Author Topic: Crash/Freeze on levels 5 and greater (Read 41292 times)

Snow_Cat · « **on:** January 03, 2011, 01:31:20 PM »

I find myself unable to run levels 5 to 11 (have not yet tested higher levels), and the custom levels for more than a couple seconds before the game will freeze and task manager shows that it's using as many cycles from my CPU as it can handle, though the memory used does not change.

I have extracted levels.zip and am currently trying to determine what it is about the later levels that is causing this.

A 'fresh' install from Steam, and the patch yield the same result.

Only my chipset driver has an update availble; I have yet to install it.

Is this system simply too obsolete to run this game?

Also, what achievements I have managed to earn are not being recorded.

System Information (from steam)

(click to show/hide)

annikk.exe · « **Reply #1 on:** January 03, 2011, 02:12:18 PM »

Are you running version 2.05?

It's a long story, but 2.07 is now available. Clicky if you need it. :>

Alex · « **Reply #2 on:** January 03, 2011, 09:53:53 PM »

Steam should be at 2.07 now.

Had a couple of reports of problems with levels feezing - not sure what they could be yet. Can you please post your system specs? Also is there anything you can think of that was similar between the crashes?

Bonobo · « **Reply #3 on:** January 03, 2011, 10:27:20 PM »

Quote from: Alex on January 03, 2011, 09:53:53 PM

Steam should be at 2.07 now.

[..]

FWIW, direct2drive still offers me 2.06. I certainly have the 2.07 patch, but you might want to know.

Alex · « **Reply #4 on:** January 03, 2011, 10:42:21 PM »

Oh, crap. Yeah I think I forgot to update the other DDs to the new version. Thanks!

Snow_Cat · « **Reply #5 on:** January 04, 2011, 01:51:27 AM »

I am indeed running the 2.07 version, and now with the latest chipset drivers that fixed the ringing (in both literal meanings) problems with my screen.
I have even tried making a dup install by copying the patch files over a copy of the steam version.

I've started catolouging the variables to see if there's something 'different' about levels 5 (and and up).

level 5 is the level in which mines are first introduced to the player, and I noticed something odd:

(click to show/hide)

Those are some funky looking values for "int", lol.

After work I will try puting mines on earlier levels to see if they cause me problems.

(edited above post to include label for spoiler containing system information dump from steam.)

Pilchard123 · « **Reply #6 on:** January 04, 2011, 01:58:46 AM »

Try changing them, that might cure it. Backup the file first, though.

Snow_Cat · « **Reply #7 on:** January 04, 2011, 04:11:43 AM »

My mistake, mines do not seem to be the problem.

With the unmodified Default.xml adding mines to level 4 didn't cause a problem.

I'll look at the asteroid generation next.

annikk.exe · « **Reply #8 on:** January 04, 2011, 05:04:32 AM »

The reason I wondered about the version originally is because 2.05 did indeed have a bug with mines that caused it to crash under certain circumstances.
See the blog entry here:
http://www.eufloria-game.com/blog/?p=382

Quote

Players not wishing to remain on 2.05 until Dec 23 may update manually using the above or future patches without harm to their saved games. This is recommended as 2.06 fixes a crash bug in 2.05 with mines that people are experiencing.

I had a look over your specs. It shouldn't really be a problem to run Eufloria on that computer as far as I know. There isn't a lot of memory available but I think 1 gig should still be enough, really..

There was also a bug ages ago with Intel GPU chipsets, but I think that was fixed many versions ago.

Sorry, this probably isn't much help. Just trying to brainstorm.. :>

Snow_Cat · « **Reply #9 on:** January 04, 2011, 06:20:47 AM »

I think that this chart illustrates the problem...

Quote

#>32 X X
#>16 X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
#>8 X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
#>4 X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
#>2 X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
#>1 X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
# Asteroids 4 6 8 12 15 17 13 13 17 30 23 20 9 40 19 18 23 9 19 21 15 10 27 19 43
Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

I am able to reproduce the freezing of levels >= 5 in levels <= 4 by increasing the number of asteroids.

It would seem that my system is inadequate to the task. This could be because of some stray bit of debugger that I missed fouling up the works.

I will try reducing the number of asteroids in level 5 to see if that works to be certain, but I fear that this game will go unplayed until adequate laptops are less than $100 or there is a "vintage compatibility' patch.

edit: nope, reducing level 5 to 6 asteroids did not solve the problem.

annikk.exe · « **Reply #10 on:** January 04, 2011, 07:48:44 AM »

The positions of the asteroids could play a key role, rather than the number of asteroids.

For example, a level with 1 asteroid at coordinates (50000, 0) would take up a huge chunk of memory.
However, a level with 100 asteroids all clustered within 5000 of the origin, would take up far less.

