Last ditch attempt at a fix (long post)

scalelokt · 03-14-07, 12:52 PM

Hello fellow commanders. I've reached a point in GWX where I'm having trouble getting into the game. My last topic was "The Great Escape" which described my most recent patrol and about the most fun I've ever had playing SH3 / GWX. Well as soon as I got away I saved my game because I was still in mid patrol and just didnt have time to wrap things up during that session. I come back to load it, and the game crashes within 5 minutes every time. I simply can not save my game be it submerged, surfaced, ships around me, no ships around me, etc. Really the only way I can play is to do an entire patrol at a time. Between work, the band I'm in, the girlfriend, etc. its hard for me to have that kind of time, especially since I like to take my sweet time every patrol (manual targeting and all that). It's getting to the point where I don't want to play because its almost a sure thing I will lose all the progress I've made when I save. What I'm experiencing is a CTD with no error message.

So to make this as short as I can, here are my system specs and what fixes I have attempted so far (from searches in this forum)

1. I always save surfaced with no ships in range (though I get the same CTD either way)
2. I have tried a variety of installations, with and without GWX, once on Vista once on XP, with and without SH Weather, pretty much every combination of mods on and off yields the same problem.
3. Other games are stable and running well, including intensive games like Oblivion, Call of Duty 2, Splinter Cell Double Agent, etc.

A brief rundown of my system:
Nvidia 6800GT OC video card (AGP 8x)
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy ZS Platinum Pro
3 Ghz Pentium 4, 800 FSB, Hyper Threading enabled
2 gigs RAM (recently upgraded from 1.5 gigs, but the crashing happened before and after)
Currently using Windows XP Professional with all updates (have same problems with Vista Home as well)
I have the latest drivers for everything.

I think thats a good place to start. I'm not going to give up on SH3, I like it too much. But I'm sure you all can understand, this is getting frustrating so I'm open to any ideas you all might have. I have searched the forum a lot and have found all kinds of suggestions for fixes but none have worked so far. Also sorry to bother you all with this, I try to keep tech issues out of forums like this, the company should be responsible, but you all seem knowledgeable about this stuff and ubisoft has little in the way of support for this game. All I have been able to get is that this is a bug that came with the stock version and there were never any definite fixes for it. I hope thats not the end of the story right there.

AVGWarhawk · 03-14-07, 01:11 PM

Just a question and I have run into this before, the sound card acceleration, possibly your issue? I have had soundblasters that acceleration enabled would cause CTD.

cobalt · 03-14-07, 02:15 PM

any long timer of this game will tell you....

they have all gone through a lot of sh3 reinstalls

you can try to keep your saves though, they might work after.(the in-base ones)

you gotta keep in mind that little changes mess up everything, its unfortunate

scalelokt · 03-14-07, 04:22 PM

Sound card acceleration is something I have not tried, but I definitly will! Thanks for that suggestion. At this point I'll try anything.

@cobalt - you are absolutly right, and I know I am far from being the first person to have these kinds of problems with SH3. I've been hopeful about finding a fix though because many people on this board have said they have never had a crash, or any of the other issues so many deal with. If it was a stock SH3 issue I would think we would all have this problem, yet some of us never do. With that in mind I keep searching for a solution, and I'll definitly let everyone know if I figure anything out. I know you are also right about the reinstall thing, I'll bet most of us have reinstalled a ton of times. I know I have for sure.

Anyway thanks everyone for taking the time to read this and reply, if anyone else comes up with something for me to try please post, and I will definitly try it.

03-14-07, 12:52 PM	#1
scalelokt Machinist's Mate Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: 400 meters to your right, calculating your speed Posts: 126 Downloads: 35 Uploads: 0	Last ditch attempt at a fix (long post) Hello fellow commanders. I've reached a point in GWX where I'm having trouble getting into the game. My last topic was "The Great Escape" which described my most recent patrol and about the most fun I've ever had playing SH3 / GWX. Well as soon as I got away I saved my game because I was still in mid patrol and just didnt have time to wrap things up during that session. I come back to load it, and the game crashes within 5 minutes every time. I simply can not save my game be it submerged, surfaced, ships around me, no ships around me, etc. Really the only way I can play is to do an entire patrol at a time. Between work, the band I'm in, the girlfriend, etc. its hard for me to have that kind of time, especially since I like to take my sweet time every patrol (manual targeting and all that). It's getting to the point where I don't want to play because its almost a sure thing I will lose all the progress I've made when I save. What I'm experiencing is a CTD with no error message. So to make this as short as I can, here are my system specs and what fixes I have attempted so far (from searches in this forum) 1. I always save surfaced with no ships in range (though I get the same CTD either way) 2. I have tried a variety of installations, with and without GWX, once on Vista once on XP, with and without SH Weather, pretty much every combination of mods on and off yields the same problem. 3. Other games are stable and running well, including intensive games like Oblivion, Call of Duty 2, Splinter Cell Double Agent, etc. A brief rundown of my system: Nvidia 6800GT OC video card (AGP 8x) Creative Sound Blaster Audigy ZS Platinum Pro 3 Ghz Pentium 4, 800 FSB, Hyper Threading enabled 2 gigs RAM (recently upgraded from 1.5 gigs, but the crashing happened before and after) Currently using Windows XP Professional with all updates (have same problems with Vista Home as well) I have the latest drivers for everything. I think thats a good place to start. I'm not going to give up on SH3, I like it too much. But I'm sure you all can understand, this is getting frustrating so I'm open to any ideas you all might have. I have searched the forum a lot and have found all kinds of suggestions for fixes but none have worked so far. Also sorry to bother you all with this, I try to keep tech issues out of forums like this, the company should be responsible, but you all seem knowledgeable about this stuff and ubisoft has little in the way of support for this game. All I have been able to get is that this is a bug that came with the stock version and there were never any definite fixes for it. I hope thats not the end of the story right there.

03-14-07, 01:11 PM	#2
AVGWarhawk Lucky Jack Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: In a 1954 Buick. Posts: 28,253 Downloads: 90 Uploads: 0	Just a question and I have run into this before, the sound card acceleration, possibly your issue? I have had soundblasters that acceleration enabled would cause CTD. __________________ “You're painfully alive in a drugged and dying culture.” ― Richard Yates, Revolutionary Road

03-14-07, 02:15 PM	#3
cobalt Commander Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 440 Downloads: 21 Uploads: 0	any long timer of this game will tell you.... they have all gone through a lot of sh3 reinstalls you can try to keep your saves though, they might work after.(the in-base ones) you gotta keep in mind that little changes mess up everything, its unfortunate __________________ download my playable viic/41 submarine http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=107315 http://files.filefront.com/CobaltsVI.../fileinfo.html Last edited by cobalt; 03-14-07 at 02:37 PM.

03-14-07, 04:22 PM	#4
scalelokt Machinist's Mate Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: 400 meters to your right, calculating your speed Posts: 126 Downloads: 35 Uploads: 0	Sound card acceleration is something I have not tried, but I definitly will! Thanks for that suggestion. At this point I'll try anything. @cobalt - you are absolutly right, and I know I am far from being the first person to have these kinds of problems with SH3. I've been hopeful about finding a fix though because many people on this board have said they have never had a crash, or any of the other issues so many deal with. If it was a stock SH3 issue I would think we would all have this problem, yet some of us never do. With that in mind I keep searching for a solution, and I'll definitly let everyone know if I figure anything out. I know you are also right about the reinstall thing, I'll bet most of us have reinstalled a ton of times. I know I have for sure. Anyway thanks everyone for taking the time to read this and reply, if anyone else comes up with something for me to try please post, and I will definitly try it.