Problem running Fallout 1 High Res Patch

R

RobSharp

First time out of the vault
Hi there,

I have Fallout 1 form GoodOldGames, which I understand is version 1.2

I am running Win XP SP2

I've applied the patch as downloaded from this site (TeamX patch I think)but whenever I try running the game with it applied I get a popup box saying "Error initializing video mode 640 x 480" . Thats regardless of what I set in the f1_res.ini

I tried downloading the vcredist.exe package from Microsoft, but running that didn't seem to do very much. The game behaves no different.

If I /also/ install the sfall mod I can play the game at a nice high resolution, but the game screen has a black flicker every few seconds which is /very/ distracting. This happens even in the menu screens.

Can anyone help me enjoy Fallout at a nice high resolution? I'm mainly interested in seeing more of the game map at once.

Rob
 
RobSharp said:
I've applied the patch as downloaded from this site (TeamX patch I think)but whenever I try running the game with it applied I get a popup box saying "Error initializing video mode 640 x 480" . Thats regardless of what I set in the f1_res.ini

I tried downloading the vcredist.exe package from Microsoft, but running that didn't seem to do very much. The game behaves no different.

If I /also/ install the sfall mod I can play the game at a nice high resolution, but the game screen has a black flicker every few seconds which is /very/ distracting. This happens even in the menu screens.Rob
Click to expand...

Just to confirm when you set the resolution in the f1_res.ini do you also set AUTO_SCRN_SIZE to 0. As by default the patch will set the game to your current desktop res.
Try some common resolutions 800x600, 1024x768 etc. and see if they work.
When using the hi-res patch with sfall in fallout 1, you need to have Mode set to 0 in the Graphics section of the ddraw.ini.
 
I'll double check the settings in the file for resolution.

I /believe/ I have tried using the Auto Resolution (set at 1280-1024 according to my desktop) and also manually setting a resolution.

It all works fine with the sfall patch installed (again, I'm 99% sure I had the graphics option set to '0'), albeit with the annoying (and, as it turned out, unplayable) black screen flicker.

I'm running on a Radeon X1950 graphics card in case it makes a difference

Rob
 
try changing the colour to 8 bit instead of 16 bit, had the same problem and that solved it, although i have a problem with the game running very slow when using highres patch :/

(i also have the GOG.com version, my disk version wouldnt run. also im running vista x64)
 
PM me with the details if you get it working Rob. Sorry I can't be of further help as I don't suffer any of these issues myself.
 
Hi mash

I am experiencing the same screen flickering problem that rob is. Here is my install/path list and rig:

Windows XP pro sp3
3.1 Ghz 2GB RAM
Nvidia 7900 GTS
Fallout retail disk
- TeamX 1.2 Patch
- Sfall
- HiRes Patch


Here's a more detailed list of events as the patches were applied.

No Patches
- Blackout occurs
- No screen flickers

TeamX 1.2 Update
- Blackout occurs
- No screen flickers

HiRes Patch
- Blackout NO LONGER occurs
- Screen Flicker REMAINS

Sfall
- Blackout NO LONGER occurs
- Screen Flicker REMAINS

My settings in the f1_res.ini are as follows:
AUTO_SCRN_SIZE = 1
COLOUR_BITS = 16

All the rest are set as default. I Have to leave the colour bits at 16 otherwise the Blackout problem reappears.

DDRAW.ini settings:
Mode=0

All remaining are default. If i change the modes I start receiving startup errors such as Rob listed in his first post.



I have done several searches on the screen flicker issue and I seem to not be able to find anything related to it. Most everything talks about the blackout issue but not screen flicker. Just to make sure you understand what I mean about screen flicker, just imagine your screen flickering to black for a split second then back to normal ever couple seconds. One thing I've noticed is that the rate of flickering seems to reduce dramatically during combat and sometimes disappears alltogether during combat. But will once again return when combat is over.

Any suggestions?! Thanks in advance
 
Ok, I think I have t working.

This is /just/ with the high-res patch installed, not sfall.

I renamed ddraw.dll to any other name and also renamed the falloutw.exe to fallout. This was suggested on the GOG site., and set the following:-

# if AUTO_SCRN_SIZE = 0 - Screen Width and Height are set with SCR_WIDTH & SCR_HEIGHT.
# if AUTO_SCRN_SIZE = 1 - Screen Width and Height are set to current desktop resolution.
AUTO_SCRN_SIZE = 1

#Set the screen resolution here
SCR_WIDTH = 800
SCR_HEIGHT = 600


#Set the number of colours here
# 8 for 8bit(original)
# 16 for 16bit colour(loading screens don't show in this mode)
COLOUR_BITS = 8

changing to 8 bit colour seems to do it for me.

Rob

*edit* I dis get one instance of a completely black screen. I had to move the mouse around and map around to repaint it all. I can put up with that if the flicker s gone.
 
Just a thought:
The flickering maybe due to another program running in the background. You could try turning things off in the system tray and see if it has any effect.
 
AWESOME - Well playing with systray programs fixes it. I should have thought of that a long time ago lol. Whats the saying....Usually the most obvious answer is the correct one.
:clap: :clap:
 
Thank you!

