Solved Windows 10: Low Frame Rates Despite (BECAUSE OF!) Good Hardware

[The Nameless Pirate]

And if Microsoft does something that makes it impossible to play PotC...

 

[Cerez]

A new version of Windows (in an update) appears on the horizon:

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Windows 7 & 8:

and

 

[The Nameless Pirate]

Back on topic, I found out that dgvoodoo can be used as an alternative to the Intel fix without the water graphics penalty.
(Your PC doesn't need to have a separate graphics card for this to work.)

My Intel HD graphics laptop's specs are as following:
Processor: Intel core i3 3217U
Graphics card: Intel HD 4000
RAM: 8GB
OS: Windows 7



Does anyone else have a PC with only Intel graphics, preferably running Windows 8/10?

I would be really interested to see if other users have similar results, because if so, this may very well be the best solution possible to the Intel problem that has been going on for years.

So thanks to @Atum262 for shearing the files:

@The Nameless Pirate, @Pieter Boelen, and everyone else.

I can explain everything. First of all, as I said, dgVoodoo is a tool used to run old games, because they need (normaly) direcx 8 and 3Dfx. POTC is not a DOS game, it is a very basic game programed in C language, that is rendered in a very basic way that old games was used to be rendered with. This 3D render needs the direcx 8 specfically to run, something that Windows 10 doesn't come with, because it runs directx 12. Windows 7 CAN have some issues with the game as well, but not MUST have, because of some factors, that I can't explain well enought, but, normally it is because of the programs people had installeted on their computer, and what updates they are currently using on their Windows 7. Windows XP is old, and this game was made for Windows XP, so of course it is not going to have any troubles to work on an old machine with this operation system. But the person can have issues with Windows XP, but it will be hardware issues, like not having a graphic card. Using these files I had set to you guys to use on your game, will not interfier on the game of the people thhat are not having troubles with it, because the files just adress issues, and when a person that have no issues use the files to adress issues they don't have, the game will remain untouched and running as it should. I had read on dgVoodoo website that dgVoodoo may have some problems with some antivirus, because they are take as false positives, even by Windows 10 itself sometimes. Particularly, I am using McAfee, its a paid antivirus, and I had no problems whatsoever. Anyway, here are the files already set to be used in your POTC instalation, just extract them there, on the main game instalation folder, and you are all set, just run the game. One more time I repeat myself, this fix is mainly for Windows 10, because as far as I can see, only Windows 10 is having this issue. I don't remember having this problem when I was using Windows 7, but this was a long time ago, if you are, the files will fix the problem on Windows 7 as well, I assure you.

And @Diquez for making me curious if this also works without a separate card as well:

Finally got the game to work on my laptop after a couple hours of trying to figure out why it refused to use my Nvidia GPU instead of the Intel one. I thought I'd share my solution here, since I wasn't able to find anyone talking about it anywhere else: The issue is that Nvidia Optimus doesn't understand DirectX 8 or earlier, and will always use your default driver, which will always be the Intel one, even if you change the setting through the Nvidia control panel. What you have to do is use a DirectX 8 to 10-11 wrapper. I used dgVoodoo 2, and it's worked great.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

Forget about that, I tested it today and it took very little time and the results are... that nothing has changed.
I went into a shipyard and the slow motion was still there without RivaTuner.

@Hylie Pistof, do you use Windows 7, 8 or 10?

Ah gallows humor, the best kind.

I am running the latest version of Win 10, v. 1903 with daily updates. I also have that DX9C installed, and I use Afterburner's Rivatuner to globally limit frame rates to 150fps. I also use it for a reliable OSD. And that is all.

I have a DX7 game from 1998 that works except that it is not compatible with my 1440P monitor. 1080P only. I have a DX8 game from 2000 that runs fine, and POTC also runs fine.

Over the years I have changed many CPUs, motherboards,and ram plus many different GPUs with no issues. Outside of intel graphics it is a software problem.

 

[The Nameless Pirate]

Thanks for your answer @Hylie Pistof!!!

That's overall my experience all games I have installed run fine, except PotC but use RivaTuner and that also works fine.

Some have had bad experiences but I haven't had any, call it luck or I am doing something that most people do, I don't know , I just do what I do on Windows 7 (with the exception of PotC that requires an extra step) and have the same experience.

