Hi!
I recently tried running Magic & Mayhem again, and noticed it had periodic freezes, this didn't happen before so I am not sure whether it's from a windows 10 update or something else. So I decided to try and run it with dxwnd. The good thing is that it works just fine in windowed mode - no freezes (though I need to use hybrid mode since for some reason I ocasionally get surface was not locked when using primary surface). The freezes still persist in fullscreen mode. I am not sure what the reason is for the freezes, but I can make a log if you want to take a look since I am not sure what's happening, I am only assuming that when it freezes the fps should drop to 0.
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I'd start replicating the problem here, if possible. If I remember correctly, the game has several versions - would you mind telling if it's a CD version, patched, GOG, RIP or whatever?
A hint: if the game works just fine in windowed mode, why don't you use fake-fullscreen modes? The aspect is equal (or better) than fullscreen, but technically it is windowed, so it should go plainly all right.
Well, I'll start having a look at this, stay tuned for news.
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It's a french cd version of the game. But I tried other versions too and the problem persists. In the end I tested some other old games and for some reason they lag too (newer games do not), I can only assume it has something to do with the GPU drivers update windows 10 did, since they didn't use to lag before. I am not sure whether you'll be able to replicate the issue since on my other pc the game works just fine (and it's the same version and the same windows too). I can't make fake-fullscreen work correctly in 2.03.81, and in the newest version fake fullscreen works ok, but the timing category is not available (I want to run the game at ~2 speed that's why I need it). Also something to note - the mouse polling slow works in the older version, but freezes the game in the newest version of dxwnd (it's not fatal since I don't need it, but I am not sure whether it's supposed to work like that). Also, when running in fake fullscreen small graphics artifacts are visible under the mouse (nothing fatal though) as opposed to running the game in fullscreen. And I cannot run the new dxwnd after I've run the old one for some reason, I get this error code: 0xc0000142.
EDIT: It's definitely the drivers - GPU gets 100% usage spikes suddenly on games from 20 years ago...
Last edit: criver 2017-06-29
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... and in the newest version ... the timing category is not available
I hope you didn't get confused by the new interface: put a checkmark on "Options->Expert mode" and you'll have back all you had and even more
... GPU gets 100% usage spikes ...
Just in case, you may try setting the DirectX(2) / VSync options and check if the situation changes in better. Many old games were so aware of the limits of the CPU that didn't even try to optimize or rule the video accesses, and sometimes when brought to a powerful CPU with non-VSynced video cards they squeeze the impossible from them.
Last edit: gho 2017-06-29
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Oh thanks a lot, didn't know about the expert mode. It was actually the GPU drivers - I checked and I had lag spikes on a lot of old games(kohan 2, aim). In case anybody has the same issue - it seems windows 10 does install driver updates without asking, they can be disabled from the policies menu, the drivers can be cleaned wtih ddu, and older drivers usually do wonders - for me 15.12 works fine (I am using a r9 290) - no more lag spikes on older games.
Last edit: criver 2017-06-29
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Happy to hear you fixed your problem. I did some testing and discovered that anyway the game default settings bring the CPU very high (I got 30% on my 3-core CPU, that means 1 core was 100%) and setting VSync options or timing FPS limit greatly reduced the percentage.
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Also tested the vsync and fps limit, the fps limit needed to be higher than the refresh frequency for me, so that the mouse would not skip too much. Game works great even in fullscreen with the old drivers, no freezing or anything anymore. dxwnd is still a great help though, since I can run the game at 1.5 or 2 - it's a lot better to play with.
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Hi!
I recently tried running Magic & Mayhem again, and noticed it had periodic freezes, this didn't happen before so I am not sure whether it's from a windows 10 update or something else. So I decided to try and run it with dxwnd. The good thing is that it works just fine in windowed mode - no freezes (though I need to use hybrid mode since for some reason I ocasionally get surface was not locked when using primary surface). The freezes still persist in fullscreen mode. I am not sure what the reason is for the freezes, but I can make a log if you want to take a look since I am not sure what's happening, I am only assuming that when it freezes the fps should drop to 0.
I'd start replicating the problem here, if possible. If I remember correctly, the game has several versions - would you mind telling if it's a CD version, patched, GOG, RIP or whatever?
A hint: if the game works just fine in windowed mode, why don't you use fake-fullscreen modes? The aspect is equal (or better) than fullscreen, but technically it is windowed, so it should go plainly all right.
Well, I'll start having a look at this, stay tuned for news.
It's a french cd version of the game. But I tried other versions too and the problem persists. In the end I tested some other old games and for some reason they lag too (newer games do not), I can only assume it has something to do with the GPU drivers update windows 10 did, since they didn't use to lag before. I am not sure whether you'll be able to replicate the issue since on my other pc the game works just fine (and it's the same version and the same windows too). I can't make fake-fullscreen work correctly in 2.03.81, and in the newest version fake fullscreen works ok, but the timing category is not available (I want to run the game at ~2 speed that's why I need it). Also something to note - the mouse polling slow works in the older version, but freezes the game in the newest version of dxwnd (it's not fatal since I don't need it, but I am not sure whether it's supposed to work like that). Also, when running in fake fullscreen small graphics artifacts are visible under the mouse (nothing fatal though) as opposed to running the game in fullscreen. And I cannot run the new dxwnd after I've run the old one for some reason, I get this error code: 0xc0000142.
EDIT: It's definitely the drivers - GPU gets 100% usage spikes suddenly on games from 20 years ago...
Last edit: criver 2017-06-29
two quick notes
I hope you didn't get confused by the new interface: put a checkmark on "Options->Expert mode" and you'll have back all you had and even more
Just in case, you may try setting the DirectX(2) / VSync options and check if the situation changes in better. Many old games were so aware of the limits of the CPU that didn't even try to optimize or rule the video accesses, and sometimes when brought to a powerful CPU with non-VSynced video cards they squeeze the impossible from them.
Last edit: gho 2017-06-29
Oh thanks a lot, didn't know about the expert mode. It was actually the GPU drivers - I checked and I had lag spikes on a lot of old games(kohan 2, aim). In case anybody has the same issue - it seems windows 10 does install driver updates without asking, they can be disabled from the policies menu, the drivers can be cleaned wtih ddu, and older drivers usually do wonders - for me 15.12 works fine (I am using a r9 290) - no more lag spikes on older games.
Last edit: criver 2017-06-29
Happy to hear you fixed your problem. I did some testing and discovered that anyway the game default settings bring the CPU very high (I got 30% on my 3-core CPU, that means 1 core was 100%) and setting VSync options or timing FPS limit greatly reduced the percentage.
Also tested the vsync and fps limit, the fps limit needed to be higher than the refresh frequency for me, so that the mouse would not skip too much. Game works great even in fullscreen with the old drivers, no freezing or anything anymore. dxwnd is still a great help though, since I can run the game at 1.5 or 2 - it's a lot better to play with.