Snow_Cat · « **Reply #11 on:** January 04, 2011, 09:23:04 AM »

^o O ^ but that would then suggest that miniturzation of the distances/scale would save memory, and would not fully explain why it eats up 99% of availble cpu cycles, while remaining <200 MB without changing memory usage.

It's almost like it's caught in a wait loop.

annikk.exe · « **Reply #12 on:** January 04, 2011, 09:39:22 AM »

Ok yea, doesn't sound like that's the problem then.

Snow_Cat · « **Reply #13 on:** January 04, 2011, 12:07:42 PM »

Still worth trying however;

I'll start caclulating boundaries and testing.

annikk.exe · « **Reply #14 on:** January 04, 2011, 12:15:35 PM »

Your graphics card driver is 4 days out of date. :P

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=12536&ProdId=1862&lang=eng

(I doubt that's it, but try anyway mayhaps?)

annikk.exe · « **Reply #15 on:** January 04, 2011, 12:17:23 PM »

What is the make and model of the laptop?

Snow_Cat · « **Reply #16 on:** January 04, 2011, 05:16:49 PM »

I'll take a look, though it is a bit odd that Intel's driver update utility assured me that it had installed the latest (stable) drivers for me.

The laptop is a stock HP nc6620, it has not had the reccommended heatsink refit.

Snow_Cat · « **Reply #17 on:** January 05, 2011, 01:41:15 PM »

Downloaded that driver package, it contains the exact same video driver I have installed allready and an updated hdmi audio driver (that is not applicable since my laptop is not equipped with an hdmi port).

Did an initial pass on the asteroid locations, and recorded the resulting level dimensions:

Code: [Select]

Maximum dimensions.
lvl	x-  	x+  	y-  	y+
1	  200	 3600	-2500	1100
2	-1500	 2200	-1500	6000
3	-1600	 2200	-9000	1500
4	-6500	 6500	-6500	6500
5	-8500	 3800	-2700	1800
6	-7792	 3708	-1579	2902
7	-1600	13212	-1600	1600
8	-5200	 5200	-5500	5000
9	-6036	 6246	-6950	6935
10	-5500	 6300	-5750	5550

Code: [Select]

Minimum dimensions.
1	 200	3600	-2500	1100
2	    0	2200	    0	6000
3	-1600	2200	-9000	1200
4	-2400	5400	-3500	2500
5	-6500	3800	-1700	   0
6	-7792	3708	-1579	2902
7	    0	13212	 -840	1462
8	-5200	5200	-5500	5000
9	-6036	6246	-6950	6935
10	-5500	6300	-5750	5550

Unfortunately it does not appear that the dimensions alone is the culprit, as the maximum dimesions of levels 8 and 10 fit within the minimum dimensions of levels 1 thru 4 -- though level 4 does occasionally freeze for me.

I might try screwing around with the level logic next.

annikk.exe · « **Reply #18 on:** January 05, 2011, 03:22:55 PM »

Fair enough, guess they finished coding it and marked the datestamp, but it was uploaded 4 days later and datestamped online as a different time.

Eufloria only requires 512megs of RAM so I don't think your 1gig is the cause of the problem.

One other thing to try is uninstalling and reinstalling the Microsoft .NET 2.0 Framework. You can get it from Windows Update or from here. It's a required package for Eufloria so if all else fails, it might be that.. :>

Alex · « **Reply #19 on:** January 05, 2011, 10:13:14 PM »

I'm right up against it at the moment but I will try to offer some semblence of support in the next week. Sorry

Snow_Cat · « **Reply #20 on:** January 06, 2011, 06:51:01 AM »

Reinstaling the .net and C++ framework is probabally is a good idea, since I don't know if having two versions installed simultaneously has an effect, only that it can't be good.

Quote from: Steam System Information Report

Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable - x86 9.0.30729.17
Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable - x86 9.0.30729.4148

Don't appologise;
I am the only one that has posted this problem, and probabally represent no more than 100 affected users, perhaps even fewer as my computer was polluted by ST's development software and their "BTW: pay us $5000 more to make the hardware and software you've allready purchased from us work the way we told you it would in the first place." strategy. It broke my existing gcc and VS instalations so that no code would compile and run on my machine without my paying their ransom. There could be some lingering code bomb on my system may have snuck through the reformat/rebuild - though I thought that I had destroied all the binaries before archiving my projects.

I've wated a couple months before buying Dyson/Eufloria and can wait a couple more to actually play it. Though this is an interesting puzzle for me to poke at.

edit: reinstalling the .net framework did the trick, though there are now other performance issues appearing in windows itself.

