johnnysimdude Posted March 13, 2007 Posted March 13, 2007 I'm new to LockOn although I've been using other flight sims for many years. I've tried using LockOn on my laptop and I get corrupt graphics at run time. I do run LockOn on my desktop with great success, but given the nature of my work (simulation education within the UK MOD) I would like to use LockOn on my laptop for demonstrations to students. The integrated graphics processing capability is an Intel 945GM with up to 128MB of shared memory (supports Intel GMA 950). The processor is a Core Duo T2300 1.66 GHz. Should I simply give up (i.e. is the hardware incompatible) or is there some tweaking I could do to get LockOn to run? Actually, the game runs, it's the final graphics render that is corrupt. Any help is greatly appreciated. Cheers, John
Kuky Posted March 14, 2007 Posted March 14, 2007 I don't have any experience with using laptops and lockon and I don't know what kind of graphics corruption you get but maybe you could try different graphics drivers? PC specs: Windows 11 Home | Asus TUF Gaming B850-Plus WiFi | AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D + LC 360 AIO | MSI RTX 5090 LC 360 AIO | 55" Samsung Odyssey Gen 2 | 64GB PC5-48000 DDR5 | 1TB M2 SSD for OS | 2TB M2 SSD for DCS | NZXT C1000 Gold ATX 3.1 1000W | TM Cougar Throttle, Floor Mounted MongoosT-50 Grip on TM Cougar board, MFG Crosswind, Track IR
Andrew_McP Posted March 14, 2007 Posted March 14, 2007 > The integrated graphics processing capability is an Intel 945GM with > up to 128MB of shared memory For 3D acceleration the words "shared memory" should always ring alarm bells. You have a nice laptop with non-gaming oriented graphics capability. However I would still expect LOMAC to run, albeit with a fairly poor frame rate. It might be a driver problem, I suppose, but LOMAC's pretty long in the tooth now. It runs fine (but slowly :-) on my 2 year old laptop, however that has a graphics chip with dedicated video memory rather than the shared architecture you have. I suspect results will always be disappointing with something like LOMAC, which -- while CPU limited in many way -- also puts a lot of strain on weaker video cards/chipsets. I appear to be writing a lot while offering no help whatsoever. Story of my life. ;-) The following page has some general gaming information about the chipset and may lead you in a more helpful direction... http://www.sharkyextreme.com/hardware/cpu/article.php/3261_3513091__2 Andrew McP PS Sounds like you have an interesting job. I don't expect you to discuss it though, obviously. :-)
suntrace1 Posted March 14, 2007 Posted March 14, 2007 You should look for a gizmo recently released, that allows you gfx card to be upgraded to a desktop one. I've seen it not long ago on some HW page.
johnnysimdude Posted March 14, 2007 Author Posted March 14, 2007 Andrew - thanks for your comments. I was rather frustrated because my thoughts echoed yours - having already run MS FS9 and other fairly "hefty" games on my laptop, I figured LOMAC would run OK, even if at a lower frame rate. My colleague and I looked at the output and we were puzzled (and he's been in the IT / Simulation business for almost 30 years!!!). Another colleague of ours thinks it might be a shader-related issue but I didn't think LOMAC needed that capability to run. My job is rather interesting. I spent 20 years in the Canadian Air Force and now enjoy teaching simulation technology and processes as a long haired civvy. It's not every day where someone finds themselves in a job that has the potential to generate such fun. Cheers, John
Andrew_McP Posted March 15, 2007 Posted March 15, 2007 If your laptop will run FS9 (DX9) then it should definitely run LOMAC (DX8 ). Have you tried knocking all the graphics settings down to an absolute minimum? If that produces ugly but "non-glitchy" graphics then it might be possible to add features until you find out what feature's causing the problem. I'd suggest messing about with different graphics drivers, but I'm never happy doing that just because one game/sim is misbehaving. I'd certainly be tempted to re-install LOMAC just in case something weird has happened, but all this can get very time consuming. Still, you might be able to claim the time spent as a business expense. :-) Andrew McP
Aeroscout Posted March 17, 2007 Posted March 17, 2007 Ohhh. the 1.66GHz processor is probobly killing you. Lockon is not Dual-Core compatable, so it can only run on one of the 1.66 Ghz processor. How much RAM do you have? and could you get a new, non integrated videocard. (I know, it's hard with a laptop.) What company makes your laptop? contact them for information. or, look at the bottob and see what kinda dores are there. There should be one for RAM and your hard drive(s). if there is an extra, it's mostlikely for the videocard. (as the processor is usualy a perminant part of the motherbord. sorry, your kinda stuck with it) In short, the best you can do in terms of new hardware is more RAM and a new videocard if possible. DCS Wishlist: 1) FIX THE DAMN RIVERS!!! 2) Spherical or cylindrical panorama view projection. 3) Enhanced input options (action upon button release, etc). 4) Aircraft flight parameter dump upon exit (stick posn, attitude, rates, accel, control volume, control-surface positions, SAS bias, etc). 5) ADS-33 maneuver courses as static objects. 6) Exposed API or exports of trim position and stick force for custom controllers. 7) Select auto multiple audio devices
