property usevertexbuffers false

[nc45 0]

I heard that adding "property usevertexbuffers false" to Graphics Rules.sgr (under the 'standard hardware' section) makes scrolling faster. I tried it and it does make scrolling a lot smoother, but it causes a strange bug where shadows aren't where they're supposed to be. If you move the camera in any direction, the shadows move towards the bottom-right of the screen, and stay there until you move the camera again. It happens on every level of shadows.

 

So I'm wondering if anybody happens to know a way to fix this. If not, I'll just put up with the lag while scrolling.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Did you try requesting a redraw (hit the 'g' key twice)?  I usually have shadows set to low because they eat too many resources.

[nc45 0]

That puts the shadows back where they're supposed to be, but they start moving again when you move the camera.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

How are you moving the camera?  Remember, this is a legacy game, and there are only 5 POVs, and scrolling is fraught with bugs and crashes.  Hopping around using left click and or clicking on the mini-map in the GUI moves you very quickly with only a single redraw.  Using the numeric keys 1 - 6 is better than rolling your mouse wheel.  The 6th POV is a special for UDI and simply stretches the POV 5 image.

[nc45 0]

Well, it turns out that the setting has nothing to do with the problem. I put the original graphics rules.sgr file back, still happens. I took out everything from both plugin folders (except for the maxis background images), still happens. I turn on Windows XP SP3 compatibility mode and run it as an admin, it still does it.

 

I will try reinstalling the game later, running the installer in XP compat mode and as admin, since that's helped me before with installing old games.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Reinstall is pretty drastic.  Remember to keep the game residency pure as it comes and put all your plugins in the user space.

[nc45 0]

I don't think I really have any other choice, unless someone has another idea. I likely won't be able to get access to my disk for a couple more days anyway.