This is rediculous II

Why don't you post your debug.err file from your last crash?

"and still I cannot finish a game without crashes or "

Get a new computer. I bet you haven't gotten one since galciv1 came out....

It's an OC'd dual 6800 SLI setup. There is nothing wrong with the computer, drivers or software. My complaints are legit. Read the forums, they speak the same. The game is awsome, but it is buggy. Patch 3 is out at the end of the month - that alone speaks volumes.

How do you expect anyone here to help you if you don't post any system specs and/or debug.err file? Sometimes, people seem like they want to come on here just to whine about problems instead of actually trying to fix it.

Raise your problem/problems as a bug in the correct manner and then you will have a legitimate problem. Until you do that, it is pure heresay and warrants no ones time and effort.

First off... stop overclocking. I see so many problems with every game when someone OC's their system.

I've only had 2 crashes ever, and it was for the same thing. (Saving a ship with the same name after going to the shipyard from the GNN.) SD has acknologed this bug, and there are so many ways to avoid it.

there are 309 pages for my debug.err file. Which part would you like?
Here is the final few lines which completed the game and refused Metaverse posting.

Debug Message: Total political party data size: 13576 Max political party size: 1697
Debug Message: Total planet types data size: 0 Max planet type size: 0
Debug Message: Total star type data size: 6896 Max star type size: 862
Debug Message: Game Object data: 33
Debug Message: Galaxy data: 14451
Debug Message: FOW data: 132932
Debug Message: ZOC data: 1988
Debug Message: Total Planet data size: 1122249 Max Planet data size: 6087
Debug Message: Total Star data size: 41128 Max Star data size: 424
Debug Message: Total Anomaly data size: 0 Max Anomaly data size: 0
Debug Message: Total Space resource data size: 6040 Max space resource data size: 302
Debug Message: Total Civilization data size: 1129606 Max Civ data size: 101134
Debug Message: Total Colony data size: 14960 Max colony data size: 270
Debug Message: Total Rally point data size: 6854 Max Rallypoint data size: 298
Debug Message: Total Ship data size: 445200 Max Ship Data size: 1496
Debug Message: Total Fleet data size: 545480 Max Fleet Data size: 15748
Debug Message: Save game finished.
Debug Message: Clear data definitions.
*DEBUG ERROR: ***Unable to find required tech ImpossibleTech for PirateShip. ***
*DEBUG ERROR: ***Unable to find required tech ImpossibleTech for Starbase. ***
Debug Message: Error flipping back buffer to primary buffer.
Debug Message: Device lost

My system :

Asus K8N-SLI Mobo
2xLeatec 6800le's SLI Config
1 GB ram
AMD 3200+ Winchester

And finaly, I have posted in the forum... as has *hundreds* of others... This isn't a whine, read the bug forum.

I'm wondering how you put "OC'd" and "nothing wrong" in the same sentence. Sure some ppl are having problems, but there are also solutions posted for a lot of them. You dont seem to care about getting help with the problems, just complaining about how you've managed to screw your system so bad that it wont run the game properly. good job

My system is stable. The ASUS board comes with an AI OC system pre-installed - which is stable.

Saying my problem is because of OC'ing a system is nonsence. You are as guilty as I am for mothing off without thinking. I have posted the specs and the debug.err

I've had maybe 2 CTD's and those were before the latest patches, which at least I was capable of understanding since I'm vaguely familiar with the alphabet.


Indeed, while overclocking can be useful, it typically makes a system far more unstable. Try bringing the PC back to normal levels and playing.

I had the same "device lost" message on the one graphics lockup that I had.

Updating my video drivers (they were 6 months out of date) fixed the problem.

You may also try upping your virtual memory settings. I have mine set at 3Gig.

If you're going to go round complaining in new threads as opposed to reading the posts about your problems, then yes, you help make it look like there are loads of bugs. There are some to be sure, but it's not as bad as you're saying, not by a long shot.

