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MrSkar
MrSkar
Join Date 03/2008
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another minidump thread

March 19, 2008 1:06:41 AM from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums
Well, I just purchased this game yesterday in the hopes that my less than awesome machine would be able to play it. This turned out to be something it can't do, though I don't know why. I can't even BEGIN the game, once the main menu comes up and I press "Play Game" it gets a minidump and crashes. I uninstalled/reinstalled it AND downloaded new drivers. My comp has 1 gig RAM, Pentium 4 3 GHz, Radeon 9800, and runs on XP (I don't have any other detailed info for you guys, sorry). Any help at all would be appreciated, I just want to play this game and it won't let me ; .;.
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MrSkar
kryo
Join Date 05/2003
+458 sdemployee
Reply #1 March 19, 2008 12:20:59 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums
If you are experiencing crashes, please zip up the following items and email them to [email protected] with a description of the problem:

+ A dxdiag of your PC (Start -> Run -> type "dxdiag" and hit Enter -> Save all information).

+ Any mini-dump files that were generated from the locations below (note that these directories are Hidden by default):

XP: C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Temp\Sins Dump

Vista: C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Temp\Sins Dump

+ For multiplayer games, please include your save games from each person who crashed.

It should go without saying that if you haven't done it already, make certain you have the latest video and sound drivers for your systems.
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MrSkar
Concepters
Join Date 03/2008
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Reply #2 March 19, 2008 9:59:48 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums
so there is nothing more you guys can do except have us zip a file to you guys?
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MrSkar
sirwence
Join Date 03/2008
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Reply #3 March 19, 2008 10:01:40 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums
you know, I agree.. And if all these people who have been having Crashes or Minidump problems have been sending everything in.. Why hasn't a fix been published. Seems like rather poor customer support.
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MrSkar
the_Monk
Join Date 01/2008
+222
Reply #4 March 19, 2008 10:24:34 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums
Never had even one crash over here. In fact I believe there are more people not crashing than are. Of course they're not on these forums stating that, so there will never be a real comparison.

Let's examine this somewhat closer. I could post my system specs, but what real-world good would that do anyway? I mean my gaming systems have never had a virus (not even one bit of spyware). I only install games on my gaming machines. I use other computers (notebooks, other desktops) to browse the internet, email, use business apps.

For shits and giggles, here is what I know:

Intel 805D (o/c'd to 3.32GHz)
4 GB RAM
160GB HD
320MB eVGA 8800 GTS
Sound Blaster Audigy 2

Windows XP Pro x64 (all OS patches incl. service packs, and all "optional" patches)

Drivers: Wow, Some of my drivers are from 2005, some from 2007. Hmmmm...maybe one of the 2005 ones works better than newer ones? Who knows...

Other software: I have not one single other piece of software installed on this machine except for...

WinXP Pro x64
Various Games (incl. SINS)

...nothing els, period. (no xfire, etc.)

The machines I use for gaming are about as close to "vanilla" as it gets. Which might explain why I've never had a game other than those published by UBISOFT crash on my machine's ever! (btw...I refer to them as machine(s) in the plural because I actually run two identical machines side-by-side. Should one ever go down? or my brother be in town? etc. I can keep gaming! )

The point of this post?

To show in some (probably futile) way how difficult and sometimes near impossible it is to "nail-down" the reason for a particular problem.

All I can say is. "I have not had one single crash with SINS, or any other (other than UBI) game on my hardware/software setup, ever!"

Oh, and just so we're clear. I have my own thoughts on possible causes for (at least some of) the minidumps people are experiencing.

1. It's possible that even though people are able to play sometimes without configuring (being able to configure) their network setups like outlined in my guides, that not doing so is increasing latency at critical game-sync moments and consequently a minidump occurs? Maybe the game's netcode times out too quickly?

2. It's possible that people's tcp stacks are corrupt or that other LSP's that are installed are conflicting with SINS netcode.

3. And of course we know, Nvidia drivers have been total shit of late...

This is my conjecture....and I'm sticking to it! hehe   

Have a nice day.

the Monk

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MrSkar
Charleslee
Join Date 04/2008
+1
Reply #5 April 6, 2008 12:49:35 AM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums
I just purchased mine a couple of days age and have not been able to play it. As soon as you select your teams and click start the loading screen comes on then the minidump. So I sent the info to support. But if you find something let me know.
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MrSkar
JohnJames
Join Date 03/2008
+17
Reply #6 April 6, 2008 4:16:05 AM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums
Can we get refunds?


