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Ground Mission Crashes (Proper Report)

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
Like many other people, I'm experiencing the random crashes during ground missions. Many people have said this is related to 64-bit Windows, or Windows 7, but after researching and testing on my own, I believe it's an issue with ATI cards and the dynamic lighting setting in the game. Since I'm running a Core i7 system with an ATI 5850, I cranked all the graphics up all the way, and haven't had any other issues. Only on ground missions, whether there are a bunch of NPC/human players on the screen or not.

As soon as I disabled dynamic lighting, the issue has seemed to go away.

This sucks, because I quite like the dynamic lighting, especially in space battles. Here is my DxDiag dump. Let me know if you guys need me to do anything. I would love to see this fixed!

DOWNLOAD my DxDiag file if you need it.

P.S. I'll try to get a client dump the next time the issue occurs... if I can escape back to Windows without closing the client.

Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit (6.1, Build 7600) (7600.win7_rtm.090713-1255)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: INTEL_
System Model: KBIBX10J
BIOS: Default System BIOS
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80GHz (8 CPUs), ~2.9GHz
Memory: 4096MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 4086MB RAM
Page File: 1134MB used, 7035MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
User DPI Setting: Using System DPI
System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
DxDiag Version: 6.01.7600.16385 32bit Unicode

Card name: ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series



UPDATE 1 (from ticket):

Cryptic:
Greetings! In your ticket, you mentioned that you left Post processing on while toggling Dynamic Lighting. Have you tried disabling Post processing while keeping Dynamic Lighting on? - Cryptic Studios Technical Support

Me:
Thanks for the suggestion. This is something I tried before, and it didn't make a difference either way, but I decided to run through several tests with the latest builds of the game. Here's what I found:

- with Dynamic Lighting, post-processing, and 5 lights per object all on, I can get the game to freeze on ground missions every time.

- with Dynamic Lighting, post-processing, and only TWO lights per object, the framerate takes some pretty hard hits during combat, but I have never had a freeze.

- with only post-processing and 5 lights per object on (DL is off), I get no crashing issue, but slightly less framerate slowness.

- finally, with Dynamic Lighting and 5 lights per object on (PP is off), I still get no crashing, but more framerate slowness

So the issue appears to be be a combination of Dynamic Lighting and having more than two lights per object, at least in my scenario. I should mention with my hardware, I can run games like Crysis at full 1080p with literally everything turned up, including AA, post-processing, and dynamic lighting, with no issues. I hope this information helps out. I noticed a big difference with/without PP and DL, so I would love to enjoy the game in it's full visual style if possible! :)
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments

  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    UPDATE #1

    Just had the issue occur on Hide and Seek > Lost and Found. The game froze then crashed about 5 seconds after I engaged the Klingons after beaming down. Ironically, I played through the entire Diplomacy level (with the shapeshifter) with no issue. Maybe being outside on the ground is different than being inside? I've never had the issue on outside ground levels.

    Here's the DUMP Error Ticket ID: 9330021

    Hopefully this helps. I'm going to play without dynamic lighting on, and see if any other setting is causing this issue. Hopefully the right people are seeing this. I'll update with my future findings.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    i have almost the same setup and the same problem with ground missions. I am going to try the dynamic lighting option you wrote about. i am running windows 7 64bit
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I am experiencing this too and it also seems that it only happens on the inside of facilities. It's new for me though, it was not happening earlier. The only thing I changed was to enable vsync. I'm going to try to disable that and see what happens. I'm running the Catalyst 10.1 drivers on Vista x64 with a 1GB 4870 card, btw. What drivers are you folks running?

    After the crash it dumps you to the end of the login queue, which just sucks. There should be some grace period or something.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    hmm got to try to deactivate that dynamic lightning...

    i am experiencing crashes in ground missions also, got an ati card as well, but im on windows xp.

    i have crashes inside facilities and outside.... every ground mission or inside of a station has about a 50% chance of crashing... so damn annoying :(
    a friend with an nvidea card has no problems at ground missions.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I have this problem won Windows 7, but with an Nvidia card. And my problem goes with inside or outside ground missions regardless of graphic setting. Everything in space is perfectly fine.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I have the same issue with ground missions now and then. I have an ATI 4870, but I'm running 32bit. I'll try to turn off dynamic lighting and see if it helps.

    I only have this issue in space when Ferengi are involved. Which is really weird. Ferengi space merchants crash the game while loading the item list. Other space merchants don't do this, Ferengi do every time. I also crashed on that mission where you have to chase down the Ferengi ship that stole the stuff from the starbase. Did fine killing the other ships in space, as soon as I went after the Ferengi ship and scanned it the game died.

