Deus Ex: Game of the Year Edition (Steam, 24 y.o. game), Direct3D graphics corrupt/unplayable, A770.

[laxesta]

I have installed the latest drivers and I recently got this game from the year 2000 on sale -1€- on Steam. Upon the first launch a menu appears letting you choose between several graphics APIs and even software rendering.

I chose Direct3D and this is how the game runs..., the image is totally corrupt. The game responds to keyboard inputs but you can't see a thing.

I recorded a 7 seconds video:

https://youtu.be/RjDSFFPZAoM

SSU file included.

[RamyerM_Intel]

Hello laxesta, 

Thank you for sharing this details. I will proceed in checking this information with our team and post an update on this thread once it is available. 

Ramyer M.

Intel Customer Support Technician 

[RamyerM_Intel]

Hello laxesta, 

We are still investigating this for you. However, we want to confirm some details as well. We just want to ask, were you able to try openGL? Kindly please try to check if this will work. Here's how to change it:

If you launch game first time - You will see video configuration window, press "Show all devices" and select OpenGl. Press "Next >" and you can start play.

If you want change current rendering device - Open ingame display setup and press "select rendering device" you will see window, just like when you launch game for the first time.

Let us know of the results. I will be waiting for your reply. 

Ramyer M.

Intel Customer Support Technician 

[laxesta]

hi @RamyerM_Intel 

I switched to OpenGL and the game works fine. At least at 640x480. I wanted to set the game to 1440x1050 or something like that and the resolution went a bit nuts (it made the menus unmanageable, thus the games was unplayable at that resolution), but the sound worked.

Then I reinstalled the game and played at 480p like at 700fps and everything worked fine.

I switched to 1280x720 and the game's screen worked so much better this time -compared to 1440x1050-, it looked small since my display has a native resolution of 2560x1440, but other than that it looked nice. Oddly enough this time the sound was gone -though it was working fine in Windows itself-.

Still, without sound, I played the training mission and it was okay. I pressed a key on the keyboard to enable/disable Windows sound, just to see if the sound was gone 'cos of me, the screen went black a few seconds -maybe the Windows volume overlay appearing-, and the game returned afterwards once the Windows' volume overlay -which wasn't visible- was gone. 

There were some shadow and texture glitches after that but the game was running okay.

The game's framerate was all over the place, like 700fps but very jerky, my monitor is VRR compatible 165Hz but man, even if the game was running internally at 700fps, I felt dizziness. Horrible stuff, but that's not a Windows nor Intel thing.

Anyways, Windows things, I connected my Xiaomi phone to the computer USB to recharge it and Windows opened a window in the desktop showing me the contents of the phone via Explorer. 

Unlike with the Windows sound enable/disable keyboard key, when Windows sent me to the desktop background, the game closed with an error message, something along the lines of "abnormal termination something".

I am sure this isn't Intel drivers related at all, but just wanted to point it out, it's a very old game. 

best regards

[RamyerM_Intel]

Hello laxesta, 

Thank you for providing us the results and a detailed description of the issue. Would you be able to send us a screenshot of the exact error message that you receive? Just to make sure, are there any pending windows update in your computer as well? The reason I ask is because from the description it seems to be related with the OS, however if you can provide a screenshot of the exact error message, we will be able to pinpoint it with more accuracy.  

Ramyer M.

Intel Customer Support Technician 

[laxesta]

hello @RamyerM_Intel 

While I tried several times, I couldn't reproduce the crash I experienced the other day, showing that message and also the window indicated it was related to C++.

I left and went back to the game continously from the desktop to the game and viceversa, and the game kept working fine. Additionally, I connected my phone to the computer via USB again, and a Windows Explorer windows appeared showing the phone contents and leaving the game automatically, but contrary to the other day I could return and keep playing.

[RamyerM_Intel]

Hello laxesta, 

I just want to confirm, is the game working fine now aside from instance of the windows explorer popping up when you have plugged your phone? If it is, would you want to keep monitoring the game for a few days just so we can be sure that the crashing issue no longer occurs? I will be waiting for your reply. 

Ramyer M. 

Intel Customer Support Technician 

[laxesta]

hello  @RamyerM_Intel 

The game is running perfectly fine, aside from the crazy framerate that can go up to 500+ fps and then it runs at 280fps, etc.

Like I said in the previous post, connecting the phone while playing brings you back to the Windows desktop, but the game is running in the background with no issues and you can return to it.

When that happened it might be due with all the tinkering and so on, that the game crushed, but right now as much as I try to break it, it is running as expected.

cheers

[RamyerM_Intel]

Hello laxesta, 

Thank you for sharing this with us. It does seem like everything is working fine now in your game. Since you mentioned that you reinstalled the game before the performance went smoothly, I am leaning towards a corrupted game file from the previous installation. To make sure everything is alright in your game , would you like to monitor your game for a few days and report back to us once a bug or issue appears? You may also let me know if you want us to close the case instead since there are no issues present at the moment. I will be waiting for your reply. 

Ramyer M. 

Intel Customer Support Technician 

[laxesta]

hello @RamyerM_Intel 

Been playing the game a little more these days. Tried to make it crash doing the things I was doing when I reported the issue here.

The game is perfectly stable now. Charging the phone and having Windows throwing you to the desktop -that's how the crash occurred- isn't an issue, 'cos the game is running fine when you return to it.

Running the game in OpenGL mode has its issues. I mean, Windows HDR completely breaks into pieces and everything looks so washed out in the desktop that it kinda makes you feel dizzy while looking at the screen (in game it's okay). The framerate is all over the place and can also make you feel dizzy. Then there is also issues with it when switching the resolution from 640x480 to other resolutions.

Pressing Alt + Enter can help in certain cases to fix the issues with the game window becoming too large for the screen. However, the mouse cursor can become duplicated and so on and so forth.

Ultimately, the game is running fine despite all of the other issues, and I can't crash it anymore, so we should the case imho.

My idea is to use a mod and play the game in DirectX 10/11 mode -from what I read in PC Gaming Wiki, you can-.

Best regards.

[RamyerM_Intel · Accepted solution]

Hello laxesta, 

I can see that other issues is still appearing in the game specially when you are running it into OpenGL. If you want we can continue investigating this for you to check for other possible fix. If you prefer to close the case instead, I will also understand and respect your decision. Let me know which one you prefer and we will accommodate your request. I will be waiting for your reply. 

Ramyer M. 

Intel Customer Support Technician 

[laxesta]

thanks for the reply @RamyerM_Intel 

I'd rather prefer to close the case. The game is running "flawlessly" now in OpenGL mode, but OpenGL has a lot of issues on modern computers and tbh I'd rather prefer to use Direct3D. It doesn't work with D3D on the A770 but there are mods to add DirectX 10 support iirc, so the game should run and look much better that way.

Best regards and keep up the good work.

[RamyerM_Intel]

Hello laxesta,

Thank you for confirming. We totally understand and respect your decision and as such, we will proceed in closing this case. Should you need assistance in the future, feel free to create a new post as this thread will no longer be monitored.

Ramyer M.
Intel Customer Support Technician