Gaming Rayman 2 Windows XP problem

[granville]

I've got an original CD for the PC version of Rayman 2 The Great Escape. This game came out in 1999 and has no need of an introduction. The problem is that I'm having trouble getting it to look correct. I'm using Windows XP. It installs and boots without a hitch, but when it gets to the title screen, all of the textures look completely messed up. They look unfinished (for lack of a better word). Most of the textures don't even look much like textures. They just seem like multicolored polygons with various light shading to them. The entire game besides the loading screens appear this way, even the menu text.

I have no idea what's wrong, but I'll post my specs just in case it's not an XP problem:

Dell Latitude C610 laptop
Pentium III @1ghz
256MB ram
ATI Radeon Mobile 16MB

This is the only game I've had any sort of trouble with. Even newer games such as the PC version of Rayman 3 work fine. And other old games that came out even before this worked fine too. And I COULD play Rayman 2 on Project64, but N64 emulators don't run too smoothly on my PC, and I like having the nicer graphics of the PC version. It does look correct on the emulator though (although I know that has nothing to do with the PC version).

The drivers I'm using are the official Dell ones. I tried the custom Omega drivers for ATI cards, which I'm sure I used to be able to use. Unfortunately now, they somehow disable the 3D accelerator functions of DirectX (dxdiag shows D3d acceleration as unavailable).

It's also worth mentioning that I got this game to work on the same PC before I upgraded to XP (I think I was using Windows 98SE)

I'll post a screenshot later if I can (and whatever else info I can give), but I've got to go vacuum up some water for a few minutes. Thanks in advance and I'll be back later.

 

[granville]

Sorry for bumping. I've got some images showing the problem:

Basically, it's like looking at the game with REALLY poor eyesight except only the textures are blurred.

 

[wilddenim]

Woah! That's just awful!

I've got Rayman 2 on my XP PC and it's all fine. I'm trying to understand why Rayman look fine but the letters aren't.

Have you updated your DirectX to 9.0c? I never had this problems so I dunno where to point. Have you updated your graphic card? All I can say is try to update everything. Or try and reinstall the game.

 

[granville]

Woah! That's just awful!

I've got Rayman 2 on my XP PC and it's all fine. I'm trying to understand why Rayman look fine but the letters aren't.

Have you updated your DirectX to 9.0c? I never had this problems so I dunno where to point. Have you updated your graphic card? All I can say is try to update everything. Or try and reinstall the game.

I'm using DirectX 9.0C, but I seriously doubt that matters as the game is nearly 10 years old and uses a very old version of DirectX. I can't upgrade my graphics card because I'm using a laptop. And I tried reinstalling several times, each time using a different installation configuration. There were 4 install modes:

Full install for DirectX 6 with MMX support
minimal install DirectX 6 with MMX support
Full install DirectX 6
minimal install DirectX 6

Not the exact wording, but that's the general effect. I also noticed something else when I go into the CD and run a utility called GXSetup. It opens a window that shows some resolution settings and GFX card info along with a list of what seems to be supported graphical effects:

I have a feeling some of those red checkboxes have something to do with my problem. You can't change them.

The unfortunate thing is I'm sure I got this working properly on the same computer a few years ago. I think I used a version of the Omega drivers for my Radeon, but I forgot which version it was and the latest version disables my ability to use 3D acceleration. Bummer.

I just noticed a Wikipedia article:

"Other XP users have had a strange problem with the graphics, Textures and related don't work, making it look like the 3D was only halfway done."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rayman_2#PC

It sounds like the problem I'm having, which I guess is common with XP. Wilddenim you may have a newer version than me. I got mine from a 2001 copy on a bargain shelf. It just came in a CD case with no box. It doesn't say it supports XP, but works with Windows 95 and 98. Is yours an original copy from 1999 or a newer one? They may have altered the code to work with XP. I might have to "acquire" another version to see if there are newer versions that will work.

 

[granville]

Sorry for bumping again. I just wanted to confirm that I got it working!

I had to install an old version of the Omega drivers due to my card being discontinued from the newer one's support. The version I used was v3.8.252. Sorry for being a bother.

 

[Trolly]

Well, I was about to pipe up with the fact that Ubi's early PC ports were awful, but it seems you got it working. Have fun playing it, has to be one of my favourite games out there (well, the PS2 remake anyway, Rayman Revolution).

 

[granville]

Well, I was about to pipe up with the fact that Ubi's early PC ports were awful, but it seems you got it working. Have fun playing it, has to be one of my favourite games out there (well, the PS2 remake anyway, Rayman Revolution).

I have to say that the PC version of Rayman 2 is great. There's nothing at all wrong with it. It's about on par with the Dreamcast version graphically, except it's missing the Globox village, minigames, and has the hub level selection from the N64 version. The Dreamcast, PC, and PS2 versions are all top versions. The PS2 one had some really cool extras though. I've always been suspicious that they may have made it to make up for the lackluster PS1 version (which was good on its own, but was missing a lot). I've heard the framerate can get a little choppy though. I've only played this one once at a friend's house.

And I was REALLY impressed by the N64 version. It may be graphically inferior to the 3 top ones, but it was INCREDIBLE for the N64. All the levels were identical to the Dreamcast version, and the framerate was silky smooth (I've found it smoother even than the PC version). It was actually the first version of the game to be released. I think it might actually be the system they developed it for. Other versions may have been better graphically and feature-wise, but the N64 version was probably the most impressive when you consider the system it was made on.

I even found a way to make it run fast on Project64 last night! I just had to enable an option in the RSP plugin and it's very fast now. There are just a few minor glitches in some of the lum colors and special sparkle effects.

The DS port on the other hand was garbage. I wish I could go back in time and force them to delay it until they got it right:

- laggy controls
- glitches
- terrible framerate
- jittery and blocky graphics

They should have strayed away from a strait port and done what they did for Mario 64 DS- redesigned it and retool it. Or at least give it to a better team to port it. They might even have seen fit to add in some of the extras from the PS2 version which would have been epic. After all the grime though, some of the original game still shines through, and it's decent at least. But the game is unfinished. And it doesn't help that THEY USED SCREENS FROM THE PC VERSION ON THE BOX TO TRICK YOU!!!

 

[Trolly]

Totally agree about the DS port. The bits I could remember from Rayman Revolution were great, but they just chopped it up and mutilated it in the end. It was moderately enjoyable, but felt wrecked because of the way they designed it.
And I only ever played Rayman Revolution, which I'm glad of. It seems I got the premium version there, and the Globox minigames were awesome

.

 

[granville]

If I ever get a decent PC, I'll have to try out the PS2 version on PCSX2. I've been watching videos of it on youtube. The explorable hub world is really cool! And they added in 3D objects where 2D flat sprites used to be (like shrubs, flowers, and mushrooms). And they made the levels much less desolate and empty looking.

N64 version

PS2 version:

That's just a small taster and doesn't really give the PS2 version justice.