Dont always get the minidumps but they are mostly when the game is over 1 hour old.
Tired new HD (new install of os) with latest drivers and not so latest to beta drivers.



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MrSkar
Frogboy
Join Date 03/2001
+2423 sdemperor
Reply #7 April 6, 2008 12:58:47 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums

Unfortunately there is no line of code that says "If coputer=trackiet then crash".

For 99.99% of users, it's working fine.  So when someone does run into a problem, we have to try to figure out the cause.  Unfortunately, most people don't give us any information to go on other than saying "game crashes". 

It could be any number of things. A faulty video driver, a bad sound driver, or some weird conflict in our code.  Obviously if there were widespread problems with the game the forums would be full of issues.

And yes, if you bought the game from us, you can get a refund if you're having technical difficulties by contacting [email protected].

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MrSkar
JohnJames
Join Date 03/2008
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Reply #8 April 6, 2008 2:48:16 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums
I'll wait till next patch to see if that fixes things, if not then I'll contact sales
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MrSkar
Charleslee
Join Date 04/2008
+1
Reply #9 April 6, 2008 8:26:34 PM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums
If you were to actually search you would find alot of people with this minidump issue. Also I have a older computer but i Reformatted Hard drive, Installed XP professional sp2, Updated all drivers, installed game and same result. Tried the Nvidia beta drivers and still same result. Tried to lower graphics to the lowest and same result. Played the demo just fine.
New computer is in the making was waiting for the 790i mother board
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MrSkar
maheshjr2004
Join Date 12/2007
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Reply #10 April 6, 2008 9:31:11 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums
I also have this problem and I have sent a minidump in just waiting for a reply. I dont get it 1.02 was working fine! I think 1.03 was for a while as well.
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MrSkar
JohnJames
Join Date 03/2008
+17
Reply #11 April 22, 2008 2:37:21 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums
Unfortunately there is no line of code that says "If coputer=trackiet then crash".
For 99.99% of users, it's working fine.  So when someone does run into a problem, we have to try to figure out the cause.  Unfortunately, most people don't give us any information to go on other than saying "game crashes". 
It could be any number of things. A faulty video driver, a bad sound driver, or some weird conflict in our code.  Obviously if there were widespread problems with the game the forums would be full of issues.
And yes, if you bought the game from us, you can get a refund if you're having technical difficulties by contacting [email protected].


After a few weeks of playing with 1.04, the game still crashes. if you think that 99.99% dont crash then you are sadly mistaken. I would say 30-40% of my games crash. (larger maps, fleets and more people tend to have higher chances of crashing). I know there is a tool to help track down the problem, but the tool limits you to people using the same tool. Why not just make everyone use the same tool so those trying to help track the problem down can play with the general population.


I have contacted sales for a refund. thanks for the game. I may buy it again if I hear it doesnt crash anymore.
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MrSkar
Droom1
Join Date 03/2008
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Reply #12 April 22, 2008 2:48:54 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums
Hi,

No problem. I saved couple of my dumps and will gladly forward the requested files. I've had SotE since 1.01 and never experienced a crash until 1.04. I only play "Single Player".



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MrSkar
Annatar11
Join Date 11/2006
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Reply #13 April 22, 2008 3:01:43 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums
Droom, the main cause of 1.04 specific crashes is trying to load previous versions of save games. Other patches labeled the games as incompatible and would not allow you to load, but 1.04 does. Still, earlier version saves don't work and cause minidumps.

Check to make sure you aren't loading earlier saves
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MrSkar
Matress_of_evil
Join Date 04/2008
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Reply #14 April 22, 2008 3:35:40 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums
Ever since i've installed 1.04, i've had a 100% crash rate. I'd never even heard of a "minidump" until I installed 1.04. I've played 20-30 games since I installed the update and every one of them has crashed. The crash isn't instantaneous though, the timing is completely random - i've played games for two or three hours before it crashes, and i'm playing new games. I deleted all my old saves as soon as 1.04 was isntalled.

Every crash has happened during combat though. It might be purely coincidental, but I could be bombing a planet or pulverising an enemy fleet, and suddenly the game becomes a windowed screen and I hear the evil windows error sound effect and have to ctrl alt del to get out of the game. And then I see the minidump message. (

Oh well, at least I know it's not just me. I'll send in my minidump files and see what's going on.
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