Top 2 Causes of Bugs

[Dhepee]

I've been playing since the first MTW and I've been on this site for ages - even was an assistant mod in the Tavern GAH.

Here are the top two causes of bugs in MTW:

1) Not enough system resources/system not good enough. These games are system hogs. If you don't have stuff, the game will invariably crash.

2) Plenty of system resources but your computer has viruses, old file fragments, or weird stuff going on with the file structure that all lead to overuse of what would normally be ample system resources.

Just my two cents.

[Feanaro]

What do M:TW bugs have to do with E:TW?

Anyways, I experience bugs and I have neither problem. My system is regularly scanned for viruses by several programs, I use NoScript in Firefox, etc. My machine is plenty fast. Now, I don't have the CTDs that others are having but it doesn't make my experience bug-free.

[Ordani]

I've been playing since the first MTW and I've been on this site for ages - even was an assistant mod in the Tavern GAH.

Here are the top two causes of bugs in MTW:

1) Not enough system resources/system not good enough. These games are system hogs. If you don't have stuff, the game will invariably crash.

2) Plenty of system resources but your computer has viruses, old file fragments, or weird stuff going on with the file structure that all lead to overuse of what would normally be ample system resources.

Just my two cents.

You are unfortunately entirely incorrect. None of these have ever caused bugs in any CA release. There is no virus that specifically rewrites your TW game to crash when you try to move a ship. There is no video card that is deciding that clicking the check-box when any faction declares war on you is wrong the 37th time it happens (and every time afterwards). Sure, there were specific video configuration that didn't let you turn on various features or exacerbated actual bugs in TW.

Despite being a huge resource hog, the game does a decent job of tuning itself down for systems and worst case, the first time you try a full stack battle you figure out if you need to put everything to minimal. These are not what anyone is complaining about -- we knew we couldn't stick it on a 386 and do full antialiased volumetric explosions. We may wish we could get the game and pretty as it can be, but that is not causing our trade fleets and fort walls to not be actionable under reproducible circumstances. The AI is not marching 5 stacks of units up and down the coast because your PS/2 mouse driver is out of date and that's why it can't perform naval transport.

Nobody is expecting that they can play the game for 100 hours straight without seeing the background rendering get screwed up and having to restart the game every now and then. It's a complex piece of software and happens. When almost everyone is getting corrupted save games after a few dozens turns, it's not because they only have a Core2Duo.

[Melvish]

You are unfortunately entirely incorrect. None of these have ever caused bugs in any CA release. There is no virus that specifically rewrites your TW game to crash when you try to move a ship. There is no video card that is deciding that clicking the check-box when any faction declares war on you is wrong the 37th time it happens (and every time afterwards). Sure, there were specific video configuration that didn't let you turn on various features or exacerbated actual bugs in TW.

Despite being a huge resource hog, the game does a decent job of tuning itself down for systems and worst case, the first time you try a full stack battle you figure out if you need to put everything to minimal. These are not what anyone is complaining about -- we knew we couldn't stick it on a 386 and do full antialiased volumetric explosions. We may wish we could get the game and pretty as it can be, but that is not causing our trade fleets and fort walls to not be actionable under reproducible circumstances. The AI is not marching 5 stacks of units up and down the coast because your PS/2 mouse driver is out of date and that's why it can't perform naval transport.

Nobody is expecting that they can play the game for 100 hours straight without seeing the background rendering get screwed up and having to restart the game every now and then. It's a complex piece of software and happens. When almost everyone is getting corrupted save games after a few dozens turns, it's not because they only have a Core2Duo.

I don't usually do those almost trollish kind of post but in this case i can't help. It was too well said without losing your cool and i so fully agree with you Ordani.

[Major Robert Dump]

I've been playing since the first MTW and I've been on this site for ages - even was an assistant mod in the Tavern GAH.

Here are the top two causes of bugs in MTW:

1) Not enough system resources/system not good enough. These games are system hogs. If you don't have stuff, the game will invariably crash.

2) Plenty of system resources but your computer has viruses, old file fragments, or weird stuff going on with the file structure that all lead to overuse of what would normally be ample system resources.

Just my two cents.

yeah. it has nothing to do with the game software i'm sure

if a game is crashing because of inadequate system requirements that is not a bug.

Likewise, a game crashing every time you choose to move a unit on the campaign map has nothing to do with the system, and everything to do with the software.

[Elmar Bijlsma]

Find the AI not very smart? It's caused by porn on your hard disk.

[Beskar]

Remember it says that it is the top 2 causes and it isn't on about AI pathing. It is referring to people crashing all the time/CTD/Whitescreen of death/other errors.

Don't play the stupid card.

[Merak]

Remember it says that it is the top 2 causes and it isn't on about AI pathing. It is referring to people crashing all the time/CTD/Whitescreen of death/other errors.

Don't play the stupid card.

so you are saying a a newly formated system all things updated and having no problem before and then white screen of death and ALL my saves on sweden goes white screen of death is just becase of my crappy system i am sorry but i do not belive you. and if it is only about the system being wrong then why can they solve most of these kind of ctd:s


(granted a onformated and not defragged system can case error that is not what i am saying but saying that CA can not make mistakes is also something i do not belive)

if this is kind of harsh when you read it. it´s becase my crappy english grammar

[pevergreen]

Specs?

Quick reformat or normal? Drive format?

