Crashing, page faults, stack dumps -- oh my!

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Author Topic:   Crashing, page faults, stack dumps -- oh my!

Toonces posted 03-12-99 01:56 PM ET
I've played several games from start to finish without a single incident. But the last game I played became a ridiculous non-stop rollercoaster of crashing.
Every turn I get a page fault sometime during the computer's turn. It happens at the same exact time -- a Believing needlejet comes and attacks a base and then *choke* I'm back in windows.
I load from a previous save game, played one error free turn only to have another crash, this time when a PK soldier walks one square to its left.
My SMAC has become wholly unusable... does anyone know what can be done??
Jeffrey Morris FIRAXIS posted 03-12-99 02:11 PM ET
That save might be hosed. Email it to me at [email protected] and I'll try to get you past.
jkm
firaxis games
anoona posted 03-12-99 02:25 PM ET
This is inherently a buggy game, I get the same bug plus a whole bunch of other anomalies. I have a p2 450mhz with 128ram, voodoo2 SLI, and Canopus Spectra 2000 and AC runs like crap.
Jeffrey Morris FIRAXIS posted 03-12-99 02:49 PM ET
Uhh. Anything I can do to remedy that anoona?
jkm
firaxis games
Cadfael posted 03-12-99 03:06 PM ET
I can not agree with this being buggy software. I have been reading about everyone's difficulties and scratching my head. Granted, there are some strange actions taken by formers and some other units, but I have had no problems with my computer running SMAC.
I have a 233 Mhz AMD K6
STB 2D video card with a Diamond Monster 3D
Equisoniq sound card
I did replace a Matrox HD that was corrupting every file I loaded on it and v2.0 does bugger the sound, but we have been promised a fix on that and it does not effect game play.
Fallout 2 is a much buggier program than SMAC, but it too is suffering from system compatability problems (again I did not have any problems with my system).
I have noted that most of the problems seem to be occurring on systems running Win98. I am running Win95 OSR2.
Stealthy posted 03-12-99 03:44 PM ET
After playing Alpha Centauri for 4-5 hours every day for 3 weeks.I have no complaints about crashes.I've finished the game several times and the only time it crashed was with one save...but that save worked after I updated to 2.0.
So I can't say it's a buggy game...maybe more sensitive then other games..but not buggy.
/Stealth!
redryder posted 03-12-99 04:03 PM ET
have a game where something got hosed also. Same type of footprint as the other people. In my case I finish my turn, and Morgan begins the isle shuffle. The info box on the lower right begins to do an update and then hang time. Cpu utilization goes to 50% and stays there. wnt 40 with sp4 and v2 of smac. Never hung till today. As a datapoint, it
was a long session (3 hours clock time) before it hung. But the save file does it every time now.
And the game was just getting interesting.
Save file mailed on request.
TIA
Fiannaidh posted 03-12-99 05:37 PM ET
Just curious if this happens to anyone else, i get a message from some faction I'm at war at. It says something like "urgent message for you from chairman yang" or something. Anyway I click ok and another one pops up, so I have to click through 10 or 15 before he tells me that he'll enjoy executing me. Is it just me?
BaBBoS posted 03-12-99 07:49 PM ET
yup, i got the same problem as Fiannaidh
but with fewer "OK"'s ... (around 5-7)
finaly no msg comes :}
Rammer10 posted 03-12-99 08:55 PM ET
Yeah, mine too. The crashes come but not consistently. Sometimes they come at exactly the same place over and over again. Then sometimes it crashes out, I go back and the fault doesn't rear its ugly head.
When it crashes more than 3 times at the same spot in the game, I'll start over. It bites, but such is life...
Zeratul posted 03-14-99 04:42 PM ET
It think this whole thing with the crashes stinks. And I don't think you should have to alter your gameplay just so the game won't crash. This problem has been giving me a headache for almost 3 weeks now.
comrade posted 03-15-99 12:31 AM ET
If anyone else has been having anomalous freezes during multiplayer games, please let me know. Spent the weekend playing it and it seems to freeze at random times after my friend and I have played about 40-80 turns.
I am pretty sure it's the game, since every time we reload the save after this happens, the save exhibits the same anomalous hangs. Not immediately, but always within a turn or 2, and it doesn't seem to matter what the action is.
Also another reason why I am inclined to think it's the game is that it happened to each of us during different games, even taking turns hosting and alternating between ipx and tcp/ip...no matter what, the multiplayer freezes keep coming. I doubt we both have problematic systems, they are both Pentium 300+ (not overclocked or anything) running current graphics cards (TNT and Banshee respectively).
