Why can't my computer handle WW?

[Finnius]

i have the same problem..specs are as follows:

Time of this report: 12/11/2006, 11:15:13
Machine name: DESKTOP
Operating System: Windows Vista™ Ultimate (6.0, Build 6000) (6000.vista_rtm.061101-2205)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: INTELR
System Model: AWRDACPI
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.20GHz (2 CPUs), ~3.2GHz
Memory: 1022MB RAM
Page File: 584MB used, 1717MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 10
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 6.00.6000.16386 32bit Unicode

------------
DxDiag Notes
------------
Display Tab 1: No problems found.
Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
Input Tab: No problems found.

--------------------
DirectX Debug Levels
--------------------
Direct3D: 0/4 (retail)
DirectDraw: 0/4 (retail)
DirectInput: 0/5 (retail)
DirectMusic: 0/5 (retail)
DirectPlay: 0/9 (retail)
DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
DirectShow: 0/6 (retail)

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
Card name: RADEON 9600 Series (Microsoft Corporation - WDDM)
Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.
Chip type:
DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_4152&SUBSYS_00021002&REV_00
Display Memory: 255 MB
Dedicated Memory: 127 MB
Shared Memory: 127 MB
Current Mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: Generic Non-PnP Monitor
Driver Name: atiumdag.dll,atiumdva.dll,atitmmxx.dll
Driver Version: 7.14.0010.0443 (English)
DDI Version: 9Ex
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 11/2/2006 04:46:02, 2413568 bytes

don't know if you really need any more info than that..but i get the same stutter as reported above...it's pretty bad, makes the game very un=fun to play...and i really would like to enjoy this game...

any help would be appreciated...

thank you in advance

Finnius

[Fingers]

The Radeon 9600 should be good enough as such, in fact the machine I used when programming the game had one of those cards.

Are you playing the game in a window or fullscreen? Are you using Vista's 3D accelerated interface? I don't have any first hand experience with Vista but I know it's pretty demanding on the video card. When running in a window it'll have to render both the OS and the game using the 3D card, and the 9600 may not be up to the task.

You could also try launching the game with the -verbose command line option and see what it reports about your video driver.

[Finnius]

tried in both full and windowed...window was a bit better
tried running in compatability mode (xp, win200) no change

also went and shut down almost all processes except those needed to keep computer going, (had like 3% cpu usage), loaded WW then had a full 54% cpu usage..still no change

you would think that, although my machine isnt the biggest and baddest thing out this week..it should hold its own (until the new Win64 games start showing up in a few months..lol)

i can run tiger woods 07, and marvel ultimate alliance, but cant seem to get this little 33Meg to run properly..lol...i just realized, WW takes up more cpu % then its actual size !

ah well...guess i will have to get a new card or wait a bit to see what happens when Vista gets officially released and you guys test it on that OS...

[Fingers]

If this is the demo or any version prior to 1.2 then the 50% CPU usage on a dual processor system is normal. The game simply uses up as much CPU as the operating system will allow, like most games do...

I strongly suspect that you're either somehow running the game with Microsoft's OpenGL implementation instead of the correct ATI driver, or the 3D accelerated user interface in Vista is using up your GPU power (if you're using that). Your hardware itself is slightly higher-spec than what the game was developed on so that's not the problem.

Personally, I'm not going to get a Vista system any time soon. Maybe after a couple of service packs it'll become usable.

[Fingers]

I've done a bit of research on the subject and as it turns out ATI basically hasn't released fully functional drivers for Vista yet. Among other things OpenGL is not supported at all by the current (beta) version of ATI Catalyst Vista, and Microsoft's own OpenGL implementation doesn't work as advertised (it doesn't use 3D acceleration at all). Some if not all NVidia cards are similarly affected. Ironically, integrated graphics chips from Intel apparently have fully working drivers already.

I would not recommend getting a Vista machine at this point if you're interested in gaming. Besides most independent games, OpenGL is necessary to run games based on Quake3 or Doom3 engines and many others; typically, whenever a game is released on both PC and Mac it uses OpenGL because the standard exists on both platforms.