Blacks Ops, All M11x Revisions

I've been playing SP on the M11x alot. Probably half way through it as of now. I don't think it would be playable on an R2 without Throttlestop, which if I understand correctly, can't be utilized on the R1 CPU's.

I have yet to try the game on my Desktop SLI rig with my desktop I7 OC'd to 4.0ghz I'm curious to see if it has any issues with the game like others are saying.

I haven't played much MP but SP runs great on an R2 with the FSB set as high as possible and Throttlestop

Oh yeah Leviathin, don't worry. They'll keep patching the shiznit out of the code until it's fixed. Too much $$ in the franchise.

Unfortunately, with more and more console games being released unfinished and patched later to no complaint from the consumer, this practice is going to get so common it's going to become the norm I'm afraid unless you're Id or Bungie or Valve and have the clout to release the game when you feel it's ready.

Please keep in mind, as easy as it is to be mad at Treyarch, it really is the fault of the publisher. They control the financing of the game and they are more about the business side. They're the ones who force games to be released before their early so they can keep their marketing promotion deal with a McDonalds or a movie or whatever.

Trust me, the developers, the true creatives who make games because they're gamers and love them, always want more time.

They rarely get it, and most often the publisher releases the game before it's ready against the developers wishes and the devs scramble to do the best they can to get the code as bug free as possible.

And when the game comes out, who gets the blame? Developers. Developers and Beta Testers. Never the publisher who is really the one in it for the cash and not the creativity. Not anymore.

It's exactly the same as Movies, where if the movie bombs, everyone blames the Director, where anyone involved in the production knows the Director has an entirely different and much better cut of the movie - But it was the Studio Exec who insisted the film be cut into the piece of crap it is, and that's why it bombs. And who takes the blame? The Director who spent 15 years of his life writing the script and making the movie, only to make this movie and the final product isn't even his cut.

It's the same with Developers and Publishers. Devs are the Filmmakers, Publishers are today's agent and studio executive.

Oh, and when you play a game, and catch a bug and think "Why didn't the QA testers catch this??? Um, speaking from personal experience - Trust me, they did. And if it was anything like my adventures as a beta tester, they caught it and reported it daily for weeks and watched it go unfixed as the Devs scramble to fix the bigger game crashing bugs, and the tester keeps reporting it only to still see it in the final build because the Publisher insisted on releasing an unfinished product on it's scheduled release day.

Nowadays if a game doesn't make it's release date it's because it still has game crashing bugs that need to be taken care of, otherwise the Publisher would insist they'd just ship it and patch it later.

So if you want to be pissed at anyone over this latest Call of Duty game, be pissed at Bobby Kotick and Activision for forcing it out the door when the Devs wanted more time. Trust me, I've seen it first hand. At Activision

(And ironically, years back when I used to Temp at Activision, E.A. was the evil corporate publisher who didn't respect the medium and was always trying to gouge the gamer, while Activision was the passionate about games, talent friendly, good guy publisher. And now, as in today? They've completely switched places. Completely. Trip)

 

Very true, THX. What you're saying makes sense not only with Black Ops, but virtually all media on the market. Deadlines have to be met. Developers try their best to fix everything, but often only have the time to rectify major issues, and not minor annoyances.

Fingers crossed that Treyarch is hard at work to satisfy their customers. I still wish Activision accepted the circumstances and delayed the game a few weeks or months. EA did that with Crysis 2, despite how anticipated that game was.

Maybe Treyarch was asked by Activision to concentrate more on the 360 and PS3 platforms because they make up a larger percentage of sales. That would make sense when looking at the statistics.

Sometimes I wonder if the Infinity Ward debacle was due to Activision's failures.

 

I run a record label in the UK and I know from speaking with bands some labels hurry up the masters and just release a semi-decent master of the album.
Unfortunately without re-releasing the whole album you can't issue a patch as you can with a game so it rubs off on the label and band.
Impatience and money are nearly always what come first with people!

 

Exactly and exactly. You're %100 on your last two points.

Treyarch and most Devs focus on the consoles more and more to the detriment of PC gamers. The only genre where this seems to be the exception is the PC dominated MMO. If Bioware can make a Star Wars MMO and not make it feel like an MMO, but truly virtually living and adventuring in the SW universe with adventures that have real story arcs with a true ending and resolution and sense of completetion in the overall narrative, then not only will I be all over that as a FPS heavy, non-MMO, gamer-

But it might be the title that revitalizes the PC market.

