Posted February 19, 2010
high rated
Interstate `76 is a fantastic game. We all know this, and we all know the number 1 rule: Never get out of the car!
Unfortunately, some of us can't even get INTO the car to begin with. There have been multiple posts relating to many problems, all of which have several potential workarounds. Here's a thread that's dedicated to compiling all of the workarounds floating about into a single megathread.
It might not solve your problem, but hopefully it'll at least help out.
(EDIT: Apologies to you all in advance for the wonky formatting. I'm not a frequent poster here at GOG, and my normal bag of tricks seems to be failing me.)
Generic Suggestion: Try adding -glide or -d3d to the end of your shortcuts if you're having troubles. For some folks, this is all that it takes. See Joq's post here to see what I mean!
Problem: I know this game is set in the 70s, but the graphics look like I just dropped acid!</span>
Possible workarounds: There's probably an issue going on with later versions of Windows and 8-bit color modes in I'76. Several workaround exist for this one:
1 - Kill Explorer before playing, as suggested by HampsterStyle.
Problem: Taurus is driving very slowly, and his wheels are wobbly.
Possible workarounds: Before the GOG release of I`76, it was known that the AI in the game is somehow extremely sensitive to the framerate at which the game runs. If your framerate is too high, everything comes apart and the game is basically unplayable. Some workarounds are possible based on your render:
Software Rendering: Using a CPU throttling program might help here. It might not, unfortunately, as mixed reports are coming it.
Glide / D3D: Go to your video card control panel, and force VSync on your video card - either specifically to i76.exe or globally. This will cap your framerate at your monitor refresh rate, and hopefully let Taurus drive as his bad self again.
Using CPU Grabber to use a portion of your CPU so that I`76 can't will help limit the framerate, but be aware that you need to ensure you're using the same core that I`76 is to make this work. It also may produce jerky or choppy gameplay during times when you need more processor overhead. Additionally, be aware that you're pushing your CPU very hard by doing this, because you're essentially forcing a single core to run 100% all the time when you play. You may need to experiment to find out how much processing power to 'Grab' in order to find the appropriate level for gameplay.
Running FRAPS and recording a video at 30 FPS will level off the framerate and keep the game running correctly, but it is a bit processor intensive, and you'll fill up your disk with unwanted video by doing this.
A truly satisfying 30 FPS limiting solution is yet to be uncovered, but from various reports, once it's located it will solve the wheel-wobble problem!
Problem: The game crashes with an error 'Failed to Initialize 3D hardware acceleration'.
Possible workarounds: Some speculation exists about this being related to ATi Radeon cards. Rolling back drivers might be a temporary solution, as proposed by ZamFear.
Update: ZamFear found the offending dll file! The fix proposed is to drop an older version of this file into your I`76 directory. That way you don't have to roll back system-wide drivers. A copy of the driver was graciously uploaded by Manfromx. Though the file came from a 64-bit installer, chances are it's a redundant file that works for both 32 and 64 bit OS installations.
Because I`76 ran best with Glide (a now defunct driver set for the old 3DFx cards), a Glide wrapper (emulator that lets modern video cards run glide) is required for optimal performance. Unfortunately, not all wrappers work with all cards on all systems, so the GOG included OpenGLide might be sub-par for your system. Trying a different Glide wrapper might be best. DosFreak had some good suggestions here.
Update: DosFreak was kind enough to provide even more information about the Glide wrappers just a bit further down in the thread! Check it out!
Software mode might still be possible under these conditions, but will likely be buggy and look nasty. Framelimiting isn't as straightforward on the software renderer.
Problem: Things don't look as nice as I want!
Possible solution: Check out HampsterStyle's thread with tips here. Also, depending on the wrapper you're using, you might be able to modify settings directly in the wrapper itself.
Remaining issues with no current workaround:
1 - As ZaphodAVA points out, the Mortars and Flamethrowers in the game were heavily linked to the 25-30 FPS limit at which the game typically ran. Even with VSync locked to ~60 FPS these weapons don't appear to function correctly, and CPU throttling to the level required to get them to work seems to have an adverse effect on overall gameplay. The ongoing thread on this issue can be found here.
That's it for now. Hope this helps, though undoubtedly not all problems will be solved by these solutions.
Unfortunately, some of us can't even get INTO the car to begin with. There have been multiple posts relating to many problems, all of which have several potential workarounds. Here's a thread that's dedicated to compiling all of the workarounds floating about into a single megathread.
It might not solve your problem, but hopefully it'll at least help out.
(EDIT: Apologies to you all in advance for the wonky formatting. I'm not a frequent poster here at GOG, and my normal bag of tricks seems to be failing me.)
Generic Suggestion: Try adding -glide or -d3d to the end of your shortcuts if you're having troubles. For some folks, this is all that it takes. See Joq's post here to see what I mean!
Problem: I know this game is set in the 70s, but the graphics look like I just dropped acid!</span>
Possible workarounds: There's probably an issue going on with later versions of Windows and 8-bit color modes in I'76. Several workaround exist for this one:
1 - Kill Explorer before playing, as suggested by HampsterStyle.
Whenever you see colors like that and you're on vista/win7 - make a batch file that kills the GUI (explorer.exe) before launching the game and then restarts it after exiting game.
example:
taskkill /f /IM explorer.exe
start /w <game exe here without carrots>
pause
start explorer.exe
2 - Right click on your Desktop and open the Display Properties window (the pane with the resolution settings on it). Keep it open while you play the game. Some strange alchemy at work seems to let things operate smoothly. A batch file was suggested by ekj7 here. example:
taskkill /f /IM explorer.exe
start /w <game exe here without carrots>
pause
start explorer.exe
To make this easier, you can make a batch file out of this so that the display properties window opens before launching the game, althoughI don't know how to have it automatically close when you're done.
DESK.CPL
START /W I76.EXE
3 - Some people have had luck avoiding the 'Kill Explorer' and 'Desktop Properties' workarounds by using the following compatibility fix suggested by WitchDoctorAD in this thread. DESK.CPL
START /W I76.EXE
Here's what worked for me and isn't at the extreme level of killing your desktop :)
Windows 7 64 bit:
set compatibilityon the shortcut to win 95 with all the compatibility tab options checked except "Disable display scaling on high DPI settings"
In game I had everything cranked in graphics settings except it was on 640x480
Hope this helps.
Windows 7 64 bit:
set compatibilityon the shortcut to win 95 with all the compatibility tab options checked except "Disable display scaling on high DPI settings"
In game I had everything cranked in graphics settings except it was on 640x480
Hope this helps.
Problem: Taurus is driving very slowly, and his wheels are wobbly.
Possible workarounds: Before the GOG release of I`76, it was known that the AI in the game is somehow extremely sensitive to the framerate at which the game runs. If your framerate is too high, everything comes apart and the game is basically unplayable. Some workarounds are possible based on your render:
Software Rendering: Using a CPU throttling program might help here. It might not, unfortunately, as mixed reports are coming it.
Glide / D3D: Go to your video card control panel, and force VSync on your video card - either specifically to i76.exe or globally. This will cap your framerate at your monitor refresh rate, and hopefully let Taurus drive as his bad self again.
Using CPU Grabber to use a portion of your CPU so that I`76 can't will help limit the framerate, but be aware that you need to ensure you're using the same core that I`76 is to make this work. It also may produce jerky or choppy gameplay during times when you need more processor overhead. Additionally, be aware that you're pushing your CPU very hard by doing this, because you're essentially forcing a single core to run 100% all the time when you play. You may need to experiment to find out how much processing power to 'Grab' in order to find the appropriate level for gameplay.
Running FRAPS and recording a video at 30 FPS will level off the framerate and keep the game running correctly, but it is a bit processor intensive, and you'll fill up your disk with unwanted video by doing this.
A truly satisfying 30 FPS limiting solution is yet to be uncovered, but from various reports, once it's located it will solve the wheel-wobble problem!
Problem: The game crashes with an error 'Failed to Initialize 3D hardware acceleration'.
Possible workarounds: Some speculation exists about this being related to ATi Radeon cards. Rolling back drivers might be a temporary solution, as proposed by ZamFear.
Update: ZamFear found the offending dll file! The fix proposed is to drop an older version of this file into your I`76 directory. That way you don't have to roll back system-wide drivers. A copy of the driver was graciously uploaded by Manfromx. Though the file came from a 64-bit installer, chances are it's a redundant file that works for both 32 and 64 bit OS installations.
Because I`76 ran best with Glide (a now defunct driver set for the old 3DFx cards), a Glide wrapper (emulator that lets modern video cards run glide) is required for optimal performance. Unfortunately, not all wrappers work with all cards on all systems, so the GOG included OpenGLide might be sub-par for your system. Trying a different Glide wrapper might be best. DosFreak had some good suggestions here.
Try DgVoodoo
Zeckensack
NGlide
In that order. Also for DgVoodoo try different DirectX modes. The first 2 are lights years beyond OpenGlide, I only use OpenGlide as a last resort.
Note that the DgVoodoo result on Google is current a page that's blocked, and apparently serving up Trojans and virus downloads, so it's to be avoided for the moment. An alternative download link can be found here. Zeckensack
NGlide
In that order. Also for DgVoodoo try different DirectX modes. The first 2 are lights years beyond OpenGlide, I only use OpenGlide as a last resort.
Update: DosFreak was kind enough to provide even more information about the Glide wrappers just a bit further down in the thread! Check it out!
Software mode might still be possible under these conditions, but will likely be buggy and look nasty. Framelimiting isn't as straightforward on the software renderer.
Problem: Things don't look as nice as I want!
Possible solution: Check out HampsterStyle's thread with tips here. Also, depending on the wrapper you're using, you might be able to modify settings directly in the wrapper itself.
Remaining issues with no current workaround:
1 - As ZaphodAVA points out, the Mortars and Flamethrowers in the game were heavily linked to the 25-30 FPS limit at which the game typically ran. Even with VSync locked to ~60 FPS these weapons don't appear to function correctly, and CPU throttling to the level required to get them to work seems to have an adverse effect on overall gameplay. The ongoing thread on this issue can be found here.
That's it for now. Hope this helps, though undoubtedly not all problems will be solved by these solutions.
Post edited January 17, 2011 by Firek
