Strange Graphics Problem

[davesta]

GTA IV for PC arrived for me today, and after going through the most tedious and frustrating installation process I have ever experienced, it was finally time to play the game. Unfortunately it would seem that with my system I am only able to play on the very lowest settings, but this does not explain my problem.

The first time I played the game, it played fine, but the map, all of the menus, and certain objects weren't being rendered. This meant that I could not change any settings, change the radio station, see the in-game tips etc. I decided to ctrl+alt+del out of the game (as I couldn't quit from the menu) and have my dinner. When I got back to my PC and tried to play again, the map and menus showed up. Great, I thought. Except for one thing. Nothing beyond about a centimetre in front of Niko was being rendered and all I could see was blank screen with a few objects in the distance. it was like this wherever I went. After a couple of minutes of wondering what was wrong, I alt-tabbed out of the game to search for similar problems. When I went back to the game, it was the same as before - working fine but with no maps or menus.

Anyone have any idea what is wrong?

Also, it seems that video memory is the most important thing when buying a graphics card. In this case, would it be a good idea to buy a 1GB 9500GT (I had a 512MB 8500GT before, it was crap) just for the memory? Or would I be better off going for an ATI 3850 512MB? Or an 8600?

My current system:

Windows Vista 32 SP1

AMD X2 6000+ 3.1GHz

NVIDIA 7900GT

2GB RAM (another 1GB should be arriving tomorrow)

Thanks.

Edited December 6, 2008 by Davesta

[Mehhh]

GTA IV for PC arrived for me today, and after going through the most tedious and frustrating installation process I have ever experienced, it was finally time to play the game. Unfortunately it would seem that with my system I am only able to play on the very lowest settings, but this does not explain my problem.

The first time I played the game, it played fine, but the map, all of the menus, and certain objects weren't being rendered. This meant that I could not change any settings, change the radio station, see the in-game tips etc. I decided to ctrl+alt+del out of the game (as I couldn't quit from the menu) and have my dinner. When I got back to my PC and tried to play again, the map and menus showed up. Great, I thought. Except for one thing. Nothing beyond about a centimetre in front of Niko was being rendered and all I could see was blank screen with a few objects in the distance. it was like this wherever I went. After a couple of minutes of wondering what was wrong, I alt-tabbed out of the game to search for similar problems. When I went back to the game, it was the same as before - working fine but with no maps or menus.

Anyone have any idea what is wrong?

Also, it seems that video memory is the most important thing when buying a graphics card. In this case, would it be a good idea to buy a 1GB 9500GT (I had a 512MB 8500GT before, it was crap) just for the memory? Or would I be better off going for an ATI 3850 512MB? Or an 8600?

My current system:

Windows Vista 32 SP1

AMD X2 6000+ 3.1GHz

NVIDIA 7900GT

2GB RAM (another 1GB should be arriving tomorrow)

Thanks.

Hi Davesta,

Lots of us seem to be havin probs, I've been havin em since I got the game 4 days ago ..

Did you see somethin like this

http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/6201/gtashagainmt1.jpg

or a lil variation ?

Mine was real bad...

Well, RS has an article(s) on their site about first, 7900 cards

http://www.rockstargames.com/support/req_s...p;submit=Submit

scroll down to see the 7900 series articles...

My card is a 9600 512MB and to keep the story short, you seen above, probs I was havin as an article in RS support said maybe it was a graphics tuner doing it, I restored to a date predating the tuner and still got the image above... but I got a RGSCLauncher stopped working error, I created a RGSCLauncher.exe shortcut (not GTALauncher - it dint work for this) and "-windowed" the target and RGSCL actually ran so I got in game a few mins ago, got the above image you seen ...

I tabbed out to paste that screen, came back in and stuff began to reappear, so I decided to increase my settings to

My resolution is 1440x900, 60Hz

View distance 37

Detail distance 99

Vehicle detail 99

Shadow 5

Vid mem used 468MB

And got this

http://img389.imageshack.us/img389/9762/gtahuh1gv4.jpg

Hope you can get it workt out!

[davesta]

Thanks for your help. I downloaded the new NVIDIA drivers, which apparently solve the issues with the 7900 cards, but now when I open Rockstar Social Club and click Play Game, I get the following error: 'SecuLauncher: failed to start application. [2000]'

I'm guessing that this has something to do with Securom, but I can't find anything about this error...

[Mehhh]

Thanks for your help. I downloaded the new NVIDIA drivers, which apparently solve the issues with the 7900 cards, but now when I open Rockstar Social Club and click Play Game, I get the following error: 'SecuLauncher: failed to start application. [2000]'

I'm guessing that this has something to do with Securom, but I can't find anything about this error...

