VWBB (http://volitionwatch.papageorgefamily/vwbb/index.php)
- FreeSpace 1/2 Discussion (http://volitionwatch.papageorgefamily/vwbb/forumdisplay.php?forumid=33)
-- What is the difference between bit-rates in FreeSpace 2? (http://volitionwatch.papageorgefamily/vwbb/showthread.php?threadid=9271)

What is the difference between bit-rates in FreeSpace 2?

Hiya,

I was wondering what differences to the quality there is between 1024x768x16 and 1024x768x32 ???

Any Quality difference?

Is it worth having turned on?

When i use the 32bit setting, I notice a little bit of lag when i face a ship engulfed in flames and it returns to normal when i face away.

I don't know about the 16bit, i use the Hi-Res Maps from the fsport2 release (good job by the way, even though the missions were changed by quite abit) would it stop the enhanced maps from working in 16bit?

JamieK

quote:

---

Originally posted by JamieK
I was wondering what differences to the quality there is between 1024x768x16 and 1024x768x32 ???
Well 16-bit is only 65,536 colors while 32-bit is over 16.7 million color... I would imagine there is a big difference, but scientists do believe we can not tell the difference between 16-bit and 32-bit color.

Any Quality difference?
As I have already said the quality will only be better if you can distinguish it yourself

Is it worth having turned on?
Well, I have been told by numerous people to leave my color setting on 16-bit, but I can see pictures and renders at their better quality when it's on 32-bit (And no one better start some stupid discussion about 24-bit, cause I won't be bothered with it)

When i use the 32bit setting, I notice a little bit of lag when i face a ship engulfed in flames and it returns to normal when i face away.
Probably need a faster computer overall, especially graphics, games today and in the past are usually developed ahead of graphics cards capable of supporting full features offered by the game

I don't know about the 16bit, i use the Hi-Res Maps from the fsport2 release (good job by the way, even though the missions were changed by quite abit) would it stop the enhanced maps from working in 16bit?
I don't know this one

---

a faster computer?

ASUS A7V8X
AMD AthlonXP 2600+
512MB DDR PC2700
ATI Radeon 9600Pro 128MB

I know i need to get a better 3D Card....but i was short on money.

A 9600 Pro isn't that bad, a 9500 Pro is slightly better but the 9600P is still a fairly decent card for the money. What you should be really be thinking about replacing is that motherboard. With the introdcuction of nVidia's nForce2 chipset there is absolutely no sane reason to buy Via based motherboards for Athlon systems. An EPoX 8RDA+ (which is arguably the best value for money nForce2 board out there) is only about USD$80-90 and has Dual channel RAM support, AGP8X, ATA133, USB2, Firewire, LAN, 6 PCI slots and the best onboard audio in the business.

Getting back on topic, I've been playing FS2 in 32 bit colour on my 9500 Pro (because I can, quite simply) and it doesn't really look all that different to 16 bit on my old TNT. It's faster, due to the 9500 Pro being an all round better card than the TNT it replaced, but thats about it.

__________________
"Don't stop, baby, dreamin'"
"Don't stop, baby, lovin'"
"Don't stop, babe, believin'"
Wasurenaide...
"Don't stop, baby, dreamin'"
"Don't stop, baby, lovin'"
"Don't stop, babe, believin'"
...Watashi ga iru koto o.
Itsudatte soba ni iru yo.

on some newer games, 16 bit color may make some effects look "checkered". I-war2 and UT2k3 demonstate this.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Admiral LSD
A 9600 Pro isn't that bad, a 9500 Pro is slightly better but the 9600P is still a fairly decent card for the money. What you should be really be thinking about replacing is that motherboard. With the introdcuction of nVidia's nForce2 chipset there is absolutely no sane reason to buy Via based motherboards for Athlon systems. An EPoX 8RDA+ (which is arguably the best value for money nForce2 board out there) is only about USD$80-90 and has Dual channel RAM support, AGP8X, ATA133, USB2, Firewire, LAN, 6 PCI slots and the best onboard audio in the business.

Getting back on topic, I've been playing FS2 in 32 bit colour on my 9500 Pro (because I can, quite simply) and it doesn't really look all that different to 16 bit on my old TNT. It's faster, due to the 9500 Pro being an all round better card than the TNT it replaced, but thats about it.

---

To me that system shouldn't have any problems with running freespace2 at the mode you have it on

What sort of monitor do you have(size and brand), and just some finer points..what refresh rate is it at..

Not that the above would cause the problems though

And another thing do you have any programs that are running while your playing Freespace2..Because some programs constantly use resources this may affect gameplay even in the smallest amount as you have said!

I assume you have already got the latest drivers for your Graphics Card

well, i have a LG Flatrom (Flatscreen)

i run it at 85Hz, (otherwise it hurts my eyes)

Well, the slowdowns don't ruin the game, i just wanna know what causes it.

i have the latest Drivers for my 3D Card.

I am using Win98 right now since Master of Orion 2 seems to only work on there without the background from going all black and ruining the game.

Well, i hope a new better 4X Empire Bulding Space Game comes out soon.

quote:

---

I am using Win98 right now since Master of Orion 2 seems to only work on there without the background from going all black and ruining the game.

---

__________________
In Omnia Paratus...
(no idea where this comes from...)

I don't use FS2 retail with 32bit color enabled much if at all. It slows down the frame rates a fair amount (even on my newest system there is a noticeable lag sometimes) and the added quality doesn't affect many things.