I do know that there are bugs, there always will be. However, CA can not be expected to make sure the game works with all the variables.

Cards, motherboards, drivers, processors etc

Make two computers out of identical things, and they will perform differently. Nothing is ever the same.
First big lesson I've learnt off the professionals I work with.

[Merak]

rather then posting a big diax here i will link it http://shoguntotalwar.yuku.com/topic...sh.html?page=8

i am merak there too

oh and a normal format folowed by updating the windows followed by installing all drivivers (all updated motherboard and stuff like that ) followed by installing 6 games all other game i have no problem what so ever and including this one the only problem i had what the white ctd after i had compleated the shortcampain on the swedish now i am plaing gb with no problem at the moment. when it happend i had played 2h no more (but more yesterday and so on) as i work with hp printers i im so busy from time to time i can not play more then that.

[Dayve]

Ordani's right... My computer meets the recommended system requiremenets and crushes them 3 times over, and all virus scanners show no viruses, malware, spyware, adware, or any other kind of malicious activity.

The bugs are caused by greedy marketers who won't let CA wait until the game is finished before forcing them to release it.

[pevergreen]

The bugs are caused by greedy marketers who won't let CA wait until the game is finished before forcing them to release it.

Thats the spirit! CA aren't at fault, its SEGA.

[Merak]

yea lets blame SEGA!!
you suck SEGA!!
:D

[Beskar]

oh and a normal format folowed by updating the windows followed by installing all drivivers (all updated motherboard and stuff like that ) followed by installing 6 games all other game i have no problem what so ever and including this one the only problem i had what the white ctd after i had compleated the shortcampain on the swedish now i am plaing gb with no problem at the moment. when it happend i had played 2h no more (but more yesterday and so on) as i work with hp printers i im so busy from time to time i can not play more then that.

I lost 3 saved games. My Prussian saved game, my Poland-Lith and I think the other was my Russia one. However, that is 3 saved games out of 20. If there has been a CTD too, you can just reload autosave to get your previous turn back up, so it wasn't a real big loss. However, I seemingly have none of the issues tons of people are talking about. Yes, there was issues will need to be addressed, but not all of them are CA's fault.

I know some one who was complaining their game ran very slowly, you know why it was? His harddrive was very fragmented as he never used a defragmenting tool on it. For another person it was because of not closing other apps down because their computer couldn't run it right at the settings they set. There are lots of other issues.

Also talking about the real serious bugs too. Not bugs like problems with naval landings, that obviously has no link with what is being said, hence why I said "Don't play the stupid card" on those issues.

[Merak]

yea i knew the what you were refering too i just have never had any kind of crashies on all my games that all of swedens savegames whent unusible (white screen when loading them aswell)

and i do agree with you 9 times out of en is is crappy or pc that is not updated and defragmented that have these kind of behaviours, but they also have it on all other games aswell.

with that in note do i think my pc it perfect? God no
do i think it can be a drivererror in my pc? maybe
do i think it can be SEGAs (CA) fault? no but they will fix the bugs if i ever get that kind of error again that is, with i also am not sure i will do.

oo and i am not even slightly irritated about the "bugs" and i do not go around screeming Bloodymurder i can wait becase i do think it is a realy good game. (not saying anyone else here do either but on the official its an other story)

[Lord of the Isles]

I've been playing since the first MTW and I've been on this site for ages - even was an assistant mod in the Tavern GAH.

Here are the top two causes of bugs in MTW:

1) Not enough system resources/system not good enough. These games are system hogs. If you don't have stuff, the game will invariably crash.

2) Plenty of system resources but your computer has viruses, old file fragments, or weird stuff going on with the file structure that all lead to overuse of what would normally be ample system resources.

Just my two cents.

Keep ducking Dhepee, we'll run out of ammo eventually :)

What you say is true and relevant to most PC games, not just MTW. I'd even add to the second list registry problems since the longer you've been using a machine the more likely something has messed up bits of the registry. So, anyway, I'm sure that just as with other games, some problems with ETW are down to these.

However, I doubt that most of them are. Some of the evidence in this thread, from posters who don't fall into either category. In my own case, I have a medium system (Core 2 Duo 6400, 2 Gb DDR2, 8800GTS 320 Mb) which ETW autodetects for mostly medium settings in the graphics screen, with a few high. I usually reach between turns 50 - 100 before Grand Campaigns CTD (with the generic empire.exe has encountered a problem message, have never had the insufficient video memory one). Strangely however, when I tried two Grand Campaigns with *all* graphics setting off or at their lowest (except for Shader 3 low and Unit size Medium), I only got to turns 10 and 16 before the same thing happened. Not statistically significant I know (5 tests on medium-ish settings v 2 on low settings) but still quite weird that the lower the settings, the quicker the crashes. I've also experimented with the XP 3Gb fix to increase Virtual Address Space but to no avail.

As for the second point, I quite like to reinstall Windows from time to time. It preempts just the sort of problems you mention, and is a good way of being sure I've got all I need backed up onto my spare disk or DVD. And my last reinstall was over the new year hols and the machine has been kept pretty clean since then (translation: no use by my stepdaughter, so no music sharing software installed, lol).

To finish, it wouldn't surprise me to find something local causing a problem, but it seems clear to me (not least from what CA have said) that there are sufficient problems with the game itself that I'll wait till they are addressed before I start tearing my system to bits and reinstalling it.