Graphics blacking out

[aangyla]

<p>The terrain (along seam lines it looks like) and objects are blacking out.  As I move, hunks of the game just appear to lose all color and go black. In a few steps some come back and others go black.   This was not happening before the patch.   I have updated my vid card drivers, reset game to default settings, rebooted computer and game multiple times.  The only modification I am using is eq2map.</p><p>Edit: doesn't happen in Guild house, but so far, everywhere else I have traveled.</p>

[TSR-DanielH]

<p>If you're using Vista, please start the game by right clicking and selecting 'Run as Administrator'.  Then, initiate a full file scan from the launchpad so that the launcher can verify your texture files.  If you are using the station launcher then you will need to delete the 'cache' file out of your Everquest 2 directory in order to initiate the scan.  Please try that step and let me know if the issue persists.</p>

[krizani]

<p>I am also having the blackout issue - I am running Vista as well.</p><p>I always run as Administrator and I did the thorough file check from the launcher.</p><p>Should I delete my cache file and try that now?</p><p>Thanks!</p>

[aangyla]

<p>Issue persists.  I have sent my dxdiag and msinfo, etc, in on a ticket.  Thanks for the reply.  Hopefully it will get worked out soon.</p>

[Novafoxx]

<p>I too am having this issue. I got frustrated with the things I had tried in an attempt to fix the issue, so I went and logged back into EQ2 and started messing with the graphics settings to see if anything had an effect. Once I turned my Complex Shader Distance all the way down to -1, the issue stopped. Not sure if this is helpful, but thought I would post it just in case it helps anyone discover a more permanent fix.</p><p>Edit: I'm running Windows XP Home, so its not an issue with just Vista.</p>

[TSR-DanielH]

<p><cite>Novafoxx wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>I too am having this issue. I got frustrated with the things I had tried in an attempt to fix the issue, so I went and logged back into EQ2 and started messing with the graphics settings to see if anything had an effect. <strong>Once I turned my Complex Shader Distance all the way down to -1, the issue stopped.</strong> Not sure if this is helpful, but thought I would post it just in case it helps anyone discover a more permanent fix.</p><p>Edit: I'm running Windows XP Home, so its not an issue with just Vista.</p></blockquote><p>Thanks for posting this information.  It seems that this is a developing issue at the moment.  The person who sits next to me just took a call regarding the issue and I was able to see a screenshot showing it.  I'll post updates when I receive any new information.</p>

[Novafoxx]

<p>Could this issue be related to the new Shader Model 3.0 changes that are in the works?</p>

[TSR-DanielH]

<p><cite>Novafoxx wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Could this issue be related to the new Shader Model 3.0 changes that are in the works?</p></blockquote><p>I'm sorry, but I wouldn't know about that.  Imago-Quem is the expert for those matters I believe.</p>

[aangyla]

<p>Well, the support people on my ticket replied by saying they think my video card is overheating.  They suggested I run some test that may damage my card if it isn't damaged.  Now, I'm not the brightest crayon in the box when it comes to computers, but I'm not that stupid. </p><p>I will try what someone up a few posts suggested with the display options.</p>

[aangyla]

<p>Moving the shadow thing down worked for me, also.  Not sure if this is a real fix, but the game is playable now, so will work for the moment.</p><p>Thanks to everyone for the replies and input.</p>

[TSR-KenC]

<p>True enough, the issue will likely need to be held back by that temp fix until more information can be obtained. We'll certainly let you know as soon as we know more on it. </p>

[TSR-DanielH]

<p><cite>aangyla wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Well, the support people on my ticket replied by saying they think my video card is overheating.  They suggested I run some test that may damage my card if it isn't damaged.  Now, I'm not the brightest crayon in the box when it comes to computers, but I'm not that stupid. </p><p>I will try what someone up a few posts suggested with the display options.</p></blockquote><p>I assume the tech suggested something like 3dmark?  Unless your graphics card has a broken fan or a severe overclock, the risk wouldn't be any greater than playing Everquest 2 itself.  It's just easier to see what the error is with that program.</p><p>That said, I sent out an e-mail to the entire team earlier and everyone in the department knows how to workaround this issue for now.</p>

[aangyla]

<p>Much thanks for the expedient replies from players and TSR's alike.   I plan on making some upgrades on the vid card and power supply soon(even if that isn't the problem), but not until after my vacation to Key West, so crossing my fingers this will work until then.  heh</p>

[RogueSpideyChick]

<p>i'm having this same issue with the blacked out graphics. not in all zones, but it seems to be a repeat in the zones that i do get it in. i zoned back & forth to sands & got it every time, yet when i was in other zones, it was fine. sometimes it turns to white instead of black. i can play other games that are way more stressful on my vid card without an issue.  this only started today when i tried to turn up my graphics slightly (shadows are normally off completely for me).  i updated my video driver & as of a few hrs, it seems fine now.</p><p>i have xp pro.</p>

[TSR-KenC]

<p>The fix mentioned earlier by Novafoxx is the best temporary solution currently available - I'd suggest giving that a try until a more concrete solution can be found.</p>

[Novafoxx]

<p>Problem still persists, tried upgrading my drivers to the latest Nvidia release, but no luck.</p>

[Elorah]

<p><cite>Novafoxx wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Problem still persists, tried upgrading my drivers to the latest Nvidia release, but no luck.</p></blockquote><p>Did you by any chance clean out the old updates?</p>

[Novafoxx]

<p>Yes, completely wiped any trace of the older drivers from my system. Im fairly sure its not a problem on my end, as everything was fine until GU 53. Thats when the strange "black graphics" effect began, and nothing had changed within my system environment prior. Given that the problem seems to be temporarily fixed by moving the Complex Shader Distance down to -1, I suspect it has something to do with the shader model changes in the works. But, Im not a dev and have no idea what goes on on their side of things. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" /></p><p>Edit: Spelling</p>

