Vista And Rct
Started by
wabigbear
, Feb 15 2007 12:14 PM
124 replies to this topic
#1
Posted 15 February 2007 - 12:14 PM
With the release of Microsoft's new Vista OS, there have been a few reports of problems and some reports of improvements. We'd like to hear from our members who have installed Vista as to what they have experianced. While many of us have made the decision to stick with XP or other OS for the present, the fact remains that many of us will switch sometime in the future as we upgrade computers, etc.
So far we've heard positive reports that for playing RCT3 there seems to be an improvement, and the game runs much smoother and faster. (I'd point out that this is a really difficult area to judge due to the huge differences not only in hardware the game is run on, but also the type and size of park being played. However, it did show improvement on these machines.)
Amoung the negatives found so far are that changes in Vista have caused problems with billboard images in RCT3. So far no word from either Atari nor Frontier about that problem (surprise, surprise...), but the fan community keeps trying to figure the problem out. Also heard some reports that there's some compatibility problems with drivers for some video cards.
So far we've heard no reports of how RCT1 or RCT2 seem to work with Vista.
So, let us know YOUR experiances with the new OS. The good...the bad...even the ugly (I heard Edna Mae just bought a copy of the Home Edition...).
Be sure to note which version you've installed, and maybe a few details as to your machines specs, especially the video card you use. If you play RCT3 and have Vista installed I'd especially like to invite you to download and try out our RCTspace 2006 Staff RCT3 Park as a benchmark for comparisions.
We'd especially like to hear what you like or dislike in Vista overall.
So far we've heard positive reports that for playing RCT3 there seems to be an improvement, and the game runs much smoother and faster. (I'd point out that this is a really difficult area to judge due to the huge differences not only in hardware the game is run on, but also the type and size of park being played. However, it did show improvement on these machines.)
Amoung the negatives found so far are that changes in Vista have caused problems with billboard images in RCT3. So far no word from either Atari nor Frontier about that problem (surprise, surprise...), but the fan community keeps trying to figure the problem out. Also heard some reports that there's some compatibility problems with drivers for some video cards.
So far we've heard no reports of how RCT1 or RCT2 seem to work with Vista.
So, let us know YOUR experiances with the new OS. The good...the bad...even the ugly (I heard Edna Mae just bought a copy of the Home Edition...).
Be sure to note which version you've installed, and maybe a few details as to your machines specs, especially the video card you use. If you play RCT3 and have Vista installed I'd especially like to invite you to download and try out our RCTspace 2006 Staff RCT3 Park as a benchmark for comparisions.
We'd especially like to hear what you like or dislike in Vista overall.
#2
Posted 15 February 2007 - 01:00 PM
i wish i had it.........
#3
Posted 15 February 2007 - 05:24 PM
i wish i had it.........
Be glad you don't - for now at least. I remember when XP was released. It took quite a while to get updated drivers from manufacturers and a Service Pack from Microsoft that would address a big quantity of functional problems. Even Service Pack 2 had some very critical changes, but at least it was the stability that XP needed. It took a very long time to get there. In fact, I just upgraded to XP over the holidays because it is finally (with SP2) stable enough to count on - and reliable enough across a wide assortment of hardware/software conditions. Vista for all its pretty new eye candy is a death trap for a significant number of users. Meaning - a total system failure upon installation.
The best choice for Vista in the early, buggy, pre-service pack release - is to get it on a laptop. More care was placed in getting all the hardware/software interfaces and driver versions worked out in advance. Even then you take a chance with certain printers, scanners, cameras... well - you get the picture. If you have a desktop, you need to worry about your motherboard, BIOS, graphics card (nVidia is having real issues), and just about anything that is a card that you plug into your buss. That is on top of the driver/interface issues.
Although I can't speak with first-hand knowledge on some of these issues, I can relate my experience. Ms. Sambo needed to replace a severely dying Sony VAIO laptop. We bought an HP DV9205 the day after Vista release. She wanted a laptop with XP - but all new machines come with Vista, XP is no longer an option. The first boot/install went well, as did uninstalling all the bloatware that comes with it. We had an issue getting it to communicate with our network. This wasn't a problem with Vista so much as the heavy layers of security we have on our network that it couldn't get enough info from in order to connect. I had to go into manual mode and set up the network by hand using all the security keys and protocols. With the proper security info, it connected and everything was communicating (with an exception below).
Installing software was as easy as expected, but when it came to installing the printers we had the first problem. One printer connecting via USB was a snap. It was recognized, driver installed and tested in seconds flat. This printer even has card slots for direct printing, and those were detected and registered without a hitch. The second and most important printer was a problem. It is a networked printer connected through a print server. Vista could detect the print server but it wasn't in it's "list". Vista also had the driver for the printer but the problem came when trying to install and print a test page. It took over an hour of trying but all we could get was maybe it was connected and communicating with the print server, but the printer driver never worked. It always assumed it was a local printer no matter what setting we tried. I finally reached the end of my rope and consulted Microsoft help. If you have ever used that feature you know that it is seldom if ever actually helpful. Your problem is almost never in it's listing of problem solutions. If it is, often the solution doesn't make sense with what you are trying to accomplish. The MS Vista help could only advise us to use the printer wizard to install a new printer. What the hey - I tried everything else.
