Unstable

[unmerged(9195)]

I love this game...just hate the way it was programmed. My game crashes for no reason (to desktop, hang or blue screen of unending errors), sometimes at start up, sometimes when I try to save, sometimes just in the middle of the game when I click on a province...so frustrating. I've already tried all the things on the message board (defrag, no sound, no acceleration, no other progs), but it's still as buggy as ever.

The odd thing is, there are the occaisonal games that I can play for like 80 odd years, but when I try to load the game the next day...poof! Unstable as hell again.

I've never bought a game that was so terribly unstable, well at least since the days of DOS (anyone else play Millenia: Altered Destinies? Another fantasic game, but unplayable due to routine hangs, crash to desktop, crash to blue screen).

I have no problem running other games which have much higher graphic/processor requirements...I just hope that 1.05 makes the game playable. It really does look like a lot of fun.

I would like to try 1.03..1.02. I just bought the game a week ago, perhaps i shall try the unpatched game. Has there been any improvement in AI over the patches? (played hard first try (albiet with china) and it's not very difficult, at least for as long as i've been able to play.)

Any help, suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[viper37]

yes there has been improvements to the AI and to the difficulty level in patch 1.04 and there as also been perofrmance improvements.

for help with your crashes, I'll need your complete config.

 

[unmerged(9195)]

CPU: Pentium III 1Ghz
Video Card: Nvidia Geforce 2 GTS
Sound Card: Onboard sound (it still crashes even after deactivating the card) C-Media PCI Audio Legacy Device.
OS: WIN ME
RAM: 756 Mb, @ 133-Mhz


I turned everything (program wise) off (virus scanner, firewall, mixer, everything but explorer).

When I first started the game (with China) I managed to play over 80 years crash free (there were intermittent crashes before this period, but was always able to load previous save and continue. Continuing from my current save results in a few years (sometimes months) before a crash. Also crashes (to desktop) when trying to save. This also happened in several of my other games.

 

[viper37]

It could be the Nvidia drivers.

Check the "Useful tools..." thread where your first posted, and download Detonator Destroyer to remove your Nvidia drivers and then reinstall the latest ones.

As for your other games, it could DirectX related, so check the link for Direct X buster and download this utility as well as DirectX 8.0a

With these two, you should be ok. Follow the instructions on their respective web pages, and post feedback

 

[unmerged(9195)]

Nvidia driver were uninstalled, proceeded to load my game (w/o sound, min accelerations, no other progs), played about 4 months and the BOOM, crash to desktop.
Sigh.

 

[jpd]

What continues to amaze me is the ongoing statement that NVidia's drivers are the likely cause of the crashes people experience with EU2.

As far as I can observe, there are absolutely no demanding graphics in this game that would push the driver over the edge. Just a simple map with some textures superimposed on it, that scrolls around a bit.

I own a lot of other games, most of them actually DO push the driver to it's limits. None of them cause the driver to crash my PC. The only real 'issue' I found was some graphical misrepresentations in Panzer General III with some of the older NVidia drivers.

I recently installed Dungeon Siege on my system, a game that actually DOES push the driver and video board to it's limits. Cutting edge 3D images, alpha blending, multiple lighthing sources with shadow effects, advanced Z-bufferering, perspective view, with distant objects blurred, etc.

On my system, where EU2 crashes for no appearant reason all of the time, Dungeon Siege runs solid as a rock.

So, what I want to know is this.

Instead of simply blaming the NVidia drivers, tell us, please, what kind of special graphical actions does EU2 perform that causes the driver to crash. After all, it must be something very special, that none of the other games use.

Jan Peter

 

[AndrewT]

Originally posted by jpd
What continues to amaze me is the ongoing statement that NVidia's drivers are the likely cause of the crashes people experience with EU2....So, what I want to know is this....
Instead of simply blaming the NVidia drivers, tell us, please, what kind of special graphical actions does EU2 perform that causes the driver to crash. Jan Peter

We, the moderators and fellow-players here, do not know. If Johan or VKV happen by they will, but it is not likely and they probably won't divulge anyway.

The fact is that blowing away the nVidia drivers with detonator destroyer has fixed crashes and other problems with this game for some peaople, without making any other changes. Therefore, there must have been something wrong with the drivers beforehand. It is perfectly reasonable for us to continue to suggest this course of action. We would hardly do so unless we had reason to think it might help.

No-one is saying they are the cause of all crashes, nor that the game is bug-free, far from it. After all, 1.05 will fix at least 6 separate CTD causes. All these are easily identifiable as they tend to happen due to certain events, or actions within the game (eg loading a saved game while the game is running). But if crashes occur without any pattern it is quite possible they are not due to the game itself, as we have proven on more than one occasion.

 

[viper37]

Originally posted by TsaoTsao
Nvidia driver were uninstalled, proceeded to load my game (w/o sound, min accelerations, no other progs), played about 4 months and the BOOM, crash to desktop.
Sigh.

I think you can reenable the sound. It doesn't seem to be the cause of your problems.

Did you remove DirectX and reinstall it? This has solved many crashes for other people too. As AndrewT said, patch 1.05 will solve at least 6 different crash (CtD). Latest news is that the patch will be out on May 28th.

 

[viper37]

Originally posted by jpd
As far as I can observe, there are absolutely no demanding graphics in this game that would push the driver over the edge. Just a simple map with some textures superimposed on it, that scrolls around a bit.

it's not a question of pushing the drivers to its limits. I remember Shogun:Total War was not working with some specific versions of Nvidia drivers, I also remember Emperor: Battle for Dune not working with DirectX 8.1, yet none of these where pushing the drivers to its limits as you say.

Drivers can be and are often buggy. Uninstalling a driver (or any software) will seldom remove everything from the driver; some parts are left there, dlls, registry keys, some other files and they can conflicts. Latest Nvidia drivers seems more stable than others but they had problems for a little while.

So that's why I recommend to completely remove the drivers as more often than not it is the cause the crash. Unfortunately there are still some crashes that won't be fixed by this