[Calbeck]

I'll say this as a working PC tech (can't say who with, obviously), as well as someone who's been tweaking his PCs for gaming since 1988.

SH4 IS a very good game. It has its issues in terms of gameplay, but it remains THE best out-of-the-box sub game I've ever played. SH3 is, currently, debatably superior, but only because of the efforts of dozens of modders working for years to improve on what was already a great game. The same will be true here as SH4 catches up in the modding zone.

As to CTDs, here's a tip: RAMP YOUR RAM. Especially if you're running Vista, and VERY especially if you have a 256M or heftier video card.

Why? Because many video cards currently "pre-position" RAM addresses in expectation of heavy loads, and that's fine --- IF you have the RAM to spare, which many folks don't. This function speeds video processing, but cuts the rest of the system off from using that RAM. Add the fact that Vista requires 1Gig MINIMUM to run worth a damn, and you can rest assured that you're going to have CTDs and bluescreens relating to memory should you try to run SH4 on a high-end card using Vista on 1G.

I had exactly this issue and it drove me crazy trying to troubleshoot and ubertweak my own machine for two weeks before I realized that the AGP aperature was forcing Windows to reserve 512M! Note that PCI-X cards are not as prone to this, because it becomes a software issue and isn't hardwired into the card. Reducing the AGP aperature in BIOS and ramping up to 2Gigs RAM has resulted in a FAR more stable machine --- and I can now run SH4 with all the visual goodies, whereas I got low framerates and stuttering trying to do so before.

This is also probably the cheapest fix for most of you out there --- my extra gig cost slightly more than $100, for a good pair of Corsair 512s.