And your final point is exactly right. Activision's managerial direction of becoming less talent/developer friendly and more concerned with quarterly profits and corporate bottom lines is exactly what drove Infinity Ward away.

It's the videogame equivalent of those boy bands who made millions of dollars singing and dancing, only to grow up broke and never see a dime earned from their creativity because the skeezy pedophile manager who did nothing but pay for the studio and recording space and book the concerts, has pocketed all the money, profits and royalties and gets away with it because they Hustled the band when they were little kids into signing their life away on that very same contract.

That is exactly Activision and Infinity Ward, and IW got out. And you know they're mad at their former publisher for not appreciating their talent. Never underestimate the creative drive generated from getting abused and then ripped off by your former publisher/manager/boss

Expect whatever IP/Game that Infinity Ward comes out with will be a franchise/game/engine that will just blow the work they did on COD out of the water. Trust me, they want nothing more than to create a game so dope that they're going to draw every player that is into CoD and just sink that franchise. While I'm stoked for CoD: Space Marines, I know that whatever IW comes out with is just going to be so fly, it'll just destroy their former creation.

Which is what all good artists do when they don't get fairly compensated for their previous work from the buyer/financier. So good for them. I hope they succeed.

That being said, Black Ops SP campaign is one of the best, so far, in the series in my inconsequential opinion

 

1. R2 model with the specs in my sig
2. Crashes and black screens
3. 257.30 Dell driver, 258.96 Nvidia, currently running 260.99
4. Medium details, Ansio at 16x via Nvidia Panel, AA off -or- 2x, corpse count low, all others at auto

Figured I'd report back now that I've had a while to try things out after picking it up. First I was getting nothing but black screens on load but fixed that with the .inf mod fix posted earlier. I have tried all of the .inf mods posted in different combinations and different combos of cpu(stock to 160) and gpu(stock to 550linked/875) overclocks as well and continue to have the game crash right as the talking begins after I select to start a new game. The in game fps meter shows no dips below 30's but it continues to freeze and crash right as it starts to load the game over and over again. Any suggestions please?

Edit: Forgot to post that I'm using Tstop as well to up the TDP/TDC

 

I don't think it's a cpu issue, the engine it's the same of Mw2, r1 and r2 can run this game very nice, the problem it's the code of this game that it's very poor optimized, and the next patch will fix a lot of issue.
The real problem it's the pc market of gaming, you can't sell a game that it's clear you never tested, all pc users that i know have a terrible performance problem, people with i7, people with q9500 and gtx260 that can play only at 800x600 with minimal dettail...
When will be fixed maybe i'll buy it, but it's not the only one that have severe bug, Fallout New Veagas it's the same, and also f1 2010...

 

Going off topic, F1 2010 had this amazing patch recently and it's playable with high settings and a bit of AA. Before, I could only play it with low-medium settings.

Here's to hoping Black Ops will see some massive improvements, too. Codemasters took a few months to really fix F1 2010, so I wouldn't be surprised if Black Ops took a while, too. It's frustrating since Call of Duty 8 (by Sledgehammer Games) will probably be released in November of next year and we might only have like eight months to play Black Ops properly.

 

Reminder Folks.. if you see my sig, we now have a dedicated server: AlienWare Army Tactical TDM HC Server. It's located in the Texas Area. Would love to see the Notebook review folks out their playing. If anyone has a desire to be an admin please let me know. All notebook review forum members are encouraged to play. It's HC TDM Deathmatch right now but we can change it if we get requests to do so. The clan tag I have right now is M11X ... nice right!

I hope this post isn't illegal, so Bat you have my apologies up front if this breaks the rules.

Best Wishes, StevenX

The small print... the server was not started by notebook review or affiliated with notebook review. Any communication or gameplay within said server is not in any way the views or opinions of notebook review forums.

 

I havent try playing stuff without TS since the day I started using it. It's pretty much something that cant be miss for m11xR2 owners. Anyway back on topic. Just got hold of COD:BO recently. running on 260.99 drivers atm. I have not tried MP yet. But so far in SP it runs great for me. No OC on anything only TS enabled. my game settings as follow. 1366x768. FSAA=Off, Frame Sync=Off, Aniso=Auto, Texture=Extra, Shadow and Bullet Impact=On and Corpses=Small. It's definitely playable for me at this setting on my setup and fps range between 30-50+. Hardly see it dip below 30 even in the most chaotic scene.

