Gamma Problems ...

NukeAJSNukeAJS Join Date: 2004-05-04 Member: 28443Members
<div class="IPBDescription">I can't figure this out</div> Natural Selection worked perfectly up until a few days ago. Whenever I join a game now my gamma is set really really low. I have both my in-game brightness and gamma set all the way up as well as monitor contrast/brightness. When I start up Natural Selection I see what used to be my normal gamma rating but as soon as I attempt to connect to a server it drops way down. Just to give ya all an idea of how bad it is I can barely see the aliens to the left of the screen at the main menu. This annoys me because I used to have a perfect gamma rating and then outa no where this happens ... argghhhh.

I've tried using third party programs as well as options that come with the ATI drivers and it still sets it to the same value. My gamma gets set like this whenever I am connecting to a game.


Any ideas or suggestions? I searched briefly for gamma but the first few pages had nothing quite like my problem because I can set my gamma. My problem is that HL/NS seems as though it is setting my gamma for meh.

Windows XP
ATI 7500 AGP
2.5 AMD Duron
18" Compaq monitor
NS version 3.1a

Comments

  • darkjesterdarkjester Join Date: 2003-08-17 Member: 19853Members
    try getting a hotkey (I.E. alt+f1) for rasing gamma. Thats what i did and when i hit it it resets my gamma to what i have it set to.
  • NukeAJSNukeAJS Join Date: 2004-05-04 Member: 28443Members
    Sounds good. I'll find a program that does that and report the results.
  • NukeAJSNukeAJS Join Date: 2004-05-04 Member: 28443Members
    I discovered that ATIs drivers have a hotkey program already in them but unfortunately you can not use the hotkeys in natural Selection (or any HL mod for that matter). I'm back to square one. Man, I really want to play but it's impossible to be a marine and sometimes even an alien since I can't see where hte heck I'm running.
  • darkjesterdarkjester Join Date: 2003-08-17 Member: 19853Members
    thats odd, i can use the hotkeys in natural selection only not in any other mods, nor to fix my desktop gamma after icome out of natural selection.
  • Zero_TeklaiZero_Teklai Join Date: 2004-06-27 Member: 29573Members
    i dont mean 2 spam but darkjester, do u own the x]H.A.L.O[x super hero mod cs server?
  • darkjesterdarkjester Join Date: 2003-08-17 Member: 19853Members
  • AfrAfr Join Date: 2003-05-13 Member: 16240Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    Ok, then try this

    When you join a game and the gamma is really low press alt+tab out to the windows detskop or another program.

    Then alt+tab back into ns.

    Then press escape to get to the ingame menu.

    Then press escape back into the game.

    This works for me.
  • ViPrViPr Resident naysayer Join Date: 2002-10-17 Member: 1515Members
    i have a weird gamma problem sometimes. when i open the console and close it again it darkens my screen. sometimes this is good because the maps start way too bright but sometimes it was fine to start with and then when it gets darkened i can barely see anything. i have a geforce2 mx and no special gamma software.
  • NukeAJSNukeAJS Join Date: 2004-05-04 Member: 28443Members
    edited July 2004
    Alt-Tabbing used to work but now when I go back into the game it gets reset again ... this is frustrating. I'm considering giving up on NS because I wantto be able to see what I'm shooting, not feel like I'm playing alone in the dark.
  • ToboldTobold Join Date: 2003-06-16 Member: 17405Members
    i have exactly the same problem as nuke,
    Ns used to work fine, then it started having gamma problems, but alt tabbing would fix it - now nothing works, not even changing the card gamma levels, or the ingame gamma levels

    really frustrating, and really need some help
  • Doctor_XDoctor_X Join Date: 2004-06-28 Member: 29598Members
    I am having the exact same problem, and it doesn't help when you have to scrim alot. I really hope they can fix this ATI related bug <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' /><!--endemo-->.
  • musicpetemusicpete Join Date: 2002-05-23 Member: 660Members, Constellation
    Welcome me to the group... Since the last Steamupdate I have the same problem: When I sart a game of NS everything is fine. At some random point (some minutes into the game) my gamma will drop so much that even brightly lit areas are nearly pitch black. ALT-Tabbing wont help, pressing ESC wont help.

