Unlagged graphics with ddraw driver for RA2/YR

[tsactuo]

UPDATE: Ignore everything below, thanks to Wthigon, you can now reduce laggy explosions/particles by just simply editing the ra2md.ini file (or ra2.ini for vanilla ra2) by adding the VideoBackBuffer=no command under the [Video] section. It will look like this:


[Video]
VideoBackBuffer=no
ScreenWidth=1024
ScreenHeight=768
StretchMovies=no

----------------------------------------------------

I don't know if this is known to the community, but I still read many posts/complains about game getting laggy from the explosions, lighting effects, radiations  or anything graphics related.

With that ddraw.dll file, if placed in the RA2 directory you are never going to get laggy because of graphics. I always use it by the time I found it and it is also included in my mod.

I don't know the origin of the file, but I got it from the Unofficial RA2 1.007 Mod/Patch by Piscinex.

Just extract the .dll file in RA2 folder and start the game / any mod and no more lag because of graphics.

btw, ddraw.dll means that only the CPU is used for graphics. The default RA2 driver trys to use the graphics card boosting but can't because it is outdated and buggy and finally you get worse performance. If you have a CPU of 1.5Ghz and more, imo there is no reason to use the default RA2 driver. Just use the that one.

[Renegade]

Disclose the following information or this thread will be locked (again):

• Which version of the DLL is this hack based on?
  
• What exactly does this hack do?
  
• How exactly does this hack achieve that?
  
• Who is the author and who has checked this DLL?
  

Also note that I consider you an idiot and a n00b for running DLLs you know nothing about. And had you the ability to use google (or simply knew what was going on on your machine), you'd know ddraw.dll is the Direct Draw Dynamically Linked Library, the 2D-part of DirectX.

And in case you wondered, the original version of this post was much less friendly.


I advise all users not to run a DLL without any background information. It looks like the poster himself has no idea what it does, and while it's probably not dangerous, it might as well fuck over your machine bigtime.

"OMG teh magic dlll!!11!1!!!!". My ass.

[tsactuo]

Disclose the following information or this thread will be locked (again):

• Which version of the DLL is this hack based on?
  
• What exactly does this hack do?
  
• How exactly does this hack achieve that?
  
• Who is the author and who has checked this DLL?
  

Also note that I consider you an idiot and a n00b for running DLLs you know nothing about. And had you the ability to use google (or simply knew what was going on on your machine), you'd know ddraw.dll is the Direct Draw Dynamically Linked Library, the 2D-part of DirectX.

And in case you wondered, the original version of this post was much less friendly.


I advise all users not to run a DLL without any background information. It looks like the poster himself has no idea what it does, and while it's probably not dangerous, it might as well fuck over your machine bigtime.

"OMG teh magic dlll!!11!1!!!!". My ass.

First of all, you must speak better. You call me an idiot (wtf?) because you think I don't know what a directdraw or dll is. Who told you that I don't know. I know pretty good what it is you don't need to tell me. I hope your over-reaction is because I uploaded a dll file and you thought it was a virus. I'm sorry if I created that illusion.

Anyway, as I said in the main post, I got the file from the RA2 1.007 Mod by Piscinex. http://www.blackassassins.org/pisc/readme.htm

That mod's launcher includes an option to disable hardware acceleration. When you disable it the ddraw.dll file is copied in the RA2. I saw that I had better performance (actually I never ever lagged again because of explosions etc) with that file and I got it from there.

What I understand (piscinex also says that) this ddraw.dll file overrides default graphics wrapper of RA2/YR.
What it probably does is to disable the hardware accelerated extensions and do them all in software. Hardware accelerated graphs as we know are bugged in RA2/YR (TS explosions never lagged to me for example) so that results in better performance.

Origin of file:

I'm not sure but I think (I don't have time to prove this, and I am bored to install my old PCI Trident 1MB card) that this file is automatically created when you install RA2/YR on a PC who's graphics card has no hardware acceleration at all (old laptops for example). If it finds no directx acceleraton it forces the game to run on software acceleration mode using this file. Westwood wouldn't have thought that today's 2ghz+ PC will run better in software mode.