This is quite annoying since we purchased the game to play multiplayer mostly.
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Author	Topic: Crashing, page faults, stack dumps -- oh my!
Toonces	posted 03-12-99 01:56 PM ET I've played several games from start to finish without a single incident. But the last game I played became a ridiculous non-stop rollercoaster of crashing. Every turn I get a page fault sometime during the computer's turn. It happens at the same exact time -- a Believing needlejet comes and attacks a base and then choke I'm back in windows. I load from a previous save game, played one error free turn only to have another crash, this time when a PK soldier walks one square to its left. My SMAC has become wholly unusable... does anyone know what can be done??
Jeffrey Morris FIRAXIS	posted 03-12-99 02:11 PM ET That save might be hosed. Email it to me at [email protected] and I'll try to get you past. jkm firaxis games
anoona	posted 03-12-99 02:25 PM ET This is inherently a buggy game, I get the same bug plus a whole bunch of other anomalies. I have a p2 450mhz with 128ram, voodoo2 SLI, and Canopus Spectra 2000 and AC runs like crap.
Jeffrey Morris FIRAXIS	posted 03-12-99 02:49 PM ET Uhh. Anything I can do to remedy that anoona? jkm firaxis games
Cadfael	posted 03-12-99 03:06 PM ET I can not agree with this being buggy software. I have been reading about everyone's difficulties and scratching my head. Granted, there are some strange actions taken by formers and some other units, but I have had no problems with my computer running SMAC. I have a 233 Mhz AMD K6 STB 2D video card with a Diamond Monster 3D Equisoniq sound card I did replace a Matrox HD that was corrupting every file I loaded on it and v2.0 does bugger the sound, but we have been promised a fix on that and it does not effect game play. Fallout 2 is a much buggier program than SMAC, but it too is suffering from system compatability problems (again I did not have any problems with my system). I have noted that most of the problems seem to be occurring on systems running Win98. I am running Win95 OSR2.
Stealthy	posted 03-12-99 03:44 PM ET After playing Alpha Centauri for 4-5 hours every day for 3 weeks.I have no complaints about crashes.I've finished the game several times and the only time it crashed was with one save...but that save worked after I updated to 2.0. So I can't say it's a buggy game...maybe more sensitive then other games..but not buggy. /Stealth!
redryder	posted 03-12-99 04:03 PM ET have a game where something got hosed also. Same type of footprint as the other people. In my case I finish my turn, and Morgan begins the isle shuffle. The info box on the lower right begins to do an update and then hang time. Cpu utilization goes to 50% and stays there. wnt 40 with sp4 and v2 of smac. Never hung till today. As a datapoint, it was a long session (3 hours clock time) before it hung. But the save file does it every time now. And the game was just getting interesting. Save file mailed on request. TIA
Fiannaidh	posted 03-12-99 05:37 PM ET Just curious if this happens to anyone else, i get a message from some faction I'm at war at. It says something like "urgent message for you from chairman yang" or something. Anyway I click ok and another one pops up, so I have to click through 10 or 15 before he tells me that he'll enjoy executing me. Is it just me?
BaBBoS	posted 03-12-99 07:49 PM ET yup, i got the same problem as Fiannaidh but with fewer "OK"'s ... (around 5-7) finaly no msg comes :}
Rammer10	posted 03-12-99 08:55 PM ET Yeah, mine too. The crashes come but not consistently. Sometimes they come at exactly the same place over and over again. Then sometimes it crashes out, I go back and the fault doesn't rear its ugly head. When it crashes more than 3 times at the same spot in the game, I'll start over. It bites, but such is life...
Zeratul	posted 03-14-99 04:42 PM ET It think this whole thing with the crashes stinks. And I don't think you should have to alter your gameplay just so the game won't crash. This problem has been giving me a headache for almost 3 weeks now.
comrade	posted 03-15-99 12:31 AM ET If anyone else has been having anomalous freezes during multiplayer games, please let me know. Spent the weekend playing it and it seems to freeze at random times after my friend and I have played about 40-80 turns. I am pretty sure it's the game, since every time we reload the save after this happens, the save exhibits the same anomalous hangs. Not immediately, but always within a turn or 2, and it doesn't seem to matter what the action is. Also another reason why I am inclined to think it's the game is that it happened to each of us during different games, even taking turns hosting and alternating between ipx and tcp/ip...no matter what, the multiplayer freezes keep coming. I doubt we both have problematic systems, they are both Pentium 300+ (not overclocked or anything) running current graphics cards (TNT and Banshee respectively). This is quite annoying since we purchased the game to play multiplayer mostly.