    The only solution for me is to quit the game and restart it. Really annoying when you have saved up 40 res and have to quit.... <!--emo&:angry:--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/mad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='mad.gif' /><!--endemo-->

    This can also be triggered by ALT-Tabbing out of the game. When I do that, my gamma is borked. Usually pressing esc a few times or using the Resetgamma.exe helped, but not since the last updates...

    BTW, I have a Radeon 9800Pro.
  • mynightmaremynightmare Join Date: 2004-07-01 Member: 29672Members
    edited August 2004
    ever heard off <span style='color:white'>This is no AOL channel.</span>

    EDIT: sorry i was think of 2.0 diectory doesn not exsist

    EDIT2: C:\Valve\steam\steamapps\whateveryouputherewhenugotsteam\half-life\nsp

    scroll down until you see something called Reset Gamma.exe

    also it could be that NS is "allergic" to 3rd-party things
  • LudiKalellLudiKalell Join Date: 2003-12-14 Member: 24376Members
    important question to all the posters above:
    which drivers and which cards ?

    me has the problem and a Radeon9800SE modded via Omegadrivers to 9800Pro
    Omegas are equivalent to Cat 3.7

    thx
  • musicpetemusicpete Join Date: 2002-05-23 Member: 660Members, Constellation
    edited August 2004
    <span style='color:white'>Be nice.</span>

    Back on topic: I have a Radeon 9800 Pro with Catalyst 4.4 drivers.

    And it is as I said: Everyting was fine until one of the past Steam updates. And even when I had borked my gamma (e.g. by switching to the desktop) it could easily be fixed by pressing ESC a few times or executing "ResetGamma.exe" while NS ran in the background.

    That is no longer possible! After a few minuts of playing, the gamma drops and everything is extremely dark. The only solution I found to this, is to restart NS (which sucks).

    Yesterday I played around a bit and found out the following thing: After the gamma was set to a low level in the middle of a firefight I got furious and pressed ESC 10-15 times very quickly. This had the effect that in a splitsecond those things happened ->

    1) Normal InGame screen -> game has DARK gamma
    *ESC*
    2) NS Menu screen -> game has DARK gamma
    *ESC*
    3) Normal InGame screen -> game has NORMAL gamma for a splitsecond
    4) Normal InGame screen -> game has DARK gamma
    *ESC*
    ad 2) and repeat.

    So after pressing ESC to return to the game, the gamma is set back to the correct value but for some reason immediately turned down. This happens so fast that it was impossible to notice until I repeated the process by hammering the ESC-key.

    So I think there must be a new bug that was introduced into NS/Steam lately. Why? Because my graphic card drivers didn't change for months.

    OR

    My graphics card drivers are the fault. Why? Maybe because Steam/NS changed something undocumented.

    OR

    Another application is conflicting with Steam/NS.

    Well, thats my 2c.... Anybody interested in testing it out and trying to find a solution? I'd love to play NS the way I did 2 weeks ago...
  • musicpetemusicpete Join Date: 2002-05-23 Member: 660Members, Constellation
    Big thanks to Nemesis Zero for taking care of things!

    Sorry to bump this, but its really annoying, having to restart NS every 5-10 minutes. Anyone found a solution already?
  • musicpetemusicpete Join Date: 2002-05-23 Member: 660Members, Constellation
    A tiny little bump and results of further experimenting:

    After upgrading to the newest ATI drivers for my Radeon 9800pro and installing the newest control panel software, I bound hotkeys to in-/decrease 3d-gamma. After that I played a few minutes of NS, until the gamma was set to zero. Using the hotkey kombination, I tried increasing the gamma but nothing happened. Yet, when I pressed ESC to enter the menu the screen became all washed out and too bright. It seems that changing the gamma didn't affect the ingame graphics, but only the 2D-part (even though I did NOT bind the keys to change the 2D-gamma).

    Another observation: Whenever the gamma drops, it is preceded by a slight hickup in the game low. I can't explain it better than this...

    * The game works fine and with smooth framerates
    * For a very short amount of time (0,3-0,8 secs) the game runs with fewer frames and feels sluggish, as if a program was loading in the background.
    * The game runs fine again, but the gamma went to hell.