Did you rename falloutw.exe before or after installing the hi-res patch?

Also, as this affects graphics, can I assume it won't break saved games?

Thanks!

~Nix

Edit: I got it to load properly thanks to adjusting the resolution (even though I kept the AUTO_SCRN_SIZE = 1) I don't see any change in screen resolution. Playing with AUTO_SCRN_SIZE = 0 and different resolutions, and changing colors to 8 bit and back, seems to make no difference. What might be going wrong?
 
Nixie Pixel said:
Thank you!

Did you rename falloutw.exe before or after installing the hi-res patch?
Click to expand...
Is your exe named something else?

Nixie Pixel said:
Also, as this affects graphics, can I assume it won't break saved games?
Click to expand...
Your saves won't be effected.

Nixie Pixel said:
I got it to load properly thanks to adjusting the resolution (even though I kept the AUTO_SCRN_SIZE = 1) I don't see any change in screen resolution. Playing with AUTO_SCRN_SIZE = 0 and different resolutions, and changing colors to 8 bit and back, seems to make no difference. What might be going wrong?
Click to expand...
Did you run "f1_res_patcher.exe"?
You probably won't notice an immediate difference between 16 and 8 bit. 16 bit seems to helps with the fallout blackout problem as well as overcomes a bug with the movie background not refreshing.
 
My .exe is named falloutw.exe - the person above said he changed the name...

I did run the patcher, but I reinstalled after having issues so I may not have run the patcher again. I'll try that.

I updated to the latest 1.3.x version from TeamX, your readme says it is compatible with 1.2. Could this be a problem?

Thanks!

~Nix
 
Nixie Pixel said:
My .exe is named falloutw.exe - the person above said he changed the name...
Click to expand...
Sorry must of missed that. Don't know why you would need to change the name to fallout.exe. The f1_res_patcher looks for "falloutw.exe" and the res patch won't be installed if it's called something else.

Nixie Pixel said:
I did run the patcher, but I reinstalled after having issues so I may not have run the patcher again. I'll try that.

I updated to the latest 1.3.x version from TeamX, your readme says it is compatible with 1.2. Could this be a problem?
Click to expand...
TeamX's 1.3.x patch only patches the data. So if you ran the f1_res_patcher between installing 1.2 and 1.3.x you should be fine.
You can check if it's installed by running f1_res_patcher.exe again. If you receive the message "Patch is already installed! Do you wish to UNINSTALL the Patch?" then it should be set up correctly. Hit cancel to this message though or the res patch will be disabled.
If the patch is working correctly, the Main-Menu screen will be surrounded by a black border as it won't scale to fit the screen at the moment and in game the Interface Bar will be smaller than the screen width.
If it's still not working could you post your system specs including Monitor type, desktop resolution and your windows version.
 
I've been having some trouble with the Hi Res patch too, although it installed just fine (and works wonderfully), I'm having trouble with the Radscorpion Cave. The game won't let my travel further than the screen that you start with, and it won't scroll. Clearly the rest of the cave exists, as I've lured out 2 or 3 radscorps from off screen, but it won't show the full area.
 
Lord Zeon said:
I've been having some trouble with the Hi Res patch too, although it installed just fine (and works wonderfully), I'm having trouble with the Radscorpion Cave. The game won't let my travel further than the screen that you start with, and it won't scroll. Clearly the rest of the cave exists, as I've lured out 2 or 3 radscorps from off screen, but it won't show the full area.
Click to expand...

I'm also having this problem. It won't let me scroll past the initial screen.
 
I have tried to play Fallout many times over the years, and the inability to see items (such as the shotgun) even when using a walk-thru telling me exactly where they were, and the general graphics, plus being a bit impatient with the turn-based combat, kept me from enjoying or finishing it.

With Fallout 3 I have a new motivation to play through the first two games, so I'm starting again, this time using the highlighted versions of items provided by another patch, and this hi-res patch -- after some experimenting, I believe this will make a huge difference!

What I've noticed so far, as a Vista user:

- I also got the video mode error; switching to 8 bit fixed it.

- The game scrolls slowly and my character moves slowly in this mode...but being able to see so much more of the map and having to spend less time inching across the map makes it worth it.

- I'm also seeing the problem in the Radscorpion caves; however, setting the AUTO_SCRN_SIZE = 0 will let you deal with that.
 
I'll try to get a new version of my fallout1 patch out sometime in the next week. Which should have a fix for the Rad-Scorpion cave problem at least.
For the moment you could try scrolling at a diagonal. For the Rad-Scorp. map move the mouse into the upper right hand corner.
 
Ah, found a suggestion the GOG pages that completely fixed the slowness problem:

I removed the ddraw.dll file from the Fallout directory and wala, it runs perfectly fast now, with no annoying delays for the cursor or drawing in general.

For the first time in all the years I've tried to get into this game, it plays normally and with the highlighted items and the hi-res patch, it's a completely new world. (Do make sure to turn on "always run" in the preferences to get the most out of speed improvements...)
 
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