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Author Topic:   4.0 video/audio and restart bug

sandworm posted 07-28-99 10:11 AM ET
OK, I don't know if this is a 4.0 or a bug resulting from me having exited the game and restarted on the same day (something I never do) The game was running fine the first time I played, but I quit (without shutting down), went out for dinner and came back to play again and I got:
stuttering sound-ound, sometimes no sound at all
upon completion of SPs I get a bright green flash across the whole screen, a pause, then the SP video runs.

No new programs were running in the background and enhancement 4.0 was installed weeks before the problem started yesterday.
The repeated urgent request for communication popup, followed by no communication is beginning to wear on my nerves as well. If there's a fix, I'd love to hear about it.
System (from my faulty memory) 400mHZ PII, 64MB RAM, 16 MB Banshee Voodoo video, sound card?-whatever Gateway packed in, can't remember, I'll check tonight, and try to repeat the bug.
sandworm posted 07-29-99 08:24 AM ET
Now I can't reproduce it. This is why the forum needs "Edit post". That way people can cover their ignorance.
Series II posted 07-30-99 12:48 PM ET
I am getting this when ever I play extensivally. I thought it was related to virtual memory. I quit and restart my computer and it goes away for a few hours. I increased my virtual memory, but same problem after a couple of hours of game play.
KaiyanWang posted 08-09-99 12:07 PM ET

I get this problem after only a few minutes of game play. While a secret project video is playing, and say, Diedre is talking, I hear the first word of a base facility dialogue repeating over and over (try listening to Diedre talk about the Weather Paradigm with morgan in the background constantly going 'doh..doh..doh..doh..doh..", funny at first, but very annoying after time. Also, sometimes the computer just starts talking randomly throughout the turn. "project complete"..."production complete.. combat lost.." I think I'm going to lose my mind.
I have the v.4 patch a PentiumII 350 mhz, 96MB RAM and some soundcard Gateway hustled in last year.. supposed to be top of the line, but its a year old now so who knows. Any idears?
Jeffrey Morris FIRAXIS posted 08-10-99 10:08 AM ET
Try downloading and installing dx 6.1 from www.microsoft.com. Also, try disabling the EAX and DS3D lines in the alpha centauri.ini file by setting them to 0. If neither works, run DXDiag.exe (c:\program files\directx\setup) and see what it thinks of your soundcard under drivers and directx files.
jkm
firaxis games
daniel czyz posted 08-12-99 05:54 PM ET
You may want to check your task list. I will see terran still running long after I exited the game. If I try to re-run alpha before re-booting I will have the same problem that you are getting.
Thanks,
Daniel
LarsHanson posted 08-14-99 07:19 PM ET
This is similar to what Netscape and other web browsers do - you exit the program but the .exe remains in memory after running some (flawed) Java scripts. This may also be impacted by what apps run on the systray - such as your AV software. It looks more and more like the sound and video problems are related to systray apps like Norton AV, McAfee, RealPlayer, etc. The fewer running during game startup and play, the better off.
Remember the immortal words of Lt. Cmr. Montgomery Scott in Star Trek 3..
"Cap'n, the more complicated they make the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain."
I believe that is more true of Windows and DirectX every day.
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Author	Topic: 4.0 video/audio and restart bug
sandworm	posted 07-28-99 10:11 AM ET OK, I don't know if this is a 4.0 or a bug resulting from me having exited the game and restarted on the same day (something I never do) The game was running fine the first time I played, but I quit (without shutting down), went out for dinner and came back to play again and I got: stuttering sound-ound, sometimes no sound at all upon completion of SPs I get a bright green flash across the whole screen, a pause, then the SP video runs. No new programs were running in the background and enhancement 4.0 was installed weeks before the problem started yesterday. The repeated urgent request for communication popup, followed by no communication is beginning to wear on my nerves as well. If there's a fix, I'd love to hear about it. System (from my faulty memory) 400mHZ PII, 64MB RAM, 16 MB Banshee Voodoo video, sound card?-whatever Gateway packed in, can't remember, I'll check tonight, and try to repeat the bug.
sandworm	posted 07-29-99 08:24 AM ET Now I can't reproduce it. This is why the forum needs "Edit post". That way people can cover their ignorance.
Series II	posted 07-30-99 12:48 PM ET I am getting this when ever I play extensivally. I thought it was related to virtual memory. I quit and restart my computer and it goes away for a few hours. I increased my virtual memory, but same problem after a couple of hours of game play.
KaiyanWang	posted 08-09-99 12:07 PM ET I get this problem after only a few minutes of game play. While a secret project video is playing, and say, Diedre is talking, I hear the first word of a base facility dialogue repeating over and over (try listening to Diedre talk about the Weather Paradigm with morgan in the background constantly going 'doh..doh..doh..doh..doh..", funny at first, but very annoying after time. Also, sometimes the computer just starts talking randomly throughout the turn. "project complete"..."production complete.. combat lost.." I think I'm going to lose my mind. I have the v.4 patch a PentiumII 350 mhz, 96MB RAM and some soundcard Gateway hustled in last year.. supposed to be top of the line, but its a year old now so who knows. Any idears?
Jeffrey Morris FIRAXIS	posted 08-10-99 10:08 AM ET Try downloading and installing dx 6.1 from www.microsoft.com. Also, try disabling the EAX and DS3D lines in the alpha centauri.ini file by setting them to 0. If neither works, run DXDiag.exe (c:\program files\directx\setup) and see what it thinks of your soundcard under drivers and directx files. jkm firaxis games
daniel czyz	posted 08-12-99 05:54 PM ET You may want to check your task list. I will see terran still running long after I exited the game. If I try to re-run alpha before re-booting I will have the same problem that you are getting. Thanks, Daniel
LarsHanson	posted 08-14-99 07:19 PM ET This is similar to what Netscape and other web browsers do - you exit the program but the .exe remains in memory after running some (flawed) Java scripts. This may also be impacted by what apps run on the systray - such as your AV software. It looks more and more like the sound and video problems are related to systray apps like Norton AV, McAfee, RealPlayer, etc. The fewer running during game startup and play, the better off. Remember the immortal words of Lt. Cmr. Montgomery Scott in Star Trek 3.. "Cap'n, the more complicated they make the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain." I believe that is more true of Windows and DirectX every day.