Diablo 2 TCP/IP and stuttering

n00bish

This actually happens in one or two other games, but this is the most recent problem. I just built a brand new PC, and everything runs like a dream at max settings and all. Diablo 2, of course, runs perfectly. Problem is, when I host a TCP/IP game, even if there is no one else in it or I join a TCP/IP game in progress, the screen jerks. Kind of a lot. It can be compared to running v-sync without triple buffering. It's like it loses every other frame. Runs smooth in singleplayer, but on the LAN it jerks. Is it accessing something? is it not getting enough memory or something? Thanks for the help in advance.

edit: I'm running in 3D mode, for some reason, it won't open in 2D mode. It just freezes after startup. It would let me when I first installed it a week ago, but not now for some reason.

devoir

Installed new drivers/network/security programs since you first installed it?

n00bish

devoir wrote: »

Installed new drivers/network/security programs since you first installed it?

I made a point of disabling antivirus and scanning software and firewalls. I've got the new beta drivers for my graphics card. Something else may be running in the background, but my process list isn't showing anything obvious.

edit: I managed to run it in 2d mode once, and it fixed the stutter, but it froze when I "Save and Exit"ed, and won't let me start it in 2d mode again. grrr

AtomBomb

I'm not sure if it's directly related to your issue, but I think it should help regardless. Get a "glide wrapper". It's a program that makes non-3dfx cards compatible with 3dfx glide. It runs WAY better than anything else. Without it, a 16mb PCI Voodoo 3 will run Diablo 2 better than a $500 PCI-express card.

n00bish

I will find this glide wrapper, and harness its energy for my own malevolent purposes!

Can you suggest a good one?

e: Wrappers are doing nothing, although I honestly don't expect it to. It runs 100% smoothly in singleplayer, it's just during a TCP/IP game it doesn't fly. The one time I got it in 2D mode worked, but I can't get it to allow it again.

e2: Running it in windowed mode is actually helping, even in 3d mode. I think this might be the best fix for me, especially if I can find a way to make the window a bit bigger. 800x600 on a 1680x1050 screen is a tad small.

e3: Native resolution down and we're golden.

GameHat

AtomBomb wrote: »

I'm not sure if it's directly related to your issue, but I think it should help regardless. Get a "glide wrapper". It's a program that makes non-3dfx cards compatible with 3dfx glide. It runs WAY better than anything else. Without it, a 16mb PCI Voodoo 3 will run Diablo 2 better than a $500 PCI-express card.

Man, you don't even need to run DII in Glide. Just use D3D mode. There's no real advantage to glide in a game that old where even a shitty modern card can max out the FPS

If the problem only happens in TCP/IP multiplayer, guess what? It's a network issue.

dispatch.o

It may be having problems because Diablo 2 scales with the number of players in game. More monsters, etc.

I'd start -> run dxdiag.exe and run the DirectDraw and Direct3d tests listed under the Display tab. Probably run them each two or three times. It sounds like you may have a bad DirectX install.

devoir

Sounds like n00bish fixed it.