Author Topic: Forcing AH to run in DirectX9 or 10  (Read 1770 times)

Offline Cluzig

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Forcing AH to run in DirectX9 or 10
« on: March 30, 2021, 07:04:55 PM »
To cut a long story I've managed to get a rig assembled for aces high. It runs AH better than expected on the Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT 512mb but keeps on crashing or mainly freezing sometimes with artifacts only with this specific card.

This is using a refurbished geforce 8800 GT or a spare old gt330 on which aces high is stable but low fps.

I think the maximum supported DirectX stuff could be the problem as the card supports DirectX 11.1. Even though it supports DirectX 11, the feature level is only 10_0, which can be problematic with many DirectX 11 & DirectX 12 titles.

Does anyone know how to get AH to run (I use steam)using an earlier version of dx? Any other ideas

Offline Drano

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Re: Forcing AH to run in DirectX9 or 10
« Reply #1 on: March 30, 2021, 08:55:52 PM »
There's a dx9.exe in the main folder. Just run it with that one.

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Offline Cluzig

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Re: Forcing AH to run in DirectX9 or 10
« Reply #2 on: March 31, 2021, 04:32:00 AM »
There's a dx9.exe in the main folder. Just run it with that one.

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I had no idea. Ill give that a try later thanks Drano

Offline Cluzig

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Re: Forcing AH to run in DirectX9 or 10
« Reply #3 on: March 31, 2021, 07:27:44 AM »
I don't see any executable file that looks to be dx9 related. I'm using Aces High through Steam, not sure if that makes a difference.

Maybe some command line parameters forcing dx9 or 10 will work but so far it's still crashing especially firing a ship gun.

The rest of the PC is much more modern and all runs fine with a different gfx card so i really think it's a driver or dx issue.
 


Offline Drano

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Re: Forcing AH to run in DirectX9 or 10
« Reply #4 on: March 31, 2021, 07:59:18 AM »
I don't have Steam so I don't know the folder structure exactly but as I understand it the only diff should be that instead of the game being directly on a drive in it's own folder its in something like a Steam/games folder. It should be in the aces high folder that has all the other exe files in it, the editors, ahfilm, etc. There should be two for the game that are either DX11 or DX9. I can't imagine Steam being different.

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Offline Cluzig

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Re: Forcing AH to run in DirectX9 or 10
« Reply #5 on: March 31, 2021, 11:35:32 AM »
I found a solution. I forced the exe and card to use directx 10.0 note 9 didn't work.
Im using a 2007 Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT 512mb a high end card for it's time and it's surprised me pleasantly despite being in my dungeon  maybe 10 years. 60 fps solid. 70 to 110 at low res.






Force a game to run a particular version of DirectX / Direct3D
So, for example, you got this game running in DirectX 11 mode, but the game also supports DirectX 9 + DirectX 10 but there's no way to change it manually? No problem, there's a simple way to enforce a particular version of DirectX for your old Graphics Card.

First of all, step into Settings -> Apps -> Optional Features -> Add a feature and wait for the list to load.
In case the list doesn't load in a few minutes, press CTRL + SHIFT + ESC to open the Task Manager, search for "Settings", end the task and repeat the step again.

Click "Graphics Tools" and select "Install", then go back using the arrow on top left of the window.

The feature will be installing, wait for the process to complete.

Once done, press Windows Key + R to open the Run window, type in
dxcpl
and press Enter.

In the "Direct3D 10/11/12" tab, click "Edit List...", then click the "..." button and browse for the main game executable, then click "Add" and "OK". You can add any executable you want to run with the same settings.

Once done, you'll notice that all the settings in the window are now clickable. Check "Device Settings" on bottom, tick "Disable Feature Level Upgrade", then choose any version you want next to "Feature level limit".
Make sure the version you're choosing is supported by the game, otherwise it won't launch. If the game gives a DirectX fatal error, you may need to use a different version. You can't force versions below 9.

