Mini Dump Since 1.04 Upgrade in Single Player

from Stardock Forums
I enjoyed the demo so I got the game. Now, as soon as my first capital ship engages the first enemy, that is that. Mini Dump, crashes, and actually even removes my desktop background.

I have tried removing Autosave games, I have tried deleting all the replays, I have tried looking through the forums. Seems this is an extremely pervasive issue. Mostly in multiplayer games, but I cannot even play the single player in order to get somewhat proficient to the point where I can play a multiplayer game (which will just crash anyway).

There is just no way to get past the game crashing about three minutes into single player.

I am so disappointed I cannot even tell you. I did not even use apostrophes in this post to show Stardock just how darn upsetting this is. Why make a game, or a patch for a game, that causes you to not even be able to play it? Why are they not making this their top priority until it's fixed? This is ridiculous and I just feel like I want my forty bucks plus tax, the four dollars in gas it took me to drive to the mall to buy the game, and an hour of my life back which is of course priceless, but I'll accept $12.50 for it, bringing the grand total to $59.20. I'm not including the hours I've spent trying to get this piece of garbage to work. I'm feeling magnanimous.

That is what this game really costs. What is it worth? Well, what's three minutes of extremely nervous playing leading up to ten or fifteen minutes of pure frustration worth?

Why is it that making a video game worth playing seems to be the most impossible thing in the world these days? Computers get more and more complex, but game developers seem to be outsourcing the programming to Sri Lanka for all the tech support and just plain crap we encounter on a daily basis just trying to be good consumers and have a little fun while we're at it.

QUALITY, people. Fix your product.

P.S. - The diplomacy is pretty great.  I feel almost as if there's another empire there on the other end of the line.
17,425 views 11 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top
Fix your system.

The game is great: hours and hours of gaming here, 0 crashes.
Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top
Fix your system.The game is great: hours and hours of gaming here, 0 crashes.
End of quote


I do not think that is really fair.

When playing I have not had any crashed except when I try to use mods. There seem to be some real issues that need solving that seem to be only effecting a few players in different ways.

If you can not play at all send your mini dump to support and they may be able to help, but I gather it is a bit slow. But at least they do respond which is good.

Hang in there, hopefully you will get a few suggestions on what to look for from one of the more experienced players soon.

Cheers MarkL
WindowBlinds - Free yourself of the default settings, customize your desktop.
Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top
Make sure you're not loading previous version saves in 1.04, that's probably the biggest cause of crashes since earlier patches would not allow you to load previous saves, but 1.04 does.

- Does it crash every time you start a new game?
- Are you using a mod?
- Try applying the 1.04 standalone patch if you originally updated through SDC/Impulse. There was a slight goofup with 1.04 distribution on those platforms. You can get the standalone patch by clicking the Update button in-game.
- Try a fresh install off SDC, it comes pre-patched to 1.04.
- Make sure all your drivers are up to date, cliche I know but it matters especially for Nvidia cards. Most people find the latest beta drivers to be very good for Sins.

As marklaur said, if none of this works send your minidump to support@ironcladgames.com. Their response time should be within 24 hours, and if it's something on your end they'll help you fix it. They might ask for additional info, like dxdiag, etc.
Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top
Fix your system.The game is great: hours and hours of gaming here, 0 crashes.
End of quote


it isnt people's system and IC has said that. I have a comop that runs crisis on high and i have dumps.
Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top
I do not think that is really fair.Cheers MarkL
End of quote


It is fair pretty much as his definition of the game as 'piece of garbage'.
Not to mention the fact that he said anything about his system specs.

Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top
Make sure you have uninstalled the demo.

Oh, and making a computer game IS a very complex thing these days. But today I can't even say, "If you're having problems switch to a console; they just work," because they don't anymore. They're mini-computers, and are inheriting a lot of the problems computers have.

Fortunately Stardock doesn't farm their support out to Sri Lanka. So if you continue to have problems, email Stardock/Ironclad and they will help you out.

On a side note, I love how Crysis has become some kind of whack litmus test on whether something ELSE works. "Crysis works, so it must be this other stupid program!" Sorry, Crysis has nothing to do with Sins, and yes, it's possible there's something wrong with your PC even if Crysis works fine.

In 90+% of cases the minidumps are hardware or software related; nothing to do with Sins.

I know it will probably only annoy those with issues, but personally, the only dump of note I've had I sent to Ironclad, and they identified it as a pathfinding bug (that they aim to fix). I've been playing a few games a week with three friends of mine on ICO, on large maps, against four AI, and that's the only crash we've had. Last night we played for over three hours with no crashes. I bought the game on release day, and it is pretty stable.

-HM
Reply #8 from Sins Forums Top
I sympathize with your woes. It is very frustrating to buy a game and to see it crash immediately (when other games work fine).

It has happened to me with only one game : Medieval Total War 2. It has always refused to work on one of my two home computers : it always crashed when in the process of loading stuff, when starting a new game (after the game setup).

But, you are complaining at the wrong place. We are not Ironclad Tech Support.

Your post does not give us this vital information :

1. Your detailed DX Diagnostic info (at the time of the crash) ;

2. Your mini-dump info (which we are not qualified to analyze) ;

3. A save-game file, if possible, corresponding to a game moment not far before the crash, with instructions on how to try to reproduce the conditions having led to the crash.

That's the info (in zipped files) you must e-mail to Ironclad : support @ ironcladgames.com

We, here, can only offer a sympathetic ear to the tales of your woes (and remind you the obvious >>> update your videocard's drivers!).

By the way, since the release of the game (2½ months ago), it has only crashed once when I was in single-player. I got a mini-dump and sent it to Ironclad with my DX Diag info. I reloaded the save-game file (saved 10 seconds before the crash), and it did not happen again.

ONE crash in 2½ months of regular single-player gaming : that's a great financial deal.

(Since the July 2007 Beta version, that was my one and only crash and mini-dump while playing Sins outside of ICO !)
Reply #9 from Stardock Forums Top
I do not have any issues with any other game on the market. I play pretty much every demo of every game that's released in my very wide range of interest.

My video drivers are up to date.

If you read the post, you'll see that I was not loading any earlier versions of savedgames; in fact, I'd deleted all the other replays and saved games just to try ANYTHING else that could let me play the game.

You have to uninstall the demo before you can even install the main game.

I am not using any mods.

I was using the standalone patch. On your advice, I tried with the 1.04 full, crashes at the same spot every time. When I fight in the first system I'm trying to take over.
Reply #10 from Sins Forums Top
That's highly unusual - but send the minidump to support@ironcladgames.com.
Reply #11 from Sins Forums Top
Exactly. If you send the minidump file to the email Annatar specified, they will be able to analyze and help you determine why it crashed. They may need other information. So if they ask for a dxdiag report, or a save game, or a game replay, send them that too.

-HM