VMFA-Blaze Posted March 17, 2007 Posted March 17, 2007 Ohhh. the 1.66GHz processor is probobly killing you. Lockon is not Dual-Core compatable, so it can only run on one of the 1.66 Ghz processor. How much RAM do you have? and could you get a new, non integrated videocard. (I know, it's hard with a laptop.) Why would a 1.66GHZ be killing him... This is a Centrino so its rated differently then say a desktop.. Most likely a clean install of Lock On and tweaking of the graphic settings starting with the lowest settings and working upwards, should solve the problem.... ~S~ Blaze intel Cor i7-6700K ASUS ROG MAX VIII Extreme G.Skill TridentZ Series 32 GB Samsung 850 Pro 1TB SATA II ASUS GTX 1080/DIRECTX 12 Windows 10 PRO Thrustmaster Warthog Oculus Rift VR
some1 Posted March 17, 2007 Posted March 17, 2007 Lock On & Intel GMA950 is from what I know impossible. I have very similar laptop (T2250 1.73GHz dual core, 1GB RAM, GMA950) and the problem lies not in the overall performance of graphics card (comparable with GeForce FX5200), but in the poor graphics driver which is incompatible with many games, including Lock On. Falcon 4.0 Red Viper doesn't work neither, even though it's DX7 game. Unfortunately when it comes to 3d graphics, your and mine laptops are not mid-range, but merely bottom of what is currently avaliable. Hardware: VPForce Rhino, FSSB R3 Ultra, Virpil WarBRD, Hotas Warthog, Winwing F15EX, Slaw Rudder, GVL224 Trio Throttle, Thrustmaster MFDs, Saitek Trim wheel, Trackir 5, Quest Pro
johnnysimdude Posted March 22, 2007 Author Posted March 22, 2007 Many Thanks Thanks to all who replied to my query. For "some1" thanks for your comments specifically - I feared it was a compatibility issue - but I'm still puzzled how I can run games like FS9, DangerousWaters, SWAT4 etc and yet not LockOn. I can even run the latest version of America's Army (albeit at very reduced graphics setings). I just tried a fresh re-install of LockOn - I then launched the game, created a mission (in the editor), and when I went to start it, the laptop crashed and rebooted itself. I think it's something more than simply a graphics issue given the circumstances I describe in this post. Any other ideas/thoughts always welcome. Thx. John
VMFA-Blaze Posted March 22, 2007 Posted March 22, 2007 Thanks to all who replied to my query. For "some1" thanks for your comments specifically - I feared it was a compatibility issue - but I'm still puzzled how I can run games like FS9, DangerousWaters, SWAT4 etc and yet not LockOn. I can even run the latest version of America's Army (albeit at very reduced graphics setings). I just tried a fresh re-install of LockOn - I then launched the game, created a mission (in the editor), and when I went to start it, the laptop crashed and rebooted itself. I think it's something more than simply a graphics issue given the circumstances I describe in this post. Any other ideas/thoughts always welcome. Thx. John Yes John that doesn't sound good at all.... Unfortunately I think there's only one way you'll get a lap top to demo Lock On for your work .. But I'm not going there... ~S~ Blaze intel Cor i7-6700K ASUS ROG MAX VIII Extreme G.Skill TridentZ Series 32 GB Samsung 850 Pro 1TB SATA II ASUS GTX 1080/DIRECTX 12 Windows 10 PRO Thrustmaster Warthog Oculus Rift VR
some1 Posted March 22, 2007 Posted March 22, 2007 but I'm still puzzled how I can run games like FS9, DangerousWaters, SWAT4 etc and yet not LockOn I can run them too. Vista Aero also works :) GMA950 doesn't support hardware Transform & Lightning and Vertex Shader. These things are emulated in software, but as every emulation it is not 100% identical as the real thing. Some games can work with it, some can not. There are some major titles listed here: http://support.intel.com/support/graphics/intel945gm/sb/CS-021400.htm Also there's no big pressure on Intel to improve his drivers because this chip is not intended for gamers. About the CTD's, as long as you get them only with Lock On, there's nothing to worry about. I remember that people had similar issues with GeForce 4MX which also don't support Vertex shaders. Hardware: VPForce Rhino, FSSB R3 Ultra, Virpil WarBRD, Hotas Warthog, Winwing F15EX, Slaw Rudder, GVL224 Trio Throttle, Thrustmaster MFDs, Saitek Trim wheel, Trackir 5, Quest Pro
johnnysimdude Posted March 23, 2007 Author Posted March 23, 2007 The T&L and Shaders issue is one that I had suspected but, quite honestly, didn't do enough "homework" in - I suspect that is the issue in this case. Oh well, I'll just have to create videos from LockOn and run within PowerPoint if I want to use it as a demonstrator. Thanks again. John
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