imjustabill1966 Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 My machine is an Alienware M17, graphics card is a laptop model, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3870 x2. My overall game performance is reasonable, and I've been able to coax a fairly nice look out of Skyrim (with modder help, thanks modders!). My drivers are up to date and I've got a reasonable balance between performance and looks. But whatever I try, fire effects like dragon breath, camp fires, and torches, are mostly invisible. All I get is the sound and the damage, and maybe a few embers off of a torch. I think this problem has been reported by others with the exact same card that I have. I'm not going to have much luck upgrading a laptop. Does anyone know of a workaround for this, or am I hosed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BorisVorontsov Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 Have you tried my AntiFREEZE patch 0.096? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekrafilia Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 (edited) My machine is an Alienware M17, graphics card is a laptop model, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3870 x2. My overall game performance is reasonable, and I've been able to coax a fairly nice look out of Skyrim (with modder help, thanks modders!). My drivers are up to date and I've got a reasonable balance between performance and looks. But whatever I try, fire effects like dragon breath, camp fires, and torches, are mostly invisible. All I get is the sound and the damage, and maybe a few embers off of a torch. I think this problem has been reported by others with the exact same card that I have. I'm not going to have much luck upgrading a laptop. Does anyone know of a workaround for this, or am I hosed? Do you have the latest video drivers installed?How much video ram do you have?How much system ram do you have?What OS are you running? Edited January 5, 2012 by Nekrafilia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imjustabill1966 Posted January 5, 2012 Author Share Posted January 5, 2012 Have you tried my AntiFREEZE patch 0.096?I haven't. I'll look it up. Thanks, I'll let you know how it works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imjustabill1966 Posted January 5, 2012 Author Share Posted January 5, 2012 (edited) Do you have the latest video drivers installed? -yes How much video ram do you have? -2 gig How much system ram do you have? -4 gig What OS are you running? -Win 7 64bit My machine's a couple of years old, so it's behind the curve, but it's still pretty solid. I don't expect to get "ultra" out of it, but I'm happy with a good, solid "medium", especially with a beautiful game like skyrim. But this no fire thing has really started to bug me. Edited January 5, 2012 by imjustabill1966 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenpachiru Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 I have the exact same laptop as you, with the exact same graphics card, and the exact same problem. I'm running it with only 3 gigs of system RAM on 32-bit Vista. I'm also able to pull off Ultra settings at a decent frame rate, so you might look into it. I have every graphics option literally maxed out EXCEPT shadow detail, which I've left on high, and changing the fShadowDraw value in the SkyrimPrefs.ini from 8000 to 2000 makes the shadows up close much less blocky and sexy looking anyway. I have Anti-Aliasing completely off and have FXAA checked instead as well. Looks very sexy, runs smooth, and my game will crash once in maybe every 15 hours of play, so it's not so bad. The only mod I'm using is this one: http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=34 and I use it to impose a frame rate cap of 60 fps, because without it my M17 throws a frame rate spike upon loading the game and the whole system freezes up and shuts down. As for a fix to the problem, some people have had similar luck here http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/615805-the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/60959935 with an ENB unofficial fix/mod, but I haven't tried it yet. Hopefully it's officially fixed up soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imjustabill1966 Posted January 6, 2012 Author Share Posted January 6, 2012 Have you tried my AntiFREEZE patch 0.096?Finally! That did the trick. Thanks for the work, Boris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imjustabill1966 Posted January 6, 2012 Author Share Posted January 6, 2012 I have the exact same laptop as you, with the exact same graphics card, and the exact same problem. I'm running it with only 3 gigs of system RAM on 32-bit Vista. I'm also able to pull off Ultra settings at a decent frame rate, so you might look into it. I have every graphics option literally maxed out EXCEPT shadow detail, which I've left on high, and changing the fShadowDraw value in the SkyrimPrefs.ini from 8000 to 2000 makes the shadows up close much less blocky and sexy looking anyway. I have Anti-Aliasing completely off and have FXAA checked instead as well. Looks very sexy, runs smooth, and my game will crash once in maybe every 15 hours of play, so it's not so bad. The only mod I'm using is this one: http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=34 and I use it to impose a frame rate cap of 60 fps, because without it my M17 throws a frame rate spike upon loading the game and the whole system freezes up and shuts down. As for a fix to the problem, some people have had similar luck here http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/615805-the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/60959935 with an ENB unofficial fix/mod, but I haven't tried it yet. Hopefully it's officially fixed up soon. See my reply to Boris, sounds like his mod would help you too. As for settings, Boris' mod sets it to Ultra too, and I gave it a try. I find it helpful to turn Antialiasing and Anisotropic Filtering down to 2, but other than that, it looks great and I've got no complaints. I guess the shadows are a bit wonky, they've got a striped look a lot of the time, but it doesn't bug me the way the "no fire" thing did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lordstormdragon Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Thank you so much for this, Boris! Been playing for months and just assumed my aging GTS250 and Athlon x2 4600 wasn't up to snuff for many of the details... The game still runs better than Oblivion does, but just a bit. And NOW it's amazing! Volumetric fogs and flames I never saw, and even the dragons shoot fire now! Very impressed, thanks for taking the time to write this one and to help us all here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evilprovolone Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 so i had to re-install Skyrim after a restoration. when i loaded my backup saves i noticed that the elemental visual fx are not there. for instance on the pass up to the throat of the world where there is wind and snow furiously blowing around before you obtain the clear skies call. the sound is there and the slow death with loss of stamina is there when i walk through but the visual look as though it isnt there. with fires, fire spells and any spell torch, mage light none of the visual fx are there. the desired effect happens but the in between doesnt happen. say i shoot a fire ball, the fireball itself is not there but the trail is. and when it hits the target, the target is on fire, but the visual fx are not there. I dont know if this is good enough description or not. its the best i can explain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts