Blade of Darkness [Severance] loading screens

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XploitOcelot
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Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2015 9:06 am

Blade of Darkness [Severance] loading screens

Post by XploitOcelot »

Hi there,
I got this game in a previous offer at GOG.com
I found that to run it properly without downloading other stuff, you need to setup the included nGlide 1.4

Problem is, sometimes with the loading screens it crashes. I already needed to repeat some levels because of this.
Is still nGlide in development? Future improvements to come?

Thanks and seriously, good job! :D
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Zeus
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Re: Blade of Darkness [Severance] loading screens

Post by Zeus »

Send me all your savegames that cause the crash, so I'll investigate if it's nGlide or not.

Also post your PC specs and operating system version.
XploitOcelot
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2015 9:06 am

Re: Blade of Darkness [Severance] loading screens

Post by XploitOcelot »

No no, the crashing is random, some times.
Why I had to repeat the levels is because I try not to save during them :)

I know is because nGlide, because when I was using OpenGL more than a week ago, never happened.
So, the problem is, we have random crashing (or not) when loading a new level or when saving.
Specs:
- Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64-bit
- CPU
AMD A4/A6 48 °C
Kabini 28nm Technology
- RAM
4,00GB Single-Channel DDR3 @ 665MHz (9-9-10-24)
- Motherboard
Hewlett-Packard 21F7 (Socket FT1)
- Graphics
Generic PnP Monitor (1366x768@60Hz)
512MB ATI AMD Radeon HD 8210 (HP) 49 °C
- Storage
465GB Seagate ST500LT012-1DG142 (SATA) 30 °C
- Optical Drives
hp DVDRW SU208GB
- Audio
Realtek High Definition Audio
Spiros78
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Nov 07, 2018 3:22 pm

Re: Blade of Darkness [Severance] loading screens

Post by Spiros78 »

Hello from me here as well. I own this game since it was released and never had an issue with it. I have played it in Win98/2000/XP steady without any issue at all without the need of Nglide ofc. Ever since i started using Win 7 and Nglide, problems followed too. This game was installed on various PC combinations and either they were Intel based or AMD. there was no problem, but only after Win 7. I never reported this issue because i was hoping i would fix it or some later version of Nglide would, but never happened.

To clarify further, compatibility mode is of no use at all, as no matter the OS, it simply doesn't need it to run properly, but it will more likely make things worse or even not launch at all. Desktop optimizations are out of discussion, as they're necessary to be able to alt-tab and close the game. I have even tried to disable cpu vm optimizations from BIOS in case this would be in any way an obstacle, but no.

It's a game which ranks among my favorite 5 even after nearly 2 decades and i got tired stucking in loading screen. I have found very good optimal settings to make it behave smoothly, but i can do nothing about the freeze. I decided after many years to write about this problem as the OP here, because i really need it solved and i have verified that Nglide can't cooperate well, even in version 2.0

What happens exactly in the game, is that after ending a level, the game will freeze either loading the next map selector or the next itself if selector loads succesfully. It happens 8/10 times, if not 9/10.

In nglide config, Vsync is always enabled to add in stability and the intro video of the game is deleted, to prevent unnecessary resolution changes to play and eliminate hang chance. Audio is always Milesfast 2D, as i have determined that directsound 3D software (not hardware) can work too, but for some reason causes microstuttering and occasional spikes.

As reminder i say again, that the game via Opengl or native d3d support, it runs and loads properly, but opengl is not that smooth ofc.

I have even tested very old saves, created from Win98 and XP era, to make sure it wasn't the save and even started new games, every time with current PC, but all i noticed, was that no matter where the save was created from, it was always the Nglide and it's dissapointing, because i can't ignore the very good work it does, since the game runs smoothly except the Video settings that cannot be changed, but the freeze issue, is big issue and must be fixed, since it prevents me from playing one my fav games, although i have done many MANY attempts over the years to find a way to fix it, but no luck.

Current PC is based on AMD fx-6300 with an RX570 and 8GB ram, OS is Win 10 64bit pro and sound card is integrated realtek ALC-662.

I'd like from Nglide devs, to spend little time on this matter and find a solution soon please. I'd like to be able to enjoy this game again as i used to.
Tarnum
Posts: 17
Joined: Fri Mar 22, 2013 11:24 am

Re: Blade of Darkness [Severance] loading screens

Post by Tarnum »

You need single core CPU (1 thread) to play this game, AFAIK. Or try setting the Affinity to Core 0 for game exe.
Spiros78
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Nov 07, 2018 3:22 pm

Re: Blade of Darkness [Severance] loading screens

Post by Spiros78 »

Tarnum wrote:You need single core CPU (1 thread) to play this game, AFAIK. Or try setting the Affinity to Core 0 for game exe.

I've already tried that years ago, windows can manage this already, no reason to force it.
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Zeus
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Re: Blade of Darkness [Severance] loading screens

Post by Zeus »

Sorry I didn't get back to you earlier, I'll add it again to my "check" list.

3 years ago I wasn't able to reproduce the issue, perhaps it's because I'm using Intel CPU (I now noticed you both use AMD).
Is there any chance you could test the game (Glide renderer) with i3/i5 or i7 and Win10?
Spiros78
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Joined: Wed Nov 07, 2018 3:22 pm

Re: Blade of Darkness [Severance] loading screens

Post by Spiros78 »

Thank you for replying Zeus, i cannot use any Intel cpu anymore, but the last i had, was an E5700 Dual when i had Windows 7 and the same issue was occuring back then as i described, ofc with older Nglide version, the one that comes along with the GOG version of the game.

Only this freeze is the major issue with Nglide, but when it comes to performance and smoothness, it's just awesome in version 2.00, significantly !!! :roll: ;)
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Zeus
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Re: Blade of Darkness [Severance] loading screens

Post by Zeus »

Please email me couple save games where you are just before a new loading screen.
Spiros78
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Joined: Wed Nov 07, 2018 3:22 pm

Re: Blade of Darkness [Severance] loading screens

Post by Spiros78 »

Saves sent, check incoming fire! ;)
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