The wizard actually detected the print server on the network on its own - something the networking wizard couldn't do. It also detected a printer there, and asked us to select the printer from it's database so it could install the driver. We chose the driver we have always used, but the wizard didn't like it. It recommended a different version of the driver, so we accepted that version. That finally worked.
The caveat is - despite all the wonderful features in Vista, like the security that makes you accept or reject any communication, installation, opening, closing, reading or writing to a drive, any and every time you do it - which is all the time... Vista will have issues that will vex the best of you for many month to come.
Yes the security features can be turned off - but you are wide oven to viruses and nasties. Unless you decide to pay for and enable the Norton security that comes with your laptop. We removed it because of multiple bad experiences with Norton, and elected to use our favorite licensed product. However, it doesn't support Vista without downloading a Vista version upgrade. At least there is a solution.
Caveat Emptor. Let the buyer beware. Be smart and wait for a few months until the service packs are released and the third parties have a chance to get their driver issues resolved.
Oh - and she won't let me install any version of RCT for a test.
#4
Posted 15 February 2007 - 09:26 PM
I just bought a new computer this past week and had no choice but to have Vista on it. I did buy a copy of RCT 3 Platinum, it does run fine on Vista, havent really played the game much to see if there are bugs yet.
I will try later tonite to install RCT 2 and rct 1 on it and see how it goes, will report back then. that will be a few hours before i can do that, since the computer is for my 6 yr old daughter and getting on it will have to wait till she goes to bed.
Edit: ok while she was playing elsewhere, I snuck on the computer and installed RCT 2, Im happy to say it works fine, Fresh Install, clicked the icon, game loaded and even played fine.
I will try later tonite to install RCT 2 and rct 1 on it and see how it goes, will report back then. that will be a few hours before i can do that, since the computer is for my 6 yr old daughter and getting on it will have to wait till she goes to bed.
Edit: ok while she was playing elsewhere, I snuck on the computer and installed RCT 2, Im happy to say it works fine, Fresh Install, clicked the icon, game loaded and even played fine.
Edited by riven3d, 15 February 2007 - 10:53 PM.
#5
Posted 16 February 2007 - 02:10 AM
May we ask what graphics card or chipset you are using?
#6
Posted 16 February 2007 - 02:28 AM
will have to pull the specs when i get home from work tomorrow.
#7
Posted 17 February 2007 - 02:04 AM
CPU: Intel® Celeron® D Processor 3561
64-bit processor with Intel® EM64T Technology
(3.33GHz, 533MHz FSB, 512KB L2 cache)
Operating System: Genuine Microsoft® Windows® Vista™ Home Basic2
Chipset: Intel® 945G
Memory: 512MB DDR2 dual channel capable (1 × 512MB), 533MHz (PC4200)
Expandable to 2GB
2 DDR2 Slots (Total) | 1 DDR2 Slot (Available)
Hard Drive: 120GB SATA II (7200rpm)3
Optical Drive: CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive
48x max. write (48×32×48×16)
Video: Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950
Up to 224MB of shared video memory
PCI-Express® (PCI-E x16) slot available
Sound: 6-channel (5.1) high-definition audio
Amplified Stereo Speakers (USB Powered)
64-bit processor with Intel® EM64T Technology
(3.33GHz, 533MHz FSB, 512KB L2 cache)
Operating System: Genuine Microsoft® Windows® Vista™ Home Basic2
Chipset: Intel® 945G
Memory: 512MB DDR2 dual channel capable (1 × 512MB), 533MHz (PC4200)
Expandable to 2GB
2 DDR2 Slots (Total) | 1 DDR2 Slot (Available)
Hard Drive: 120GB SATA II (7200rpm)3
Optical Drive: CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive
48x max. write (48×32×48×16)
Video: Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950
Up to 224MB of shared video memory
PCI-Express® (PCI-E x16) slot available
Sound: 6-channel (5.1) high-definition audio
Amplified Stereo Speakers (USB Powered)
#8
Posted 17 February 2007 - 03:17 AM
Are you getting the full benefit with the Intel graphics chip? As far as I know, the Intel graphics chips are basically the bottom of the line as far as capabilities.
#9
Posted 17 February 2007 - 01:39 PM
when I can sit down and play around with the game, I will see. that will be Monday.
#10
Posted 17 February 2007 - 06:41 PM
Someone mentioned that while they were able to load downloaded park and track files, they were not showing up in the game because again the paths have been changed. No confirmation on this so far.
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