in-game display settings reset to lowest possible? [RESOLVED]

[VelcroBP]

Hey folks!

Newb to these forums, and here's my problem...

Recently installed Fable: The Lost Chapters. I set the display options to 1024x768x32 and bump up all the other settings..
Then, when I begin the game, during the loading screen (with the game tip screen) the settings all reset to 640x480 with everything turned all the way down. I try to change video settings via the in-game menu, but the resolution places most of the display off-screen and inaccessible....

I only recently installed my card (Radeon X800XT PE), and all the desktop dual-display stuff works fine.. Also, Hitman Contracts is up and running perfectly.....

Any input is welcome! I've tried searching blindly about Google, with no luck... but now I've found you here and this forum, and this looks like a great place to find real answers!

Thanks in advance for your time!


Here's my specs:
Windows XP Home SP2
MSI K7N2 Delta
AMD Athlon XP2600 running @ 1.9gigs
1GB Corsair PC3200
ATI Radeon X800XT PE by PowerColor
-dual-display handled by UltraMon

[koala]

Hi, welcome to TSF

This sounds like a driver problem, either graphics or chipset. Which graphics driver are you using? Did you uninstall the old driver when you installed the new card? Have you tried the Omega drivers instead of the default Catalyst?

Have you installed the AMD software from the motherboard CD, and the motherboard chipset drivers?

Try 1024x768x32 (or x16) and leave the game settings at default or low to see if the resolution stays at 1024x768.

Try running the game with the secondary monitor disabled and UltraMon turned off.

If your CPU is overclocked, set it back to default.

Run the DirectX tests in Start > Run > dxdiag

[VelcroBP]

Thanks for the immediate response!
All your suggestions are new, so I'll run through them and see what comes...

I did not uninstall the old card's drivers. Will they be in the Add/Remove Programs menu?
I've installed Catalyst, but not run it yet.. haven't heard of Omega, so I will read up on that as well...

Thanks again! It's so great to finally find a knowledge base that is actually functional!

[koala]

To install graphics drivers correctly and to avoid conflicts, remove any ATI or Catalyst entries from Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs, then reboot into VGA mode (tap F8 at startup), disable antivirus and any other programs running in the background, install the new driver and reboot.

Omega is an optimized version of the Catalyst drivers, specifically for gamers. You should get higher framerates in your games.

The chipset drivers can be found on the motherboard CD and are necessary to allow the graphics card to function properly.

[VelcroBP]

Ok, Removed all ATI and Nvidia from the ADD/Remover menu, and installed the Omega drivers and utilities in VGA mode, then restarted.
Same thing happens, game runs fine through intro and menus, but when loading the game file everything resets to minimum,,
(exept now i have what appears to be a FPS readout in the top-right corner, assuming this is one of the Omega utilities?)

I do not have the CD that came with my motherboard anymore (or simply can't locate it). It is an MSI K7N2 Delta-L Mainboard, and there are several drivers to choose from on the MSI site. None seem to be video... But the video seems to work fine in all other respects except this one game, so can a conflict with the motherboard drivers still be a problem?

[koala]

Have you tried the other suggestions, like 16bit colour, low game settings, UltraMon off, etc?

The fps counter is part of ATI Trays, the icon in the system tray, and can be turned off.

Did this game run properly before you upgraded the graphics card?


http://support.microsoft.com/kb/905587

Known issues
For some monitors, certain resolutions could lead to display problems

Fable: The Lost Chapters provides support for a variety of resolution settings based on what your video card supports. However, the monitor that you are using may not support all these resolutions. Any display problems that you experience when you play the game may occur because of your display configuration. Your display configuration includes the video card, the monitor, the drivers, and so on. We recommend that you try various resolutions in-game so that you can revert to another setting if the monitor does not support the chosen resolution. See the documentation for the monitor that you are using or visit the monitor manufacturer's Web site for information about the native resolutions of the monitor.

[VelcroBP]

My monitor's native res is 1280x1024, so set the game to match and it runs fine!! Thanks for the help solving this so quickly!!

A side note, if I run the "shadow detail" turned up, I experience blue streaking artifacts flickering in and out occasionally... I'm really ignorant of video card performance and in-game video settings, and how the two relate, so I think I'll just play with that turned down for now...

[koala]

Glad it's fixed and running well. When changing in-game settings, it's best to set them all to default or low, then increase them one at a time until you start to notice lag or artifacts. Finding the best combination of settings for your system can take time but is worth it if you like your games to look their best.

[VelcroBP]

yeah, I took the reverse approach; started with everything maxxed, then backed down one at a time until the artifacts went away.

So glad that I found this forum! I also am an amateur web designer, so I'll be sure to check here for answers to my many HTML/CSS/JavaScript questions!

[koala]

Feel free to answer any web design questions you think you can help with. We're always looking for keen new members to get involved.