Dungeon Siege II   v2.2 / v2.3
File Update: System_Detail.gas
 

May 2015: Please note, this page is intended for Dungeon Siege 2 only.
However there is also a variant of this page for Dungeon Siege 1.
 


Technical background: To start the game in a working graphic mode Dungeon Siege 2 is using a list to look up the settings how to run your graphic card.
This list is content of the file 'system_detail.gas' file that is stored in your DS2 game folder. However with a new graphic card this file may become obsolete - thus let's create a new file here!

 
For older graphic cards:
If DS2 isn't recognizing your (newer) graphic card then try first this pre-made system_detail.gas file that supports most desktop graphic cards shipped between 2005-2007 from ATi, Nvidia and Intel.
 
 
 
 
Help, it still doesn't work!
Probably the pre-made file from above won't contain your graphic card because your hardware is even newer or maybe less mainstream-like, then a custom file version for the own graphic card is required.
You can do this yourself by the following 3 steps.

 
 

Step 1: Explore your graphic card.

We need some specific information about your graphic card, namely the 'vendor id' and the 'device id' of your graphic card.
Depending on your Windows version you can find this out with help of the system information tools.
     
Alternatively you could download DeviceID.exe (29kB).
This tiny tool was made by ATi but it works for most other manufacturers too and will give you the ID data required:

Please note, this tool only can find one graphic card/chip, so if you have multiple GPUs in your computer, it may happen that the ID data of your favourite one won't be listed. However via the Control Panel your Windows can tell you these IDs as well.		  

 

Step 2: Fill in the collected data.

Although it's not that difficult to update manually system_detail.gas this site can do this for you.
If you have a newer graphic card then keep the shadow/shadering/render settings as preset.
                   
Vendor/manufacturer data:
  Vendor's/manufacturer's name
  His Vendor ID, eg.  0x1A2B   ...enter it here ===>
 
Garphic card data:
  Name of your grapic card
  Its Device ID, eg.  0x0123   ...enter it here ===>
 
Settings for the game graphics:
Should shadows be enabled by default ?  
Should simple/fast rendering be used ?  
Should shaders be enabled by default ?  
Should normal shader processing be used ?  
Should advanced shader processing be used ?
The advanced shader processing in this game may not be compatible with newer graphic cards. So try to uncheck this option in case of invisibility matters (like invisible monsters).
If needed you should deactivate the advanced processing here, because even if 'none'/'no shaders' is selected in the option menu, parts of this advanced processing would be active nonetheless.		  
Discard the swap-effect (affects image buffering) ?
Better disable this check-box with (newer) ATi cards or if other new/unusual anti-aliasing techniques are inbuilt.		  
Skip partially alpha blending for effects ?
This should be enabled with (older) Intel graphic chipsets, otherwise it's recommended to leave this check-box empty.		  
 
Screen Resolution: (optional)    ×
What is your resolution while gaming?
Natively DS2 only supports resolutions with a ratio of 4:3 or 5:4, anything else you have to define as start parameters (you also can add this in the 'DungeonSiege2.ini' resp. 'DungeonSiege2BrokenWorld.ini' file inside 'My Documents\My Games\Dungeon Siege 2 [Broken World]').

 
 

Step 3: Replacing the old file.

Open now the DS2 game folder and backup and remove the original system_detail.gas file.
Its location may vary - a file search may be needed to find it.
Thenand save it inside the game folder.


That's all. Good luck & enjoy the game!