Castle of Illusion - bad port

[Jinx 2]

I'm a little behind on knowing how to add wiki info, but I'll share this here since it might at least give someone else a start.

 

Steam Store Page

 

So far it's looking pretty crap.
 
31fps framerate cap

(some people are reporting other odd framerates, such as a 24fps cap when using hdmi to their television)

(possible fixes to get sub-30 fps to 30 here and here)

 

720p rendering, even when you set it to 1080p in options
(it just upscales; my screenshots are 1280x720)

(possible resolution to this via a registry hack; see Update 1 at bottom of post)

(running windowed works properly, see Update 2 at bottom of post)
 

No anisotropic filtering. (at least it doesn't look like it in the 3D areas)

 

In-game anti-aliasing is poor. (might just be the low resolution, though)

(Anisotropic Filtering and FXAA can be forced via RadeonPro (HD6870) and thus likely via other video card control panels.)

 

Input Lag Issues.

(game seems to have lag and microstuttering issues- similar to FEZ before there was a 60fps hack for that game)

(running windowed seems to fix the lag for most people, despite the framerate staying the same)

 

Saved Game Location.

Games appear to be stored in an oddball location:
C:\Steam\userdata\______\227600\remote\metagame.dat

(not an issue, just an fyi) (source)

 

No icon in Steam in either Detail or List mode.

 

 

I am trying to find a way to fix the framerate at least, but no luck so far. I don't see any config or save files in either the game install directory or My Documents areas. However, there is a file here in its userdata folder that might be of use (227600 is its Steam number, you'll see it in the store page's URL):
 
C:\Steam\userdata\______\227600

 

and the file is

 

remotecache.vdf

 

Inside it (opened using Notepad++):
 

"227600"
{
    "metagame.dat"
    {
        "root"        "0"
        "size"        "1752"
        "localtime"        "1378339897"
        "time"        "1378339896"
        "remotetime"        "0"
        "sha"        "d39b08559673daee6f668821972119ab080d4aed"
        "syncstate"        "3"
        "persiststate"        "0"
        "platformstosync2"        "-1"
    }
}

 

 

I tried modifying syncstate to 0 and 1 so far, with no effect. Also, it seems to reset this file if you don't set it to read-only. So this file might be a dead end, I dunno. Also possible there is another config file hidden in some oddball place. Or we could just be screwed...

 

Anyway, that's what I've got so far, hope it's useful to someone. Otherwise the game is lovely, but the framerate especially is really bothering me. Not playing it until this crap is fixed.

 

 

*UPDATE 1*

 

*Confirmed that AF/FXAA can be forced (see edited entry above)

 

*Someone found some registry settings that appear to control resolution and some other settings.

 

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SSA\COI]
"Subtitles"=dword:00000000
"AntiAliased"=dword:00000001
"FullScreen"=dword:00000001
"ScreenResIndex"=dword:0000000c
"Quality"=dword:00000000
"PostProcess"=dword:00000001

 

"15 as decimal in the screenres section gives 1920x1200 for me ,and 16 gives 2560x1440(for my setup)"

 

I'm guessing some other number should get us 1920x1080 etc. but I'm too burnt out to figure it out tonight :)

 

 

*UPDATE 2:

 

Strangly, the game runs properly at the selected resolution in windowed mode. So if you want native 1080p, that's one way around it. I have confirmed that this works; I'd also note that the game "felt" better at 1080p for some reason, despite fraps still showing a framerate of 31. Less lag or microstutter maybe? I took a screenshot of the game at 1080p w/ AFx16 and FXAA forced via RadeonPro, it looks gorgeous with these proper settings. If you want borderless windowed, you can reportedly use this tool with the game, effectly giving you a proper fullscreen native 1080p experience.

 

Added Input Lag to issues above, with one solution to it (run windowed).

 

 

*UPDATE 3:

 

Added links to possible solutions for people stuck at sub-30 framerates above.

