problem running sh4

[bob stone]

hello, all

ok heres my prob

I got a quad core intel 2.66
4 gigs ram
xfi fatality snd card
280gtx vid card

when ever I use time compression sometimes it is perfectly smooth, other times it is really choppy, it can vary between the states sevral times withen 5 mins. it also sometimes CTD's when it is lagging ( it will get really choppy, worse then normal, then freeze, then CTD )

I also notice the laggyness and the ctd also almost always happen in heavy trafficked areas, unfortunately like the ones most missions send you to patrol in. :(

now for the "please don't turn me away aspect", I am running the steam version with the u-boats addon, on windows 7.

however it has the exact same problems when I ran it on windows vista 64 bit.

is there a game setting or something that is making it laggy when I use time compression ( btw I only use time compression from the nav chart and that is the only time it crashes also )

Please someone help me out with this, I am ripping my hair out. I really want to play this game with out ctd's


also if it help with the tips you give, I have been working with computer hardware and software in a professional capacity for over 9 years.

Thanks
Bob

[ReallyDedPoet]

Bump :up:

[Sailor Steve]

Mine lags under pretty much all conditions, and going faster than 2048x actually slows it down. But my problem is the graphics card, and I don't know anything about yours except the name.

WELCOME ABOARD, anyway!:sunny:

[AVGWarhawk]

I run it with Vista 64, Phenom X4 9850, 8 gig RAM and a 9800GT. Certainly no issues like you have experienced. I do not think the downloaded version is your problem. Windows 7 is not your issue either. I have heard that some run the game on one core only and it solves problems like this. I do not know where for you to turn to for the set up on one core only. Do a search in the forums. It did come up once before and the member got one core to run it smoothly. Search the web also.

[ReallyDedPoet]

I do not know where for you to turn to for the set up on one core only. Do a search in the forums. It did come up once before and the member got one core to run it smoothly. Search the web also.

Not sure with Vista, but with XP, you bring up Task Manager\Program you are running\right-click and you have the option to set affinity, it is here you choose or tick off one core.

Maybe do a search on this though, not sure if it has any adverse effects on the CPU ?

[bob stone]

I will look in to setting the affinity to one core, it shouldn't affect the cpu at all doing this.

as far as the video card in answer to Sailor Steve's possible question,
the nvidia geforce 280gtx is one of the fastest single gpu based video cards you can buy right now. ( there are one or 2 newer ones that are faster but I think they are dual gpu based )


any ways thanks for the suggestions, I will try those and get back to you all.

also if anyone has anymore input on this I would appreciate it.

Thanks
Bob Stone

[bob stone]

ok just tried to set affinity to one cpu and it didn't change anything

also I never went above 4048x speed ( or what ever the 4k one is, maby 4096 )

and it crashed just like described before, I was just reaching a heavy congested area and it started lagging a bit then lagged hard, then CTD.

also I have never crashed unless i am on the nav screen using speed compression. that is also the ONLY time the game laggs or crashes.

Thanks
Bob

[bob stone]

also I just tried mutiplayer on ubi soft server with a local friend of mine, and it freezes as soon as i get the control bar across the bottom. mouse dosn't move or nothing, I am going to try a hamichi setup next to see if that works

[bob stone]

and hamachi setup with both players able to ping each other and hamachi set as the highest priority network device, we can not even see any of the games each of us make

[AVGWarhawk]

I'm beginning to think you download might be buggered:hmmm:

[bob stone]

well i have not tried mutiplayer before, but as far as the time compression CTD's before when i encountered it in vista it happened even after a total of 5 re downloads

however i want to say it did not happen with out the uboats addon, i seem to remember the game running fine before i got that addon, i seem to rember this a bit, maby i will delete all local content, re download the orignal and play that for a bit to see if it has the same problem, then download the uboats addon later on to see how they releate to eachother.

also keep the tips comming :P

Thanks
Bob

[Brenjen]

Might be a sound driver conflict. I had an instance where my games would do what you described & after I uninstalled my drivers, used driver sweeper & then reinstalled it cleared it right up.

[bob stone]

will give that a try, but to be honest, it is a fresh ( less then 3 week old ) format / install on my system

but will give that a try and post an update on it today or tommoro

[Enguss]

I have similar problem but only when there are lots of other ships around like close to pearl habour. Does your game run ok when you are in middle of pacific with nothing around?

[AVGWarhawk]

What he is running he should not feel the affects of a lot of traffic. Our systems are basically the same and port/large convoys are just as smooth as sitting in the middle of ocean by myself. Even for me to go to 4000+ time compression I get a bit of jitters but nothing like he is describing. :hmmm:

[DarkFish]

yeah.. my rig is less good (2.66 GHz C2D, GeForce 8600 GTS, 2 gigs ram, on board sound card) but I only get lags when using high time compression (>4096) near ships (when near midway or pearl when time compression >512).
Near a convoy I can easily go to 2048x without noticing a thing.:hmmm:

It might not be the best solution but you could try installing RSRDC as it cuts down on the amount of shipping (to historical values).
But this is more like avoiding the problem than a real solution...

