Public Beta. Dropping letters

[kaleun]

Weird. On the unit screens letters drop off the board.

[kaleun]

And again

[kaleun]

This is the version.

Any ideas?
Is this patch related?

[wdolson]

Did you switch from AE to some other program and then back?  Sometimes when it repaints the screen after doing this, artifacts like the dropped Es show up.  It's a DirectX issue.  If you quit the game and restart, the problem will go away. 

These problems are more common in full screen mode and more common when the game window was minimized and then brought back.  Being in windowed mode and using alt-tab, or just clicking on the task bar seems to make it less frequent.  There may also be an element related to the video card too.  It never happens on some systems.

Bill

[jwilkerson]

Right, this "letters dropping" thing has always been a feature of running WITP (or AE) in "windowed mode" - might even be possible in full screen mode if you exit and re-enter enough - though I play in full screen mode except when debugging and I rarely see this. Eventually memory will get "flubbed up" and this will happen. Exiting and reloading WITP (or AE) will fix the issue (until it happens again).

Fundamentally I think the memory management mechanisms in the "engine" code are not aligned with more modern "windows applications" and hence to really fix this will require an "engine" upgrade. That was not in scope for AE but would be for the "infamous" WITP_II.
[:)]

[geobaz]

I run only in full screen mode, and I see this about one out of every 10 times I run the game. Usually it shows up during the game when I've been playing a bit. Interestingly tonight the game started "fresh" missing all the "a"s. I don't drop the game to desk top and bring it back up so at least for me that is not part of what is causing the problem. I agree the quick fix is to quit the game and restart. Weird.

[jwilkerson]

What else are you running?

How much memory do you have on your box?

I have 2 GIG on one box and 4 GIG on the other. I see this a fair amount when I run "windowed" on the 2 GIG box, especially if I try to watch "YOU TUBE" while I am playing the game. But other wise I don't see "memory issues" much.

[kaleun]

OK so it's a memory issue then. That's easy to fix. My laptop is getting old (5 years) but I'm waiting for Vista to go away before upgrading.
Thanks for your help.

[wdolson]

If you can get a copy of Windows XP to install, Toshiba makes the XP drivers for all their laptops available on the Toshbia Europe site.  I was able to get my new laptop running XP in a matter of a couple of hours after opening the box.

Bill

[geobaz]

ORIGINAL: jwilkerson

What else are you running?

How much memory do you have on your box?

I have 2 GIG on one box and 4 GIG on the other. I see this a fair amount when I run "windowed" on the 2 GIG box, especially if I try to watch "YOU TUBE" while I am playing the game. But other wise I don't see "memory issues" much.

I have 2 GB of memory and have virus and ad aware running. Possibly mozy backup if it is that time. So you think more memory would help this?

[TheTomDude]

I got 4 gigs and it happens from time to time. So ...no you don't need more memory. It won't fix it. To me (and others) the "loss of letters" usually happens when adjusting the ship repair.

[Nomad]

I run in windowed mode and I see this from time to time. I think it happens when I return the game to the desktop after having minimized it and used some other program. It is not a big thing, it just takes a minute or two to save, exit completely and restart the game.

[geobaz]

ORIGINAL: TheTomDude

I got 4 gigs and it happens from time to time. So ...no you don't need more memory. It won't fix it. To me (and others) the "loss of letters" usually happens when adjusting the ship repair.

You know, now that I think about it I think you're right. It is related to the ship screens. Interesting. Not a big deal, so guess I'll stop worrying about it. Restarting the game fixes it so there you go.