Misc Tech Support Issues II

[Urza]

I thought that old saves are still valid. Whenever I try to load a save from 1.0.01, I get an error message or a CTD. However, saves from the new beta version still work.

Does anyone know what could be causing this?

Something that I have learned over the years - no matter what the SC may say - new patch = new game. I always delete all saved games after applying a patch - even if they are not deleted after I apply the patch(es).

Why? Force of habit from v1.x days

This is a small price to pay IMO.

TTFN

[ 12-01-2001: Message edited by: Gallion ]

[Nesborn]

It seems all my games come to a slow, wasting degredation of stability. I'm able to play for about an hour before I crash, but that's no biggy at first. But then I notice that when it crashes again, it crashes about 45 minutes in. It keeps going, until I can only stay in a game for a few seconds before getting a CTD. Starting up a new game repeats the cycle anew. (This has happened to two games so far)

[ 11-30-2001: Message edited by: Nesborn ]

[Roberto]

quote:

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Originally posted by Supreme Cmdr:

They have auxiliary power cells

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How long do the power cells last? I left the game running for 1 hour while I was cooking, and was supprised to see the ships still flying around earth! I set them to attack me, thinking that they wouldnt have the power to shoot me, but I was wrong, they gave me quite some dammage (I wasnt trying to avoid them).

Im guessing that the aux. power cells dont run out, right?

[turambar]

Woah, there's a noob mistake I just made, didn't read all the messages before posting. I've come across the same thing as Urza posted earlier, here's my particulars(edited)...

----------------------------------------------

Hello all, I've come across what seems to be an unusual situation and am not sure if it is a bug or just something I do not understand.

I'm doing the ACM and have a course plotted in the navitron computer from Treas to Tramis to Centris. After I jump to Tramis (and while still in autopilot) my CE warms me my radine supply is critical (remember I'm a noob). The FO says I cannot engage hyperspace when I try- my radine is like 20-30 or something. Doh!, stranded.

So I'm thinking to get a tow, but just to fool around I use ALT-E to exit the ship. Once I exit the ship appears to take off a great speed so I hit ALT-D to reenter. And the ship is in hyperspace already, just like that. So I check my radine supply and it's like 943 or something, as well as all my other minerals are resupplied.

Basically I'm wondering now, is there a hidden cargo bay, or did I find some minerals on spacewalk, or does my crew just wanna try to abandon me? I have a savegame just before I run out of radine and I retried this a few different ways all with the same results. Thanks in advance for any feedback.

turambar

------------------------------

DOH! Now I look at the VCF and see this is fixed! Sorry, just trying to be helpful. But now after patch I'm gonna have to call for a tow.

[ 12-01-2001: Message edited by: turambar ]

[Urza]

Didn't think I'd be back here so soon. I am chasing a Stormcarrier going after a starstation. In this case, the station is going to rip the carrier to shreds. But when it's about to blow up... wham! CTD. It happens every time with this save, exactly when the carrier should explode, and I am too far away to do anything to alter these events. This campaign was exclusively on the latest beta patch (only played tonight), FYI. I'll send you the save if you wish.

This is by far the best tech support I've ever seen (believe me, I've see many). Keep up the good work.

[Schmendrick]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Urza:

I just captured a hostile station, launced then saved. Thereafter, the game CTD within a minute. This is the first time I've experienced a CTD with any regularity. No matter what I do during the minute, the game always crashes. I can send you the save in question if you wish.

---

I'm having a similar problem. I haven't captured a station, but in the save game I have Galcom HQ is under attack by a few fighters. about a minute into the game it'll CTD. Docking at GHQ only delays the crash until about a minute or so after I leave.

[Schmendrick]

Also another problem.

steps to (sometimes) recreate

- order fighters to escort your CC

- Jump to another system

- wait for all fighters to enter the new system

- If I try to give orders to the fighters, sometimes the targets listed will only show targets from the system we just left.

[taran]

Well sadly IM going to throw in the towel. This game looks like it must be awesome to play. But I can’t get it to run on my PC. I have spent at least 10 hours of my time trying everything I have read here, and then some. It just does not like my PC. Congrats on the game. It looks to be one of the best open-ended space Sims I’ve ever read about. Good luck.

Mitch.

[Supreme Cmdr]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Urza:

Didn't think I'd be back here so soon. I am chasing a Stormcarrier going after a starstation. In this case, the station is going to rip the carrier to shreds. But when it's about to blow up... wham! CTD. It happens every time with this save, exactly when the carrier should explode, and I am too far away to do anything to alter these events. This campaign was exclusively on the latest beta patch (only played tonight), FYI. I'll send you the save if you wish.

This is by far the best tech support I've ever seen (believe me, I've see many). Keep up the good work.

