I'm so tired of this game

[unmerged(7837)]

This is probably the best game I've ever played. I love just about everything about it, as far as gameplay goes. A few tweaks here and there would be nice, but overall, it's pretty damn good.

And then it crashes. For no reason. So I reload and it crashes when I click on a save game. No problem, I know how to fix that. So I reload and it locks up to where time doesn't progress, but you can move around the map. Ok, so I reboot my computer. Reload again, and every time it gets to May 8, 1560, it crashes. Ok, so I restart the game and it gets past May 8, but crashes on June 8. Then July 8. So I start saving every month, just to make sure. It gets to the next year and runs fine. Great, I play a bit more and in 50 years the whole cycle starts over again.

I've never been so addicted to a game. But I've never been so frustrated with a game either.

Oh, and did I mention the part about how I can only load a saved game from the start menu? Yup, if I'm playing a game and want to reload a previous save, I get CTD. Or how about the part where I try to load a saved game and it crashes and gives me the message "there were errors in the scenario" without telling me what those "errors" are.

Yeah, I love this effing game.

 

[HisMajestyBOB]

What type of computer do you have (ram, proccessor)? Do you have the latest patch? Are you running anything in the background?

Some people just seem to have more problems with CTDs than others. Personally, I rarely have a CTD.

 

[Stirling]

I follow these rules and minimize computer game crashing:

* NEVER run anything in the background. No firewalls, no instant messengers, no virus alerts. This is a rule all computer gamers should follow. If you're worried about hackers and your permanent internet connection, pull the DSL plug out of the back of the PC.

* ALWAYS run the game via the shortcut on the desktop or start menu, never from the autoplay menu that pops up when a new CD is inserted. This varies from game to game, but some games if you use the CD path will start loading crap off the CD that's already on your HD, etc.

* For EU2 in particular, I always have AUTOSAVE turned on to yearly, and the way I play I hover a finger over pause. Whenever anything goes right or a lucky event happens (early colonization successful, major battle victory, capture a province, religious conversion!), I save the game IMMEDIATELY.

This has drastically cut down on my "And I was doing so well, but the game crashed..." sadness.

 

[unmerged(6603)]

autosave sometimes increases problems too

 

[unmerged(7837)]

I'm not a complete computer game n00b. I know not to be running a million programs when playing a memory draining game like EU2. I exit out of all unnecessary programs before starting the game. The crashes and lockups seem to be completely random; I can play for hours without any problem whatsoever. Then I'll literally have a CTD every single month for a year, then after the year, smooth sailing.

Oh, and I forgot one of my other favorite things...sending in an army of 30,000 soldiers against 4,000 rebels and seeing the rebels repeatedly kick my ass.

 

[Kasperus]

If I have some CTD`s it usually seems to help to just turn off the computer and restart the game. It usually makes the game faster too (one of those nice windows charms )

 

[unmerged(7986)]

I hear you man

I've never been able to get past 1610 in any GC. I get CTDs every month to two months no matter how much I save and keep going it never stops. It really kills my enjoyment of the game as I can't get to the end. I find once I start colonizing is when everything starts going to hell...getting a CTD every 2 years or so starting in 1550 or so and then it gets progressivly worse until I hit the wall at 1610.

I've tried every suggestion on this forum to no avail. Here are my computer specs.

Athlon XP 1800+
Abit KR7A-R(KT266A Chipset) Mobo
WinXP Pro
Radeon 7500 gfx
SB Live 5.1 Gamer sound
1024 MD DDR Ram

 

[viper37]

had you posted in the support forum in the first place, I would have helped you right away.

Anyway, BiB will move this there as soon as he comes in and then just check the various sticky thread on the support forum and you might find your answer.

Now, my shift is over

 

[unmerged(6559)]

I get as frustrated at CtDs as anyone else, but I've seen them decrease rather drastically between the lastest patch and the 1.00 version.

I think disabling EVERYTHING running in the background just to play a game is a little drastic. The fact that you have to is shameful. IMHO (and I say this as a programmer) you should never have to shut down one program to run another, unless you don't have enough memory for both. Programs shouldn't crash each other. The fact that they do is partly the programmers' fault, and partly Microsoft's fault for the way Windows handles that sort of situation so ungracefully. But I digress.

Here's my advice. Check your operating system. Particularly if you're running one of the Win9x line. Those OSes have a nasty little holdover from the DOS days called system resources which, despite what some people will tell you, has nothing to do with the amount of RAM installed on your computer. They are two pieces of (I believe) 64KB of memory, and they do not grow. Programs that are running use a bit of that space, an amount determined by Windows. If a program can't store its proper bits of information there, either because the resources are full or Windows won't allow it, the program crashes. Sometimes a GPF, sometimes it just shuts down, and sometimes it brings Windows with it and you get a BSOD.

Modern games being the hogs that they are (and EU is no exception), they can easily outstrip those resources. There's an easy way to tell if this is your problem. The resources are almost never properly freed when a program terminates (this is why Win9x has to be rebooted so often compared to the NT line), so before you play EU, go into the System applet in the Control Panel and check the available resources. Make a note of the level, then play EU2 for a while like you normally do, and check the resources again. If the level after you've played the game is significantly less than when you went in, that's very likely what your problem is.

The only way to fix this is ditch Win9x and upgrade to something that isn't based on 10 year old code.

 

[unmerged(6559)]

Re: I hear you man

Originally posted by ehrie
Athlon XP 1800+
Abit KR7A-R(KT266A Chipset) Mobo
WinXP Pro
Radeon 7500 gfx
SB Live 5.1 Gamer sound
1024 MD DDR Ram

This is a shot in the dark, but I seem to remember Win2K and XP (both pre-SP1) having some sort of minor glitch when dealing with more than 512MB of RAM. So, it might be worth it to see if cutting your RAM in half while you play fixes the problem -- assuming you don't have one monster chip in there.

