AMD Releases Radeon Software Adrenalin 18.1.1 Alpha Drivers

[btarunr]

Making good on its post-New Year promise, AMD late Thursday released its first Radeon Software Adrenalin iteration for the year, version 18.1.1 Alpha. Being flagged "Alpha," these are very early drivers, the use of which are not backed by any warranties. They're not fully tested to work by AMD.

Version 18.1.1 Alpha addresses critical bugs that caused some of the older games to break following Adrenalin 17.12 release. The games, which are nearly a decade old, are AAA blockbusters which are based on the older DirectX 9 API. A number of older DirectX 9 games, such as EA's "Command & Conquer 3," "Command & Conquer 4" series, "Battle for Middle Earth 1-2," and "The Witcher Enhanced Edition" had simply refused to start following the 17.12 driver update. Grab the drivers from the link below.



DOWNLOAD: AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 18.1.1 Alpha

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[lexluthermiester]

Wow that was fast. Kinda proves AMD does care about the gaming community. Of course they are only alpha's, but it does prove they're working on things quickly.

 

[Caqde]

It isn't just old games that were effected by this bug the newest game to not work that I know of is Tales of Berseria (which likely also caused Tales of Zestiria and Tales of Phantasia to not work but I haven't checked) which was released last year (Jan 26th, 2017) on the PC and was also on the steam Top Sold Games of 2017 list during the steam sale. Thankfully this now works again maybe now I can finish the game.

 

[Fluffmeister]

Alpha drivers for DX9 games, it truly is 2018.

 

[RejZoR]

Alpha drivers for DX9 games, it truly is 2018.

Well, their statement of not fixing it was a cockup and they are trying to redeem by showing they are working on it. The initial statement was outrageous, but this release at least shows us they do care, but they need a huge slap first. They shouldn't have to be slapped to care about and fix such things...

 

[Vya Domus]

Alpha drivers for DX9 games, it truly is 2018.

Thank MS for this truly amazing API that still isn't dead after more than a decade and after no less than 3 newer iterations.

 

[Capitan Harlock]

Let's see if this fix Bayonetta too other that other games .

 

[Liviu Cojocaru]

Thumbs up AMD for the effort

 

[Kohl Baas]

Thank MS for this truly amazing API that still isn't dead after more than a decade and after no less than 3 newer iterations.

[sarcasm]Thankd MS for thir truly amazing operating system that cause rendom crashes and restarts with no visible cause.[/sarcasm]

To be honest what you described is not because of MS creating an amazing API, but because the long reign of X360 and PS3 holding back the whole gaming industry, smashing the monetizable need for a better API since those consoles used mostly DX9 features.

 

[bug]

Wow that was fast. Kinda proves AMD does care about the gaming community. Of course they are only alpha's, but it does prove they're working on things quickly.

I think this is more like damage control after the backlash caused by their initial statement. But if things start working again as they should, it's all good.

More importantly, has it been established why those DX9 titles stopped working? Because it's one thing if AMD axed some weird DX9 workaround from their code to cause this and an entirely different thing if they simply decided to release a broken version of an otherwise legitimate implementation.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Well, their statement of not fixing it was a cockup

A cockup from one low-ranking tech-support person with no real authority to either make such a decision, nor make a public statement about it on behalf of the company.

Thank MS for this truly amazing API that still isn't dead after more than a decade and after no less than 3 newer iterations.

Not that I disagree, but there very real reasons why DX9 has been around so long. 1; Windows XP. It's still being used even this long after it's official end of any level of support, and many of those systems are still being gamed on. 2; Because it been around so long, everyone knows it very well and it's easy to make games with as a result. 3; As a direct result of point 2, games on DX9 look and play amazing because the use of the API has been refine to the point of excellence that many games don't need to use the advanced feature sets of DX10, 11 and 12.

 

[bug]

A cockup from one low-ranking tech-support person with no real authority to either make such a decision, nor make a public statement about it on behalf of the company.

A technical support person (now sure where the low-ranking comes from - the guy's profile seems to indicate he's been active for a while) involved in community interaction is by definition of their role mandated to make statements on behalf of the company.

But, as stated above, I don't really care who said what. As long as the result is working drivers, I'm good.

 

[cdawall]

Wow that was fast. Kinda proves AMD does care about the gaming community. Of course they are only alpha's, but it does prove they're working on things quickly.

Not quite how that went.

 

[lexluthermiester]

A technical support person (now sure where the low-ranking comes from - the guy's profile seems to indicate he's been active for a while) involved in community interaction is by definition of their role mandated to make statements on behalf of the company.

How? That would be like saying a teacher has the authority to make statements of policy for an entire school district they work for. That's nonsense. Chain of authority does not work that way.

But, as stated above, I don't really care who said what. As long as the result is working drivers, I'm good.

Agreed.

 

[_larry]

Well, their statement of not fixing it was a cockup and they are trying to redeem by showing they are working on it. The initial statement was outrageous, but this release at least shows us they do care, but they need a huge slap first. They shouldn't have to be slapped to care about and fix such things...

Amen to that^. With all the "Money" involved in crypto-currency, AMD has lost track of their true purpose and followers. GAMERS.

 

[bug]

How? That would be like saying a teacher has the authority to make statements of policy for an entire school district they work for. That's nonsense. Chain of authority does not work that way.

So you're just assuming he pulled that answer out of his rear? I'm assuming he asked around before posting and that was the position of the company that was communicated to him at the time. I have no reasons to believe otherwise, because AMD themselves didn't state the guy did anything wrong.

 

[lexluthermiester]

So you're just assuming he pulled that answer out of his rear? I'm assuming he asked around before posting and that was the position of the company that was communicated to him at the time. I have no reasons to believe otherwise, because AMD themselves didn't state the guy did anything wrong.

Yeah but look at the time-frame. The statement was made one day, it got attention the next and the day after the officials who actually have the authority to speak on behalf of AMD set the record straight. Do really think some pee-on in a tech-support forum has the authority to act or speak on behalf of the entire company, or even just that division? Come on, you don't really think that, do you?

 

[RejZoR]

Amen to that^. With all the "Money" involved in crypto-currency, AMD has lost track of their true purpose and followers. GAMERS.

Just when they go their shit together with software and actually surpased NVIDIA in that department. Crimson control panel is million light years ahead pof NVIDIA's crap. It fires up in an instant, works smoothly and looks beautiful. Everything that NVIDIA's CP isn't.

 

[bug]

Yeah but look at the time-frame. The statement was made one day, it got attention the next and the day after the officials who actually have the authority to speak on behalf of AMD set the record straight. Do really think some pee-on in a tech-support forum has the authority to act or speak on behalf of the entire company, or even just that division? Come on, you don't really think that, do you?

I do, but let's leave it at that, because it's clear we both speak about our beliefs. Arguments won't settle this.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Arguments won't settle this.

True.

 

[cdawall]

I do, but let's leave it at that, because it's clear we both speak about our beliefs. Arguments won't settle this.

It is funny you say it that way since lex is wrong as per usual and is arguing from a side that doesn't know a single thing about the story. AMD would have left them unfixed, had this situation not come up. Just like they have been doing with games for a while now. There are efforts to correct that, but this batch of games would not have been fixed anytime soon had this not happened.