Glitch in ToMI

edited September 2009 in Game Support
I downloaded the 1st Chapter in Tales of Monkey Island, and it seemed to work ok until I picked up the Voodoo Ingredient list which just comes up as a big black spot on the screen. And then when I go to the inventory, it's all black, but I can tell something is there because when I run the cursor over it, the X turns green. Is there any way to fix this?

Comments

  • DjNDBDjNDB Moderator
    edited July 2009
    You are not the first one. Probably your graphics card does not meet the games requirements.

    Below is what you can do to give us more information.

    Start dxdiag:
    Windows XP: Go to your start menu and click on run. Type in "dxdiag" and hit enter
    Windows Vista: Press the windows key on your keyboard or click on the start menu. Type in "dxdiag" and hit enter.

    Now click on the button that says "save all information".
    It will prompt you to save a file. Save it where you can find it.


    Now you have two options to make it accessible for us. Pick the one that works best for you:
    1. If you know how, you can zip the file and attach it to a message.
    2. You can upload it to Rapidshare and copy the link to the file into a new message.
  • edited July 2009
    ok, thanks.
  • DjNDBDjNDB Moderator
    edited July 2009
    ok, thanks.

    It is as i feared. Your Graphics card only supports DirectX 7 and therefore does not fulfill ToMI's minimum requirements. It needs to support DirectX 8.1.

    Your cheapest option to get it running on your computer is buying a new graphics card.
  • DjNDBDjNDB Moderator
    edited July 2009
    I so can not resist:
    Description: SB Live! Wave Device
    Driver Name: emu10k1m.sys
    Driver Version: 5.12.0001.3300 (English)
    Date and Size: 8/17/2001 02:19:26, 283904 bytes

    That's the second oldest driver I've ever seen.
  • edited September 2009
    I'm seeing the same "black inventory" issue with The Launch of the Screaming Narwhal. My card is indeed a bit old (GeForce4 Ti 4800 SE), though it supports Directx 8.1:

    http://www.gpureview.com/geforce4-ti4800se-card-139.html

    I've attached the output of dxdiag. Can you figure out my issue, will I have to upgrade my hardware?
  • DjNDBDjNDB Moderator
    edited September 2009
    Bubble wrote: »
    I'm seeing the same "black inventory" issue with The Launch of the Screaming Narwhal. My card is indeed a bit old (GeForce4 Ti 4800 SE), though it supports Directx 8.1:

    http://www.gpureview.com/geforce4-ti4800se-card-139.html

    I've attached the output of dxdiag. Can you figure out my issue, will I have to upgrade my hardware?

    I fear it's one of those cards that don't work properly although they should support DirectX 8.1. You can see more examples here.

    What kind of graphics card slot do you have?
  • edited September 2009
    What do you mean what kind of slot? Like PCI or AGP?
    I think it's AGP, how could I check it?
  • DjNDBDjNDB Moderator
    edited September 2009
    Bubble wrote: »
    What do you mean what kind of slot? Like PCI or AGP?
    I think it's AGP, how could I check it?

    Yes, PCI or AGP. Also there are different AGP Versions.

    Your Mainboard Manual would be the best source of information.
  • DjNDBDjNDB Moderator
    edited September 2009
    Bubble wrote: »
    What do you mean what kind of slot? Like PCI or AGP?
    I think it's AGP, how could I check it?

    In case you don't know the manufacturer and model we can try to identify your Mainboard this way:

    Identifying your mainboard:

    Download and install the latest version of cpu-z.
    Start it and open the mainboard tab like this:
    b488c_1248592576.png

    Write a message containing
    Motherboard
    Manufacturer:
    Model:
    Chipset:
    BIOS
    Brand:
    Version:
    Date:
  • edited September 2009
    Motherboard
    Manufacturer: (CPU-Z left this empty, but I'm pretty sure it's Soyo)
    Model: VT8367-8233A
    Chipset: VIA KT266/333 Rev. 00
    Southbridge: VIA VT8233A
    LPCIO: ITE IT8705

    BIOS
    Brand: Phoenix Technologies, LTD
    Version: 6.00 PG
    Date: 01/24/2003

    Also, under Graphic Interface:
    Version: AGP version 3.0
    Transfer rate: 4x
    Max supported: 4x
    Site Band: enabled
  • DjNDBDjNDB Moderator
    edited September 2009
    Bubble wrote: »
    Also, under Graphic Interface:
    Version: AGP version 3.0
    Transfer rate: 4x
    Max supported: 4x
    Site Band: enabled

    Thank you.
    Sadly I don't know how reliable that information is. The only safe way would be to get someone to look at your hardware and pick a suitable graphics card.
    I don't feel comfortable with giving you advice on something that might break your system.

    It is however likely that a modern AGP 8x card will work. In some cases you will need to have a 6 pin power connector for it too.
  • edited September 2009
    I'll probably replace the entire computer, it's 7 years old already.
    But I'm curious: how come an adventure game requires so much graphics power? Does using advanced DirectX stuff significantly reduce the cost of development? Does it create incredible FX that would be too hard to do otherwise?
  • DjNDBDjNDB Moderator
    edited September 2009
    Bubble wrote: »
    I'll probably replace the entire computer, it's 7 years old already.
    But I'm curious: how come an adventure game requires so much graphics power? Does using advanced DirectX stuff significantly reduce the cost of development? Does it create incredible FX that would be too hard to do otherwise?

    That's the another option.

    It doesn't require much graphics power. If it is turned down to quality 1 even poor cards can handle it. There are always exceptions such as some low cost and integrated graphics solutions.

    Higher graphics levels allow better looking graphics for those with more powerful graphics cards.

    I don't know much about DirectX developing but I think DirectX 8 brings desirable programming features. Look at DirectX 8 in the Direct3D History.
    Direct3D was not considered to be user friendly, but as of DirectX version 8.1, many usability problems were resolved. Direct3D 8 contained many powerful 3D graphics features, such as vertex shaders, pixel shaders, fog, bump mapping and texture mapping.

    A programming API that is easier to use is a very good reason, besides the nice new features, from a developers point of view.
    Further DirectX 8.1 is ~7 years old itself. I think that's a good compromise between supporting old hardware and development requirements.
  • edited September 2009
    DjNDB wrote: »
    That's the another option.

    It doesn't require much graphics power. If it is turned down to quality 1 even poor cards can handle it. There are always exceptions such as some low cost and integrated graphics solutions.

    Higher graphics levels allow better looking graphics for those with more powerful graphics cards.

    I don't know much about DirectX developing but I think DirectX 8 brings desirable programming features. Look at DirectX 8 in the Direct3D History.



    A programming API that is easier to use is a very good reason, besides the nice new features, from a developers point of view.
    Further DirectX 8.1 is ~7 years old itself. I think that's a good compromise between supporting old hardware and development requirements.

    You're right, that's not much graphics power... I must remember we're past the VGA era :)
  • WillWill Telltale Alumni
    edited September 2009
    And really when the original monkey island came out, if you had tried to play it on a computer that was seven years old at the time, it probably wouldn't have worked either! I actually just replaced my 7 year old computer too though, so I totally feel your pain.
This discussion has been closed.