 

[Mucilon]

Infelizmente, nada resolveu o problema.

I can record a video, but I don't know how to send it to you. The problem is only in the inventory, when I want to choose items is super slow and unplayable seems simple, but I really understand little about it. Is there any mod for the game?

 

[The Nameless Pirate]

I tried DGvoodoo again, now that I have an NVIDIA GPU.

And I got it to work without the need to run Rivatuner.
I went to the NVIDIA control panel and limited the FPS to 60.
Then I set up DGvoodoo, the fps wasn't limited without it, probably due to incompatibilities with the old Direct X.

This may also work on Intel GPUs. But AMD cards have problems with DGvoodoo unfortunately.

 

[DavyJack]

That's awesome! But why are still using the 2019 BUILD? Lol.Also, do you only have one GPU?

 

[The Nameless Pirate]

But why are still using the 2019 BUILD? Lol.

I haven't played PotC on this computer for quite a while; so it was left behind.
But now that I have started modding again, I will update PotC on every computer in the house.

Also, do you only have one GPU?

I have an NVIDIA GTX 1660 S, and an AMD Vega 11 that is integrated to the Ryzen 5 2400G.

When I installed the dedicated GPU I removed the drivers of the AMD one.
Plus the HDMI post used is the one on the GPU and not the motherboard.
So it works like I have one GPU, or at least that's how it shows on device manager.

Now maybe if you use the NVIDIA control panel and DGvoodoo, you can chose which GPU PotC runs on, without problems.
Seeing as I can limit the FPS this way.

 

[Felkvir]

I'm... Not sure if this is related to the framerate problems this game has but I just got back into it after reinstalling, and the menu options glow is spazzing out when I hover over them and clicking is very delayed. Otherwise the in-game movement seems fine so far on sea and deck. Compatibility mode or fullscreen options don't change anything, nor the frame limiting from NVIDIA.

 

[The Nameless Pirate]

It could indeed be related to the framerate.

 

[Felkvir]

dgVoodoo seemed to fix it, nice.

 

[Maceboor]

Set FPS Limit in Nidia Control Panel to 60 and 144 but still slow down ingame. What do I have to set in dgVoodoo to get it work?

 

[The Nameless Pirate]

Yep, for the settings from the Nvidia Control Panel to work you need to use DGvoodoo.
Alternatively Rivatuner doesn't need DGvoodoo, but you need to make sure it is running before launching the game.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Yep, for the settings from the Nvidia Control Panel to work you need to use DGvoodoo.

Alternatively Rivatuner doesn't need DGvoodoo, but you need to make sure it is running before launching the game.

There isn't any of these solutions that are just plug-and-play; right?
Would be so nice to have a SIMPLE way of addressing this far-too-common problem.

 

[The Nameless Pirate]

Maybe setting Rivatuner to start with windows?
Though I wouldn't do this, it should be the most plug and play way.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Maybe setting Rivatuner to start with windows?
Though I wouldn't do this, it should be the most plug and play way.

Doesn't sound ideal.

I wished there were a way similar to the "Intel Fix".
But no such luck, it seems...

For now then, it appears my own hopes on this one lie with @Hammie and his work on upgrading the game to the newest game engine.

 

[The Nameless Pirate]

I just tried something out.
I made a batch file that runs both RivaTuner and PotC, and I run this to start PotC.
This way I am sure RivaTuner will run before the game, and that the FPS will be limited; without having RTSS start with Windows.

It's very simple really:

cd "C:\Program Files (x86)\RivaTuner Statistics Server"
start RTSS.exe
cd "C:\Games\Pirates of the Caribbean"
start ENGINE.exe
exit

Paste this into notepad for example, change the paths to what is the case for you, and save it as a ".bat" file.

For example I have it saved as "FPS_Limit.bat" in my PotC installation folder, and then just made a shortcut to it on my desktop.
Changing it's icon to the one from "ENGINE.exe".

 

[Pieter Boelen]

I just tried something out.
I made a batch file that runs both RivaTuner and PotC, and I run this to start PotC.

So you need to AND install the program AND configure it AND run it manually before playing the game otherwise?
Microsoft is REALLY not making things easy for our players; are they?