[Brenjen]

I'm running a rather old system, socket 939 FX-60, 2 gigs of ddr2 patriot memory & my old video card was a 7950GX2. It was top of the line four years ago & I can run at full time compression, it only lags around port traffic or right before a contact brings me out of compression....which is where I was having the CTD's.

I tried everything & the sound drivers were the very last thing I changed because mine was a fresh format as well.....I literally updated the drivers for the CPU, Chipset & video card, messed around in the bios with the PCI-E socket speed, checked my memeory, upped my virtual memory to the max rated 4095 mb's before I got around to checking the sound drivers.

My problem was caused by a windows update. It had found a newer Creative driver & it didn't work worth a %&#^


If the sound driver doesn't fix the problem you might check the virtual memory you have alloted.


Edit: I neglected to mention the three or four fresh downloads & installs that took place as well. Downloads don't get corrupted as often as people suggest....at least they never have for me.

[Brenjen]

Bump for the sake of people who search for answers to problems....is it fixed Bob? (I'm guessing yes & that's why he's been mia from this thread for a couple days)

If yes, then what was it that fixed it? if not there's more that can be done....don't give up.

[bob stone]

latest update

ok just a fyi, I have had this problem in vista with a fresh install and windows 7 with a fresh install. so I was thinking since I have just reinstalled to windows 7 and the game is still unstable I will downgrade

so ya I know it is a bit of a cop out but I just finished installing windows xp 32 bit

brenjen mentioned that he had a similar problem caused by his sound card drivers ( well actually sounds like the exact problem i have, but cant be sure ) I am using a creative XFi fatality edition with the breakout box, to be honest I have never been happy with the driver support given to this card for the newer operating systems and 64bit systems.

anyways I have not had a chance to try the game out yet but I will leave an update later tonight or tomorrow

[bob stone]

ok, on windows xp 32 bit, I have not tested the CTD when doing time compression.

however I tried a ubi soft online game with a local friend and it does the exact same thing as before, I join his game, get to the lobby fine, but when game starts, it will load the menu bar on the bottom then with out ever giving me a screen image it will CTD.

I have not tried a Hamachi lan game yet cause I still need to install Hamachi and configure it.

I will retest the game play for time compression error later tonight, if it still happens I am going to go back to windows vista 64 bit (was just playing around with windows 7 ) cause if it still happens with windows XP 32 bit, that means that running it on a 64 bit OS has nothing to do with it.

I will post an update later tonight, if i reinstall vista, I am going to go about testing my sound card ( I have an XFi ) by removing it and using my onboard audio.

if it is my sound card I am going to be realllllllllllly mad, cause I paid way to much for that sound card to remove it for one game :P but I still might do that ( then use the xfi for my media center pc when I build it )

[Brenjen]

I'm 99.999% certain (gotta leave room for other possibilities) it's a driver conflict.

I'm not sure which one of course but if I were you I'd start updating all my drivers with a good driver cleaner used in between; assuming you've already ruled out the obvious like antivirus programs or antispyware programs auto updating etc. A fresh format on a disk screams driver conflict.

One thing I've learned over the years is that software problems are almost always driver related & hardware problems are almost always memory or video card related.

[Munchausen]

:o Multiplayer has its own issues. Test the game in single-player first, until you get it working. Then give MP a try ... but be prepared for a troubleshooting session.

[bob stone]

ok sorry about the delay in response,

well isolated the muti player problem, on the bottom right hand side it said 1.5 for each of us, but one day he happened to come by and notice that my main menu looked a little different then his, he got the game of the year edition, for some reason the game says it is the same version but it looks different then my Steam edition and will not connect to each other.

secondly, I have removed my sound card and reinstalled again :) ( had a lot of free time so...) however since then I have not had much spare time to actually test it, when I get around to testing it I will let ya all know whats going on.

also as a test in stead of d/l sh4 on steam then d/l the expansion for it, I just d/l'ed the expansion. I will test it like that, if that doesn't work and has the same problem, I will use my friends copy to install and see if that one also gives me the same problems.

also just so I know, how come we have the same version but the game title menu looks different ? is the version number on the bottom right not correct or something. the difference is that on the title/menu screen on the top where it says the name of the game, on his it is black, on mine it is gold?

anyways thanks for any more input.

Bob

[Arclight]

On a side note, it's not necessary to physically remove your soundcard. You can disable it in Device Manager, or simply run 2 cards side by side, making sure the game uses onboard instead of X-fi (set onboard as default device in "Sound" in control panel).

At least then you can still use the add-in card for other stuff. ;)