If this is not the case the file may be a rip from TS, something that piscinex made or just a ddraw version of microsoft. Whatever, this file is not any dangerous, I use for 1 year+ and all my friends use that too. It doesn't cause any out of syncs in multiplayer, and allows you to add almost infinite graphics to your mods as it never lags. Use it if you have a good CPU and you will be pleased.

With that file, your graphics card is only used for drawing and not for render acceleration. This is proved by me as either with ATI 9000 or NVIDIA 6800 the performance is exactly the same. So it just depends on your CPU. That's why I said that this file is worth it if you have a 1.5ghz CPU or more (Though a friend of mine with p3 1ghz still preffers to play with ddraw.dll).

Note that this file causes the FPS meter in RockPatch new option panel to be always zero.

[Bobingabout]

hmmm, my laptop shows zero, however, it has a GForce 4 in it.

also, my desktop has a 1.2GHz Duel GPU GF7950GX2, so, i'd prefer the graphics acceleator

[TheMan]

This is bullshit
Maybie not, but it dont work for me, i tested with and without rockpatch and when i launch the game, i cant se anything
(WinVista, DirectX10)

[Bobingabout]

hmmm, with windows vista and direct X 10, are you using a ATI X2950 or a GF8800? (this cost something like £400+ for 1 DX10 graphics card)

i presume its not meant for windows vista...

[tsactuo]

I don't know if with Directx10 if this file works. And generally with vista. But I see no reason why not, since it works ok on XP and 2k and people say YR works on vista.

Anyway

Bobingabout you should try the file because from ur graphics card I assume you'll have a very good CPU. You can all try and see which way fits best to you. What I have observed is that with the standard ra2 driver the game goes really fast when at maximum in-game speed level, but slows a lot on explosions/sw etc. With the ddraw file the game goes slightly slower when at maximum speed but it never slows down because of explosions.

[DCoder]

You are not, by any chance, a person who doesn't give a flying fuck about how good the game looks as long as it runs fast? Cause I have a feeling it only accelerates stuff by discarding the fancy shmancy effects.

[tsactuo]

Absolutely nothing is changed visually.

[Renegade]

First of all, you must speak better.

No, I don't. You obviously didn't read the forum rules.

You call me an idiot (wtf?) because you think I don't know what a directdraw or dll is.

No, I don't. I call you an idiot for running a DLL whose origins you don't know.

Who told you that I don't know. I know pretty good what it is you don't need to tell me.

Yeah, I know..."ddraw.dll means that only the CPU is used for graphics."

I hope your over-reaction is because I uploaded a dll file and you thought it was a virus. I'm sorry if I created that illusion.

...
Don't you think if I thought your file was a virus, I would've said I thought it was a virus? (and removed it from your post, for that matter)

Anyway, as I said in the main post, I got the file from the RA2 1.007 Mod by Piscinex. http://www.blackassassins.org/pisc/readme.htm

That mod's launcher includes an option to disable hardware acceleration. When you disable it the ddraw.dll file is copied in the RA2. I saw that I had better performance (actually I never ever lagged again because of explosions etc) with that file and I got it from there.

Do you have the author's permission to re-distribute his files?
And is this feature advertised as speeding up your game?

What I understand (piscinex also says that) this ddraw.dll file overrides default graphics wrapper of RA2/YR.

To do what?
To replace it with what?
I don't know about you, but to me, "override" always has a connotation of "disregard security" and "brute force". What exactly does it do?

What it probably does is to disable the hardware accelerated extensions and do them all in software.

"Probably"?

Hardware accelerated graphs as we know are bugged in RA2/YR (TS explosions never lagged to me for example) so that results in better performance.

We do? Good to know. I only knew the engine was a horrible coded in general. Tell me, though, how exactly do you determine which graphics in the game are rendered through hardware acceleration, and which aren't? And how exactly do you determine that the software accelerated engine is less bugged?

