4VEP Add-on pack - having problems

[BadWhippet]

I just treated myself to the 4VEP Add-on pack from Steam this weekend as I already have the Portsmouth Line add-on. However, I'm having horrible graphics problems with it and wondered if anyone else has experienced similar and, if so, any potential fixes?

The problem is as shown below - flickering geometry all over the place. The sim is okay until I happen to look upwards or to the right in cab-view, and then this happens, and worsens until it becomes unplayable. I have no problems with any other stock on the Portsmouth route (just this latest add-on). I checked my temperature settings and, under full load of Railworks on this route, the GPU varies between 65-72 degrees, and CPUs around 48 degrees (which is typical for my PC under load). The PC is an i7 3820 clocked at 4.1MHz, with 16Gb DDR RAM and a 3Gb nVidia 580 card. Drivers are very recent (though might not be the very newest). I run my game on higher (though not highest) settings.

Thanks in advance for any help. I'd love to get this sorted as I used to travel this route using this stock, except in those days I didn't have flying triangles zipping around my head!

[DaveDewhurst]

What happens in exterior view looking back at the train?
ie is it just an in cab problem?

Dave

[firetrap1]

Thats the Railworks Digital Rights Management 'DRM' software at work . Don't worry it's not your PC, it is most likely a repaint of some payware DLC stock that is causing the problem.

Which scenario is it that is causing you problems? You will tend to see the game get worse the closer you get to the Train which has the repaint DRM issue.

fyi - you can see DRM at work with repaints of RW2 stock which has been recently upgraded to TS2012 standards (with rain effects and headlights). Also the issue will happen even if the player train is not the problem stock/repaint.

[MallardFan]

Thats the Railworks Digital Rights Management 'DRM' software at work . Don't worry it's not your PC, it is most likely a repaint of some payware DLC stock that is causing the problem.

Which scenario is it that is causing you problems? You will tend to see the game get worse the closer you get to the Train which has the repaint DRM issue.

fyi - you can see DRM at work with repaints of RW2 stock which has been recently upgraded to TS2012 standards (with rain effects and headlights). Also the issue will happen even if the player train is not the problem stock/repaint.

ooh is that what the issue is - I have noticed this as well - very apparent on the London-Brighton route, don;t think I have experienced it elsewhere myself though (could be because I run L-B a lot though)

[BadWhippet]

There are at least three scenarios where it happened, but one I distinctly remember is Portsmouth Line's "To The Rescue" with the Class 423 (to collect some broken stock at Havant). The problem kicks in around a minute after starting the scenario, where the high walls between Portsmouth & Southsea and Fratton stations are close to the track, and worsens from there. The three scenarios I played all eventually became unplayable, sadly. Edit: I also get the same with the class 421 in "Slammed Doors".

In case it's relevant, I haven't knowingly installed any other content besides Railworks official add-ons yet, but in installing Railworks on this new PC I copied my Steamapps folders across from my old PC because my net bandwidth would mean redownloading all in time to play in 2026. It is probable that I did have some custom non-Railworks content in my old game that has been copied across too.

[BadWhippet]

What happens in exterior view looking back at the train?
ie is it just an in cab problem?

Dave

Sorry Dave - just saw this. It happens in the cab view in both the Class 421 and 423. I haven't seen it outside yet. I've just tried the "Slamming Doors" scenario, waited until the glitch showed in cab-view, then tried various exterior views. The view where the camera is static and the train passes by (key 4) is a mess at first, as though the camera has positioned itself inside some of the scenery meshes, but once in the countryside, that resolves itself. The train-following views 2 and 3 are perfectly fine. After about 20 seconds of being back in cab-view, the problems start again inside the cab.

Nice outside view:


Back to corrupted inside cab (it's just starting - will get worse):

[gptech]

I copied my Steamapps folders across from my old PC because my net bandwidth would mean redownloading all in time to play in 2026. It is probable that I did have some custom non-Railworks content in my old game that has been copied across too.

Nothing wrong with that strategy, but hasn't the route itself had an update?---if so, and you haven't the updated route and the 4-VEP is optimised to work with the new, improved route it could go some way to accounting for your problem.
Have you tried verifying the game files?

[BadWhippet]

I bought both from Steam (Portsmouth, then later the 4VEP) AFTER they had already been updated to 2012. I didn't own them beforehand so never had the earlier versions.

How do I verify the game files? I expect that's a n00b question, but I've no idea.

EDIT: I've been looking at the game launcher and found this:



Do those red textures mean a problem? I bought this pack from Steam online so nothing should be missing. There are only red entries for the 423; there are none for the 421 which also has the same graphics glitches.

[Kernow2]

Hi,
Before you do any serious editing just try turning the TSX off and reloading the scenario..
Just an idea so humour me or disregard me!
Good Luck , regardless
Kernow2

[gptech]

How do I verify the game files? I expect that's a n00b question, but I've no idea.

The second part of this http://forums.uktrainsim.com/viewtopic. ... 9&t=116849 explains exactly how to do it

[BadWhippet]

Thanks everyone!

Well, I tried verifying the game files. Steam stated that four were missing and would be reacquired. This done, I retried the Portsmouth Direct line, Class 423 - same horrible triangles within 60 seconds.

I then tried kernow2's suggestion of disabling the TSX - and the problems have gone. Of course, the graphics are now poorer quality, but at least it works. However, I don't understand why as my PC more than exceeds the requirements of the game and I don't want to dumb it down to basic settings because official add-on content won't work. Makes me feel very sad and I wish I hadn't bought this add-on (cash very limited and there were others I wanted too but couldn't afford).

[gptech]

Have you considered removing the 4-VEP and letting Steam re-install it?...long shot but might be worth a try.

[DaveDewhurst]

I then tried kernow2's suggestion of disabling the TSX - and the problems have gone. Of course, the graphics are now poorer quality, but at least it works. However, I don't understand why as my PC more than exceeds the requirements of the game

There must be a root cause other than PC power,
Your specs are far better than mine, (mine having been built during the stone age) but Ive never had that problem on Portsmouth Direct or with the 4VEP.
But I always get that issue on Woodhead after about 20 minutes of playing.
I have noticed it seems to occur just after a stutter (tile/scenery loading).




Dave

[BadWhippet]

I might have uncovered the root cause (in my game)...

After re-enabling TSX, I noticed the default settings chosen by Railworks were lower, so I left them as is and started the faulting scenario - no problems even with TSX back on!

So I whopped up the settings to that stupid maximum SSAA 3x3 - and again there are no problems with that one either (though I expect if I return to a Paddington station scenario, the train won't ever manage to leave the platform on the dire frame-rates SSAA3x3 will give me). My original anti-aliasing was set to SSAA2x1 and it seems to be this that's causing the issue, but only with this add-on pack (for me). Not sure why that would be.

[BadWhippet]

Actually, I take that back. Restarting all the way from the launcher, ANY SSAA setting causes this glitch. I have to restrict the slider to MSAA x 8 which is pretty low.