Yw, do you have any like anti-SecuRom apps on your pc ? It seems some software like performance enhancers etc can have a negative affect, if you use dvd copy software, this could be causing a conflict w/ the security feature(s) of the game..

I know I've come across articles relating to SR errors, they related well some to crax, others activation, have you tried emailing their tech support about the securom issue ? There is a link on that page I gave you, about securom errors, basically is about activation, which inturn provides a link to support..

I jus did a quick search, heres a list

http://www.google.com/search?q=SecuLaunche...t+application.+[2000]+GTA+IV&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

Dunno if these will help but you can search through them ..

[davesta]

Thanks for your help. I downloaded the new NVIDIA drivers, which apparently solve the issues with the 7900 cards, but now when I open Rockstar Social Club and click Play Game, I get the following error: 'SecuLauncher: failed to start application. [2000]'

I'm guessing that this has something to do with Securom, but I can't find anything about this error...

Yw, do you have any like anti-SecuRom apps on your pc ? It seems some software like performance enhancers etc can have a negative affect, if you use dvd copy software, this could be causing a conflict w/ the security feature(s) of the game..

I know I've come across articles relating to SR errors, they related well some to crax, others activation, have you tried emailing their tech support about the securom issue ? There is a link on that page I gave you, about securom errors, basically is about activation, which inturn provides a link to support..

I jus did a quick search, heres a list

http://www.google.com/search?q=SecuLaunche...t+application.+[2000]+GTA+IV&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

Dunno if these will help but you can search through them ..

I looked through all of the links on the search you posted (even the foriegn ones, which I translated), I searched all of the GTA forums I know, but nothing. I've sent an email to Securom, and I'm waiting for a reply.

I don't think it's any software on my PC causing it, as I had the game running yesterday.

[Mehhh]

Thanks for your help. I downloaded the new NVIDIA drivers, which apparently solve the issues with the 7900 cards, but now when I open Rockstar Social Club and click Play Game, I get the following error: 'SecuLauncher: failed to start application. [2000]'

I'm guessing that this has something to do with Securom, but I can't find anything about this error...

Yw, do you have any like anti-SecuRom apps on your pc ? It seems some software like performance enhancers etc can have a negative affect, if you use dvd copy software, this could be causing a conflict w/ the security feature(s) of the game..

I know I've come across articles relating to SR errors, they related well some to crax, others activation, have you tried emailing their tech support about the securom issue ? There is a link on that page I gave you, about securom errors, basically is about activation, which inturn provides a link to support..

I jus did a quick search, heres a list

http://www.google.com/search?q=SecuLaunche...t+application.+[2000]+GTA+IV&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

Dunno if these will help but you can search through them ..

I looked through all of the links on the search you posted (even the foriegn ones, which I translated), I searched all of the GTA forums I know, but nothing. I've sent an email to Securom, and I'm waiting for a reply.

I don't think it's any software on my PC causing it, as I had the game running yesterday.

Well, kinda makes you wonder, if you had it running yesterday, what have you done different since then ? Apparently you installed the graphics drivers, you said that fixt the issues with those, so I'm assuming you're saying that once you uninstalled the old drivers, installed new ones, you could get in the game and you could see that the graphics issues you had were fixt by the new drivers ?

Then you apparently quit playing at some point, tried to load up again and it now gives you the securom error ?

Have you also checked to make sure your disc is clean, & that hopefully nothing else has access to the media drive that your game disc is in ? When it comes to that security stuff, its really fuzzy, jus seems like if you have an error w/ a security measure, then something is attempting to compromise that measure .. I don know, I dint design the game or its security.. I jus hate stuff like this, I want to help, brainstorm but can't figure it out, rrrrr ...

Well, hopefully if you find a fix, you'll post back so someone w/ the same prob can fix it ..

[davesta]

Thanks for your help. I downloaded the new NVIDIA drivers, which apparently solve the issues with the 7900 cards, but now when I open Rockstar Social Club and click Play Game, I get the following error: 'SecuLauncher: failed to start application. [2000]'

I'm guessing that this has something to do with Securom, but I can't find anything about this error...

Yw, do you have any like anti-SecuRom apps on your pc ? It seems some software like performance enhancers etc can have a negative affect, if you use dvd copy software, this could be causing a conflict w/ the security feature(s) of the game..

I know I've come across articles relating to SR errors, they related well some to crax, others activation, have you tried emailing their tech support about the securom issue ? There is a link on that page I gave you, about securom errors, basically is about activation, which inturn provides a link to support..

I jus did a quick search, heres a list

http://www.google.com/search?q=SecuLaunche...t+application.+[2000]+GTA+IV&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

Dunno if these will help but you can search through them ..

I looked through all of the links on the search you posted (even the foriegn ones, which I translated), I searched all of the GTA forums I know, but nothing. I've sent an email to Securom, and I'm waiting for a reply.

I don't think it's any software on my PC causing it, as I had the game running yesterday.

Well, kinda makes you wonder, if you had it running yesterday, what have you done different since then ? Apparently you installed the graphics drivers, you said that fixt the issues with those, so I'm assuming you're saying that once you uninstalled the old drivers, installed new ones, you could get in the game and you could see that the graphics issues you had were fixt by the new drivers ?

Then you apparently quit playing at some point, tried to load up again and it now gives you the securom error ?

Have you also checked to make sure your disc is clean, & that hopefully nothing else has access to the media drive that your game disc is in ? When it comes to that security stuff, its really fuzzy, jus seems like if you have an error w/ a security measure, then something is attempting to compromise that measure .. I don know, I dint design the game or its security.. I jus hate stuff like this, I want to help, brainstorm but can't figure it out, rrrrr ...

Well, hopefully if you find a fix, you'll post back so someone w/ the same prob can fix it ..

No, I don't know if the graphics problem was fixed. The error occurred after I installed the drivers. I think I'll try reinstalling the drivers and installing the old drivers etc. and I'll let you know if it helped.

Thanks.

[Mehhh]

Ok, yea, I'd try a couple things, proly first thing I'd do would be to uninstall new drivers & reinstall like you're doin. I'd remove all occurrence of them from the pc, sometimes you cant get rid of em w/ out a special utilities it seems, sometimes the manufacturer, like if you dld from Nvid or Ati, they MAY have something like a "clean uninstall" "complete driver removal tool" to totally clean out all reference to them so you can start fresh, sometimes this tool is recommended for removal of old drivers infact, b4 installing new ones. In my case, I dint have a tool, I used the uninstall in windows, seemt to suffice..

The thing that bugged me was, windows would automatically start trying to install the driver after reboot, usually it prompts you to finish installing it tho. I just exit out of that and manually install the new driver, the reason is, because apparently its trying to install a driver already on your system, either an old one or remnants of a newer one not removed from your system. Other thing they recommend, I remember did for mine, disable antivirus b4 running the new driver installation, they said this allows the driver to register properly .. Obviously I scan the driver file b4 disabling AV.. I also normally dis/cnct from the net, thats jus me being overly cautious...

So, you might try gettin the new one out/reinstall, if same prob, maybe put an older one in to see IF the new drivers were indeed the problem. You have to check the driver version if you're not sure if its a new or old one, you can check the one "installed" in a few ways, one is, simply running DX diagnostics, in your Vista "Start search" box down there, typing "DxDiag.exe", click on display tab, shows driver version. To make the determination, I think you look at the latter portion, like my driver update was 180.48 and in the version it shows 75.......1.8048 ->180.48 ? so I THINK thats how its read, its weird but .. I guess its how it worx.. I'm not sure about that "newer one" on that site link 180.84 I dont guess thats a typo ? It is a beta I believe..

I really hope you can get things workt out Davesta, did you see where Rockstar had an interview w/ IGN about everything ? Its in a thread Chris made ...

[davesta]

Ok, yea, I'd try a couple things, proly first thing I'd do would be to uninstall new drivers & reinstall like you're doin. I'd remove all occurrence of them from the pc, sometimes you cant get rid of em w/ out a special utilities it seems, sometimes the manufacturer, like if you dld from Nvid or Ati, they MAY have something like a "clean uninstall" "complete driver removal tool" to totally clean out all reference to them so you can start fresh, sometimes this tool is recommended for removal of old drivers infact, b4 installing new ones. In my case, I dint have a tool, I used the uninstall in windows, seemt to suffice..

The thing that bugged me was, windows would automatically start trying to install the driver after reboot, usually it prompts you to finish installing it tho. I just exit out of that and manually install the new driver, the reason is, because apparently its trying to install a driver already on your system, either an old one or remnants of a newer one not removed from your system. Other thing they recommend, I remember did for mine, disable antivirus b4 running the new driver installation, they said this allows the driver to register properly .. Obviously I scan the driver file b4 disabling AV.. I also normally dis/cnct from the net, thats jus me being overly cautious...

So, you might try gettin the new one out/reinstall, if same prob, maybe put an older one in to see IF the new drivers were indeed the problem. You have to check the driver version if you're not sure if its a new or old one, you can check the one "installed" in a few ways, one is, simply running DX diagnostics, in your Vista "Start search" box down there, typing "DxDiag.exe", click on display tab, shows driver version. To make the determination, I think you look at the latter portion, like my driver update was 180.48 and in the version it shows 75.......1.8048 ->180.48 ? so I THINK thats how its read, its weird but .. I guess its how it worx.. I'm not sure about that "newer one" on that site link 180.84 I dont guess thats a typo ? It is a beta I believe..