Offline Drano

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Re: Forcing AH to run in DirectX9 or 10
« Reply #6 on: March 31, 2021, 11:40:23 AM »
Yeah but I'm tellin ya there's an exe for that already that'll run the game using DX9. Lots of people using it as they find it to be more stable. The DX11 version is prone to micro stutters on some systems. I get em too but just tolerate it.

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Offline Drano

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Re: Forcing AH to run in DirectX9 or 10
« Reply #7 on: March 31, 2021, 11:52:51 AM »
In my non-steam install it's :

C:/Hitech Creations/Aces High III/aceshigh9.exe

Just run that one. Bam. Done.

Not to be confused with aceshigh11.exe, that's the DX11 one.

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Offline The Fugitive

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Re: Forcing AH to run in DirectX9 or 10
« Reply #8 on: March 31, 2021, 04:07:08 PM »
In my non-steam install it's :

C:/Hitech Creations/Aces High III/aceshigh9.exe

Just run that one. Bam. Done.

Not to be confused with aceshigh11.exe, that's the DX11 one.

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I dont think you can do it if your running the game through steam. The desktop icon has the address of "steam/rungame/130984" which starts steam and then the game is started from there. Of all the games I have from steam, and there are not many, only one launches the exe from my computer, all the others launch from the exe being stored on the steam servers.

Offline Drano

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Re: Forcing AH to run in DirectX9 or 10
« Reply #9 on: March 31, 2021, 04:13:18 PM »
Ahh so then yet another reason to stay away from steam! Thanks for that Fugi. I knew somebody that had stream would chime in eventually.

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Offline Ack-Ack

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Re: Forcing AH to run in DirectX9 or 10
« Reply #10 on: March 31, 2021, 05:03:33 PM »
The executables for Steam launched games is located in the Steam folder under steamapps and then click on the common folder.  Steam games will have their own folder and if the Steam version has the DX9 .exe, that is where it will be located at.

Steam does not store the .executables on their cloud servers.
« Last Edit: March 31, 2021, 05:07:28 PM by Ack-Ack »
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Offline Cluzig

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Re: Forcing AH to run in DirectX9 or 10
« Reply #11 on: March 31, 2021, 08:39:19 PM »
Well I looked long and hard enough for any directx files and found little of use let alone the dx9 executable, I'm almost certain it's due to Steam and it's installation of AH.
I've managed to find a few ways of choosing between dx9 to 11. An executable would be nice however.


Offline The Fugitive

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Re: Forcing AH to run in DirectX9 or 10
« Reply #12 on: March 31, 2021, 08:56:42 PM »
Well I looked long and hard enough for any directx files and found little of use let alone the dx9 executable, I'm almost certain it's due to Steam and it's installation of AH.
I've managed to find a few ways of choosing between dx9 to 11. An executable would be nice however.

To test, you could download AH3 and install it. Once installed you could navigate to the Hitech Creations/Aces High folder and find both the aceshigh9.exe and the aceshig11.exe. Create a shortcut for your desktop to both of them. Then launch the game and run it in off line to test the setting in both DX9 version and the DX11 version. You may find no real noticeable difference between the two which will mean you need to look someplace else to see why your card struggles in Aces High.

Offline Drano

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Re: Forcing AH to run in DirectX9 or 10
« Reply #13 on: March 31, 2021, 09:21:16 PM »
There are no directx files. It's just a alternate Aces High executable that uses DX9. Search your Steam or steamapps folder for aceshigh9.exe. That's gonna be the file name.

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Offline Drano

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Re: Forcing AH to run in DirectX9 or 10
« Reply #14 on: March 31, 2021, 09:42:49 PM »
Per Steam:

"Go to the Steam installation folder, in Win10 it's "C:/Program Files (86)/Steam/steamapps/common"

The folder will have sub-folders with all the installed games. Most of the games will carry the original name while some might be abbreviated."



So I'm guessing from that it's in there somewhere. That was directions to find, backup and restore games.

I don't "use" steam for games but I do have it installed. I don't have anything in that folder but the apps directly related to steam. The only reason I have it at all is so I can use a third party app for IL2 that allows me to look around in VR kinda like TIR or also how AH works with a hat. It currently only works under the steam vr runtime. Aptly named NeckSafer.

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