Layout Compared to 2.48 and GLSL

Support Basics & Interface
#1

Hi guys,

I have not used Blender for a while now and upgraded my PC since I last used it. I went on the Blender site and noticed the new 2.58 version. I doanloaded it, realised it looked way different from the previous version, un-installed it and downloaded the older 2.48 version.

However, none of the older versions seem stable, they are all buggy now for some reason :(.

So, it looks like I may need to consider 2.58. Are there any videos, explenations or reference points which go through the differences between the 2.4x and 2.5x range? This new version seems very different and I am struggling to understand where anything is any more.

Also, Is there an easy way to see if GLSL works on your PC? I was pretty sure you used to just select GLSL from the drop down ‘game’ menu, and if GLSL did not work on your PC it would tell you at that point. But, I have a laptop, which although is a good, new laptop, I didn’t think GLSL would work, but it allows you to select it, but when I try to do Texture Splatting, it doesn’t seem to work, so I dont think my laptop works with GLSL? I just get all three layers on top of each other (eg grass, stencil and dirt all combined).

#2

To find out if GLSL works, I had to research my vid card, by searching with terms like GLSL and manufacturer name. For some reason, even though I have a newer card I found that it was dumping off GLSL to the processor, but that in the current releases of the drivers I was able to use GLSL on the GPU alone. This turned out not to be true though, as it still dumps off all GLSL calculations to the CPU. Check the vid card maker for GLSL capabilities, if it has none or still performs bad, then you’ll have to work with mutitexture like I do for performance.

#3

This may help, but i’ve not watched any of those, the other tutorials will help on more specific tasks…

#4

Oh, last stable was 2.49b I think…

#5

Yes, 2.49 is very stable!

#6

Iv’e found my Blender Game Maker book with Blender 2.48 on a disc, so have now installed that with Python 2.5.4. Even that is glitchy though, so im thinking its my laptop im trying to use just doesn’t like Blender. It’s like the beginning load screen with the picture is always there when using Blender and sometimes when im clicking around, part of the picture appears in the Blender screen? Wierd, but I suppose I can accept it.

As it is a laptop (Lenovo G560, Windows 7, Intel HD Graphics, 3GB RAM, 2.53Ghz i3 CPU), I suspect that GLSL wont work, but it’s worth a try.

#7

And I suspect that your graphics card is, well, good for some office work, not for sophisticated technologies like GLSL?..
Bye