I don't want to complain but this is really starting to %$§&!!$ me off

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Author Topic:   I don't want to complain but this is really starting to %$§&!!$ me off

ElCid posted 04-26-99 09:59 AM ET
Hi,
I still belong to the (large!?) group of people that experience crashes during gameplay. I read through the forum-messages, trying to find a solution, unfortunately I found none that worked for me (renaming sound.dll, changing alphacentauri.ini, etc.). Since this problem occurs EVERY %4§1$1%%$! time I play, I'm realy hoping to get some help here. I send the savegame to Jeff Morris but recieved no answer (yet??).
Please, I've started to play four games so far and ALL OF THEM crashed at some point.
This is VERY frustrating.
Could maybe somebody from Firaxis answer this?????
BTW, I use the german 2.0 Version (Win98).
Ciao
ElCid
PS: I'm german so don't mind my english :-)

Jeffrey Morris FIRAXIS posted 04-26-99 03:15 PM ET
What are the details of your system? Namely, processor, amount of ram, free space on HD, video/sound card. Also, at what point does the game crash? Can you duplicate the problem with an autosave? What have you explicitly tries (etc, is kinda vague). Many random fatals caused by terran.exe in terran.exe are the result of running out of virtual memory. Defragging your C: drive (or wherever your swap file resides), freeing up more space, and letting windows manage the virtual memory often solve these problems. Another cause is overclocked non-intel processors.
jkm
firaxis games
ElCid posted 04-26-99 03:37 PM ET
My System consists of the following:
- Intel Celeron 450 Mhz
- 128 MB Ram
- 11 GB HD (2xIBM) with >5GB free on Drive C:
- Elsa Erasor LT (AGP, 8MB, Riva 128Zx)
- Creative Labs Soundblaster AWE 64 Value
- Win98 with 2 FAT32 Partitions (one per drive)
To fix the problem, I've tried the following:
- rename sound.dll to sound.dl_
- change the settings of 3d soundcard (although I don't háve a 3d-Soundcard)
- load a savegame from 5 moves back and play differently
- turn sound in gameoptions off
- defrag the drive
- Win98 is already handling the virtual memory
I'm not able to reproduce the problem, that is I can't say it happens every time one does this or that. The only thing I know is that the crashes occur while the computeroponents are moving and as I said: it happend in every game I've started so far. Sometimes I play until turn 2268 and somtimes a little farther but sonner or later it crashes. And yes, I can reproduce the problem with an autosave which reminds me - did you receive the autosave I send you via Email?
I've installed Visual C++ 6.0 on my system. Is there any way I can produce some debug information that will help you?
BTW: Tomorrow I leave for a vacation. I'll be back in 2 weeks. So whatever your answer will be, I will reply in 2 weeks. Hopefully I'll be able to enjoy a complete game of SMAC then :-(
I REALY hope you can help me.
Ciao
El Cid
Jeffrey Morris FIRAXIS posted 04-26-99 04:49 PM ET
So it actually crashes, rather than locks? When you load the autosave, it occurs again? Please do send that save in to [email protected] just to make sure I got it.
jkm
firaxis games
Jeffrey Morris FIRAXIS posted 04-26-99 04:50 PM ET
One more thing. Let me see the error message.
jkm
firaxis games
ggroman posted 04-27-99 03:43 PM ET
I have pretty much the exact same problem. The program just frequently locks up while the computer is doing its moves. The only difference for me is the lockups generally occur during the year 2140 - 2165. I have a Intel Pentium II-350MHZ 64MB Ram, 2GB free space,ATI Rage 3D, ESS Business Audio card and running windows98. I was running windows95 last week, and it did the EXACT SAME THING. If I play an autosaved game, it will still lock up 9 times out of 10, even if I do different moves during gameplay. It's very frustrating. I purchased this because the demo seemed to work great on my machine, but the full blown package has BUGS!
Jeffrey Morris FIRAXIS posted 04-27-99 04:38 PM ET
Please distinquish ggrogman between crashes and lockups. Which are you having? Lockups canb be solved by different things (autosaves, new versions of game) that crashes (almost always running out of virtual memory). Please reply in the thread you've started elsewhere so I can keep track.
