Text is unreadable

[Synonymous]

I posted this in the support forum, but didn't get any response, so I'm hoping maybe someone here has an answer for me.

I have installed the demo version, but the resolution of the text is so bad, especially in the chat window, that it's nearly unusable. Is there some setting I need to adjust? I don't have this problem with any other software.

Thanks

[Jozan]

When I am working on a character sometimes the name under the portrait gets lines through it and sometimes the middle of my screen gets those as well, like when I drag stuff around or the dice roll. But I just got out of a server that I joined and the DM put up maps and I moved them around without anything happening. If you had the program minimized maybe something running in the background was causing it to obscure your FG screen?

[Cantstanzya]

You should try to update your video driver. Also, make sure that in your desktop properties/settings is set to 32bit Color and not 16 bit.

[Synonymous]

Well, I just checked and my video driver is up to date. I've always had graphics set to 32 bit.

This seems very strange to me. The dice look fine, maps show up good, but text is blurry. I'd like to buy the program, but I can't if it's going to look like this. Anybody else had this problem?

[Cantstanzya]

Out of curiosity, why type of video card do you have?

[Synonymous]

I'm using it on a laptop- Acer Aspire. Display is by SiS, 15" LCD.

[Cantstanzya]

How many mb is the video card?

[Synonymous]

I'm not as familiar with how a laptop works as a desktop, but I don't believe it has a separate video card- I think it's on the motherboard. It uses shared video memory, so there's no specific number I can cite you.

BTW- thanks for taking the time to help me.

[Jozan]

Click your start,run, then type in dxdiag and click ok. This will bring up the Direct X Diagnostic that will give you information about your computer. It should show you how much shared memory is on your graphics card.

[Synonymous]

Thanks for the tip- I had been trying to remember "dxdiag." It shows that I have 64 mb video memory.

I installed the demo on my desktop and had no problem reading the text.

[Jozan]

You have plenty of memory on your card for the program.
I am using a laptop too and mine only has 16MB Graphics. I have a few display problems every now and then but nothing major...yet lol

[Synonymous]

Anyone have any other ideas? I'd like to be able to use the program on the laptop. Is there someone to contact for official support?

[joeru]

Anyone have any other ideas? I'd like to be able to use the program on the laptop. Is there someone to contact for official support?

If you have Windows XP, you might want to check if you have ClearType turned on. Right-click on desktop, select properties, then appearance tab, click effects button, check the box for "use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts' and select ClearType from the dropdown box.

Hope that helps.

[DarkStar]

Speaking of ClearType, it's recommended for all LCD displays (I use it on CRT as well, but effects are not that visible like on LCDs), you can surf to Microsoft's ClearType Tuner (https://www.microsoft.com/typography/cleartype/tuner/Step1.aspx).

[Synonymous]

Well, I didn't have cleartype on, but I do now, and no difference. I've never seen anything like this before. It's as though I'm viewing the text through fog or something.

[joeru]

Well, I didn't have cleartype on, but I do now, and no difference. I've never seen anything like this before. It's as though I'm viewing the text through fog or something.

Dang, sounded like something ClearType could've resolved. You could try reinstalling DirectX, if it isn't too much trouble... You are using DirectX 9 now, right?

[Ged]

This is a weird kind of problem since the font in the chat is simply bitmap images. Could you send a screenshot to [email protected] (FG saves a screenshot in the Fantasy Grounds folder when you press "print screen" button). Are all other graphics in the software clear as far as you can guess what they should look like?

[Synonymous]

I will send the screen shot. The other graphics seem blurry, as well, but not as bad as the chat box. Text in story boxes and such is legible, but not very clear. Text in the chat window is pretty much illegible. The pictures along the right side of the screen, the reference books and such, are not very clear.

I will send the screenshot right away.

[deckyon]

I am seeing the same problem with my laptop. It uses an ATI Rage Mobile w/128 MB memory on XGA screen. My desktop works fine on LCD panel.

What is wierd, I only have problems with others connected to me (on laptop.)

[Jozan]

I was on laptop lastnight in the server. It is LCD and my card is a 16MB ATI Radeon
I didn't have a problem reading text, but I have never hosted a server on this computer, only joined them.

[Cantstanzya]

Why don't you try hooking up your laptop to an external monitor to see if it is any different? I'm not saying this is a solution, but if you hook it up to a monitor and it's clear, then it is an issue with your laptop display.

[DarkStar]

ATI Rage is an old chipset, I would guess it's uncompatible with DirectX 9.

[deckyon]

Can't agree. I have a number of other DX Apps installed and working. World of Warcraft, Ultima Online to name a few. It is only this application and only when others are connecting.

[ZunTzu]

Maybe you can try this:

- Check your resolution. Is the game in the same resolution as the max resolution of your screen?

- Check your Display Settings in Windows. Maybe you forced antialiasing or anisotroping filtering on.

[deckyon]

The resolution is either fullscreen or windowed. It doesnt matter. The application works as expected and is readable with no issues when no one is connected. once the first person connects, the display gets messed up and I get either black or white squares over letters or sections of text and screen. This is not limited to the chat area either. Dice and the rest of the screen suffer as well. I will try and get a screenshot and post it.

[Ged]

Is your video adapter using shared system memory? How much system memory do you have? (we have a couple of other ideas, but I just want to rule out some potential causes)...

[deckyon]

It does use shared system memory. I have 128 MB allocated for the video card out of 2 GB of RAM.

[deckyon]

Like I said, I can use it all night long with no issues as long as no one logs into it. As soon as someone connects, it starts leaving artifacts. I do have DX9.0c (latest version) installed. My other DX applications work fine.

[Synonymous]

I sent my screen shot in several days ago and haven't heard anything back? Any progress?

[Paarul]

I'm getting the same resolution issues as Synonymous on an Acer Aspire 3500 laptop with the same video configuration. The text is indeed blurry as are the rest of the graphics with the exception of the dice. I've tooled around with each of the suggestions thus far but none have had any effect.

I don't plan on running the program exclusively on the Aspire so I'm not too broken up about it, but it is notable that I'm experiencing the same problem on a comparable system.

[CAPryde]

Did anyone ever work out a fix for the graphics issues on Acer laptops? We have one in my group with the problem--the dice are clear, but everything else is blurry and unreadable.

[Moon Wizard]

I'm not sure what investigation they did in the past, and there are new owners since then.

I would guess that it has something to do with the graphics drivers. Have you had your user get the latest graphics driver update for their machine?

Regards,
JPG

[CAPryde]

The user (my brother, actually) spent a few hours going through the usual array of fooling around with the graphics drivers and that sort of thing, but no luck. He is extremely computer-savvy, so I feel pretty confident that he would have found a fix like that if it existed. I just noticed the thread and wondered if anyone had ever solved the problem.

[Griogre]

I suspect the problem was/is the Acer's video card is probably not completely DirectX9.0c compliant which would mean you would need to install another video card if it is possible. He might run the dxdiag.exe and see if something shows up.