    The phenomenon of it returning to normal brightness for a splitsecond and dropping again (on pressing ESC-ESC) is still happening. After I noticed that, I try reproducing it so there is at least one constant in this mess.

    My hope is fading, yet maybe someone will be able to pick up all the information and help me with getting rid of this problem. I'm getting **** off at gathering 40 res (in NS mode), only to have restart NS because I can't see a thing anymore....
  • sean6sean6 Join Date: 2004-05-19 Member: 28754Members
    edited August 2004
    I've got a Radeon 9800Pro (drivers are 4.6). i used to be able to set my gamma to high (in-game) and the game would be bright. but something must of happend a week or so back because now the game appears very dark, not pitch black but on certain map you cant see an alien when he's jumping towards you.
    im not gonna touch my gamma out of game because i simply dont want to chance damaging my monitor for just one game. if i cant find a solution soon i'll probably just stop playing. I also have a problem with NS crashing (just NS no other mods). i think this is also due to gamma related problems.

    oh well, just preloaded CS:S beta, looking forward to tomorrow <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
  • Wang TangWang Tang Join Date: 2004-08-18 Member: 30699Members
    Hi folks

    I got the same problem with the gamma..

    Soetimes it's fine when I join a server, but at the latest when I alt+tab out of the game and in again, it's dark as hell. Hope someone finds a solution for this, because this is just unplayable :S
  • musicpetemusicpete Join Date: 2002-05-23 Member: 660Members, Constellation
    Hi Wang Tang!

    What you describe is an absolutely normal srew-up with Halflife. Try pressing ESC twice and the gamma should reset itself. Or maybe an other of the solutions I mentioned (about 5 times already <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/biggrin-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin-fix.gif' /><!--endemo--> ) will work for you:

    * ALT-Tabbing to the desktop and executing "ResetGamma.exe" fomr the main nsp folder
    * Going to your video card's control panel and trying to reset the gamma there
    * Restarting NS (which sucks, to be honest)

    If not, then I feel sorry for you. You're in the same trouble I am in.

    On a positive note: I updated my drivers to the new Catalyst 4.8 which were published yesterday and the gamma dropping vanished. So it must've been a weird driver issue, since I now often have VERY HIGH gamma when starting NS (the menu backdrop is nearly white in the middle)!! I didn't even touch any controls or change any value! The only tings that help are the aforementioned ones...
  • sean6sean6 Join Date: 2004-05-19 Member: 28754Members
    yep same here-
    installed the 4.8 drivers and the gamma probs "appear" to be gone. lets hope it stays that way! (still got the crashing tho).

    <!--emo&::skulk::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/skulk.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='skulk.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--emo&::gorge::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/pudgy.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='pudgy.gif' /><!--endemo-->
  • Wang TangWang Tang Join Date: 2004-08-18 Member: 30699Members
    edited August 2004
    Thx for the suggestions musicpete <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
    somehow they won't work though (besides restarting.. <!--emo&;)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/wink-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink-fix.gif' /><!--endemo--> )

    edit: I just installed cat 4.8 and it solved the problem <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/biggrin-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
  • musicpetemusicpete Join Date: 2002-05-23 Member: 660Members, Constellation
    Yes my gamma problem also went out the window after installing Catalys 4.8.... Im starting to get mad at both NVidia and ATI for not being able to create something that works 100%. On the other hand, we're all human....

    However, now it sometimes happens that I don't have low gamma, but very high gamma after starting NS. Strange... Restarting fixes it, though.

    And the really good news is: whenever my gamma should drop ingame, pressing ESC twice resets it and everything is fine! I can also ALT-Tab out of the game and do some work while some bastard spawncamps for 10 minutes (carefully avoiding to hit the hive with even a single bullet) without needing to restart NS! Yeeha! <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/biggrin-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
  • JediYoshiJediYoshi The Cupcake Boss Join Date: 2002-05-27 Member: 674Members
    Hmm, doing all this stuff seems to be very unpractical. I've had an occational rant on ATI cards and all the problems I've been getting with gamma. Out of all my mods that restart gamma/brightness, SI isn't one of them, which I'm thankful for at the least.

    So, hotkeys and special tricks aside, anyone know of a program or a fix so that gamma doesn't reset?
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