Kind of a Big Deal.

[BurningPanther]

For the past few months(I'd guess since mid-May at the earliest), I've been having a strange graphical issue in game, and haven't the foggiest where it could be coming from.

Instead of trying to inadequately explain it to you, I'll just include some links of FRAPS shots I took:
pol2008-09-2004-44-03-17.flv - Video - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

The glitch starts with any visible armor/accessory with a reflective surface, but as time passes, will expand and glitch in the surrounding environment, to include names, structures, and weather. It eventually gets so bad that it affects play, freezing the screen for extended periods of time, if not indefinitely.

Does anyone have any insight on this?

[LilithAngel]

Re: Kind of a Big Deal.

If you haven't hit the "Check Files" option in POL, that would be the place to start. After that, I'd check to see if you have the latest drivers for your video card, followed by seeing if the card itself is supported by the game.

Beyond that, I'm not certain what all it could be, but it certainly looks like a video problem at the outset.

[Kailea]

Re: Kind of a Big Deal.

try in this order
(assuming this does not happen in any other game....)
check files
check/update video driver

if you did both of these, and it still does it, it might be your video card itself
but would be hard to tell if this is the only game it does it in *shrugs*

[Ameroth]

Re: Kind of a Big Deal.

Start by giving us some info on your PCs specs.

[BurningPanther]

Re: Kind of a Big Deal.

Let's see...

Windows XP Pro, up to SP 3
AMD Athlon 64 3500+, 2.21 GHz(processor driver updated to most recent)
Corsair RAM, 1GB
NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT, just updated to most recent driver(178.13)
Linksys Wireless-N PCI Adapter WMP 300N

Anything else you need to know? This isn't really my strong suit, so I don't know what info would be relevant.

I ran the file check, no problems found. The Benchmark program checks out with a 3500-4000 score(though the weird flickering still manifests on Tenzen's armour in the demonstration). At any rate, I don't think it's a question of my card supporting the game, as it's the same one I've been playing on since early '05.

[Jarre]

Re: Kind of a Big Deal.

You running windowed mode?

Try running it in full screen mode without fraps in the background and see if that does the same. make sure nothing is open in the background.

[BurningPanther]

Re: Kind of a Big Deal.

I used to run in windowed mode, but have been running it full screen via the official POL viewer. I've removed Windower, it's plugins, and the UI mods, to include Element Enhancement, to try and isolate the problem. The clip taken in the link was after I'd un-installed/re-installed the game five times, each time isolating each variable.

As yet, I'm playing the game with none of these things, and the problem persists.

[Sylvane]

Re: Kind of a Big Deal.

Try Rolling back to this version of the drivers, I had similar issues using the newest version, when I installed these, it seemed to fix the issue. Make sure you completely remove all traces of the old drivers as well, as it seems to help if you start completely fresh.

GeForce Release 175

If that doesn't work, and you don't mind trying 3rd party drivers, I've used these and they seem to work as well.

DriverHeavenDownloads.net - Fast n Furious

Again, use release 175.16

[BurningPanther]

Re: Kind of a Big Deal.

The problem started long before I updated drivers; I didn't know there were new versions until a couple of months after the problem started, and so far as I know, has never updated automatically.

But I'll give it a try.

[Etra]

Re: Kind of a Big Deal.

Do you notice your internal fan being noisier than normal while this occurs? It looks like your video card may be having some trouble keeping cool. If you're on a desktop, I highly suggest giving your computer a thorough cleaning (removing the large clumps of dust.) Just be careful what you touch!

[BurningPanther]

Re: Kind of a Big Deal.

Yeah, I'd taken that into account too. My fan's been running normally, and I went in and cleaned out the case for good measure. No change.

UPDATE: tried downgrading to 175.16, no improvement.

[Sylvane]

Re: Kind of a Big Deal.

do you have issues with other games, or is this a FF only issue?

I'll go ahead and guess it's a FF only issue, since I always seem to have problems with it when everything else is fine.

If it is only happening with FF it's more than likely a compatibility issue with the drivers. I had some issues happen at random times, sometimes it wouldn't happen until after I'd zoned, sometimes it would be there, then I'd zone and it would compound to other issues.

According to the POL site, the last driver that they say is compatible with the 6600 is release 66.93. If you click this FINAL FANTASY XI Official Web Site and scroll down some it has a list of verified working drivers, but it's a pretty big step back. If you only play FF that won't be a terrible issue, otherwise, maybe you can try a third party driver.

If it does happen in other games it's also possible that you have power supply problems. I know when my PS went out my PC had a lot of little issues build up over time, and the more I tried to do the more they would build up, until it would crash.