Origin of file:

I'm not sure but I think (I don't have time to prove this, and I am bored to install my old PCI Trident 1MB card) that this file is automatically created when you install RA2/YR on a PC who's graphics card has no hardware acceleration at all (old laptops for example). If it finds no directx acceleraton it forces the game to run on software acceleration mode using this file. Westwood wouldn't have thought that today's 2ghz+ PC will run better in software mode.

So you think, maybe, perhaps, it might be possible that the file may have been created automatically? Okay then, it's probably safe.
</sarcasm>

I keep wondering though: What exactly does a graphics card with neither 2D nor 3D acceleration capabilities do? Take the finished framebuffer from the CPU and output it through the cable? I was sure we were further advanced when DirectX 7.0a was current...
(After all, Voodoo Rush and RIVA 128 were released three years earlier - it's not like hardware acceleration was science fiction or something.)

Oh and, errm, correct me if I'm wrong, but...
- doesn't the game require DirectX to function properly?
- and, if it doesn't find "DirectX acceleration", what good is it to override DirectDraw? No DirectX, no DirectDraw to override...

If this is not the case the file may be a rip from TS, something that piscinex made or just a ddraw version of microsoft.

Or maybe it was written by the goblins that nicked ModEnc's RSS earlier today? Or it is a secret project by pd and VK? Or Santa brought it for Christmas? Or...

Seriously man. You have no fucking clue. So stop trying. For every positive origin you can invent, I can invent a negative one. Just because it could originate from Microsoft itself, doesn't mean it couldn't come from the author of W32.Klez as well.

Whatever, this file is not any dangerous, I use for 1 year+ and all my friends use that too. It doesn't cause any out of syncs in multiplayer, and allows you to add almost infinite graphics to your mods as it never lags. Use it if you have a good CPU and you will be pleased.

On an unrelated sidenote, spyware was found to be Mostly Harmless™ as well - millions of Windows XP users have had it on their machines for years, and it enabled them to use wonderful programs like BonziBuddy, DivX or KaZaa!

Also, how does TheMagicDLL react to translucent SHPs in particle systems? Or stealth generators?

With that file, your graphics card is only used for drawing and not for render acceleration.

(Note that he has no idea when this file was created where by whom, but knows exactly what it does.)

This is proved by me as either with ATI 9000 or NVIDIA 6800 the performance is exactly the same.

...
So if there's a rotten apple lying under tree A, and a rotten apple lying under tree B, they both produce apples of equal quality?
wtf kind of logic is that? "The game runs equally fast with two different graphics cards, so we must conclude that the graphics card is only used for very, very basic drawing mechanisms!"?
Hello? RA2 system requirements for graphic cards: 2MB. Not even 3D acceleration. Don't you think it is at least possible that it doesn't make a difference whether you could provide 2000% or 3000% the necessary power, if only 100% are used?

So it just depends on your CPU. That's why I said that this file is worth it if you have a 1.5ghz CPU or more (Though a friend of mine with p3 1ghz still preffers to play with ddraw.dll).

Thank god, ddraw.dll! Now my 256MB Mobility X700 Radeon doesn't have to do the work of a 2MB graphics card anymore!!

Note that this file causes the FPS meter in RockPatch new option panel to be always zero.

Of course it does - if you're overriding the rendering engine, the rendering engine renders 0 frames per minute. (And you wonder why I cast doubt on your intelligence.)



Just to make this clear to all: I am not saying this file doesn't work or deliver what he promised. I am just trying to show that this user has no idea where this file comes from, what exactly it does, or how it works. Yet he's giving explanations on them like he does, and tries to persuade you to download it.
It will probably work as advertised, but think twice before you not only install some weird DLL off the 'net, but also override drivers that directly interact with your hardware. Have a look at the posts above, too. Make up your own mind.
And always remember: Perceived boosts in speed are no excuse for endangering your system health. Make very sure it's not just Power of Suggestion pimping your game. Think hard if, and if yes, how, the game was sped up, and tripple-check what was changed in the game for that speed-up.

