Braid vsync issue
Some users of high-end Nvidia cards on Windows Vista 64 and Windows 7 are having a problem where the game doesn’t sync to vertical refresh (they get visible tearing in-game).
I am going to put out a new version today that fixes this; but in the meantime, you can use this command-line option:
-no_vsync_test
(for example, adding it to the Braid shortcut) which should fix this problem in the meantime.
Another option is to set forced vsync in your Nvidia control panel.
If someone who has the problem can verify that the command-line option works to fix it, then cool.
April 10th, 2009 at 7:12 am
Good. Thanks)
April 10th, 2009 at 7:25 am
Yes. I have an 8800GTS G92 512MB, Vista 64 Ultimate. This command line option eliminated the obvious tearing in the scrolling perfectly!
April 10th, 2009 at 7:36 am
Works fine for me. Had the issue with GeForce 9800 GT on Windows XP Home Premium 32 bit.
April 10th, 2009 at 7:46 am
I’m having a problem with the demo, not related to the one mentioned above.
The demo installs regularly but when I try to launch it nothing happens. No error message, nothing. I have no idea why.
I tried the command-line parameters and downloaded from different sources but the demo simply doesn’t launch. Any suggestions? Does Braid use SSE2 or something? Because I’m using a rather old Athlon XP on this machine which doesn’t have support for this command set.
April 10th, 2009 at 7:48 am
Just a correction: I’m on Vista 32bit and I’m getting this issue on my 8800GTS. (So it’s not just Vista64.)
April 10th, 2009 at 7:50 am
That version of Braid does use SSE2 instructions (they came via compiler optimization). However, they are not necessary, so I am putting a new version out today that doesn’t use them. I will post when it’s updated on some download partners.
April 10th, 2009 at 7:52 am
Wow. That was quick. Thanks.
April 10th, 2009 at 7:54 am
Jonathan you are an awesome developer, thanks you for your time resolving the issues with the game. Can’t wait to buy Braid on Steam.
April 10th, 2009 at 8:00 am
Congratulations on the release! Any news on the Mac version? I’m trying to decide if I should buy now and run using Boot Camp or wait.
April 10th, 2009 at 8:02 am
Can you pls tell us where we can get this updated version i really wanna play your game i to have old athlon
April 10th, 2009 at 8:06 am
I will post when it’s available… it’ll take a few hours at least.
April 10th, 2009 at 8:08 am
Dude you rock i will keep an eye on this blog so that i can download as quickly as i can : ))
April 10th, 2009 at 8:09 am
I have an ATI HD3650 graphics card and I had the same problems. But the command line works! Thanks for making an excellent product!
April 10th, 2009 at 8:14 am
Does the PC version have a level editor? And if not, will you be releasing one in the future?
I’m really curious on this because I have Braid for the 360 already, but if a level editor is going to be released I’ll definitely be buying the PC version.
April 10th, 2009 at 8:20 am
Hi there, congrats on finally getting the game out on the pc.
Just tried running the demo of the game on Windows vista 64 and it gets to a box with some options such as register, buy game, run game etc. When i click run however it just crashes with some sort of a TODO error, i have an 8800GT 512 GPU i tried to force off vertical sync just on the off chance and still no joy. Is this due to the early release of the game or is it an incompatibility issue with vista 64. Will definately be looking forward to getting this game tho provided it works on my system, cheers.
April 10th, 2009 at 8:21 am
Awesome! My 8800GTS on Vista32 vsync issues were fixed by the -no_vsync_test option. Woo! Nice and smooth now!
April 10th, 2009 at 8:23 am
You guys playing the game already? I have been refreshing the Steam page for some time ….
April 10th, 2009 at 8:23 am
still can’t ordering the game trough steam?
April 10th, 2009 at 8:24 am
No Steam yet. The countdown is gone, and it says it was released today, but I cannot buy it yet!
April 10th, 2009 at 8:25 am
Julez: I’m looking into this one. However, that error message is not something that comes from Braid, so it might be related to Greenhouse. I would suggest trying the demo downloaded from Impulse or GamersGate. If the demo works, then that means you could get the game from that source and it would work.
April 10th, 2009 at 8:25 am
Steam hasn’t put Braid up yet, but I believe they will today.
April 10th, 2009 at 8:27 am
Finally!!!
Eagerly awaiting to finally download it via Steam.
It’s been a REALLY long time since I last bought a videogame but this one really deserves to be paid for.
Thank you!
April 10th, 2009 at 8:27 am
Thanks for the -no_vsync_test command line option. This fixed my tearing issue.
Now I only have a small resolution issue:
Braid refuses to run in the native resolution of my display, which is 1920×1080. The display says the selected resolution is 1280×800, which gives me ugly black borders around the image
Is there a way to change this? I already tried -width 1920 -height 1080, but that did not seem to work.