---

I suppose it never did occur to you to STOP using that particular save game, then?

Perhaps after 500 more CTDs, it'll dawn on you. Keep it up.

[Supreme Cmdr]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Schmendrick:

Also another problem.

steps to (sometimes) recreate

- order fighters to escort your CC

- Jump to another system

- wait for all fighters to enter the new system

- If I try to give orders to the fighters, sometimes the targets listed will only show targets from the system we just left.

---

Works fine here. And if you have a probe in the region.....

[Supreme Cmdr]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Taran:

Well sadly IM going to throw in the towel. This game looks like it must be awesome to play. But I can’t get it to run on my PC. I have spent at least 10 hours of my time trying everything I have read here, and then some. It just does not like my PC. Congrats on the game. It looks to be one of the best open-ended space Sims I’ve ever read about. Good luck.

Mitch.

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Take care Mitch and see you around. I have deleted your reg profile so that if/when you return the game, the other person doesn't have a problem registering.

[Schmendrick]

quote:

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Originally posted by Supreme Cmdr:

Works fine here. And if you have a probe in the region.....

---

Nope, no probes. I'm still trying to figure out a way to recreate it more reliably.

Next time I'll wait 'til I have a way to reliably recreate a problem before posting about it. But it was 2:00 AM and I wasn't thinkin' straight. Sorry to waste your time.

[Urza]

No, this was a fresh, brand-new game. Hadn't been running for a full hour yet.

[Guest Eihort]

Well, that's it... I surrender for now. I'm going to go and put this thing on the shelf until I get my new PC in a few months and hopefully things will work by then or this thing goes to my friend. I installed the old drivers and it still does the ol no-start pre and post patch. I give up. I've done everything. Defrag, scandisk, virus check. Uninstalled, killed folder, reinstalled, repatched from directory. I give up. Wish me luck on the new PC.

[Supreme Cmdr]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Eihort:

Well, that's it... I surrender for now. I'm going to go and put this thing on the shelf until I get my new PC in a few months and hopefully things will work by then or this thing goes to my friend. I installed the old drivers and it still does the ol no-start pre and post patch. I give up. I've done everything. Defrag, scandisk, virus check. Uninstalled, killed folder, reinstalled, repatched from directory. I give up. Wish me luck on the new PC.

---

What makes you think its your system? Since you haven't registered and posted your profile, I can't help.

[Guest Eihort]

That's very odd... what do you mean I haven't registered? I could have sworn I did because I had to fill out the registration thing AND register for the forums! Well, don't delete my profile or do really nasty things if you see two identical serial numbers being registered. I'll give things another go.

Ok... I just tried to register and it says my serial number is invalid, which means I guess I did register and just how do I go about "posting" my profile? Are you talking my system specs?

[ 12-02-2001: Message edited by: Eihort ]

Just deleting double posted stuff.

[ 12-02-2001: Message edited by: Eihort ]

[Guest $iLk]

2 Random crashes.

Can't say I've reproduced it, cause there doesn't seem to be a problem always.

1. I was playing as a terran bcmk3 in the Gammulan Quadrant. Two jumps from Gammula 1, enemy launched a missile at me, I hit the EMD jammer, then hit F10 to view the missile.

*Crash To Desktop*

It worked for other missiles when I did the EMD so I don't know what caused it.

2. I was playing as a Questar, Orion Starstation as launch base. I attacked an enemy vessel, damaged it, got close enough to tractor beam it, caught it in the tractor beam, started cycling through to find Orion Starstation to dock at...

*Crash To Desktop*

I don't know what is causing these crashes, they happen at random and as I have nothing running in the background I am sure it's not my setup. Most of the time I can play for a little while, but it gets frustrating to be playing and all of a sudden get a game wiped before I can save.

I will post something when I have some more ideas, this is just posting of initial problems.

[Sunanta]

Yep, I've also been getting random crashes that I can't seem to reproduce (except in saves), once when a stormcarrier was hyperjumping towards my megaron, another when a bcmk2 was hyperjumping to my megaron (different game), and at various other times- being attacked by a fighter in a megaron again, destroying another stormcarrier, etc. I've been going over the stability section of the troubleshooting faq, seems to help a bit, but anyway, there seems to be a collision detect issue. When I fly up in front of a station's path and stop moving (speed = 0), the station will pass through my ship instead of triggering a collision. I've so far tried this in a Megaron, bcmk3, and in first person outside that bcmk3- I'd stop right in front of the station and it would drift right through me. Only seems to happen with stations (since I started looking, it's happened with every station I'd test this with- Galcom HQ, Pixan, Sygan, Wraith), though. I tried to stop in front of those orbiting supply stations but when it hit me it triggered such a collision that I ended up in null space . This is with the 1.0.01 patch.