[RogueSpideyChick]

<p>ive done the fix previously stated & updated my drivers & the problem came back after a day.</p>

[Sparxx]

<p>I too am experiencing this issue.  </p><p>A few details that might be relavent:</p><p>1.  Using Profit UI/EQ2Maps mods</p><p>2.  Video Card is nVidia GeForce 9500GS--didn't see any specifics in prior posts, but asking on my server, nobody else seemed to have the issue, wondering if its specific to certain cards.</p><p>3.  I tried the workaround mentioned above and so far, it appears to be working.  Also tried running in Balanced graphics preset, and it seemed to be ok.   Switching back to profit display settings caused the problem to come back.</p><p>4.  OS= Vista 64-bit</p><p>5.  I noticed that if i brought up my inventory window, the problem went away.  Also seemed to behave better when i had other players in front of me with their names visible.</p><p>6.  Started after GU53.</p><p>Hope some of these details prove relevant to getting the problem fixed.</p>

[Zakilm]

<p>I am also having this issue. A few days ago I was using a geforce 7900GS, today I purchased and installed a Radeon HD 4850 (1gb VRAM), and this blacking out and such is happening quite a bit more (I have the latest drivers and have wiped out all of the previous card's drivers). On top of that, about every 15 minutes, I notice that I get very intense lag, I would say almost 1 frame for every 5 or 6 seconds. I notice that during these lag sessions if I am able to ctl+Shift+esc it will fix the lag upon entering windowed mode, the problem is I don't want to play in windowed mode and I still seem to have an issue... I attempted to take a screenshot to post up or send along with a ticket, but when I did it gave me a BSOD relating to a file named atikvmag.dll.</p><p>I'm running Windows XP 32-bit SP3, with the above card, 4gigs of ram (or 3.3gigs, whatever XP recognizes). I've run a few stress tests on the card, my max temperature seems to be about 68C, so I don't believe it's over-heating. I have also tried the fix above, it seemed to help a little bit... extending the time inbetween these huge lag sessions, but was not a viable fix for this machine.</p><p>Any and all help is appreciated!</p><p>edit: I am not using any special UIs, only add-on I am using is EQ2maps</p><p>edit #2: pertaining to the lag portion of my issue, I also seem to experience the same lagging in TF2, which is an unrelated game, but makes me think that there's maybe a setting within catalyst or something that I'm missing, all the AA stuff is set to "Use Application Settings". I'm coming to my wit's end =(</p>

[Novafoxx]

<p>Still having this problem, along with the memory leak issues. Any ideas on whats causing the black graphics yet? Just curious <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[TSR-DanielH]

<p>Is this issue still appearing after the hotfix this morning?  I don't see the problem mentioned in the patch notes and I wasn't experiencing it on my machine, so I am not sure.</p>

[Novafoxx]

<p>The issue is still present for me after the hotfix. <img src="/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[Pikard]

<p>The hotfix did not mention ANY video fix. and true to form.. the problem wasnt solved. after updating my driver and downloading the new hotfix it's exactly the same as before.</p><p>This is obviously an issue with the GU53. why are we not getting a fix in a timely manner and why is TSRdaniels surprised that the hotfix didnt work?</p><p>Don't the departments inside SOE talk to each other?</p><p>When is this going to be fixed? i'm tired of having low end graphics! this is a seemingly widespread problem since the CU department is overloaded.</p><p>Get a fix SoE. stop playing around.</p><p>Greg</p>

[Pikard]

<p>Deleted dup post</p>

[Ramious]

<p>I am also having this issue, and like the work around posted, it seems to work when complex shaders are set to -1.  But having shadows back would be nice...</p>

[Sparxx]

<p>Any update on this issue yet?   I read in another post that the latest nVidia driver release fixed this for one user, but I have  updated to the latest nVidia release and still experience the problem.  I still have to turn complex shaders down to -1.  This is a workaround, not a fix.  I can assure you I won't play like this forever.  </p><p>I haven't read anything that says anyone is looking into this problem?  I want to make sure that those of us that are still experiencing this issue aren't forgotten.</p>

[Novafoxx]

<p>I'd also like to say that I have tried the latest Nvidia release drivers, and no luck, issue still persists. I hope you guys can find a more permanent fix soon, becasue as mentioned above, the -1 trick is a workaround, not a permanent solution. Having to play with the complex shader set to -1 greatly diminishes my enjoyment of the game, as Norrath is a beautiful place, and this workaround makes everything....well ugly.</p>

[RobF]

<p>I had this problem too - large parts of the terrain blacking out. I tried updating drivers etc but nothing worked. Finally, through sheer trial and error I found that making sure 'Bloom' was enabled fixed it for me. Sounds weird I know but it worked.</p><p>Hope this works for you <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[TSR-DanielH]

<p><cite>RobF wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>I had this problem too - large parts of the terrain blacking out. I tried updating drivers etc but nothing worked. Finally, through sheer trial and error I found that making sure 'Bloom' was enabled fixed it for me. Sounds weird I know but it worked.</p><p>Hope this works for you <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" /></p></blockquote><p>You might want to try using the 186.xx series drivers if you are currently using an Nvidia card.  You should be able to download those through the following website:</p><p><a href="http://www.nvidia.com/Download/Find.aspx?lang=en-us" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.nvidia.com/Download/Find...aspx?lang=en-us</a></p>

[RobF]

<p>Ahh will try that - thanks for the suggestion <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" /></p>

[Kosh]

<p>I've have this problem as well and I'm using 186 drivers. I do the reduce complexdshaders to -1 workaround.</p><p>Is there anything being done to fix this? Or at least to advise what's going on?</p>