April 10th, 2009 at 8:29 am
Define TODAY
For me it’s already 9PM and I have been hoping to play it since this morning. Now the count-down is gone …. and I WANNA PLAY IT 
April 10th, 2009 at 8:30 am
Ok Steam removed it from the ‘coming soon’ section!
Should be up soon!
I would just like to take a second and say that I think it is silly that digital distribution works this way.
I always thought that one of the greatest advantages would be being able to download the latest new release at midnight, the day it officially releases.
I see no reason for this not unlocking at midnight last night.
I am still buying it, but I think the whole DD setup is kinda silly. I wish I could just send Jon the money directly and have him send me the exe.
April 10th, 2009 at 8:32 am
got mine through impulse, and it just does not work
keeps saying ‘braid.exe has encountered a problem and must close.’ tried changing the resolution/refresh rate but no luck. ive tried it on two xp computers and the same thing has happened
April 10th, 2009 at 8:34 am
Ugh steam needs to hurry up and release itttttttttt.
April 10th, 2009 at 8:37 am
So…how exactly does this -no_vsync_test thing work? I’m having problems and I’m kind of ignorant about all of this command line stuff. Could anyone help me out?
April 10th, 2009 at 8:41 am
Yep - still refreshng Steam and nothing X.x Where can we buy it?
April 10th, 2009 at 8:41 am
No Braid Steam yet…
I’ve been waiting since I heard word that there was a vague possibility of a PC release. Can’t wait.
April 10th, 2009 at 8:42 am
I want to buy it already….
I really like the Demo!..
April 10th, 2009 at 8:44 am
been watching steam all day…
wats going on?!?!
April 10th, 2009 at 9:09 am
I’m guessing they are releasing it at 12pm Pacific time.
April 10th, 2009 at 9:14 am
Thanks for addressing this issue quickly, Jonathan
April 10th, 2009 at 9:14 am
It says Braid is released on Steam, but there is no way to buy it or even a price.
Gah, I cannot wait. I played it on XBLA and I want it again!!!
April 10th, 2009 at 9:15 am
I am waiting for version that will work on AMD Athlon 2.2 XP
April 10th, 2009 at 9:26 am
21:04 pm in Barcelona. The F5 key is almost erased.
Funny thing is I already finished the game 3-4 times on my Xbox, but I have 2 friends waiting for their birthday present. So I’m going to pay for it 3 times. Is there any 3×2 promotion when you get Braid? XD
Also, congratulations Jonathan and the rest of the team for such a piece of art
April 10th, 2009 at 9:29 am
Man, where is the steam release?! I already beat the demo now I want the full game! Steam needs to hurry up and let me buy it!
April 10th, 2009 at 9:30 am
21:08 pm in Barcelona. The F5 key is almost erased.
Funny thing is I already finished the game 3-4 times on my Xbox, but I have 2 friends waiting for their birthday present. So I’m going to pay for it 3 times. Is there any 3×2 promotion when you get Braid? XD
Also, congratulations Jonathan and the rest of the team for such a piece of art
April 10th, 2009 at 9:54 am
Can you use a Logitech Rumble Pad 2 with this game Or does it ONLY support Xbox 360 controller for windows…. Because that will be a major bummer for me lol.
April 10th, 2009 at 9:54 am
Well, it’s 12.30 Pacific Time, so I guess that was wrong. Are Steam usually so crappy at getting games out?!
April 10th, 2009 at 10:00 am
Yeah. They release games according to Valve Time.
Link: http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Valve_Time
April 10th, 2009 at 10:02 am
JohnnyW: Are Steam usually so crappy at getting games out?!
Yes, I think every single game I’ve ever tried to buy through Steam on ‘release’ day has had issues (World of Goo, The Maw, Multiwinia…) with actually getting released; it never seems to happen at the time they say.
Why they insist on pissing off their customers like this I just don’t know. I’m heading to playgreenhouse.com to buy it now instead!
April 10th, 2009 at 10:03 am
Steam is probably the most reliable games service I’ve ever encountered, but I have no clue why they didn’t put Braid up yet.
Maybe they’re waiting for the v-sync thing to be fixed?
April 10th, 2009 at 10:08 am
I was really looking forward to coming home and buying the game today. Should I just wait until tomorrow for the Steam release or is it still expected to come out some time today?
April 10th, 2009 at 10:09 am
vsync should be fixed on the Steam version as soon as it goes live.
April 10th, 2009 at 10:18 am
Demoversion of Braid crashes to desktop with
AppName: braid.exe AppVer: 1.0.0.1 ModName: braid.exe
ModVer: 1.0.0.1 Offset: 00038dfe
Does this game requires SSE2 CPU ?
I have AthlonXP 2.2Ghz, it is not enough cpu power ?
April 10th, 2009 at 10:19 am
wow you read my mind Jonathan, I was just about to ask if there was a command line switch for exactly this!