Snow_Cat · « **Reply #21 on:** January 06, 2011, 01:53:30 PM »

I am also recieving achievements/honourifics now.

annikk.exe · « **Reply #22 on:** January 06, 2011, 06:00:04 PM »

Hurray! Looks like we've found the problem then. :>

Thanks for your patience... :>

Sorry to hear about the other problems with Windows. Mind you, it sounds like you almost enjoy troubleshooting, judging by the gusto with which you reverse-engineered all the levels to find out what was wrong. :P
I'm a Network/System admin for my day job so if you need help with it just give me a shout. :>

Snow_Cat · « **Reply #23 on:** January 07, 2011, 12:12:42 AM »

I do enjoy troubleshooting, so long as I'm not trying to do it through another person--

and I think that I've identified the cause:

Quote from: Steam System Information Report

Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0

does not equal

Quote from: Steam System Information Report

Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Service Pack 2

Better add this to the troubleshooting checklist.

Alex · « **Reply #24 on:** January 08, 2011, 08:04:24 PM »

Thanks - we'll need to get Valve to update the install process for the game too.

Don · « **Reply #25 on:** January 18, 2011, 09:34:44 PM »

This is the best match for the problems I'm seeing in crossover/wine - pretty much exactly the same symptoms. I think I'm going to suspect .NET 2.0 SP2 is involved (or in the wine case, not involved, as we don't have hooks for it yet

I'll need rerun a test against 2.02 (where it was good) to see if it's still good there - if so, that may actually be the present limit for gameplay in crossover/wine -- hopefully I'll be able to isolate the patch version where things became mysterious....

Aino · « **Reply #26 on:** March 19, 2011, 07:11:24 PM »

Quote

do you have the link for it.......!!!

white kitchen cabinets

Put the link in your signature, much easier then

Alex · « **Reply #27 on:** March 20, 2011, 05:52:40 AM »

Please stop replying to spammers

Aino · « **Reply #28 on:** March 21, 2011, 01:25:18 AM »

sry :/

Sav · « **Reply #29 on:** May 16, 2011, 09:58:44 AM »

Hi again guys,

I am also experiencing this issue, half way through level 4 after making a dyson tree on the 5th asteroid the game comes up with the window "Eufloria has experienced an unexpected error", when i unlock the later levels, it happens almost instantly, 5-11. My previous computer ran the game fine no problem? and im using the exact same copy of windows xp sp 3.
Im guessing its a hardware issue because my computer is completely up to date? i have net framework 2 and ive installed 4...
i have also tried reinstalling but to no avail. My video card is also updated to the most recent version.
Its the non steam version of Eufloria (rather give money to the creators

then steam).
Ive tried reinstalling eufloria several times too?
Can anyone suggest anything? i miss playing it

Aino · « **Reply #30 on:** May 16, 2011, 09:36:44 PM »

Just gotta ask, have you installed the graphics card driver for your graphic card? I know this might not be the problem, but worth a try and it saves you tons of time trying to solve blurring and graphics fails on most games

Sav · « **Reply #31 on:** May 16, 2011, 09:37:57 PM »

Yeah i have, got the correct one installed.

Aino · « **Reply #32 on:** May 16, 2011, 09:39:47 PM »

Well, I am really sorry, but I don't know :/

Sav · « **Reply #33 on:** May 18, 2011, 10:42:09 AM »

Update on the issue. I completely removed Net framework 4, 2.0-3.5 and 2.0. I reinstalled all of them and that has decreased the issue.
It doesnt crash on each level however after COMPLETING one level and choosing the next one, the same error comes back up. I reinstalled eufloria to see if thats the problem but no, maybe a hardware issue? or again perhaps video card. But atleast its playable now

just have to restart it after every level but its bearable, back to my gardens!

<dir	name="GROWTIME"	type="int"	value="20" />
<dir	name="MINSPEED"	type="int"	value="140" />
<dir	name="MAXSPEED"	type="int"	value="380" />
<dir	name="SPEEDPOWERRULE"	type="int"	value="3" />
<dir	name="MINHEALTH"	type="int"	value="40" />
<dir	name="MAXHEALTH"	type="int"	value="260" />
<dir	name="HEALTHPOWERRULE"	type="int"	value="2.5" />
<dir	name="NUMBEROFLASERS"	type="int"	value="4" />
<dir	name="LASERPOWERMIN"	type="int"	value="0.08" />
<dir	name="LASERPOWERMAX"	type="int"	value="0.3" />
<dir	name="LASERPOWERRULE"	type="int"	value="2.8" />
<dir	name="EXPLOSIONPOWERMIN"	type="int"	value="30" />
<dir	name="EXPLOSIONPOWERMAX"	type="int"	value="120" />
<dir	name="EXPLOSIONPOWERRULE"	type="int"	value="2" />
<dir	name="EXPLOSIONRADIUSMIN"	type="int"	value="75" />
<dir	name="EXPLOSIONRADIUSMAX"	type="int"	value="150" />
<dir	name="EXPLOSIONRADIUSPOWERRULE"	type="int"	value="1.2" />
<dir	name="LASERRANGE"	type="int"	value="300" />