System Shock 2 vs Geforce 7600 GT

koffan

Hey all, I recently got a copy of System Shock 2 to play while I wait for Bioshock to go gold and was able to play it with a Radeon 9800 Pro. Unfortunately the card died so i replaced it with a Geforce 7600 GT (9.2.9.1 drivers).
Problem is that i now get an error message that says "Direct3d device driver does not accurately report texture memory usage". so i am unable to play
is there any software solution to my problem?

Tipstaff

Funny you should ask this as I just had the same issue pop up with a client of mine. It has to do with the card no properly telling the game or DX 'exactly' how much ram the card has.

In any case, here's something I found on the net that fixed the issue (I think it was on Nvidias own forums):

"Create a file called user.cfg (create a txt file called user.txt, input the stuff below, then rename it to user.cfg) in your System Shock 2 folder, or if the file is already present, open it (with a text editor such as notepad) for editing.

Anywhere in the file enter the text:

safe_texture_manager

on a line of it's own. Save the file and run System Shock 2, your problem should be solved. (I always put this line of text at the top, and spaced out whatever was under it.)"

After that my client could run the game with no problem. I've also tested this fix out with different series of cards, such as those above the 7600, and it works for them as well.

koffan

yes your correct, i received the solution from another forum and it solved the problem. nothing better than buying new cards to play old games eh

H3X4D3C1M4L

Cheers for that, it got SS working on my friends old computer. That one had me stumped for a while

riles9262

That's one awesome game.

Tipstaff

And only one more month to go until the next one is out. And man.. it better not suck!

RaveneR

how do i make it run in dual core PCs without it crashing every now and then? i've searched the net into it and 1 tip i have tried is to set the game's affinity to only 1 core, but still, it crashes...

Tipstaff

There's 2 easy ways to do this:

1) there is a way to hack the main SHOCK2.exe file so that it always ignores the second core. To do so, first backup your Shock2.exe, which is by default in you C:\games\Sshock2\ folder. Next, you will need to get a hold of a program called 'imagecfg.exe'. You will find this on the XP resource disc, or you can get it from THIS page. The idea is to use this program to set the affinity, permanently, of the System Shock 2 exe to use only 1 CPU whenever that exe get's launched... and only that exe. On that page I linked you will find instructions on how to use the tool, and again, a link to download it. The easiest way to do this is download the exe file, and put it in the root of your C drive. Then, open a run window (Start | Run or hit the Windows key + R), and type in:

imagecfg -a 0x1 C:\games\Sshock2\SHOCK2.exe

If that doesn't work try the other suggestions on the page.

2) The other way to do this is on Intel based systems you can go into the bios, and turn off the second core. Look in the bios for an option that says 'Multiplexing', most likely 'CPU Multiplexing', and set it to off/disabled. This will turn off the second core.. or rather keep the system from seeing it. This will, of course, effect every app you run, as now the whole system will be running off of one CPU. For AMD systems I remember seeing a patch that will disable the second core, and even Microsoft had a hotfix for this too, but I can't for the life of me remember what it was, or what the file was, so, maybe someone else will be able to help in this regards.