50 for a laggy game.

Ryngard · Post by **Ryngard** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 9:06 am

Try cleaning your Xbox. My nephew has it on Xbox and it runs just fine. I know some people have been complaining about some lag, and I'm sure there is some in there, but it isn't just the game. Your machines have some responsibility too. Get a cleaning kit and see if that helps. Also, a newer Xbox might make a difference.

The1Raven · Post by **The1Raven** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 11:28 am

Yeah, It must be an issue with having an older xbox. I just got one over the holidays and although there is some lag every now and then with Sith Lords, it's nothing like what you're describing.

I wonder if there's a way to do some kind of scandisc/defrag maintainence on the machine. Or even wipe memory of games not being used anymore. I guess I could find out if I read my xbox manual. You'd think something like that would be covered.

Ned Flanders · Post by **Ned Flanders** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 12:30 pm

game running well again

Since this thread really didn't go far, I'll presume most who hang here have a game that runs fine. For those having trouble, here's what I did to get mine going.

1. I used a Maxell DVD Lens Cleaner (one with the brushes on the disc)

2. Instead of resaving over saved games, I now exclusively make a new save every time I save the game.

These two simple steps have increased the game performance tenfold. If you're having trouble, I'd recommend trying this.

Jack Dell · Post by **Jack Dell** » Sat Feb 05, 2005 7:05 pm

actually, the first edition of xboxes seems to have this problems with several new games, and its dvd drive is by now deteriorated and the loading times severely increased. Its a problem some of the first xboxes experience, try to clean the disc as best you can, also a lens cleaner can never hurt. Worst case scenario get your xbox fixed, but its not your game that's wrong.