Problems with Steam Version

[Thrair]

I had played Silent Hunter 4 before on my Stepdad's computer some years ago, and had enjoyed it. So, needing a good single-player game I could spend time on, I remembered it and decided to buy it (as SHV's DRM can stick it where the sun does not shine).

As most of my games are purchased via steam, I checked to see if it was on there. Voila. Not only that, there was a sale for a pack that contained SH3, SH4, and the U-boat expansion for SH4.



Unfortunately, since installing it (which went well enough, although I had to verify the game cache for both the Expansion and the game proper), I have had continuous issues with the game.

The game gets laggier and laggier with each patrol I do. Usually after 3, I can no longer exceed time compression of around 2000x without the game beginning to lag and risk a CTD. After around 5 patrols, the game becomes virtually unplayable.

I have to reverify the game cache each time this happens, and it does fix the issue, albeit temporarily. The trouble is that this corrupts my save games. The exception being saves done while in port, which *often* are loadable afterwards.

And again, this is temporary. Once I do a few more patrols, the problem arises once more. I have tried uninstalling numerous times. I have been quite thorough on several of these attempts. Doing the registry clear and everything.


I've looked it up online, and from what I gather, this problem does not seem to exist for people who buy hard copies of the game, but people who purchased it via steam have frequent problems of a similar nature.



To sum up..... *whimpers*.... Halp.

[Rockin Robbins]

Wow! That's very different from the other Steam games. My single installation of Unreal Tournament III was bug-ridden and very cranky until Steam got hold of it. I transferred the registration to Steam and downloaded all their updates. It's a great game now! I've applied mods and everything, just as I would for a stand-alone game without any issues at all.

But my SH4 install is stand-alone, so I can't help you at all there. Hope some Steam users step up to the plate with some pointers.

[Thrair]

Oh yah. Don't get me wrong, I love Steam. This is the first time I've had a problem with it. Was hoping someone a little more tech savvy had bumped into the problem and solved it. (As I know just enough about computers to screw mine up if I try to fiddle with it)

[Spike88]

Did you check the steamforums? Maybe someone else ran into the same problem and was able to fix it.

I hope you get your problems fixed as Steam does not do refunds.

[WernherVonTrapp]

If you don't mind Thrair, could you post your system specs, including system RAM and Graphics Card type?

Originally Posted by Spike88

Did you check the steamforums? Maybe someone else ran into the same problem and was able to fix it.

He was actually referred to SubSim.com by the users at the Steam forums. Hardly anyone visits the Silent Hunter section of their forums, and it takes ages to get an answer.

I also get these game issues with my copy btw. (Steam install as well.) I've tried installing SH4, then the expansion, and have tried simply installing the expansion. (Which downloads the original as well.) I have tried verifying the game cache multiple times, and it will finally say that there are no errors, but they return eventually. Makes me wonder if the game crashes that are occurring are damaging our files.

In my case, I am using Win 7 64-bit, on an Intel Core 2 Quad 9550, 8GB RAM and a Radeon 4890.

[Thrair]

Yah, I was refered to this forum from the Steam Forums.

Windows XP Professional x64
AMD Athlon 7750 Dual-Core Processor
2 GB RAM x2
NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT

It runs the game just fine initially. The trouble is the game's performance begins to degrade the longer I play it. The files seem to be corrupting on the steam version for whatever reason.

[WernherVonTrapp]

OK, I see you have only 2GB of RAM. Now, I'm not saying that's the problem because, right now, my suspicion is based solely on conjecture. Nevertheless, so far, my prediction is correct (that is, I suspect the problem may be RAM related). Mind you, I'm simply trying to help you troubleshoot a problem. If you can accommodate a bit more, please play SHIV until the problem occurrs again and then, save and close-out the game. Follow that by rebooting your system and see if that doesn't correct the problem.
Now, bear with me because, I fully expect the problem to occurr again, (being RAM related that is). What I'm trying to find out (with your help) is that, upon rebooting, does the game last longer before the problem reappears again? If it does, I would recomment a RAM upgrade (i.e., more RAM).

Of course I have the same issue, with 8GB of ram. In either case, it would help a lot to have more than 2GB with Windows 7 though.

[Thrair]

Ah, my mistake. I have two RAM sticks. Each is 2 GB. Was tired when I made the post and just pulled it from where I had it written down.

*EDIT* Also, restarting the computer does zilch. I load the game back up, and it's just as bad, if not worse. While my computer is due for an upgrade, it still runs most games quite well. I believe this problem is not on my end, at least not as a hardware issue.

[WernherVonTrapp]

I used to have that same situation a long time ago, when I played the stock version. For the life of me though, I can't remember what I did to fix it. I just know that it's no longer an issue with me. The good news is, it can be fixed. I can also say that it's probably a very simple procedure. I think I'd, at least, remember it, if it was difficult. Oh-oh, I smell wood burning again. I must be thinking too hard. If it comes to me, I'll post it ASAP. Right now, I don't want to hurt myself.

[WernherVonTrapp]

OK, here is what I think I did to fix it, with emphasis on the word "think". I believe I went into my system BIOS and set the allotment of graphics RAM to 4096. I know for sure that I went into my system BIOS to do that but I can only come up with an "I think" when applying it as a fix for the lagging in-game.