    Ferengi are broken lol.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Wow I didn't expect to happen with nvidia cards too. So far, after turning off dynamic lighting, I've had zero issues since I originally made this post. Sadly, I haven't received a response to my ticket yet. But from what I'm hearing, that's pretty normal with the amount of people who are submitting them.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Same issue here. Two ATI Cards in Crossfire, Windows 7 RC-1 64Bit. The issue seems to happen mainly indoors but sometimes also happens outdoors, but only on away missions. Space-Combat works fine. The Starbases also don't seem to be a problem. I'll try to deactivate dynamic lighting tonight but I hope it'll be fixed soon so space-battles look awesome again. Also, I have the Ferengi-Merchant-Bug-Crash.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I was having the about the same problem. I have been playing in full windows mode since i have two monitors and like to work on the second on flights. Leaving the graphics alone i changed it back to full screen (not windows full screen) and I have not had a crash in ground missions for the past 4 days. I will try to put it back to windows full screen in a day or so for a test because i miss being able to use my second screen
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I made a post about this a while ago. Apparently this issue has been around since champions online and its been sitting on the back burner and they haven't adressed it. I don't understand why dynamic lighting would have such an impact on ground missions but when I have 30 ships I get no lag at 60+frames.

    I have an Intel I7 920,12gb ram, dual radeon 5850s,win7 64bit.

    I turned off dynamic lighting and turned on v-sync and everything is fine now. Luckily turning dynamic lighting off doesnt impact graphics too much otherwise id be ****ed.

    Regardless this issue should be adressed or just remove dynamic lighting from the options
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I got the same problem.

    AMD Phenom2 X4 955
    4GB DDR3 RAM
    HD5850
    Win7 64Bit
    Graphics driver: Catalyst 10.1

    I get PC freezes or client crashes in certain indoor awaymissions.

    When i turn off dynamic lightning it works fine. This issue started after I patch ed last week.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    i have this problem too. It usually happens when a lot of ground abilities are being used, frames slow down to a crawl, then a crash. ATi HD4870, windows 7 64bit.

    I did not have this problem in champs. Will keep bumping this thread until we get a dev response! Everyone help out.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Haha Treehugga I like the avatar.

    @Magnus_Prime: yeah I agree, things really don't look bad at all without dynamic lighting, considering we have the systems to turn everything else all the way up! But it's pretty unacceptable that a glitch that has been there since Champions Online isn't being fixed. I have a feeling this bug is affecting a lot people. I'm hoping I don't have to wait 20-30 days to get a ticket response like other people. :/
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Same problem here, Win7 64 / ATI 5870.

    Just played an entire ground mission (Stop the signal), but starbase 24 crashes within ten minutes every time. Going to try now with dynamic lighting off.

    Never happened before last week's patch, but I never went to SB24 before then either.

    Never had the problem on Champions.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Yeah, similar problem, I don't think this always happened, maybe its something they changed recently. For me it started happening the mission where you place 6 spacial charges all over a Klingon station, I still haven't been able to finish that mission after half a dozen attempts. no response from tickets. I have been doing other (space) missions instead, for now, in the hope that its fixed so I can continue with the game.
    I haven't tried the disable dynamic lighting 'fix' yet, but I will do so now, it will be annoying switching it on and of between space and ground. If there's no further posts from me here, it probably worked.... here's hoping.

    HD5770
    E7400
    4Gb
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Same issue here, I crash religiously during ground missions anytime more than say 10 mobs are onscreen firing. My setup is:

    AMD Phenom x2 Kuma @ 3.2
    4 gig ddr2 1066 ram
    ATI 5770 1gig running 10.1 cat drivers
    Win 7 Pro 64bit

    Space can be as full as can be and I never crash (SB24, etc) but every time I hit the ground I know I am going to crash. I have just stopped doing ground missions at this point. I NEVER had issues during Closed or Open Beta, only since Headstart has this started happening.

    I will try without dynamic lighting (as much as that sucks) and see if it fixes anything.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I have this problem too. It usually happens when a lot of ground abilities are being used, frames slow down to a crawl, then a crash, ATI HD 5770, Windows 7 64 bit.

    I guess I'll turn off Dynamic Lighting but this is poor work on their part I think.

    I also have Champions Online and have not experienced this problem there. Let's keep bumping this thread until we get a dev response! Everyone help out.

    If not fixed by re-billing period, goodbye STO, not that I mind having to change settings and all but I should just be able to turn up to highest quality and play and not worry about settings like this just to be able to play the game without crashing.

    :mad:
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I'm running Vista 32 with an nVidia card and am having this problem as well. Ironically, I didn't have this problem in Open Beta and have just started experiencing it on or about the patch the Friday of Headstart weekend.