 

Well I found this fix a few days ago, might as well share it with you guys. This helped me alot, now I can play it on extra and with Anti Aliasing on very playable (everything is off tho, shadows etc)

I btw have the R1 SU7, 4 gigs of ram, everything default (didn't even start gamebooster)

I just frapsed it, getting a solid 35 fps, occasional drop to 26 with 18 people running around.

Hey guys, thought id share this quick fix with you that i came up with it really fixes alot of the fps issues

Ok I have uploaded them as .cfg as too many people had trouble converting it so here are the links for the two files.

config.cfg-> config.cfg

config_mp.cfg-> config_mp.cfg

Like I said before:

1. Backup your two files just incase, this should not do anything other than good but its good to take precaution.

2. The file path for the two files that need to be replaced are found in your steam folder. Once inside the steam folder navigate to the files like so SteamApps\common\call of duty black ops\players. You should see two files with identical names as the ones I uploaded, backup those in your players folder and then proceed to replace the two files with the ones downloaded, so in the end you should end up having just the downloaded configs in the player folder with the originals backed up in some random folder of your choice.

Peace, Report back if it works or ur problems n stuff

Also, for the people asking what i have actually done, this is going to sound weird, but what i did was i took the MW2 config file and edited it so it is compatible with black ops, thats why if you do use this config file you will notice that using the spy plane is the default button of 4 on the keyboard instead of 6. Anyway this really does fix the issue of stuttering and fps issues.

I was playing this game on 800by600 with low settings, shadows off etc. even though i could run mw2 perfectly, after i applied these files, i run it now max resolution, max everything. so give it go, you have nothing to lose cheers

 

The new config increases my fps (usually up to 60) during the scripted scenes, but during actual combat, it still stays in the mid-20s. :| I just tried Operation 40 and it didn't really help with the part when the cops attack the bar and you blow them up GTA-style with the tube.

Pretty ambitious though, but even the most subtle improvements I appreciate. So thanks anyway.

PS. I lol'ed when I had to press the Control key to crouch. Then I had to press Z to go prone. I'm guessing you're used to the Crysis layout?

 

Just tried COD BO here and I get 30-32FPS on medium or 40-46 FPS on Low via 1024 x 768

Easily playable here

Playing it on my laptop online MP while sitting in starbucks atm its great this is with R1 using the second update drivers from Nvidia.

 

I got it working on my r2 pretty easily just disabled vsync in the Nvidia control Panel global options. runs fine with max textures and field of view at a rez of 1920x1200

Nvidia driver version: 259.22
rig: M11x i7 8GB ram 500gb HDD 335m gt video

 

Any fps benchmark? And does 8GB of RAM make a difference?

 

can you tell me which update ?

 

Steam would have downloaded this update automatically.

 

I know that , but he said "the second update drivers from Nvidia"
I think these updates are different.

 

Could someone explain to me the benefits of adjusting the "Depth of Field" settings? I am at work so obviously can't try it out.
Thank you all.

 

Here is a quick video I made on how to Optimize the m11x using all the methods I have read thus far.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHCRFJgip5Y

 

will updating the sound driver increase my performance?

 

Good Job Deevu! Best Wishes, StevenX

 

after today's patch game seems to be smoother for me. I did not apply any of the "optimization" recommended in this post. In fact before the patch I did try some of the stuffs it seems to run worst for me. So I reverted back to default. Now its possible for me to play the game smoothly without shuttering in 1366x768. FSAA=Off, Aniso= Auto with slider to Max, VSYNC=Off, Texture=Extra, Bullet Impact=On, Shadow=On, Corpse=Small. Game is perfectly smooth for me in this setting. Just finish the SP today too. And try MP for the first time. I kept all settings the same as I do in SP as for the Depth of Field=Slider to Max. Its running smooth for me as well in a TDM Ranked match. Tried 2 games on different maps they perform extremely well.

As for my system setting. My Intel Driver use is 8.15.10.2226 with Nvidia driver 260.99. No OC for CPU and GPU only with TS enabled. So I think right now its completely playable for R2 users already.

 

Not sure why my one's not patching...I've restarted Steam.

 

it auto patch for me when i started steam

http://store.steampowered.com/news/4681/

 

Is it just me or is anybody still laggy after the patch.. ?
The only thing I followed was misterb's config replacement. It got better.. but still very laggy on SP.

Not trying to OC my r1 ..
playing on 800x600 , windowed mode, AA off, No Vsync
Texture quality Low. Shadows Yes, Bullet Impact Yes, Number of Corpses small. Texture filtering automatic.

Running on Game Booster, Set My Avast AntiVirus Scanner to Silent/Gaming mode and on low priority.