The only areas apparently affected by full 32bit color are the nebulas and the color transitions between a nearby object...sometimes I notice the background nebulas to be a little richer in color (I presume that the overall total number of nebulas can be fit into the 32bit color and not quite on the 16bit).

Now with a new game like UT2003 or FreeLancer...there are HUGE differences that you will see in some places. Not sure what this "scientists believe" stuff up there is because thats totally garbage. There is a very distinctive difference between 16bit and 32bit color and the fact of the matter is that even 32bit color probably isn't precise enough if you want total photorealism (then we go heavily into minor shades and minor hue changes and room for coloring effects) on an electronic medium.

To answer the other question...no the enhanced maps would not be affected. Now we are talking two different things...16bit color VS 32bit color and texture resolution. Color bit depth is going to tell the computer how many colors it can display...texture resolution is the number of pixels that make up a given texture...the higher the number, the better the quality will be because the image will be sharper. Typical FS1 and FS2 textures are 256x256 (except in some cases). The higher resolution textures come from the FS1 DVD version which had the original developer high res textures which in some cases are 1024x1024 in size.

__________________
- The Babylon Project Team

Really? I only get a long load time, but I have no problem in game itself.

And I use the high res, 32-bit, with a duron 600, 128Ram, and a PCI vid card. lol

__________________
[url="http://freespace.volitionwatch.com/us/"]United Space[/url]
Newsie, Modder, Slave to Yogi
------------------
"Snipes ...Is The Dark Continent."

quote:

---

Originally posted by Snipes
Really? I only get a long load time, but I have no problem in game itself.

And I use the high res, 32-bit, with a duron 600, 128Ram, and a PCI vid card. lol

---

__________________
- The Babylon Project Team

quote:

---

Originally posted by JamieK
Well, plan to get a all new system when i get some money....all this system i have now is got from my parents and they will not get me anything else unless i have the cash in my hand before they order it.

---

__________________
"Don't stop, baby, dreamin'"
"Don't stop, baby, lovin'"
"Don't stop, babe, believin'"
Wasurenaide...
"Don't stop, baby, dreamin'"
"Don't stop, baby, lovin'"
"Don't stop, babe, believin'"
...Watashi ga iru koto o.
Itsudatte soba ni iru yo.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ghostavo
You mean like "Master of Orion 3" and "Space Empires IV Gold"?

---

__________________
Ace
There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots; but no old bold pilots.
-Chuck Yeager

• [url="http://www.adamantpacified.org/"]adamantpacified.org[/url]|[url="http://freespace.volitionwatch.com/"]FreeSpace Watch[/url]|[url="http://dynamic4.gamespy.com/~freespace/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=9"]Nodewars Moderator[/url]

quote:

---

Originally posted by IceFire
Not sure what this "scientists believe" stuff up there is because thats totally garbage. There is a very distinctive difference between 16bit and 32bit color and the fact of the matter is that even 32bit color probably isn't precise enough if you want total photorealism (then we go heavily into minor shades and minor hue changes and room for coloring effects) on an electronic medium.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by JamieK
well, i have a LG Flatrom (Flatscreen)
i run it at 85Hz, (otherwise it hurts my eyes)
Well, the slowdowns don't ruin the game, i just wanna know what causes it.
i have the latest Drivers for my 3D Card.
I am using Win98 right now since Master of Orion 2 seems to only work on there without the background from going all black and ruining the game.
Well, i hope a new better 4X Empire Bulding Space Game comes out soon.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ghostavo
You mean like "Master of Orion 3" and "Space Empires IV Gold"?

---

When discussing the difference between 16bpp and 32bpp in reference to computer graphics, you need to discuss it in terms of how the values effect the manner in which the computer uses this information to produce the image on the screen.

Here is a simple example to illustrate how this affects a computer game like FreeSpace 2.

Lets say that we are drawing a square, and we draw different things inside the square.

First we make the square solid blue. In this example, the difference between 16bpp and 32bpp wouldn't be noticeable.

Next, we have have the square start out blue on the top, and make a gradual transition to red at the bottom. This is where we begin to see the differences between 16bpp and 32bpp. At 32bpp the transition looks smooth and even, just like you would expect. At 16bpp though, we are likely to see the transition as a series of bands, each slightly different from the next. How obvious this effect is depends on the software used to draw the colors.

In software such as Photoshop, where image quality is the first and foremost concern, the banding would be only slight, or even unnoticeable. The cost of this though comes in the amount of time and CPU power needed to caclulate the color values of each pixel in the image when it is displayed. The way Photoshop is used, this really isn't a concern.

In a 3D game on the other hand, time and CPU power are a big concern. When you need to render a battle in real time, with a good framerate, you can't afford to wait for calculations to take a long time. Therefore, you code your software for speed. In a situation like this, the banding on that square would be very noticable, since we can't afford the CPU cycles to make it pretty.

These things are true, even when you have textures on 3D models instead of solid colors. As the game engine calculate how to render a given texture on a polygon, it normally tries to do this in a speedy fashion. Normally some sacrifice has to be made to image quality in the name of speed.

For these reasons, the difference between 16bpp and 32bpp is quite often noticeable in a 3D game, whereas it wouldn't be in other situations.

quote:

---

Originally posted by JamieK
a faster computer?

ASUS A7V8X
AMD AthlonXP 2600+
512MB DDR PC2700
ATI Radeon 9600Pro 128MB

I know i need to get a better 3D Card....but i was short on money.

---

Well, i have a A7N8X-X now.

Seems pretty good.