DDER_OUTOFVIDEOMEMORY (8876017C) multiplayer problem

Sometimes when I host multiplayer with more than 6 factions armies, just before the battle map loads I get this weird error dialogue and the game crashes -

"Failed to load hard-sprites"
DDER_OUTOFVIDEOMEMORY (8876017C)"

I haven't changed anything in my PC rig or options.

PC is: Compaq Presario 061, OS= XP-Home 5.1 build 2600,SP whatever-the-latest-one-is (none outstanding on Windows Update as of 30-Aug-2005),

DirectX9.0c (4.09.000.0904),
240Gb Hard Drive,
2.2GHz AMD Athlon64 3400+ MMX 3DNow,
1022MB RAM, Nvidia Geforce6200 Turbo Cache 2MX400
drivers: Nv4_disp.dll version 6.14.0010.7777 (English)


I have adjusted my AGP setting to approx half of my processor size (i.e. to 1064Mb) which worked for a while. But now I've just had the error when I've watched a replay of a recent SUCCESSFUL MP session (strange!?!?!?).

Can anyone help? Please? Any suggestions at all?

Yes I had the same problem some time ago. I think I either reinstalled DirectX or drivers for my card and it was fixed. I hadnt changed anything on my pc either so I dont know what caused it.


CBR

Thanks for replying. I've got two problems - the drivers are automatically searched for/updated by WinXP every time I boot up (safe mode is unavailable); and DirectX cannot be uninstalled - DirectX9.0c is already installed and trying to download an update/reinstall makes no difference!

Hi Frankymole, good to see you're in the forum too. I've had a hard time spotting other .org members online but it has only been a couple of days...



Out of video memory is strange. I've heard that, when the card's capacity is maxed out, it's supposed to 'borrow' storage space from system RAM. You have a gig's worth, so this should not have been a problem.

One thing I wanted to suggest will require some cooperation from others. If you could arrange it so each side picks the same faction (eg 4 English vs 4 Spain, say) and see if that runs okay.

This minimises on the number of unique sprites having to be loaded into video memory at any given moment. Thus, if the problem is actually something else, such as the sheer number of men on the field, regardless of minimised texture loading. [EDIT] ...this should become apparent. [/EDIT]

Gradually step up the number of different factions allowed until you find the point where it falls over again.

Obviously, this will take a number of sessions and, if you don't get the same players every time, you'll probably tire of explaining what you're trying to achieve several times over, even assuming you get cooperation every time.

Just a suggestion though.


I take it that you've run Start|Run...|dxdiag.exe numerous times but it shows no anomalies?

I have had the same problem afer a update of my Antivirus application.
Maybe u disable it then.

Yes, I always disable antivirus before loading the game.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by EatYerGreens

Hi Frankymole, good to see you're in the forum too. I've had a hard time spotting other .org members online but it has only been a couple of days...

Out of video memory is strange. I've heard that, when the card's capacity is maxed out, it's supposed to 'borrow' storage space from system RAM. You have a gig's worth, so this should not have been a problem.

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Hello there! I wonder if there is a way to "force" system RAM to take over where the card leaves off.

I've run custom battles with the card at Quake 3 settings (high performance) and 4 teams (armies, CPU-controlled, except for mine of course) per side - it runs them fine, even with complex castles etc. It's odd why it now doesn't like MP or my saved replays of same.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Frankymole

Hello there! I wonder if there is a way to "force" system RAM to take over where the card leaves off.

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Yes you can in your bios.
It already Does but you can adjust it so it Has more memory to over folw in to,
Its called AGP Aperture ,

Frankymole,

Is this crash map-specific or 8-player specific? In other words, are you getting the same crash, regardless of what map is used?

I'm wondering if a specific map might be the root cause. For instance, they took a default map, added a bunch of extra trees, buildings and so forth and it's just enough to tip your system over the edge of its texture-load limits.