In my very-personal-but-not-so-humble opinion, this is bullshit. I assume it is merely a perceived, a placebo-effect: Everybody says it speeds the game up, the explanations seem to make sense, so it does speed the game up. The mind makes it real. Today's graphics cards and CPUs are dozens, if not hundreds of times faster than the system requirements for RA2 and YR. The chances that not using the significantly faster hardware and two-versions-higher DirectDraw component would significantly increase the game performance are more than slim. And if it does, one should ask himself: At what trade-off? Mentally compare software-renderers to OpenGL and DirectX, and you know what I mean.

I will not support this DLL until there is hard, scientific data supporting the supposed speed boost, information on how this file came into existence and what exactly it does, and what exactly changes ingame as a result.


Edit: You all posted while I was writing, so I missed this gem:

With the ddraw file the game goes slightly slower when at maximum speed but it never slows down because of explosions.

So basically, you're saying: "The normal game runs at 100% and drops to 95% when explosions occur, but with the DLL, the speed of 95% stays constant!!"?

[VK]

I not want to offend anybody, but please don't talk about things which you don't know

This DLL file is safe.
Was compiled on VS2005
In the main: it hooks DirectDrawCreate function and replace version to 3.

About YR now:
YR not use any hardware acceleration at all.
if you have the latest video card model, or with 8 MB of memory
no difference at all

YR is using small amount of Direct Draw surfaces
run Rock Patch with "-log" cmd line and read in DEBUG.TXT about surfaces

all other surfaces are in memory

[TheMan]

So it works ha
Why does it not work to me? Dam computer

[tsactuo]

Thanks CnCVK. Btw are you sure that in the standard YR there is no hw acceleration. I remember when I changed Graphics Card in my old PC the game ran faster at the maximum speed.

Renegade, I never really said for sure what and who made it because I DON'T KNOW FOR SURE. I was clear for that from the first post. All the rest are just guesses from my personal experience using it and from what piscinex says in his mod. I am not sure for anything. Piscinex probably knows but I can't find his email address to ask him. You asked me to say more about this file, and I said thatever I knew about it.

I just posted a file that I am using for long now and I know it is safe. Because I got this file from a public mod I though most people had it. But I started YR modding some months ago, and in the forums I have never seen anyone mentioning it. From my experience and my friends experience this file is a "must" if play either RA2 or YR. So I thought that I would share it with the community. And while doing that you instantly attacked me like I was going to hurt somebody.

For me this file has opened modding possibilities because you can add many new graphics without affecting FPS. imo this file should be used by everyone who still plays RA2/YR. However you can just test it and if you don't like it just delete it. EOS

I just wanted to help. Sorry for the frustration.

I am new here, and generally in the YR modding, so I don't want to have a chat fight with anyone.

I still don't know the origin of the file. Either it is Piscinex's or just a DirectDraw File. The only way to find is to ask him.

[Renegade]

This DLL file is safe.
Was compiled on VS2005

...yes.
Care to explain why exactly a certain compiler/IDE automatically makes a DLL safe by default?

In the main: it hooks DirectDrawCreate function and replace version to 3.

D said on IRC that function has long been obsolete, and DirectDrawCreateEx is current - is version 3 of DirectDrawCreate higher or lower than the version originally used by RA2?

About YR now:
YR not use any hardware acceleration at all.
if you have the latest video card model, or with 8 MB of memory
no difference at all

What I said - Power of Suggestion.

Thanks CnCVK. Btw are you sure that in the standard YR there is no hw acceleration. I remember when I changed Graphics Card in my old PC the game ran faster at the maximum speed.

One of us seriously needs to let go of the mental concept of "Hardware 2D Acceleration". I mean, wtf do you imagine there? That there are 2D graphics that are rendered by the CPU, and then magically passed on to the monitor, and then there are "hardware accelerated" 2D graphics which are rendered by the GPU?
The digital image displayed on your monitor is composed by your graphics card. If you install a faster graphics card, said image can be composed faster, if the rest of your hardware allows it. It's as simple as that. Of course your game was faster when you installed a better graphics card, because the graphics hardware, the piece of your machine you hate so much, could generate the graphics faster. But nooo, you don't like dedicated hardware for specific tasks...you'd rather have the CPU do everything, 'cause you've got so many Megahertz...

