#¤@%ing annoying graphics bug

[ChristianB]

Lately I've been having this graphics bug. It's gray squares that seem to be everywhere, and when they're present they last from the beginning of deployment until the battle is over. They do not appear on the campaign map, and occur at approx. 20-30% of all battle maps, and more often during assaults than regular land battles.

I'm posting this here in DM forum because I'm using DM, and although it might not be related to this mod at all, I know some good people browse these forums.

Tons of +rep to anyone who would care to help. I'm sorry I can't provide any other information, as I really can't remember doing anything in particular that could cause this problem.

EDIT: Problem fixed. See my last post further down this page.

Here's a screenshot:

[Pharoah]

what in the....

[old_dude]

I had a similar distortion. It was a sign my graphics card was about to kick the bucket. The next sign was battles freezing forcing me to reboot my pc. Hopefully yours is a different and less expensive problem.

[Mr Kami]

I have no idea what could cause such a thing but its not related to DMS.
Things you could try if you havent already.

-Try disabling every visual mod you have installed
-Verify the game integrity in Steam
-Update your graphics card drivers
-Try using the system recovery function and see if its caused by something that has been installed recently

Hope you solve it that doesnt look good at all might very well be an indication that you card is about to die.

[Rome101]

Welcome to artifacts.
Artifacts are distortion in picture caused by one or more of many sources, in example:
Overheating of graphics card, motherboard, or CPU;
Bad drivers, program malfunction, antivirus programs, or a conflict between two or more drivers and/or programs;
Dust gathered on computer parts carries an electrical charge that disrupts that of the computer itself;
OS compatibility issues with program;
incorrect graphical settings in game or in driver software.

Christian, could you be kind enough to give us your system specs? We're more interested in CPU, GPU, PSU, RAM and OS than anything else, but you might as well post the entire spec (to include the above and motherboard, storage device, brand and model, and anything else you think will be helpful).
Most likely this is a temperature problem. We'll have more certainty with your system specs, but when was the last time you cleaned your PC case for dust?

[ChristianB]

Yeah, I've been thinking of overheating as well. I'm playing the game on a laptop (an Acer 5943G) which I very often have on my lap (it's a laptop, right?), but I haven't been able to see any connection between overheating and artifacts, they have appeared somewhat at random.

I did as Mr Kami suggested -- validated my files and checked for driver updates. To my surprise, one file failed to validate and there was a new version of my graphics driver, this is now taken care of. I haven't had the time to do thorough testing, but so far so good.

This issue may be solved, I shall do some more testing just to be sure.

[♔DARTH LEGO♔]

Looking at your stock specs. you shouldn't be having too many problems, saying that though i have always had reduced gaming experience on laptops no matter how powerful or new they are.

Im going with a heatsink problem.

A workaround is set everything to its lowest and work up from there, major hassle i know but it will also give you a chance to tweak your graphics for the best performance.

Have you got any PC monitoring software that you can get readings from etc while running games.... ??if not i know in the basement there are some good uitlities for this exact purpose

HERE

Sandra lite is the new tool for benchmarks.

Game booster- IMHO still helps a load even with modern systems

Give those a go and lets see if it helps.

[Rome101]

There's always HWMonitor or RealTemp. Laptops are notorious overheaters with gaming, because they aren't big enough for active cooling and heatsinks can only get you so far...
Though if a file was revealed damages in the validation process and you replaced it, that might have been the issue. Do you remember which file that was?

Report back if you encounter artifacts again.

[ChristianB]

I'm just bumping this thread to say that I have not encountered any artifacts since I updated my drivers and validated my files. So if you're reading this and struggling with artifacts, first try and update your drivers, or uninstall them and then reinstall, and/or validate your files (use Steam for this).

[♔DARTH LEGO♔]

anyone wnating this reopened for discusiion please PM me.