[ 12-02-2001: Message edited by: Sunanta ]

[Supreme Cmdr]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Eihort:

That's very odd... what do you mean I haven't registered? I could have sworn I did because I had to fill out the registration thing AND register for the forums! Well, don't delete my profile or do really nasty things if you see two identical serial numbers being registered. I'll give things another go.

Ok... I just tried to register and it says my serial number is invalid, which means I guess I did register and just how do I go about "posting" my profile? Are you talking my system specs?

---

I don't see your System Profile Info in your sig

[Supreme Cmdr]

quote:

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Originally posted by $iLk:

I am sure it's not my setup.

---

/sarcasm

..of course not. I can't think of any reason why that would be.

[Supreme Cmdr]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Sunanta:

Yep, I've also been getting random crashes that I can't seem to reproduce (except in saves), once when a stormcarrier was hyperjumping towards my megaron, another when a bcmk2 was hyperjumping to my megaron (different game), and at various other times- being attacked by a fighter in a megaron again, destroying another stormcarrier, etc. I've been going over the stability section of the troubleshooting faq, seems to help a bit, but anyway, there seems to be a collision detect issue. When I fly up in front of a station's path and stop moving (speed = 0), the station will pass through my ship instead of triggering a collision. I've so far tried this in a Megaron, bcmk3, and in first person outside that bcmk3- I'd stop right in front of the station and it would drift right through me. Only seems to happen with stations (since I started looking, it's happened with every station I'd test this with- Galcom HQ, Pixan, Sygan, Wraith), though. I tried to stop in front of those orbiting supply stations but when it hit me it triggered such a collision that I ended up in null space . This is with the 1.0.01 patch.

[ 12-02-2001: Message edited by: Sunanta ]

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It is a simple rule really (when you think about it). ANY number of things can cause random lockups - most of which don't necessarily point to the game. If the game was responsible for every random lock, there'd be more people reporting it.

I am NOT and NEVER have been interested in solving every person's OS quirks. I don't care. I'm not interested. All I know is, if the game has a bug and which can be reproduced, I will fix it (as I have been doing). The VCF contains such instances.

So, telling me you get a crash because you jump from A to B, when everyone playing the game has been jumping all over the place, has a much effect (to me that is) as strapping a firecracker on a lab rat and asking it to fly.

I am NOT interested in random issues, so, unless you want such posts to be deleted, don't waste your time posting it. When a myriad of hardware components are combined, ANY number of things can be happening in the background.

If the game is unstable on your system, either take steps to isolate the problem (whatever you do, don't post about it here - because I don't care, unless it can be reproduced or it was resolved by you and the solution is useful info to others) or take it back to EB.

This board is and has always been clutter free and I'd like to keep it that way.

Thats it. Any time I set eyes on one of these, it will be deleted. If anyone insists, you will be banned from posting. I hope this is call clear.

[Urza]

OK, sorry, I'll look into the setup on my end.

[Tanabi]

Hey guys;

I posted this error before, and was told to go through the uninstall/reinstall download new patch/use new patch process, which I did, and I had been playing almost constantly since then.

Well, I've gotten the error again, so I'm posting about it cause I wonder if I'm going to have to reinstall EVERY time I get this damn error :-P

Here it is: I save my game with the quick save, and I approach a station for docking. Again, I have intruders on my ship; but I'm not really damaged, the intruders are all on teh shuttles or dooking around in the corridors aimlessly.

I've been to this station MANY times. It's basically my base of operations. I probably visit it every couple of hours. I dock, I see the pretty picture of the inside of the station. I click "Login", and I get a crash to desktop.

I reboot, I restore my game, I dock again, click "Login", and crash to desktop.

Now, if it was -really- a bad install, wouldn't I have already crashed on the many, many other times I've visited this station?

I sure hope I don't have to re-start AGAIN, I finally got my ship 100% upgraded ;-P

Thanks!

Steve

[Guest]

Reinstall DX8.1, video and sound drivers.

Then reinstall the game.

Try it. I had a similar problem. If your motherboard uses VIA driver, I'd suggest getting the latest via pack as well.

[Soback]

OH my god. I haven't visited the forums since lates thursday night. I come back and see all this problems. For 3 days all I have been doing is taking care of my business and playing BCM with basically no problems besides the damage fx that sometimea appears and dissapears, but I ignore it, and a couple of random crashes, but I save every 15 minutes (not a quick save, don't like that one) so I reload and continue. I guess my BCM decided to like me. Hope I don't jinx it (knocks on wood, throws salt over the shoulder, and hangs a rabit foot from the monitor). Well, going to go play.