Good news is that it solves tearing problems that occurred on my 8600GT windows vista 32.
April 10th, 2009 at 10:23 am
Jonathan: is there any reason you can see why Steam haven’t made the game available for purchase yet? I’d love to know why they consistently delay releases like this!
April 10th, 2009 at 10:26 am
Metallic: The initial release of Braid did use SSE2, but this was not necessary, so I have built new versions of the game and am sending them to the publishers today. When the Steam version goes live it should already have this fixed, so I would hope it works on your Athlon XP (however, I don’t have one so I can’t test this on my end).
April 10th, 2009 at 10:27 am
lee: I don’t know what is involved when Valve releases a game. Probably they are doing a lot of stuff!
April 10th, 2009 at 10:30 am
it’s after 4pm EDT, and the Steam page says it is “unlocked” but there is no buy button or price.
April 10th, 2009 at 10:32 am
-no_vsync_test eliminated vertical tearing completely, but I’m having some issues with framerate stutters.
Intel Core2 Duo 2.4GHz
4GB RAM
GeForce 9800M GS
Vista Home Premium 64-bit
And I think I’ll have to buy it, just because my laptop is a higher resolution than my tv. The PC demo jsut made me realize that if you haven’t played this game in high def, you haven’t fully experienced it.
April 10th, 2009 at 10:34 am
Jonathan should the new version you are sending delay steams release?
April 10th, 2009 at 10:47 am
I keep getting an error that says TODO: has encountered a problem and needs to close….This is happening on two different computers. Does anyone know how to fix it?
April 10th, 2009 at 10:49 am
The error says TODO: File description has encountered a problem….Sorry for the double post, I put the symbols around “file description” and it made it not appear in the post.
April 10th, 2009 at 10:53 am
NO! Just.. release the normal version on Steam and send an update LATER! We can only get achievements if we buy it through STEAM!
April 10th, 2009 at 10:54 am
I had the v-sync problem as well, on a GTX 285 under Vista x64. The command line fixed it.
Now I have to warp my head around World 4 somehow
On another note, I bought the game from Impulse, as it’s not available in Europe, for me at least.
Also, the money spent for your game are probably one of the best investments I’ve made in the last year or so
April 10th, 2009 at 10:55 am
Damn you steam! Why must you do this to us?
Still waiting for an answer on whether or not there is/will be a level editor.
April 10th, 2009 at 11:04 am
Nick: There is a level editor, though it is more of a thing for enthusiasts than an advertised game feature (i.e. don’t expect Little Big Planet).
April 10th, 2009 at 11:05 am
guys, where did you found the demo?
April 10th, 2009 at 11:05 am
Jon said before that a level editor would be difficult because of the way Braids levels are created.
I still hope we see one because it may be the only way we ever see more braid worlds. Jon has moved on to other things(although I hope one day he can find a reason to come back it Braid and expand on it. I think this is just wishful thinking).
Jeez Steam let me buy Braid plz.
April 10th, 2009 at 11:09 am
Well good to see that I wasn’t the only one having the demo crash because of that SSE2. I can see why developing for windows would be a giant pain in the keester now. So many freakin’ variables! Anyhoo, thank you Jonathan for keeping us in the loop and starting work on fixing it the moment you found out!
I will be a supporter of you for a long time to come.
April 10th, 2009 at 11:12 am
Steam got an update … the game will be released in 3 hours … still no price or other info
April 10th, 2009 at 11:12 am
Jon should the new release be in enough time for valve to release today
April 10th, 2009 at 11:12 am
Okay, now it says it will be released in 3 hores.
April 10th, 2009 at 11:15 am
Sorry, mispelled english guys. Three hours** to wait like it has been said.
April 10th, 2009 at 11:22 am
lolz they put the timer back up on Steam. Better than nothing. lol
April 10th, 2009 at 11:25 am
Lisa Brown, try setting “-windowed” command after the braid.exe in shorcut properties. At least worked for me. It is in window after that though, not full screen.
April 10th, 2009 at 11:27 am
Two hours until I can stop looping the fantastic demo.
April 10th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
I give up. Gonna go to bed, and hope for the best when I wake up. Good luck lads =)
April 10th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
Meh…. I purchase the game from the impulse website, it charges me, and then AFTER I ALREADY BUY THE GAME it says I must download their program to play it (it didn’t mention this anywhere in the checkout process).
Screw that! So I email them wanting a refund (and wanting to get the Steam version when it comes out)… and it turns out their customer service is “on vacation” through the weekend till tuesday.
Argh… so until then I’ve just download braid through more shady means till I can get my refund and buy the steam version. I’m not the kind of guy who likes to get’s their games this way at all, but really.. I’ve paid for it, now I just want to play it without needing another program that I already have and like better to bloat my PC, and don’t feel like waiting a week because of being conned by shady business practices from Impulse :\
April 10th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
Hi Jonathan,
Thanks for all your hard work on Braid; I really can’t wait to play it.
