snark

quote:SC: ...The FAQ contains a wealth of tips for addressing stability issues. You folks may want to, well, read it. I have read the FAQ several times. I've tried everything it suggests, and nothing has helped. Regarding the 2.3.1.1 nVidia drivers; I don't think they're responsible for the problems. The crashes were the reason I upgraded from 2.80 (?) in the first place. BTW, could someone tell me how to update my System Profile, so I can add my sound/etc.. driver info? -S(n)ark

I'm having ridiculous instability problems here. They seem to have compounded over the course of time that I've been playing. I'm lucky if I can run the game for an hour before a crash occurs. When that does happen, it usually corrupts my saved game. Often these crashes are CTDs, but sometimes they completely freeze or reset (!) my machine. I've started the game from scratch about 6 times now (deleted the old save and started a new similar career - Terran mercenary starting in the Zilon system with a Garid CC). It also seems like whenever there is a series of CTDs, my framerate goes down incrementally with each crash once I start the game again. So even when my computer doesn't freeze, I still have to reset the damn thing. I've made a point of shutting down everything in the background, installing the latest video drivers for my card, and disabling the music and other features (although I've got a pretty high-end plateform...) within the game. Nothing seems to work. I haven't had any problems with any other application or game, so I know there's nothing fundamentally wrong with my system. Can anyone give me some advice on how to improve stability? Are these common problems? It's driving me insane!!!!!!!!!! . -S(nark)

Yeah, that seems to work. Thanks for your help! -S

Well, now I _know_ I've registered, I've got my system profile info down there, and I still can't post on tech support. This is turning into quite the proverbial pain in the ass. -S

See, the odd thing is that I did fill out my system profile and everything. It said something like, "thankis for registering!" and brought me back to the main page. It doesn't seem to have saved my profile information. I'll try it again. Thanks. -S

Can anyone tell me why I've fully registered and I still can't post in the General Tech Support forum? -S

I've found beaming down marines to be almost useless unless you land them _very_ close to some hostiles and issue the SAD command. Otherwise, they tend to stand around motionless (this is after being "prepped"). Also,unfortunately, trying to beam them back up seems to force a quit to Windows most of the time (I'd be interested to know if anyone else has had this problem). I've taken to ignoring marine assaults entirely and just concentrating on OTS, atmospheric, and first-person strikes. -S

Does anyone know if there's a way to get planetary info (such as mineral richness) without docking at an orbitting station? It would be helpful for planets without star-stations (and moons, for that matter).

I suppose it does feel like more of a multiplayer-oriented aspect of the game (I think that will, by the way, be very, very cool when you roll it out). And in light of that, I can certainly understand the lack of time compression. Though I'd still humbly suggest packing opposing mission-zones a little closer together in future revisions -- for people who like more old-fashioned roll-in-and-fry-the-bastards-then-leave-before-they-know-what-hit-them stuff. Thanks for your replies!

First of all I want to say - critical controversy aside - that I think this is an immensely intricate, sophisticated and open-ended game; that's how I like 'em. Which is why I'm frustrated to no end by the fact that I'm having so much trouble taking full advantage of its potential. The space trading/raiding/exploitation/exploration aspects of the game are great - especially with entire navigable planets thrown in there - but I must say I'm at a loss as to what to do when playing the ground-based marine career track. I know there are no "missions" per se since Roam mode is the only available option. That would be fine if there was anyone to fight, but it seems like all you can do(especially if you haven't chosen to start with a vehicle) is putter around. Any enemy activity appears to be too far away to be realistically accessible. Once, in desperation for something to do, I started destroying my own base - but this didn't even provoke a response from my own comrades! I know about DJPs (I have thoroughly read the manual and online docs), but apparently the only way to use them to see any action is to beam yourself right inside an enemy base or city - alone - do some damage, and (if you're lucky) beam yourself back to your empty base. Is there any way to coordinate with other friendly units? Does the enemy ever attack your home base? Also, and forgive me if I've brought something up that's been posted to death; I'm new here, why isn't there any sort of time-compression for surface travel (or have I just been overlooking it)? I'm all for quasi-realtime stuff, but it seems a bit ridiculous to have to drive, or walk (!) literally for hours in order to raid an enemy base. It just seems like I'm missing something. If anyone could fill me in so I can enjoy this game as it deserves to be enjoyed, I would appreciate it. Thanks!