URU CC / Live and Nvidia Optimus systems

GothicIII · **Joined:** Tue Sep 11, 2018 9:52 pm **Posts:** 4

Sorry to bother but I want to solve this problem very badly.

I'd like to replay URU and sink into that world again. But this time on a very high quality

I've got a laptop with Gtx1050ti and a intel hd graphics 630 combination in windows 10.

The problem is that neither URU complete chronicles (the kickstarter campaign version) nor URU live make use of the far superior gtx1050ti gpu. I tried to force it through nvidia control panel but even if I overwrite global settings URU is only using my intel gpu. The urusetup.exe is also only detecting the intel card.

This is really a letdown and I get a very sloppy experience when playing on high resolutions.

Sadly my intel GPU is hardwarewise a passthrough to the nvidia gpu so as soon I disable the intel hd graphics card I cannot use the nvidia gpu. So this is no workaround.

Is there nothing I can do?

Also URU CC only provides max. a 4:3 resolution at 1400x1050. I hoped that it got wide-screen support. Is this not the case? URU live works at 1920x1080 without problems (except the performance issues).

My last hope is to buy an egpu case to get an external gpu working. But this is really expensive (350$ for the case + an potent graphics card) and I want to avoid this just for URU (which is my most favorite myst game).

Thanks for reading!

Nalates · **Posted:** Sat Sep 15, 2018 6:47 am

GothicIII wrote:

The problem is that neither URU complete chronicles (the kickstarter campaign version) nor URU live make use of the far superior gtx1050ti gpu. I tried to force it through nvidia control panel but even if I overwrite global settings URU is only using my intel gpu. The urusetup.exe is also only detecting the intel card.

Go to the NVIDIA Control Panel then Manage 3D Settings ->Program (tab) and add the Uru program. NVIDIA will then switch the computer to the NVIDIA card/chip when the program launches. There really isn't any more to it than that. Uru does NOT provide an option for which video device to use. It uses whatever is available sort of assuming one video device per computer. Reasonable for the time.

For more details on settings see the instructions from NVIDIA for a 970 and Second Life. Other than the game profile set up you can leave most everything on default. The game should run OK. Nothing has significantly changed in the graphics settings since 2016.

As to improved visuals... The game was designed for the hardware of its day and the upgrade, I think, was improved from original art for the newer hardware of that day. But, your 1050 is well beyond what Uru was designed for in both versions. You aren't going to suddenly get amazing graphics from a new card when the source information isn't there.

For performance sake imagery was made to a quality that the hardware of the day could display on max settings and no more. There just isn't anything more for the newer cards to work with. So, you probably have unrealistic expectations.

GothicIII · **Joined:** Tue Sep 11, 2018 9:52 pm **Posts:** 4

Thanks for your reply!

I did that method already with URU and URUSetup. In fact I forced the Nvidia GPU globally but URU is ignoring these settings.
For every other game it is working (including other myst games) just for URU not and I don't know why.

I'm already happy the way URU looks. But I want to get rid of the black borders and switch to 1080p and don't want to play a diashow.
I know that back in the day there where some kind of hacks to force widescreen but those tools are taken off and I can't find them.

Is there no possibilty? Does nobody else have the problems with nvidia optimus? I cannot believe that Im the only one.

Sirius · **Joined:** Sun Jan 18, 2015 10:41 am **Posts:** 67

GothicIII wrote:

I did that method already with URU and URUSetup. In fact I forced the Nvidia GPU globally but URU is ignoring these settings.

Hmmm... You mention only Uru and UruSetup, but the actual game engine making the 3D rendering is UruExplorer.exe. Did you try with that one too ?
I remember coming across an Optimus fix (originally intended for other games) which might work with Uru. It's a bit annoying to setup but I might be able to dig it up if you're still having problems.

Uru doesn't support 16:9 resolutions - even in MOULa the aspect ratio is wrong. There are still tools for CC that allow you to play in any resolution, but I don't know if they work with the kickstarter version. Will check and PM you if they do.

Nalates wrote:

You aren't going to suddenly get amazing graphics from a new card when the source information isn't there.

I mostly agree, although I'd say there are still ways to slightly improve graphics. Increasing resolution is one of them, using tools like ReShade is another.

[Reveal] Spoiler:

Left is ReShade, right is original.

ReShade might not be to everyone's taste, but I rather like this and playing in 2560x1440.

GothicIII · **Joined:** Tue Sep 11, 2018 9:52 pm **Posts:** 4

Yes, of course I tried that.
If you force the nvidia gpu inside nvida control panel globally all applications should run on the nvidia card. This works of course for everything even the steam ui but URU is ignoring it somehow.

I found someone on Kickstarter who solved the problem for him. He was able to get urusetup to recognize his nvidia card by turning the internal display off and run it on an external monitor. I'd guess it works for him because he had display port and it is not possible for the intel card to communicate over that port.

I have only thunderbolt 3 and a hdmi port, but my hdmi connection can be used by the intel graphics chip. So that workaround did not work for me. Maybe if I buy a usb-c->hdmi adapter I can use this workaround because I saw with diagnostic tools that my laptop has display port (logically not physically) and I guess it is combined with the usb-c (thunderbolt3) port.

I'm looking forward for your fix

Sirius · **Joined:** Sun Jan 18, 2015 10:41 am **Posts:** 67

Okay don't get your hopes up, but here is what I could find.
Uru runs on Direct3D 8 (being old and all). Because Windows 10 completely broke "improved" a lot of features, it seems D3D 8 can no longer run on the dedicated GPU.
The solution is forcing Uru to run on Direct3D 9, which can still run on the GPU. Fortunately this convertor takes care of "porting" the game from D3D8 to D3D9. Just place the d3d8.dll next to UruExplorer.exe and you should be good.

If that still doesn't work, then yeah, you might try the USB-C trick. Those adapters aren't too expensive, so it's worth a shot.

Ugh, I hate Windoz 10. Optimus has its issues, but the few times I tried W10, it completely broke VSync and D3D9 games. W8 is much more stable for me...

GothicIII · **Joined:** Tue Sep 11, 2018 9:52 pm **Posts:** 4

This is valueble information. I'll remember it when installing other old games! Thanks.

Unfortunately the dll is not loaded at all. There is only a d3df.dll and I checked with dependency walker the uruexplore.exe and it is loading d3d11.dll and d3d12.dll. I think there is some kind of wrapper which forwards all d3d8 requests to those newer dynamic libraries. It is a bit complicated to debug because of the sheer number of files which gets loaded.

darn. I'll try with the cable then and post back. Hope my Thunderbold3(usb-c) port will work with the hdmi adapter because I don't have any display port devices.

EDIT: I've got it working

Thank you for the hint with the dx9wrapper. I messed around with the dll libraries ingame. What did the trick was renaming d3df.dll to something else and copy the wrapper into that directory. After that starting urusetup will show 2 copies (=4 entries) of the nvidia gpu where you can configure the options. Pushing play will crash the game with an error message. After this renaming back the d3df.dll and setting a shortcut to uruexplore.exe with the "-iinit To_Dni" flag will start the game with the nvidia gpu

URU CC / Live and Nvidia Optimus systems

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