Odd question about slow graphics

[Chazar]

I 'upgraded' to a new ATI graphics card as well and could not play Dom2 anymore! I had to wait for a couple of month until ATI provided a newer driver, which supported Hardware-OpenGL and now it runs fast...

Although, I am referring to running on Linux above, I tried it on Windows once, too. The results are the same: The native Windows does a bad job, but the drivers that you can download from ATI's website worked well enough for me.

Otherwise, quite a while ago on this board, someone recommended the "Omega"-drivers. They worked with my old ATI card well enough, but for my new one the drivers from ATI's website were good enough as I said. Try google on "ATI Omega Drivers"...

[Saxon]

Thanks for the pointer, I had not had much luck with searches for "third party drivers." Over the weekend I took to using the w key, which turns off the back ground. It runs a lot faster, but is pretty bland.

Also, it did not stop my lab from being overrun and losing all my research... I seem to have forgotten a lot about playing this game.

[Makinus]

What are the command line switches for best performance? I want to dump all graphic details possible for a better strategic game...

[Gandalf Parker]

A list of all available command line switches in Dominions II, ver 2.09
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

-v --version Print version number and exit
-d Increase debug level
-g --host Generate new turn and exit
--verify Verify all 2h-files and exit (creates .chk files)
--statfile Create a player info file after each turn (stats.txt)
--scoredump Create a score file after each turn (scores.html)
--finalhost Generate new turn, send out final score msg and exit

******* Network Options *******
-C --tcpclient Connect to a Dominions multiplayer server
-S --tcpserver Start a Dominions multiplayer server
--ipadr XXX Use this IP-adr when connecting to server
--port X Use this port nbr
--preexec CMD Execute this command before each turn generation
--postexec CMD Execute this command after each turn generation
-t --hosttime X Y Host on day X (0=sunday) hour Y (0-23)
--minutes X Set host interval in minutes
-h --hours X Set host interval in hours
--pauseday X Stop timer on this day (0=sunday)
-q --quickhost Host as soon as all turns are done
-n --nonationsel No nation selection when resuming a network game
--noclientstart Clients cannot start the game during Choose Participants
--uploadtime X Nbr of minutes before game is created. (default off)
--closed X Nation is closed X=nation number (0-16)
--easyai X Nation is ai controlled X=nation number (0-16)
--normai X Nation is ai controlled X=nation number (0-16)
--hardai X Nation is ai controlled X=nation number (0-16)
--impai X Nation is ai controlled X=nation number (0-16)

******* New Game Options *******
--mapfile XXX Filename of map. E.g. eye.map
--research X Research difficulty 0-3 (default 1)
--hofsize X Size of Hall of Fame 5-15 (default 10)
--indepstr X Strength of Independents 0-9 (default 3)
--magicsites X Magic site frequency 0-75 (default 40)
--eventrarity X Random event rarity 1-2, 1=common 2=rare
--totalvp X Vic. points available in the world 0-25
--capitalvp One extra victory per capital
--requiredvp X Vic. points required for victory (default total/2)
--richness X World richness 1-3 (default 2)
--masterpass XX Master password. E.g. masterblaster
--startprov X Number of starting provinces (1-9)
--renaming Enable commander renaming

******* Video Options *******
-w --window Run Dominions II in a window
-u --fullscreen Use the entire screen
--bitplanes X Try to use a color depth of X bits per pixel
-T --textonly Use this with --tcpserver to get graphicless server
--gamma X Set gamma function (brightness) 0.1 - 5.0 (default=1.0)
--opacity X Set gui opacity 0 - 100
-r --res X Y Set screen resolution / window size (default=800 600)
--animback Use animated backgrounds
-a --noanimback Don't use animated backgrounds
--fade Use fade effects
-f --nofade No fade effects
--nopopups No helpful popups
--fps X Maximum nbr of frames per second (default=50)
--filtering X Quality of OpenGL filtering 0-3 (default=2)
-x --fastgrx Faster graphics (use 3 times for best performance (-xxx))
-p --perftest Run a performance test and exit

******* Audio Options *******
-s --nosound No sound effects
-m --nomusic No music
--musicvol X Set music volume, 0-100
--clickvol X Set mouse click volume, 0-100
--arts Route sound through aRts (default) (Linux only)
-o --oss Use direct oss sound output (best quality) (Linux Only)
--defsound Use default sound device (Windows only)
--directsound Use direct sound (Windows only)
--waveout Use waveout for sound (Windows only)