Unfortunately, I have a problem. I downloaded the full game tonight and I’m getting an “unsupported signal” error from my television. I’m running the game on a Sony TV at 1360×768. My graphics card is a Nvidia 7600gt. Does this have something to do with Braid’s forced resolution setting?
Also, I’m a little disappointed that it seems like I cannot use any of my gamepads for this game. I do not have a 360 controller for Windows. Is there a workaround for this or is it just not possible?
Thanks Johnathan.
April 10th, 2009 at 5:25 pm
I have an Nvidia 8400M GS graphics card. When I first ran Braid, it was extremely slow. Adding the -no-vsync option did not help, but forcing vsync on in the Nvidia control panel did.
Thanks so much for this great game!
April 10th, 2009 at 5:44 pm
I was able to start Braid once correctly and play it for a while. Now when I start the game, the screen is blank, I can hear the music, but all I can see are the arrow icons which indicate going through a door etc. It’s as if I can play the game, but I can see anything. The menu comes up fine when I press escape. And being that I’m in the main house, I can bring up the jigsaw pictures as well. But seeing Tim, and the rest of the background game…no.
ATI RADEON x800 (updated to latest drivers).
Latest directx 9.0c patch.
Trying a combination of different command line options did nothing.
April 10th, 2009 at 6:14 pm
An update to my previous message. The game now shows everything if I use the -no_post command line option.
April 10th, 2009 at 6:38 pm
If you use the -editor command line option and then press F11, the editor will open.
April 10th, 2009 at 8:34 pm
KorJax, Impulse is listed in the requirements for downloading and updating software on the their Braid page. Always read the requirements before purchasing any software.
http://www.impulsedriven.com/braid
April 10th, 2009 at 8:41 pm
My game was running in slow motion till I did the no sync thingy. Now everything is normal, kinda fast so I got to get used to it again… lol…
April 11th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
What can I say , the game is fantastic. Can’t wait to see what you guys come up with next.
April 11th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
There is a major tearing issue when running on all of my machines using high-end ATi cards in CrossFire or not. Seems that the higher the resolution you are running the game full screen in, the worse the tearing. My 1920×1200 display with two Radeon HD4850s in CrossFire had it the worse. My solution was to just run the game on my SDTV in a window or run it in a window on the machine itself; albeit, fairly small.
April 11th, 2009 at 7:43 pm
As a followup to my last comment, here is a guide to fixing vsync-related slowness issues with Braid and Nvidia cards: http://julianapena.com/2009/04/how-to-fix-braid-slowness-issue-with-nvidia-graphics-cards/
April 12th, 2009 at 9:17 pm
hey, I got Braid today and the vsync issue is still on the current steam build. (I’m running vista 64 with a geforce 9800GT 512) thankfully, this command line resolved it.
could you please tell me if there is any way to manually set the resolution, as the game seems to be running at 1280×800 on my 1440×900 display?
April 15th, 2009 at 12:48 am
This V-Sync fixed the screen flicker on my ATI 4850 with the latest patch too.
April 21st, 2009 at 4:13 am
OK, I tried to play the demo and suffered horribly from slow-down, then thought “ok, maybe fixes have gone into the full version”, so I purchased it, and lo, slow as treacle. Found my way here, have tried several things…
Now here’s what I’m running:
AMD XP 2800+ 64bit
NVidia 9800GT
4Gb RAM (though only 3Gb accessible because this is Windows XP after all)
But I’ve finally found how to get around it, so I hope this helps others that may have the same predicament. Open Task Manager, Processes, right-click on Braid when it is running, Set Affinity, and leave ticked only 1 CPU. And there you have it, instant speed.
I also set -30fps in the Launch Options, but until I set my affinity to a single CPU core no dice. Hope this helps someone.
April 21st, 2009 at 5:58 am
Kassidy: People with AMD dual-core CPUs seem to have this problem. If you download the AMD Dual-Core Optimizer it will solve this problem and you don’t have to revert to single-core mode. However, I will be looking into actual in-game solutions to this.
August 29th, 2009 at 9:19 am
wow, i didnt think nowadays 2d games need powerful systems, well it didnt work for me anyway
September 13th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
When I press “0″ it tells me that post processing is off. I understand by default post processing is supposed to be on, but in my case it’s turned off. So how do I turn post processing on?
September 13th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
Before starting up, the game spends about half a second rendering one of the heavier game scenes (off-screen where you can’t see it) and measuring how long it takes per frame. If it won’t hit 60fps, it turns off post-processing. You can skip this test by forcing a refresh rate on the command-line. For example, if you put -30fps on the command-line, you’ll get 30 frames per second with post-processing on.