I really hope you can get things workt out Davesta, did you see where Rockstar had an interview w/ IGN about everything ? Its in a thread Chris made ...

Thanks a lot for your help. Before I reinstalled the drivers, I decided to do a clean reinstall of GTA IV, just to make sure it wasn't the game itself that had in some way been corrupted. It was something that I didn't want to do, but thankfully it worked! I can now play GTA IV with no graphics problems (other than those caused by my crappy graphics card).

If anyone else has this problem, it may well require you to reinstall GTA IV after you install the beta drivers. I really hope nobody else has to go through the agony of having a £25 coaster in their DVD drive.

[Mehhh]

WOOHOO, Congrats!! I know what you mean, even after all my tweaking (hunting down software that I may be missing as in updates like framework etc) my pc is still experiencing textures that disappear after a lil play time... I still havent forced myself to buy more mem yet ...

I lowered settings to almost nothing, it actually does look a lil more like console version then, but loox abit crappy, but the FRate is up, & atleast stuff doesnt take 8 seconds or more, like walls, fences & stuff to show infront of me while I'm running and all sudden WHAM...

Well, I even dlded those new beta drivers, 180.84 NO CHANGE ... Someone remind me nex time I decide to buy a game like this, to be sure I have $50,000 to spare for a damn "gaming machine", lolol ... W/ things as they are, I may as well be using this near $1000 machine, for well, just addition & subtraction , lol ...

Anyways, I had a new problem occur ... Eventho I understand & sympathize w/ RS cuz it is hard to do what they're tryin to do .. it still pisses ya off, I guess they're gettin a taste of how MS has felt w/ the 30,000 patches they've had to release over all their OS's through the years for security vulnerabilities, incompatabilities etc ...

I got a post on it now but I got wasted in an explosion and I was locked out of vehicles, couldnt get in any, it suckt cuz the first vehicle I come upon was a bank truck ... O well, hmm I dint save atleast, lol ...

[davesta]

WOOHOO, Congrats!! I know what you mean, even after all my tweaking (hunting down software that I may be missing as in updates like framework etc) my pc is still experiencing textures that disappear after a lil play time... I still havent forced myself to buy more mem yet ...

I lowered settings to almost nothing, it actually does look a lil more like console version then, but loox abit crappy, but the FRate is up, & atleast stuff doesnt take 8 seconds or more, like walls, fences & stuff to show infront of me while I'm running and all sudden WHAM...

Well, I even dlded those new beta drivers, 180.84 NO CHANGE ... Someone remind me nex time I decide to buy a game like this, to be sure I have $50,000 to spare for a damn "gaming machine", lolol ... W/ things as they are, I may as well be using this near $1000 machine, for well, just addition & subtraction , lol ...

Anyways, I had a new problem occur ... Eventho I understand & sympathize w/ RS cuz it is hard to do what they're tryin to do .. it still pisses ya off, I guess they're gettin a taste of how MS has felt w/ the 30,000 patches they've had to release over all their OS's through the years for security vulnerabilities, incompatabilities etc ...

I got a post on it now but I got wasted in an explosion and I was locked out of vehicles, couldnt get in any, it suckt cuz the first vehicle I come upon was a bank truck ... O well, hmm I dint save atleast, lol ...

Yeah, the pop in is quite bad. I actually managed to get the game running fairly decently at 1024x760, which doesn't really look too bad (despite the fact that I am playing on a 20" monitor). Some major slowdowns when I get chased by police or the weather is foggy though. Can't wait for the new memory to come.

I guess I must be fairly lucky for the 180.84 drivers to have worked for me.

Good luck getting the game to run smoothly on your PC - hopefully R* will have done some optimization when they release the patch.

[Mehhh]

Cool, yea I have a 19" LCD, big diff over the ancient 15" CRT I started out w/ years ago .. My other pc has a 17" CRT, I noticed the differences, truer black but its jus not as clear & vibrant as LCD.. I wanted to find a good deal on a HD, ATSC ready LCD tv.. Proly find a good one closer we draw to Christmas .. I plan to give my lil Nephew my near flat screen CRT for his gaming.., his is like proly a 19" old tv that is really bad color/text .. Mine is 26", couple yrs old ..

Anyways, glad everything workt for ya! I made a new post but, have you found the sub-mission control ? Nvrmind, like a doof, I forgot it was the L1 button in cop cars ....

Edited December 7, 2008 by Mehhh