As we've done with our prior releases, we've decided to post a FAQ for Beta 3 of Sins. While the FAQ was useful for the first two betas, it is critical for Beta 3! You'll find both useful info and networking solutions for possible problems you may encounter with Sins multiplayer below. If a solution below doesn't work to fix your issue, please post about it in the Sins Beta 3 Technical Feedback thread.

• Can I just upgrade over Beta 1 or 2 or should I reinstall the game from scratch?

You will need to wipe out any installed Beta of Sins entirely from your system by first uninstalling the game via Stardock Central, then deleting your Ironclad Games directory located at:

Vista:
C:\Users\username

XP:
C:\Documents and Settings\username

Please note these directories may be Hidden by default.  To unhide them, go to your Control Panel -> Folder Options -> View and set yourself to view hidden files and folders. 

If you try upgrading over a previously installed Sins beta you will get crashes and multiplayer sync issues when trying to play.

• Will my Beta 1 or 2 save games be compatible with Beta 3?

No, you should delete all prior save games. As with Betas 1 and 2, expect save games to break between updates.

• What's the purpose of Beta 3?

Beta 3 is the multiplayer technical test for Sins. Most of the multiplayer features in terms of gameplay and Ironclad Online functionality are not present for this test (you'll notice some reduced single-player game creation options also). Testers should expect that Beta 3 will likely not be as fun as Beta 2 and that you will encounter technical issues with multiplayer. If you do run into a technical problem not addressed in this FAQ, please post about it in the Technical Feedback thread.

• Is Beta 3 still TEC-only? When do we get to see the other races?

Beta 3 will continue to reveal only the TEC, as we need to keep everyone focused on multiplayer technical testing. Beta 4 will be focused on multiplayer gameplay testing and will include another race.

• Have the system requirements changed since Beta 2?

Only slightly - Minimum: Windows XP SP2/Vista, 1.8 GHz CPU, 512 MB RAM (1 GB for Vista), 128 MB DirectX 9 3D Video Card, DirectX 9.0c or higher; Recommended: 2.4 GHz CPU, 1 GB RAM (2 GB RAM for Vista), 256 MB DirectX 9 3D Video Card, LAN or Broadband Internet Connection for Online Multiplayer.

• How do I download the Beta?  Can I get it on disc?

The Sins beta is only available to charged pre-order customers through Stardock Central, our digital download manager, and requires online activation. We are not providing copies of the beta on disc.

• Where are my save games, recorded games, screenshots and minidumps found?

These are located at:

Vista:
C:\Users

XP:
C:\Documents and Settings\username

Please note these directories may be Hidden by default.  To unhide them, go to your Control Panel -> Folder Options -> View and set yourself to view hidden files and folders.

• Where is my Sins settings file found?

This file is located at:

Vista:
C:\Users\username\

XP:
C:\Documents and Settings\username\

Please note these directories may be Hidden by default.  To unhide them, go to your Control Panel -> Folder Options -> View and set yourself to view hidden files and folders.

• How can I open my settings file if I need to change something?

You can open this and most Sins files with a simple text editor such as Notepad. We strongly recommend against using programs like Microsoft Word, however, as they introduce their own hidden formatting elements that may cause crashes.

• How can I enable logging to help track down issues?

Using the information from the question above, open your user.setting file and turn LogOutput to TRUE. The next time you start the game your titlebar should say "Sins of a Solar Empire - Log-xxx.txt" where xxx is some random number (you'll only notice this if you run Sins in Windowed mode). The game is recording what is happening in this file which is saved to the same directory that you installed Sins to.

Please note that Windows Vista users will need to tweak their folder security settings before doing this, as Vista does not allow programs to create new files in this manner by default.

• My game has crashed and told me it saved a "minidump" file. What do I do?

Please locate the folder using the information above and compress the file using either .zip or .rar format. Then send the compressed file to us at support(at)ironcladgames(dot)com.

• My game has a bug, what do I do?

You can send the save and/or recorded game that recreates the bug along with a description of how it occurred to us. Using the info above, locate the save/recorded game and compress it into either .zip or .rar format, then email it to us at support(at)ironcladgames(dot)com.

• I try to start Sins but I get an "Audio Engine Failed To Initialize" error.

This is an indication that your sound card drivers are out-of-date. Please try installing a valid, up-to-date sound driver for your system.

• I try to start Sins but the screen is a mess of color or is black and never loads the game.

Possible solutions:

1. Try turning off movies in the user.setting by changing ShowIntroMovies TRUE to ShowIntroMovies FALSE.
2. Try manually changing the resolution of the game in user.setting by changing the values associated with WINDOWEDWIDTH and WINDOWEDHEIGHT.
3. Try manually changing the MULTISAMPLETYPE setting to a value between 0 and 4 in the user.setting file.
4. Try updating your sound card drivers to their latest version (this is especially important on brand new machines).

• I can't connect to Ironclad Online (ICO) or any LAN games.

Make sure your software firewall (including the Windows Firewall) has not blocked Sins of a Solar Empire. With some firewalls it may appear that Sins has frozen, as the firewall is waiting to receive confirmation to proceed. You may need to exit Sins and restart the game in Windowed mode (IsWindowed in user.setting) in order to get around the firewall's pop-up. Alternatively, you could configure your firewall prior to starting Sins.

• Sins won't continue when I try to host a multiplayer game.

Your TCP/IP or Winsock settings could be corrupted. To confirm this, turn on logging (using the instructions above) and attempt to host a game again. If your log file is filled with "Socket'ServerAcceptedSocket0' failed recv: An operation was attempted on something that is not a socket." then this is most likely the problem.

The solution to fixing your corrupted settings can be found here.

• Other players aren't able to connect to the game I'm hosting.

Your user.setting file has an entry for GameHostPort (default is 6112). Make sure your router has this Port Forwarded to your computer's IP address or has UPnP enabled. All computers behind a router should have their own unique GameHostPort setup in case the original host leaves and a new host for the game is needed.

Example (computers behind router):

Computer IP          user.settings -> GameHostPort       Router Port Forwarding Setting

192.168.1.47                         6001                             6001   ->  192.168.1.47
192.168.1.201                       6002                             6002   ->   192.168.1.201
192.168.1.35                         6003                             6003   ->   192.168.1.35

• I get messages saying "Your mesh files differ from the host's" or "Your game data differs from the host's" or "Your executable differs from the host's".

This indicates that your version of the game doesn't match those of the other player. Try updating your game from Stardock Central and moving/deleting any files that don't belong (i.e., mods). Your Mesh and GameInfo folders must be exactly the same as the other computers you are connecting to or you will get sync errors while playing.

We realize this isn't friendly towards modders currently, but we do plan to fix this in the future. In the meantime, please backup your game folders if you intend to modify them. This can be done in Stardock Central through the Archive option.