And by the way, the reason we have 3 patches, is because Stardock are tweaking things as we tell them it's bad, not wait forever to do it.

can your power supply handle the load? something to remember is that 2 cards requires twice the amperage on the 12 volt rail, and SD has pointed out that this game runs cards hot, meaning juice. 6800's pull about 15a at peak, maybe a smidge more, so double that, and you are talking 30a. simply getting a '500 watt' power supply doesnt mean anything, as each rail has it's own power dedication. and if the rail is peaking out at 30am, the cards arent the only things that use 12v, the mobo, the hard drives, cd/dvd drives.... just a thought. the fact that you got 309 pages of log implies the game ran for a very long time, long enough for things to get pretty hot. check the tag on the power supply and see what the +12v is rated to.

edit: I bring this up because if the rails peak out, the ac-dc converters start introducing noise into the electrical rails, the term is called dirty power. noise = frequencies, where there should be none, and while the cards can handle a lil dirty power, any frequencies in the electric itself will interfere with the card. once the noise overcomes the ability to handle it, the error correction kicks in, once the error correction is overcome, the only thing left is a random crash.

Yeah, Overclocking can cause major problems...I have a 3 GHz pentium 4 that's overclocked to 3.6, and sometimes my system gets a bit slow from overheating. I have only ever had a crash when I alt-tab, so I don't what's wrong with your system but I'd like to mention that the reason the third patch will be out at the end of the month is because the guys at Stardock care about us and what we think and most importantly what we want in out game....that's right, OUR game, without us they'd be nothing, so I say way to go Stardock, at least they care unlike other game companies.

About your problems...try to get it to crash again and note what you're doing, maybe mess with video setting, try running in compatiblility mode. Just try a bunch of stuff, you never know what will work....you might just be out of luck till the next patch.

Hmmm.... the system is stable. It runs at CPU 38c and 45c under load. The GPU's are 52c-62c, respectively. I have completed 36 hour stress tests on both the CPU and GPU's... The system is stable and OC forum I belong to has not reported any problems relating to OC'ing a system and this game. There are not 23 pages of bugs and over 200 replies under 'glitches' because every one is OC'ing their system. The game is good and buggy.

The beginning of the debug.err is really important as well. The part with your system, gfx, sound, and the beginning of the Gal Civ 2 info (about a dozen lines or so). Please post those as well.

Eventhough Asus may provide you with neat tools to OC your system, you are still running your hardware out of spec. We are just trying to reduce or remove some of the uncontrollable varibles that may be causing the problem.

Anyways, I found the error log not always useful. Sometimes the crash can occur before anything is writen to it. It is sometimes helpful to post exactly was steps caused the crash. Not something vague like "crashes 50% of the time hlaf way trough a game." What exactly is 'half-way'?

Note: half-way comment not directed at anyone in this thread, but just a general reminder for anyone who would like to post an issue

here are the sys specs according to the game

Debug Message: Version v1.0X.1 last updated on: Mon Mar 6 13:57:14 2006
Debug Message: Could not find a TGN Serial No.
Debug Message: *********DXDiag info follows.*********
System Info
Time: 3/17/2006, 11:47:47
-removed line-
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2
-removed line-
Languages: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: System manufacturer
System Model: System name
BIOS: Phoenix - Award BIOS v6.00PG
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3200+, MMX, 3DNow, ~2.0GHz
Physical Memory: 1024MB RAM
Page File: 302MB used, 2158MB available
Windows Dir: D:\WINDOWS


Display Info
Display device 1:
Device Name: \\.\DISPLAY1
Card Name: WinFast PX6800 LE
Manufacturer:
Chip Type: GeForce 6800 LE
DAC Type: Integrated RAMDAC
Key Device: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_00C2&SUBSYS_2A06107D&REV_A2
Display Memory: 256.0 MB
Current Display Mode: 1280 x 1024 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor Name: Plug and Play Monitor
Monitor Max Resolution: 1600,1200
Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.7777
Driver Date: 7/20/2005 21:07:00
DirectX Acceleration Enabled: Yes