Renegade, I never really said for sure what and who made it because I DON'T KNOW FOR SURE. I was clear for that from the first post. All the rest are just guesses from my personal experience using it and from what piscinex says in his mod. I am not sure for anything.

And that is exactly the problem. You know nothing, yet say "it's good, it's good", make incredible promises, and tell everyone to download it.

You asked me to say more about this file, and I said thatever I knew about it.

No. You produced more guesses to justify your embracement.

I just posted a file that I am using for long now and I know it is safe.

Because? You don't even know what it does!

Because I got this file from a public mod I though most people had it.

T¡bEd is public as well. Doesn't mean it's a good idea to use it. (But T¡bEd at least delivers what it promises.)

But I started YR modding some months ago, and in the forums I have never seen anyone mentioning it.

Coincidence? I think not.

From my experience and my friends experience this file is a "must" if play either RA2 or YR.

PoS works especially well in groups.

So I thought that I would share it with the community. And while doing that you instantly attacked me like I was going to hurt somebody.

Oh, I didn't think you were going to hurt somebody. I just thought you might do so accidently, while you're far away in your protected little Magic DLL Land...

For me this file has opened modding possibilities because you can add many new graphics without affecting FPS.

I remember adding many new graphics without any problems as well. Without TheMagicDLL. What's problematic is what you code with those graphics, not the number of them.
Twenty different fixed smoke animations would probably still result in better FPS than ten semi-translucent Small Grey Smoke Systems...

imo this file should be used by everyone who still plays RA2/YR.

He has no idea what it does, how it does it, and where it comes from, but we all should use it.

However you can just test it and if you don't like it just delete it.

I spend my day telling you how it's stupid and insecure to run some random DLL off the 'net, and you tell me to just test it

I just wanted to help. Sorry for the frustration.

Your intentions are surely good, but next time you're promising Modder's Heaven, you might want to consider bringing actual proof and some background information as well. 'cause all we have atm is your word on one side, and logic, negative reports by TheMan and VK's "no difference at all" on the other side.
I don't assume you were trying to mislead us. I just have the strong suspicion that you convinced yourself so much that this DLL works that you are unable to see that it's all just in your head.
Show proof, and I'll stfu and stickify the thread. Until then, I consider this a placebo solution.

I am new here, and generally in the YR modding, so I don't want to have a chat fight with anyone.

Don't worry. There is no fight.

I still don't know the origin of the file. Either it is Piscinex's or just a DirectDraw File. The only way to find is to ask him.

Doesn't this concern you at least a little? Handing over control of your hardware to a library you know nothing about?

[tsactuo]

Too much quoting. Anyway.

It is just a dll file used by a game, it is not gonna explode your PC.

You want proof that this file is no placebo? Fine...

Follow those steps...

1) Launch standard YR (no mods, no RP) and in a skirmish game with superweapons on and take a soviet country (easy ai so he doesn't bother you)
2) Build a big base with many buildings and finally make a Nuke Silo.
3) Just before Nuke timer is complete save the game

Set the game at maximum speed and:

Nuke your base without the ddraw.dll
Nuke your base with the ddraw.dll

Without the ddraw.dll the game will slow down a lot, as the building explosions lag (or whatever other effects, yes I don't care which effects lag it, but I know it lags bad)
With the ddraw.dll the game will not even slow down. Or it will slow down slightly. Actually you will be suprised at the speed the Nuke explosion ended, it goes really fast.

In both situations the image quality is exactly the same. It has nothing to do with removing debris/effects etc.

What other proof you want. I can't capture a video with all those things and upload it with my 56k. The proof is the file itself.

Download it, test it. You see placebo? Delete it. And delete the whole topic if you see no difference in the test I proposed. Like I made this thread for me.

Btw here is what Piscinex says about this file: