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Monday, May 19, 2008
AoC crash problem solved
I hope, at least. On my first day of AoC early access, my PC froze up in random intervals about once per hour. But as that couldn't be reproduced, it was hard to get to the bottom of the problem. But then I reached level 17 and got a new combo, the first that needed two attacks to activate: Pillar of Infernal Flame. And now the freezing up became reproducible: every time I did that move my PC crashed. So I concluded that it was not some memory leak as I had thought, but some graphics problem. I verified all AoC files, but the verification routine didn't find any errors. So then I thought it might be a problem with the graphics driver. I had downloaded the NVidia driver 169.21 three weeks ago for the open beta, where Funcom had expressively recommended getting that version, which was the newest at that time. But since then a new driver had come out, so I downloaded and installed version 175.12. And since then I can cast Pillar of Infernal Flame without my PC crashing. Haven't played long enough since to see whether the PC still hangs once per hour, but the immediate freeze problem seems to be solved.
[EDIT] False alarm, the game STILL crashes sometimes when I cast Pillar of Infernal Flame. Just not all the time. :(
- posted by Tobold @ 8:17 AM Permanent Link
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Hard to point fingers and do the blame game on this one.
Should a MMO company be blamed for bad graphics card drivers? They don't write the drivers and probably can't test every model/configuration.
OTOH, they did write these computer crashing shader instructions that probably crashed the drivers in the first place.
Should a MMO company be blamed for bad graphics card drivers? They don't write the drivers and probably can't test every model/configuration.
OTOH, they did write these computer crashing shader instructions that probably crashed the drivers in the first place.
# posted by 
: 19/5/08 09:25
: 19/5/08 09:25
Nah, no fingers to be pointed.. I think as PC gamers it is our responsibility to keep our drivers up to date. Kind of our side of the debugging process. But can be easily overlooked, so no big deal. The good thing is that you found a culprit that was an easy fix. Gratz, hope it works out.
# posted by : 19/5/08 09:32
: 19/5/08 09:32
I strongly disagree, if the game needs a certain version of driver to run properly, and the game developer knows this, then it is the game needs to tell me.
In fact, I would go further to say that the game should include the driver as part of the installer - that's what redistribution / merge-module packages is designed for.
I don't think end-users (gamers) should be part of the debugging process, that's the developer's work. Gamers are not paid to debug games for the game company. We do it for the love of the game and to help out fellow gamers, but it doesn't mean that the game company can now go lazy.
I hate it when you have a problem with installing a game (I'm not talking about AoC - being generic here), and you can't find a solution on the game company's own FAQ, instead you have to crawl through a fansite forum to get your answer.
In fact, I would go further to say that the game should include the driver as part of the installer - that's what redistribution / merge-module packages is designed for.
I don't think end-users (gamers) should be part of the debugging process, that's the developer's work. Gamers are not paid to debug games for the game company. We do it for the love of the game and to help out fellow gamers, but it doesn't mean that the game company can now go lazy.
I hate it when you have a problem with installing a game (I'm not talking about AoC - being generic here), and you can't find a solution on the game company's own FAQ, instead you have to crawl through a fansite forum to get your answer.
# posted by : 19/5/08 10:32
: 19/5/08 10:32
I would agree that it is the company's job to recommend a driver if they require you to use a version that is NOT the most recent. However, it is always the player's responsibility to come to the table with a computer that is up-to-date (however you want to interpret that) and virus-free. I'm not gonna blame Funcom (or any other company) for bad performance if im sitting on an out-of-date video card that has no business running the game. I apply that rule to the drivers and other underlying software on my computer.
If there is an exception to using the most recent driver, AND (as John said) the "game developer KNOWS this"..they certainly have a duty to inform us so that we can adjust accordingly. I would also say, they have a duty to debug and correct the game so that it runs properly on the most recent drivers.
If there is an exception to using the most recent driver, AND (as John said) the "game developer KNOWS this"..they certainly have a duty to inform us so that we can adjust accordingly. I would also say, they have a duty to debug and correct the game so that it runs properly on the most recent drivers.
# posted by : 19/5/08 10:44
: 19/5/08 10:44
So after all these years of MMO playing you have finally learned to be up to date on driver !
Congratulation !!!
Congratulation !!!
# posted by : 19/5/08 10:46
: 19/5/08 10:46
Most people would call a three-week old driver "up to date". I doubt that many people update their drivers every week.
Jeesh, what is wrong with these people.
I updated my drivers recently as well, installed a new NVDIA 8800 GTS 512mb card and I'm not having any problems. I usually get mine from www.guru3d.com and go off the forums for each driver to see if people are having issues. That may help some.
Do you have a 512mb card? One guy I know tried playing with a 256card and it didn't work at all.
I updated my drivers recently as well, installed a new NVDIA 8800 GTS 512mb card and I'm not having any problems. I usually get mine from www.guru3d.com and go off the forums for each driver to see if people are having issues. That may help some.
Do you have a 512mb card? One guy I know tried playing with a 256card and it didn't work at all.
# posted by : 19/5/08 19:36
: 19/5/08 19:36
I'm glad you got it worked out. I was really surprised at all of the trouble you'd been having, and it's nice to see that it's not a fundamental problem with the game.
I agree that this is a crappy situation, but it's a fundamental problem with any graphically intensive new game. Usually the latest stable drivers will work just fine, but it's always tempting to go bleeding edge and hope for that extra few frames per second.
I agree that this is a crappy situation, but it's a fundamental problem with any graphically intensive new game. Usually the latest stable drivers will work just fine, but it's always tempting to go bleeding edge and hope for that extra few frames per second.
Nvidia drivers should not have any issue since the Nvidia logo is spalshed all over the silly product.
If it's optimized for a certain graphic card, then yes, both the company and the driver developer need to take a share of the blame.
If it's optimized for a certain graphic card, then yes, both the company and the driver developer need to take a share of the blame.
if you buy a new car usally they recomend what fuel and fluids to use so why wouldnt this product be the same its crashed on me countless times and all my drivers are up to date
# posted by : 7/6/08 16:35
: 7/6/08 16:35
Having the latest drivers IS NOT always better. Sometimes "older" drivers can work better with a game. Game companies are getting better at patching / updating the game and optimization. But they arent going to release a new "fix" every time ATI / Nvidia or any other Card maker comes out with new drivers.
Most people don't update their drivers until there is a problem. It's common sense really. If it isn't broken, don't fix it!
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Most people don't update their drivers until there is a problem. It's common sense really. If it isn't broken, don't fix it!
# posted by : 6/8/08 15:14
: 6/8/08 15:14<< Home