Sound info
Sound device 1:
Description: Realtek AC97 Audio
Default Sound Playback: Yes
Default Voice Playback: Yes
Hardware ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0059&SUBSYS_812A1043&REV_A2
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Driver Name: ALCXWDM.SYS
Provider: Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
Driver Version: 5.10.0000.5750
Driver Date: 11/17/2004 12:05:38
Type: WDM
Other Drivers:
Acceleration Level: 3
Cap Flags: 0
Min/Max Sample Rate: 0, 0

Driver Date: 7/20/2005 21:07:00

Found the potential problem.

heat isnt the only killer, and not all stress tests stress the same things. a cpu and gpu have many, many different pathways, and while your system has held up so far, that doesnt mean that it will hold up for good, I edited my post #14 above, check out the bottom half and at least tell us what your 12v rail is rated to. I dont point fingers, I propose options. your finger pointing at this game as the culprit is immature and shortsighted. I'm glad you like your rig so much that you'd stress test it, but the tests only execute the code in the test, they cant execute every possible varyation of code that exists.
not a single person has pointed out that new drivers are constantly released because They contain bugs too. if the game wont run with your current drivers, perhaps your current drivers are the problem. tried going older and seeing if a problem was introduced in a later version? or perhaps tried being patient and waiting for a later version? have you considered that while sli is powerful, it's also new to nvidia's playbook, and could contain it's own problems? a lot of the posts are ppl with sli, and while I commend the abilities of sli, it's a new technology, and as any engineer will tell you, a new technology will have it's own inherent problems.

I'm tired of replying to this nonsense. 77.77? how many times do you have to be told to upgrade your drivers? that disgusts me. you just slid into the realm of pond scum on my shoes, you deserve no further help.

Yep, old drivers. Nvidia drivers have been bad for the last year or more, and that's from someone who's only ever had Nvidia cards. SLI is even buggier than a single card setup, which is really saying something considering.

To the OP, way to make yourself look bad, LoL!

Patch 3 is out at the end of the month - that alone speaks volumes.

With most games, that would indeed speak volumes (about the quality of the game) as they would all be bug fix patches.

The patches for Galciv have all been content additions - yes they dealt with common user problems and fixed some bugs too. Don't neglect to mention the positive rather than just focus on the negative.

Second, your video card driver is old. You seem to be pretty insistent on the quality of your machine which is a good thing but if you dont update your drivers you are going to run into problems. Get a new driver and if it doesnt fix a majority of the crash problems report back..... if it does, please ALSO report back. Often when someone makes a thread like this and people point them to the hardware/driver error... we mysteriously never hear from them again!

New drivers arent the answer to all the worlds problems .. as an example. Playing Civilization 4 when it first came out, with a 9700/9800 pro ATI card with the latest drivers caused huge slowdowns and frequent crashes. Even now, using the latest drivers is slow compared to .... using drivers from late 2004. Yes, thats right. The Catalyst 4.12's compared to the latest 6.3's. Think Im crazy? Thats not what my stability and performance says, it says screw the latest drivers and pick the drivers that WORK the best.

What happens with the unified drivers is that when you first get your graphics card, they are busy working in your cards features and optomizing for your card .. so its slow, maybe buggy. Then theres that golden release, where your card is still the best, they have the drivers working perfectly for it and everything is ZEN. Then they release new cards and they start changing the driver to be optomized for that card and fix that cards problems. Your cards performance goes down some, maybe more bugs crop up and the latest is not the greatest anymore.

4.12 Catalysts are the golden driver for the 9700/9800 pro cards. The only crash I get in GalCiv 2 appears to be from ships that are on auto-pilot causing CTD's, especially when they are out of range. I sent a couple save games to Stardock illustrating the problem. If you have a CTD when hitting the turn button or moving a ship ... try deleting ships that are on auto-pilot or out of range.