Deevu's youtube video got removed.
I pretty much redownloaded the whole game today. So it should've came with the recent update. I even restarted steam to make sure.
Did I have to update a video card or something?

 

Why did his video get removed? StevenX

 

copy right issues?

 

I haven't read the whole thread so maybe you have a reason but, usually running in windowed mode is a bad idea. It is more likely that other programs also running will take cpu priority from the game and slow it down.

Also running at 800x600 will only stress your cpu and not your gpu so its possible that you could get the exact same performance at a higher resolution if you gpu is not taxed...

 

Hrm, I'll try setting back the resolution.
will update in a bit --

 

I re-uploaded the video. It should be good to go now. Lets hope there are no issues now.

On a side note, i think the issue is with the GPU hitching. They've said they have found numerous GPU's that are hitching during gameplay. I am pretty sure that out GT335m is in that category.

 

Here it is: YouTube - M11x - R1 and R2 - Optimizing For Call of Duty: Black Ops - Part 1 (Optimization)

 

nice! Thanks!
I guess I have to OC for the smooth gameplay. (for now)

 

SmoothER gameplay. Unfortunately, It will not be smooth until they fix the GPU hitching.

 

Hey all new to the fourm and one thing I noticed was that the GPU utilization in black ops was choppy and I was thinking this is a DX11 thing again.. I am going to try and run it in a different DX and see if the game play is better

 

Black Ops is DX9, unfortunately. You'd think that it could've been DX10, DX9 is so last year.

 

i am not sure how true this can be. but given that R1 and R2 has same GPU. it then really dont give any reason wny its smooth on mine but not on others. if you read my last post you could see what kind of settings i have in game. i think in the worst case i still get around 25fps. but 80% of the time its between 30-50+ be it SP or MP

 

so should I get this game? hehe

 

God this is so annoying. I resume campaign, get through a couple checkpoints, and then the lag fest begins. It's really weird since it'll be running smooth for a while and then all of a sudden it starts lagging and doesn't stop.

You would think it's because of what's going on on-screen but that's not the case since I have smooth gameplay in huge battles and then lag in normal situations. I've read every post in this thread and tried every optimization tip but I simply can't achieve consistent smooth gameplay.

 

Personally, I would wait for them to release their next patch. It should solve the problem.

 

What you have described sounds like a memory leak. When the "lagging" starts to happen try opening up task manager and seeing how much memory BLOPS is using.

If it very high then it is a memory leak, if it is a normal amount (around 1GB) then it must be something else.

From reading around the web BLOPS seems to ape Crysis in many ways. Some people can run it without a problem yet others are having all sorts of trouble.

It is very odd though as COD4, COD4 MW2 and World at War all run well on the same engine as BLOPS.

 

@All -
1. engine is NOT exactly the same as WAW.
2. steam support forums, the players are talking about completely disabling sound (in operating system/bios) makes the game smooth with no stuttering or lag. (Can you guys try this please?)
3. If disabling sound removes stutters maybe it's either (Not enough processor to include sound, or the sound coding in game is bad).

Thanks, StevenX

 

Tried it, made the stuttering slightly more tolerable but it was still present (although since the update my m11x's performance on black ops has went from tolerable to abysmally poor)

 

About the GPU hitching, can someone open EVGA Precision or a similar app to see if GPU usage is at 100%? Or can someone check for GPU usage spikes?

I'd do it myself but I just did a clean install of Windows 7 and download speeds here in the Philippines rarely go over 50kbps. D:

 

The frame patch came out long time ago. My m11x r2 ran smoothly with all high and it is running even more smoothly after applying the patch but that was when I already finished the campaign...

 

It looks like this is the case since the memory for blackops.exe is exceeding 1 gb (sometimes it reaches up to around 1.7). Is there a fix for this?

 

I do use purple and ill try running msi afterburner for 1 match.

 

Followed this guide and now its playable again



although, I don't get how turning cinematic volume down helped get a performance boost but it did :S



Maybe im just getting old and technology is bound to become moar confusing.

 

Either that or programmers are getting sloppier with their code.

 

Disabled SRS in Realtek HD Manager, decreased ingame volume (each slider) by half... and yay, no more random stuttering and horrible fps drops. Everything runs smooth (well, at least in MP).

 

All I did was disable shadows in the game menu and I've had stutter free MP for awhile now.

It's really nice to be playing a good MP FPS finally on this thing.

Although we're near the end of November and where is the 265 driver?