    Turning off dynamic lighting seems to have halved the number of times I crash on ground missions (indoor and outdoor, by the way) but it hasn't fixed it. Will try the vsync and fullscreen tricks next, also. It feels to me like the problem occurs most often during a wild firefight where I tap a power that's still on cooldown. Doing that enough seems almost guaranteed to get me a crash. In fact, the only way I was able to complete the long 'Breaking the Planet' ground Fleet action after a few tries was to cautiously and mindfully ensure that a power was properly ready before firing it off.

    As for Champions Online, I did have very frequent disconnects but have never found a solution for that, either. Maybe I should see if that, too, might be related to activating powers still on cooldown. Just my current pet theory.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    @ thecapitaine: I've also heard that disabling post-processing as well can help the issue if just turning off dynamic lighting doesn't work. It does seem to relate to having multiple friends/foes on the ground and trying to do too much at once from what I've seen. I have no idea if playing full screen helps, as I've never played the game in windowed mode.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Same Issue with a HD5770 and 10.1 drivers.

    Constant crashes on ground
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    bump. fixed by removing dynamic lighting. But it's more of a workaround than a fix.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I have the same problem, but it only happens with my human size character (liberated borg) for some reason. My other 2 characters, both of which happen to be as short as possible, don't exhibit the problem.

    The liberated borg gets it in the same spots, like in Plasma Problems as soon as you turn the first corner and see all the mobs. Or in Hide and Seek when you first start up the hill and see all the Klingons running about.

    My other characters don't have the problem at all. Both of those are alien models, and short as I can make them. Don't know if it's related to the height of the character or something specific to the liberated borg.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    i'm playing a liberated borg and nothing else. :(

    bump.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    The same with me.
    Radeon 5850, Windows7 64Bit, 4G Ram.

    - Ferengi-Trader crash
    - Ground mission crash

    Screen freezes and STO crash , after a few seconds the Cryptic Crash Reporter opens.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    smi1ey wrote: »
    Haha Treehugga I like the avatar.

    @Magnus_Prime: yeah I agree, things really don't look bad at all without dynamic lighting, considering we have the systems to turn everything else all the way up! But it's pretty unacceptable that a glitch that has been there since Champions Online isn't being fixed. I have a feeling this bug is affecting a lot people. I'm hoping I don't have to wait 20-30 days to get a ticket response like other people. :/

    they didnt even really respond to my ticket they said to contact tech support. The Gm ticket system sucks
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Im running a Radeon 4870x2 on 10.1 drivers. Its a 64 bit vista based system and I get those crashes. Its very dissapointing because space is beautifuly smooth with ground having a few short lag spikes but still very good. The only problem is the randomn crashes.

    And they do seem to be randomn although ive had one crash happen twice in the same place. Initially I wasnt too bothered about them since I could just restart any missions from where I left them but now its bugging out the quests. The Ultimate Klingon quest where you have to arrest Amar, I was at the minions he releases and then crash. After I got back in I found I could no longer attack or even target the minions. Even leaving the area and coming back didnt work.

    After waiting an hour for a GM to respond to my ticket (didnt speak to me even though Id requested it) I was told to restart the entire mission. This dismayed me a bit because Im used to wow devs who actually fix the problem not advise temporary workarounds. Anyway I started the mission again (2 parter so it took a while) and when I got to the minions before Amar again it crashed, same thing happened again. I was so annoyed I stopped playing for the day.

    Anyway when I came on today I found my avater in his ship with an option to continue the mission. I tried that and found I had been sent to the start of that part of the mission with the mobs respawned. This allowed me to try again without doing the whole thing. This time I got past the minions without crashing and have continued my journey. Only for it to crash again when I entered SB1.

    Anyway the point is that the game shouldnt be crashing in the first place but when it starts affectig mission progress then it becomes a much more important issue. One that needs more than a temp workaround.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I would be perfectly happy with a simple, "Hey we've reproduced this bug, and we're working on it. Until then, turn off dynamic lighting. Sorry for the inconvenience!" from Cryptic. If not on this forum, at least as a reply to the bug I filed over a week ago. Then they could add the workaround to their "official" troubleshooting posts so other people can benefit from it.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Bump - I'm having the same problem.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Not sure if this is the exact same problem, but I also am having terrible issues with ground missions, where the game will simply lockup the computer entirely or actually *hard* reboot the entire machine.

    I'll try the dynamic lighting thing to see if that works.


    I think I have every piece of hardware that this game doesn't like in my machine :P
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I have this problem. ATI 5850, Catalyst 10.1, Win7/64.
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