jkm
firaxis games
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Author	Topic: I don't want to complain but this is really starting to %$§&!!$ me off
ElCid	posted 04-26-99 09:59 AM ET Hi, I still belong to the (large!?) group of people that experience crashes during gameplay. I read through the forum-messages, trying to find a solution, unfortunately I found none that worked for me (renaming sound.dll, changing alphacentauri.ini, etc.). Since this problem occurs EVERY %4§1$1%%$! time I play, I'm realy hoping to get some help here. I send the savegame to Jeff Morris but recieved no answer (yet??). Please, I've started to play four games so far and ALL OF THEM crashed at some point. This is VERY frustrating. Could maybe somebody from Firaxis answer this????? BTW, I use the german 2.0 Version (Win98). Ciao ElCid PS: I'm german so don't mind my english :-)
Jeffrey Morris FIRAXIS	posted 04-26-99 03:15 PM ET What are the details of your system? Namely, processor, amount of ram, free space on HD, video/sound card. Also, at what point does the game crash? Can you duplicate the problem with an autosave? What have you explicitly tries (etc, is kinda vague). Many random fatals caused by terran.exe in terran.exe are the result of running out of virtual memory. Defragging your C: drive (or wherever your swap file resides), freeing up more space, and letting windows manage the virtual memory often solve these problems. Another cause is overclocked non-intel processors. jkm firaxis games
ElCid	posted 04-26-99 03:37 PM ET My System consists of the following: - Intel Celeron 450 Mhz - 128 MB Ram - 11 GB HD (2xIBM) with >5GB free on Drive C: - Elsa Erasor LT (AGP, 8MB, Riva 128Zx) - Creative Labs Soundblaster AWE 64 Value - Win98 with 2 FAT32 Partitions (one per drive) To fix the problem, I've tried the following: - rename sound.dll to sound.dl_ - change the settings of 3d soundcard (although I don't háve a 3d-Soundcard) - load a savegame from 5 moves back and play differently - turn sound in gameoptions off - defrag the drive - Win98 is already handling the virtual memory I'm not able to reproduce the problem, that is I can't say it happens every time one does this or that. The only thing I know is that the crashes occur while the computeroponents are moving and as I said: it happend in every game I've started so far. Sometimes I play until turn 2268 and somtimes a little farther but sonner or later it crashes. And yes, I can reproduce the problem with an autosave which reminds me - did you receive the autosave I send you via Email? I've installed Visual C++ 6.0 on my system. Is there any way I can produce some debug information that will help you? BTW: Tomorrow I leave for a vacation. I'll be back in 2 weeks. So whatever your answer will be, I will reply in 2 weeks. Hopefully I'll be able to enjoy a complete game of SMAC then :-( I REALY hope you can help me. Ciao El Cid
Jeffrey Morris FIRAXIS	posted 04-26-99 04:49 PM ET So it actually crashes, rather than locks? When you load the autosave, it occurs again? Please do send that save in to [email protected] just to make sure I got it. jkm firaxis games
Jeffrey Morris FIRAXIS	posted 04-26-99 04:50 PM ET One more thing. Let me see the error message. jkm firaxis games
ggroman	posted 04-27-99 03:43 PM ET I have pretty much the exact same problem. The program just frequently locks up while the computer is doing its moves. The only difference for me is the lockups generally occur during the year 2140 - 2165. I have a Intel Pentium II-350MHZ 64MB Ram, 2GB free space,ATI Rage 3D, ESS Business Audio card and running windows98. I was running windows95 last week, and it did the EXACT SAME THING. If I play an autosaved game, it will still lock up 9 times out of 10, even if I do different moves during gameplay. It's very frustrating. I purchased this because the demo seemed to work great on my machine, but the full blown package has BUGS!
Jeffrey Morris FIRAXIS	posted 04-27-99 04:38 PM ET Please distinquish ggrogman between crashes and lockups. Which are you having? Lockups canb be solved by different things (autosaves, new versions of game) that crashes (almost always running out of virtual memory). Please reply in the thread you've started elsewhere so I can keep track. jkm firaxis games