I was about to speculate about memory usage for the multiplayer interface causing a resource conflict but, clearly, if it happens in the replays too (and I presume you are offline for these) that cannot be the case. Something about the armies and units on the field, or the map itself is causing it.

With 8 players all going for it, there's going to be losts of dust kicked up (particles to be animated and in large quantities), more animation to be done and more sounds to be played, which adds to demands on your system.

Can you replicate the fault with same screen resolution and quality but smoke, ambient fauna, sound and music all switched off? If so, that would narrow it down to something genuinely graphical.

If it suddenly works okay, then turn each feature on, one at a time until you find the culprit. If all of those work, try various combinations until you find one that gives you the best game experience yet still functions okay.

@Shambles,

I've meddled with aperture in my BIOS a few times but always ended up putting it back to its default setting, to get best results. My card is 128Mb and the default AGP is 64Mb. Why this should be, I really don't know.

The other day I stumbled across a menu option I'd not seen before. It later occurred to me that I'd set up video settings in MTW then installed the VI expansion and never gave these a second thought. I now see this extra slider, I think it's call 'video memory' and the slider is at the max, with a reading underneath saying something like 53Mb. Not sure what this is about but I left it as it was.

So far, my game is working okay but I don't think I've hosted a 4v4 game yet. If I do, I will look out for this error message.

For the record, I'm running background tasks, including AV, FW, FreememPro, Spybot IE-resident and Pestpatrol Active Protection while hosting, with no apparent difficulties. This is, similarly, with 1Gig of RAM.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by EatYerGreens

I'm wondering if a specific map might be the root cause. For instance, they took a default map, added a bunch of extra trees, buildings and so forth and it's just enough to tip your system over the edge of its texture-load limits.

I was about to speculate about memory usage for the multiplayer interface causing a resource conflict but, clearly, if it happens in the replays too (and I presume you are offline for these) that cannot be the case. Something about the armies and units on the field, or the map itself is causing it.

---

This could be the problem, and it can happen with regular maps because they all use different amounts of textures. If the problem goes away when you play at lower screen resolution, then too many displayed textures is it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by EatYerGreens

Frankymole,

Is this crash map-specific or 8-player specific? In other words, are you getting the same crash, regardless of what map is used?

I'm wondering if a specific map might be the root cause. For instance, they took a default map, added a bunch of extra trees, buildings and so forth and it's just enough to tip your system over the edge of its texture-load limits.

I was about to speculate about memory usage for the multiplayer interface causing a resource conflict but, clearly, if it happens in the replays too (and I presume you are offline for these) that cannot be the case. Something about the armies and units on the field, or the map itself is causing it.

With 8 players all going for it, there's going to be losts of dust kicked up (particles to be animated and in large quantities), more animation to be done and more sounds to be played, which adds to demands on your system.

Can you replicate the fault with same screen resolution and quality but smoke, ambient fauna, sound and music all switched off? If so, that would narrow it down to something genuinely graphical.

If it suddenly works okay, then turn each feature on, one at a time until you find the culprit. If all of those work, try various combinations until you find one that gives you the best game experience yet still functions okay.

---

Many thanks for taking time to write such a thorough reply.

I always have the smoke, ambient fauna, pyrotechnics etc turned off for MP play, to avoid any possibility of lag.

I don't think it is any particular map - all maps or none. It seems to be the armies not the map features.

Using the very latest nVidia drivers (6.14.0010.7777), virtual memory set to computer-managed sizes (ie variable), display acceleration turned down a notch or two, and screen resolution for battles at a paltry 800 x 600, it seems to work for all battles in MP, even 4 vs 4, now. The AGP slider is set to 0 (zero).

My graphics memory is 256Mb, so should I set the Viking Invasion AGP slider to 128Mb??

PS what is "enable write combining" in the Display device settings?

I had the same problem but i use Geforce 6600GT, then i installed 77.72 drivers and its ok now. Hope this helps :bow:

Yes, all is hunky-dory with the new drivers. Turning off antialiasing settings also helped stabilise things. Woohoo!