Added savegame location.

 

 

*UPDATE 4:

Added lack of icons in Steam to problems.

[Andytizer 269]

Thanks for this Jinx, I'll start working on getting this information in :).

 

Would be great if you could post screenshots of the settings menu too, this is a standard for us.

[Jinx 2]

I am heading out for a few (I require coffee...), but I'll take those shots when I get back if you haven't gotten to them yet.

[LDK 9]

Added to article. Could you please check, if everything is OK? I don't have a copy so I can't verify anything and I could have interpet your information wrong.

 

http://pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Castle_of_Illusion

[Jinx 2]

I took GUI screenshots and some others, and added a note regarding what they offer and don't. The pics should be appropriately named as well.

 

Since there were quite a few I zipped them and uploaded them to my own webspace:

http://cryotank.net/uploads/castleofIllusionshots.zip

[Jinx 2]

Added to article. Could you please check, if everything is OK? I don't have a copy so I can't verify anything and I could have interpet your information wrong.

 

http://pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Castle_of_Illusion

"Every resolution is upscaled from 720p. See Widescreen resolution for a fix."

* I can only confirm that when I set it to 1080p fullscreen, my screenshots came out 1280x720. I didn't get to try other combinations of resolutions. There are some sub-720p resolutions as well, not sure how those would work out?

 

Anisotropic Filtering: Not "impossible". It is not offered in-game, or enabled as floors are very blurry in 3D parts. However, it can be forced via your video card (worked for me, at least). Note that while this is mostly a 2D platformer, the graphics are 3D polygonal and there are a few fully 3D sections so far.

[Newmansan 30]

I've already added the video settings pic to the article.

[Jinx 2]

Why the registry setting hack for anti-aliasing? It's already selectable in the video options menu. Does it improve the AA beyond what the setting offers? Because I didn't feel the game's own AA was very good, doing it via my video card seemed better.

[LDK 9]

 

Anisotropic Filtering: Not "impossible". It is not offered in-game, or enabled as floors are very blurry in 3D parts. However, it can be forced via your video card (worked for me, at least). Note that while this is mostly a 2D platformer, the graphics are 3D polygonal and there are a few fully 3D sections so far.

 

If it is not part of the menu nor can be set natively, then it is red cross (false in the wiki code).

 

 

Why the registry setting hack for anti-aliasing? It's already selectable in the video options menu. Does it improve the AA beyond what the setting offers? Because I didn't feel the game's own AA was very good, doing it via my video card seemed better.

 

Registry hack for AA was already part of the article. I don't have a copy so I can't verify quality of AA.

 

Feel free to edit the article by yourself. It is not particulary hard and you don't even need an account. Just keep it clean and easy to read. If you need help with a proper wiki syntax, please look at cheat sheet at Sample article, or some of our larger articles like Fallout NV, Metro Last Light or Tomb Raider.

[Jinx 2]

Okay, I might add a few basic things. Now that it's partly filled out, I have some reference for how to change things :)

[Jinx 2]

Okay, some confusion here. I decided to see if capping the fps to 30 (vs the unusual 31 I was getting) would fix the lag. I also set the refresh rate manually to 60hz (this is all using RadeonPro). Seemed to help the lag... and also... the game is now running native 1080p fullscreen. I reset RadeonPro's settings, then restarted the game... and it's still native 1080p...

 

Maybe switching to windowed at least once triggers/changes some setting that makes the fullscreen resolution display properly from then on? Or temporarily changing those video card settings did it? I'm really not sure how to even check this.

 

Anyway, sorry for the rambling and whatnot. Hopefully someone else with the game will be able to finish what I started, though I'll keep my eye out for anything else useful.

 

EDIT: One more thing; the game has no icon in Steam in either Detail or List mode. Not sure where that would go in the Wiki page.

[Tarekmallo 0]

The game is mediocre and poorly optimized as it is a straight console conversion.