Microsoft KB Archive/323435

= Dungeon Siege: Game performance is slower than expected =

Article ID: 323435

Article Last Modified on 1/7/2006

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Dungeon Siege
 * Microsoft Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna

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This article was previously published under Q323435



SYMPTOMS
When you play Microsoft Dungeon Siege, game performance may be slower than you expect.



RESOLUTION
To resolve this issue, use the following methods in the order that they are presented in.

Method 1: Install the Dungeon Siege Update
Install the latest Dungeon Siege Update. For additional information about the Dungeon Siege Update, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

324477 Dungeon Siege 1.0: Availability of the Dungeon Siege Update and the fixes included in the update

Method 2: Add a parameter to the desktop shortcut properties
If you set Bltonly to True, it forces blt mode instead of flip mode, which works around problems with earlier video cards.

Note If the slow performance does not occur when you try to save or start a game, skip this method and continue to method 2.
 * 1) On the desktop, right-click the Dungeon Siege shortcut, and then click Properties.
 * 2) Click the Shortcut tab.
 * 3) In the Target box, click the end of the line of text, press the SPACEBAR one time, type bltonly=true, click Apply, and then click OK.

Note This procedure only affects the performance of Dungeon Siege if you start it by using the shortcut on the desktop. If you start the game by using a different shortcut, such as the shortcut on the Start menu, performance is unaffected by this procedure.

Method 3: Check the minimum video, processor, and RAM requirements
Make sure that your computer exceeds the minimum video, processor, and RAM requirements that you must have to play Dungeon Siege. For additional information about the minimum system requirements for Dungeon Siege, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

320018 Dungeon Siege: Minimum system requirements for Dungeon Siege

Method 4: Raise the Dungeon Siege priority option

 * 1) Start Dungeon Siege.
 * 2) On the Main menu, click Options.
 * 3) Click the Game tab.
 * 4) Click the Raise App Priority On/Off button to the On position.
 * 5) Click OK.

This sets Dungeon Siege to highest priority in Windows.

Method 5: Edit video settings

 * 1) Start Dungeon Siege.
 * 2) On the Main menu, click Options, and then click the Video tab.
 * 3) In the Screen Resolution list, click 640x480x16.
 * 4) In the Shadows list, click None.
 * 5) In the Filtering list, click Bilinear Filtering.
 * 6) Click OK.

Note If this method does not improve performance, leave the modified video settings in place until you have tried methods 5 and 6. If none of the methods succeeds, you can restore the default settings, or select the settings that you prefer.

Method 6: Add parameters to the desktop shortcut properties
Setting Asynccursor to False disables the asynchronous cursor. This increases the frame rate but slows mouse response time. Setting Vsync to False improves the video performance.

Note You do not have to delete the parameter that you added in method 1 before you add these parameters.
 * 1) On the desktop, right-click the Dungeon Siege shortcut, and then click Properties.
 * 2) Click the Shortcut tab.
 * 3) In the Target box, click the end of the line of text, press the SPACEBAR one time, type asynccursor=false vsync=false, click Apply, and then click OK.

Note This procedure only affects the performance of Dungeon Siege if you start it by using the shortcut on the desktop. If you start the game by using a different shortcut, such as the shortcut on the Start menu, performance is unaffected by this procedure.

Method 7: Delete the saved game that is corrupted
If you experience slower than normal character movement in a saved game, the saved game may be corrupted. In this case, delete the saved game that you were playing when you experienced the slow character movement. To do this, follow these steps:
 * 1) On the Single Player menu, click Load Game.
 * 2) Click the game that is corrupted, and then click DELETE.
 * 3) When you are prompted to, click CONFIRM.

Method 8: Improve game peformance
For additional information about how to improve game performance, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

815069 Games: How to improve game performance

Additional query words: msgame performance speed

Keywords: kbprb kbconfig KB323435

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