Cannot start from a save game

"Unhandled Win32 Exception"

from Sins Forums
EDIT: There is a beta driver for NVidia graphics cards that seems to resolve this issue. https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/305908

I'm running a high-end system with Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit. Most of the time Sins runs great, I run into random crashes while in the menu system, but once I get into a game I have no problems. However, if I try to load a save game, around 5 minutes after loading the game will crash. Every single time. I haven't had the chance to beat a game yet because I don't have enough contiguous time to play all the way through.

I'd love to post the exception details, but all the message said was that an "unhandled Win32 exception has occurred." I tried using Visual Studio 2008 to debug since the window had a debug option but VS said it couldn't debug Sins.

Here are my system details, taken from DXDIAG, probably too much information but I'd like to be as helpful as possible. (I wish I could just post the DXDIAG save file)

System:
OS: Windows Vista Ultimate (6.0, Build 6001) [Service Pack 1]
System Manufacturer: NVIDIA
System Model: 122-CK-NF68
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBios v6.00PG
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo CPU E6850 @ 3.00GHz (2 CPUs), ~3.0GHz
Memory: 2814MB RAM (grr, need 64-bit Windows)
DirectX Version: DirectX 10

Display:
Name: NVidia GeForce 8800 GTS
Approx. Total Memory: 1755 MB
Main Driver: nvd3dum.dll, nvwgf2um.dll
Version: 7.15.0011.6222 (English)
Date: 7/6/2007
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
DDI Version: 10

DirectDraw Acceleration, Direct3D Acceleration, and AGP Texture Acceleration are all enabled.

Sound:
Driver: HdAudio.sys
Version: 6.00.5840.16387
Date: 11/2/2006
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
Provider: Microsoft.

I found the post "Solution for Vista crashes" at https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/176162, but after reading that I remembered that I installed that patch a long time ago trying to solve Supreme Commander crashes (helped slightly), so that's not the issue here.

I wish I had more details to give about the exception, but it was unhandled and apparently not inside a try-catch so no exception details were printed.

As a programmer, my guess is something isn't being saved properly or not saved at all, and when Sins tries to access whatever it is after loading, it's not there, so the program blows up. Just a guess.
technical
3,960 views 5 replies
Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top
Well, I'll try the new driver and see what happens then. I hope it works, I really really really want to play this game.
Elemental: Reforged
Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top
Thanks, Hollow Man. That beta driver seems to have fixed the problem.
Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top
I loaded the game on my computer and started it up. It worked fine, but when I shut down the game and tried to restart from a saved file, it hung. The loading screen showed a tiny red loading bar for 10 minutes and the music stopped playing. My mouse was still working smoothly though.

I tried the drivers listed above, but Nvidia says that Dell users should download the driver through the Dell website. I did that (along with the Windows Vista 940105 package), but my saved games still wouldn't start (and now new games won't start either).

For the few hours I was able to enjoy this game, it was great. Now I just want to actually be able to keep playing it.

Please help!
Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top
I'd download the driver from Nvidia directly anyway :P I doubt Dell puts up beta drivers, which is what is fixing problems for a lot of people.