 

[unmerged(7986)]

This is a shot in the dark, but I seem to remember Win2K and XP (both pre-SP1) having some sort of minor glitch when dealing with more than 512MB of RAM. So, it might be worth it to see if cutting your RAM in half while you play fixes the problem -- assuming you don't have one monster chip in there.

Here's Microsoft for yah....said problem only exists in WinXP Home...go figure that one out...when you brain explodes come on back...=D

 

[Derek Pullem]

Best gaming experience is to use Win 2000 (that's what the game was written on and it's what Johan uses). I get to try this on my company laptop and although it does randomly CtD about as frequently as Win 98 there are far fewer repeated CtD and the exit / reload from inside the game actually work.

Doesn't help much I know but that's a fact

 

[viper37]

Originally posted by dannysmurf
I think disabling EVERYTHING running in the background just to play a game is a little drastic. The fact that you have to is shameful. IMHO (and I say this as a programmer) you should never have to shut down one program to run another, unless you don't have enough memory for both. Programs shouldn't crash each other. The fact that they do is partly the programmers' fault, and partly Microsoft's fault for the way Windows handles that sort of situation so ungracefully. But I digress.

It is drastic, but we ask this because we are unaware of what people are running in the backround. There a guy for whom I repeatedly fix his Windows and everytime I get there, it's always the same: the machine keeps crashing, some games are not running or the system is slow. The guy as so many things loaded in there that you can't see the entire taskbar and it takes 10 minutes to boot windows. Last time I went there (after specifically telling him NOT to install is old Norton Antivirus on XP), he had Norton Antivirus 2000 and another AV wich I don't remember the name. Guess what? Nothing was working right

I can run EU2 with NAV in the background an a few other progams that I don't recall right now and I have no problem. But is a tech support guy who has never seen your computer can guess what you have running? If you ask people what they are running, they usually tell you they don't know So, the best way to diagnose a problem is to remove everything in the background. 90% of the time it doesn't change anything, but in the 10% left, you save yourself a lot of headaches

 

[unmerged(7986)]

Got any suggestions for me? I can tell you right now what I have running in the backround when I play EUII. Nuttin. =D

 

[unmerged(7041)]

If you are running 1.03 you may be running into the same bug that I did.
If you look in the thread entitled "Boom" you will find a link to anotherr thread that will explain how you get around the crash. You have to edit the savegame file. WHen you open the file look for the line "selectable". After that you will find a list of all the countires in the game. delete all but your own country, then save and then load that saved game.
This allowed me to get past a chronic crash bug. Good luck.

 

[alvaro]

ehrie,

XP had a big bug on release or as Microsoft would say "it's not a bug; it's a feature" The thing is that they released after in november or december I think a patch (service pack 1 I think is called). The bug was a big security hole in the system so it may have nothig to do with your problems but surely they upgraded other features or as the users say they fixed other problems. You can maybe give a try, just make a search for a service pack on microsoft support on the web. hope it helps.

By the way, you may also consider that there was a historic crash period around 1561 joking. wish you luck!

 

[unmerged(3408)]

Originally posted by dunkel
This is probably the best game I've ever played. I love just about everything about it, as far as gameplay goes. A few tweaks here and there would be nice, but overall, it's pretty damn good.

And then it crashes.

Um, Patch? What Patch are you using?

2 gives you 10 says that you are not using a patch (or an up to date patch) and if you are, what's your configuration? Go to the tech forum and ask around. I bet it is not the software but your computer. The friendly techies in the other forum will help. But no needless bitching please.

 

[unmerged(7986)]

ehrie,

XP had a big bug on release or as Microsoft would say "it's not a bug; it's a feature" The thing is that they released after in november or december I think a patch (service pack 1 I think is called).

Already got it last year. Thanks though. =D

If you are running 1.03 you may be running into the same bug that I did.
If you look in the thread entitled "Boom" you will find a link to anotherr thread that will explain how you get around the crash. You have to edit the savegame file. WHen you open the file look for the line "selectable". After that you will find a list of all the countires in the game. delete all but your own country, then save and then load that saved game.

This is not the click on savegame file crash bug. I get that too, but I know how to correct it. This is an after 1610 IN GAME it crashes...constantly. Normally every month or so. Thank you for your thoughts though.

 

[viper37]

Re: I hear you man

Originally posted by ehrie
I've never been able to get past 1610 in any GC. I get CTDs every month to two months no matter how much I save and keep going it never stops. It really kills my enjoyment of the game as I can't get to the end. I find once I start colonizing is when everything starts going to hell...getting a CTD every 2 years or so starting in 1550 or so and then it gets progressivly worse until I hit the wall at 1610.

I've tried every suggestion on this forum to no avail. Here are my computer specs.

Athlon XP 1800+
Abit KR7A-R(KT266A Chipset) Mobo
WinXP Pro
Radeon 7500 gfx
SB Live 5.1 Gamer sound
1024 MD DDR Ram

do you have the latest drivers for your ATI card and your SB card?
Upgrade your MB drivers, default versions tends to be buggy. Check Via's page at www.viatech.com
get every single patch for XP
create a fixed virtual memory file (control panel, system, advanced, performance settings, advanced, virtual memory on the bottom, and put it at 1000 mb both min and max (actually, this might not change much given you have 1024mb RAM, so you might try to disable it and see how it runs).
Defrag...