TSL: very slow loading at startup and for some menus

[Prime]

My KOTOR installation works quite well, however my TSL takes a very long time to start up (say 30 seconds?) while just displaying a black screen. Once I get in, going to the advanced graphics options takes another 30 seconds or so, and clicking the anti-aliasing option buttons takes an extended period as well. The game levels seem to load quickly enough, and the game runs nice and smoothly (but soft shadows has to be off).

Has anyone else had a similar issue? Not a huge deal, but kind of annoying...

This is on W7 64 bit.

[Qui-Gon Glenn]

I have had similar issues with my TSL install... and when I had the old 4-disc K1 install and not the BoPC version. The soft shadows were not, I believe, an issue though.

I wonder, does the game start in windowed mode by default for you?

You could use your GPU control panel to set the AA for you.

[Q]

I hate to ask a veteran the canned questions, but...

1) Did you install the game according to the large-print instructions at the top of the second post in this thread?

2) Could you use the game's configuration utility to post your system specs?

Originally Posted by stingerhs

Post your system specs
Sometimes we're just not going to be able to help you if we don't know what kind of hardware you have on your machine. If you don't know what you have on your machine, then follow these steps below:

• If you're using Vista or Windows 7, go into your game folder, find "launcher.exe" and right-click on it. Select "properties", then "compatibility" and check the box beside "Run this program in compatibility mode for:" and select "Windows XP (Service Pack 2)". Then check the box next to "Run this program administrator" and hit "OK". (EDIT by Q)
• Bring up the launcher menu for Kotor 1 or 2 (by running "launcher.exe").
• Click on "Configure".
• Click the "Scan Hardware" button on the lower center of the window.
• Click "Yes" to continue.
• Click "Details" to view your system specs.
• Click "Save Report" and save the file to your desktop.
• Whenever you post your problem, open the file you just saved and copy and paste the contents to your post.

You can leave out the keymapping and everything after that.

[Prime]

Originally Posted by Q

I hate to ask a veteran the canned questions, but...

1) Did you install the game according to the large-print instructions at the top of the second post in this thread?

I believe I have, yes. Always a chance that I missed something I suppose, but I did go through the steps.

Originally Posted by Q

2) Could you use the game's configuration utility to post your system specs?

You can leave out the keymapping and everything after that.

OK, here we go. It is protesting my video card. Here is my config (this is Windows 7 64bit):

[SWKotOR]
ReportDateTime=30/01/2012 9:10:33 PM
SysInfoVersion=v1.00.60
GameExists=1
GameVersion=v2.00.424
GameInstallLocation=F:\Games\KOTOR2\

[OS]
Name=WinXP
Version=Windows XP v5.1 build 2600 Service Pack 2
Service Pack=Service Pack 2
Status=Pass

[SwapFiles]
?:\pagefile.sys=0

[CPU]
CPUCount=4
CPUSpeed=3292
CPUFamily=6
CPUModel=10
CPUStepping=7
CPUVendor=Intel
CPUName= Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2500K CPU @ 3.30GHz
Status=Pass

[Memory]
RAM=1024
Status=Pass

[Disk Free Space]
C: (NTFS), UNICODE=82.20GB
E: (FAT32), UNICODE=319.51GB
F: (NTFS), UNICODE=604.27GB
Status=Pass

[CD-ROMs]
DriveLetters=D:\
Drives=ASUS DRW-24B3LT ATA Device

[Video]
Video Card Name=RDPDD Chained DD
Video Memory=4096
Desktop Resolution=0x0x0
DirectX=DirectX 9.0c (4.09.00.0904)
OpenGL Version=4.1.0
OpenGL Vendor=NVIDIA Corporation
OpenGL Renderer=GeForce GTX 560 Ti/PCI/SSE2
NVidia Driver=(null)
Vid Card Status=Warning
Vid Card Driver Status=Fail
GL Status=Pass
DX Status=Pass

[Audio]
Sound Card Name=Speakers (Realtek High Definition Audio)
Status=Pass


;Game Options from swkotor2.ini

[Display Options]
FullScreen=1
Disable Movies=0
Disable Intro Movies=0
Sort Modules=1
Width=1280
Height=1024
BitsPerPixels=32
RefreshRate=60

[Sound Options]
Music Volume=85
Voiceover Volume=85
Sound Effects Volume=85
Movie Volume=85
Number 3D Voices=32
Number 2D Voices=32
2D3D Bias=1.00
EAX=0
Sound Init=0
Disable Sound=0
Force Software=0

[Graphics Options]
Anisotropy=16
Frame Buffer=1
Grass=1
Soft Shadows=0
Shadows=1
Brightness=57
EnableHardwareMouse=1
FullScreen=1
Disable Vertex Buffer Objects=1
RefreshRate=60
Width=1280
Height=1024
V-Sync=0
Texture Quality=2
Anti Aliasing=8
AllowWindowedMode=1

[Game Options]
UnlockedPlanetSongs=2047
Enable Tooltips=1
Keyboard Camera Deceleration=2000.000000
Keyboard Camera Acceleration=500.000000
Keyboard Camera DPS=200.000000
TextureVariation=81
BodyVariation=9
AppearanceType=141
PCGender=0
GameCompleted=0
CurSithLord=2
Hide InGame GUI=0
Use Small Fonts=0
Hide Unequippable=0
Tutorial Popups=1
Subtitles=1
Mini Map=1
Floating Numbers=0
Status Summary=1
Enable Mouse Teleporting To Buttons=1
Mouse Sensitivity=44
Difficulty Level=1
Auto Level Up NPCs=0
Mouse Look=0
AutoSave=1
EnableScreenShot=1
Reverse Mouse Buttons=0
Reverse Ingame YAxis=0
Reverse Minigame YAxis=0
Combat Movement=1
TooltipDelay Sec=1
Disable Movies=0
GUIsInScreenShot=0
EnableCheats=1

[config]
firstrun=0

[Q]

Very nice hardware.
You need to make a brag post in your thread in the tech forum to showcase what you ended up getting.

Originally Posted by Prime

OK, here we go. It is protesting my video card. Here is my config (this is Windows 7 64bit):

Yeah, that's normal. These games are old and don't properly recognize new hardware, drivers and any version of Windows newer than XP.

First off:
GameVersion=v2.00.424
This tells me that the game hasn't been patched, or that the patch did not apply correctly. It should be:
GameVersion=v2.10.427

Second:
Anti Aliasing=8
This should be set to 4. I know that your card is more than capable of 8x AA, but the game will run more smoothly and will actually look better with 4x AA.

I have no idea about the soft shadows thing, but it might be tied to the AA issue above, so I would try turning them on after setting AA to 4. I would turn V-Sync on as well.

[Prime]

Cool. I'm pretty sure I attempted to patch, but I also setup KOTOR as well at the same time so maybe I am misremembering. Is there an issue with patching now that I have done the other steps?

And I play with the aliasing a bit more and see what happens. Cheers.

[Q]

Originally Posted by Prime

Cool. I'm pretty sure I attempted to patch, but I also setup KOTOR as well at the same time so maybe I am misremembering. Is there an issue with patching now that I have done the other steps?

Depends. Did you replace the .exe with the one that was updated by SecuROM?

[Prime]

yes. I take it I should swap back to the original .exe, patch, then put the SocuROM version back.

[Q]

Yeah, that's what I would do. Make sure to run the patch file in XP SP2 compatibility mode as an admin.

[Prime]

Just posting in case others come across this, but having the patch installed seems to address this issue.

WOOT!

[Q]

Cool.