First off let me start by saying I cannot wait to be able to purchase this software! Incredible job!

I have had a few hiccups using the latest version which mainly revolved around three things, and I wanted to reach out to see if anyone has also experienced?


1. Flicker - when mousing over an object sometimes, (background programs flash for a split second on the layout screen) I try to recreate the events leading to this but can't seem to do it. I know it happens a lot when working on a design for a decent period of time. Exiting the program and restarting it does not seem to fix. This seems to happen when mousing over the zoom/reset area or the object for the split second you are over it and the icons transparency is changing.

2. Screen completely dissapearing and toolbars only left. This seems to happen often as well. Same symptons, you can exit/save the project after the program is done doing what it is trying to do, but the screen is gone (only surrounding toolbars remain with jibber jabber /black on the design screen)

3. Freezing. I have had the program freeze my PC for about 5 times last night working on a model. Completely frozen. I believe it happened when I attempted to rotate the object or text. (not 100% sure, because it catches me by surprise everytime it happens.

The resource meters look OK when using the app, so I am unsure if it is a compatibility issue with Vista (I know a new vista icon is introduced so Im assuming its been tested)

Im using a Dell XPS 410 (Core 2 DUO E6600), 2 Gigs RAM, Vista Ultimate, Nvidia 7800 SE , in general the machine is a decent setup. I am also using a Gateway FPD2485W 24" widescreen 1920 x 1200 Resolution display.

Thanks much
C

I have had the app freeze on me only 1 time in the year I have been using it.
the freeze happend with the latest beta(dec28version). the model was pretty large in
file size, maybe it was a system memory error?

Not sure- I have been using both the Nov and the last Dec and only have experienced the freezes/hiccups with the latest ver. (Ive also been using it more with the Dec ver since I picked it up)

Hi Costas - thanks for reporting this, it sounds like it is video card related.

There was a change in the last beta to how textures were used on the video card to try and reduce the amount of memory used. Maybe that is not working well with your video card.

Can you please try editing your moi.ini file to change a setting that will revert it back to the old texture method, to see if that solves your problem?

To do this, run Notepad.exe and then open the moi.ini file which on Vista can be found here:
C:\Users\ [your user name] \AppData\Roaming\Moi\moi.ini

Go to the [View] section, and inside there look for an entry named "ForcePow2Textures" - if you don't have one under there add it as a new line, and set it like this:

[View]
ForcePow2Textures=y


Can you run with that set to y and let me know if it seems to solve your problem?

Thanks,
- Michael

Will do Michael, ill be able to try it out in a few hours , test and report back immediately.

hi Michael,

Just tried it. Froze again =( (while attempting to rotate the object)

FYI I use Carrara Express as per your suggestion as a renderer and have noticed that it changing the windows color scheme to basic when loaded. (had it running in the background this time) so I am not sure if this is a factor. (Hasnt been and windows is maintaing the color scheme correctly

Eeeek! Wait, I just noticed that

ForcePow2Textures=n is still in the list (I overlooked it earlier and pasted both a n and a y :P...testing again

OK I have tested it correctly and it still freezes during an object rotation in 3d =(

I completely redid a new model (differently) and I can confirm it has frozen the system along with the new ini change

Hi Costas, thanks for testing it. I am going to release a new patch soon, and I will just remove the new texture stuff entirely to see if that makes any difference.

Do you still have the previous Nov-18 beta on your system? (if not you can download it from here: http://moi3d.com/beta/moi_Nov-18-2007_setup.exe).

Is there any way for you to check it to confirm that the problem does not happen with that version at all?

That would rule out anything like a system update, and then I could focus on examining each individual change since that version, there haven't been all that many.

- Michael

Try reseting your video card options (if you have changed them in the past) as well as updating your driver (which I am guessing you already have done).
I am not getting any of the problems you speak off and I been using MoI a lot lately trying to finish this project. I am runing on Windows XP SP2 with an Intel R Extreme Graphics Card Chipset (Integrated crappy) has 32MB of memory.

On a chat with dell now, and downloaded a newer driver (Trying to rule everything out)

Ill give it a shot with the newer driver. I also think I still have the NOV version too and Ill test it with that

Thanks for the suggestion Val. This machine is pretty solid hence my confusion? Ill see if i can get it sorted (4 hours into it already sheesh!)

Still I love the program! Just want this bad boy to work on my machine :)

Thanks for all your testing Costas.

If the Nov one does work (with your current system), then I can start sending you some custom builds that have one change applied at a time, to try and narrow down what particular thing is causing the problem.

- Michael

So far I have been whacking the Dec ver with the latest nvidia update, insane sweeps, rotation after rotation, moving it all over the screen, with no freezing issues or hiccups. (about twenty minutes so far) so Im hoping that this may have solved it.

I did however keep the setting in the ini file as "n"

Im trying to cram in as much UAT / test case scenarios as possible. :)