FGII keeps crashing - read for details

[dpeters911]

Hi! I've had trouble with FGII in the past but had remedied virtually all of it: ironing everything out from router issues, firewalls, and compatibility options (when necessary).

My most recent hosting sessiong turned into a bust this past Saturday night.

My players could connect and start downloading the files but everything crashed before they could even get to a character select screen.

We tried over a dozen times to get a game going before calling it a night, allowing me to determine the following:
Router is correctly configured to redirect FGII's port to my computer
Firewall is disabled (ESET, Windows Firewall, AND the router's native firewall)
Canyouseeyoume.org shows successful packet communication with my computer and IP on FGII's port
Removed map files temporarily (along with masks) to no avail (in case it was the respawning map marker bug)
Ran the program in various Windows XP and Vista compatibility modes (just in case)
Running Windows 7 64-bit is not the problem. I ran a session just fine the week it was released.
Ran a fresh install just-in-case that was the issue.
We use Hamachi normally - but I tried a few goes with Hamachi disabled and using my actual IP address. No dice.This leaves me rather stumped.

I'm running Windows 7 (and ran successfully on the platform before). My hardware has not changed. My IP has not changed.

My specs:
Windows 7 64-bit
intel Core 2 Duo P8400
nvidia GeForce 9700m GT 512 MB discrete
4 GB ram
2x100 GB HD running at 6400 rpm
I've run FGII before on the exact same machine, OS, and settings (be it firewall, etc.)

I'm not sure what caused FGII to stop functioning so abruptly. I feel like I've exhausted most of my avenues of approach.

Can anyone offer insight or are in a similar boat?

The only settings I've changed on my computer are updating a graphics card and the usual Windows Update files.

[ddavison]

I suspect it could be problems with Windows 7 graphics drivers and DirectX. I experienced the same sort of behavior running DirectX apps when Vista first came out and I was using two NVidia cards in an SLI configuration. In fact, Microsoft later found that research indicated NVidia was the one actually responsible for the majority of Vista crashes that were reported to them.

Do you experience any crashes running other DirectX applications such as full-screen video games -- running either in full-screen or windowed mode (basically however you are running FG)?

The other suggestion would be to rule out data corruption in your existing campaign. You could create a brand new campaign and ask the same users to connect and see if you experience a problem. BTW, which ruleset are you using? It shouldn't matter, but it's important to investigate all the angles.

[dpeters911]

[quote=ddavison]I suspect it could be problems with Windows 7 graphics drivers and DirectX. I experienced the same sort of behavior running DirectX apps when Vista first came out and I was using two NVidia cards in an SLI configuration. In fact, Microsoft later found that research indicated NVidia was the one actually responsible for the majority of Vista crashes that were reported to them.

Do you experience any crashes running other DirectX applications such as full-screen video games -- running either in full-screen or windowed mode (basically however you are running FG)?

The other suggestion would be to rule out data corruption in your existing campaign. You could create a brand new campaign and ask the same users to connect and see if you experience a problem. BTW, which ruleset are you using? It shouldn't matter, but it's important to investigate all the angles.[/quote
I've experienced just one crash with Dragon Age on Windows 7 - though it was from a known bug from extended play (5 hour marathon).

I've heard about driver issues but I'm not sure if I should bother downgrading.

I'm also using the d20_JPG ruleset (it's 3.5 edition one - and most up to date).

My campaign could easily be corrupted as we've been running it in nearly weekly sessions for a few months.

Hopefully, that does the trick.

[Anoril]

Hello,

I'm going into the same kind of troubles.

My setup:
* Win7
* 4Gb
* Latest validated drivers for graphic cards, motherboard, system update and so.

I use Rolemaster Ruleset, and only this one. I created a new campaign. Nothing into it. Just a brand clear campaign.

I open some stuff (tables, modules, characters...) and suddently, with no reason, it crashes. It occured when I clicked on "modules" button, but sometimes when clicking on combat manager or so. (it is never, or quite never, the same button that kills the world.)

I noticed that on a virtual machine running Win XP, I got no problem... (but Direct3D issue that makes the screen scrambled, but FG remains usable).
So I tried to run with XP compatibility on my Win7 and so but always same issue: crash.

And when I say "it crashes", one should read "it goes to hell grabbing my whole system" :) I've got a Blue Screen Of Death with Memory Dump and all the stuff that come with (restart, error logs, disk check...)

Any clue :P

Paul.

[ddavison]

Not to simply pass the blame to Windows, but it looks like they are going through a whole new round of graphic card incompatibilities with Windows 7 that they had when Vista first came out. A quick google search of "window 7 graphics crashes" reveals a large number of hits in all sorts of games (basically anything that actually uses advanced graphics libraries.) NVidia cards seem to be the primary ones listed.

[ddavison]

Hello,

I'm going into the same kind of troubles.

My setup:
* Win7
* 4Gb
* Latest validated drivers for graphic cards, motherboard, system update and so.

Paul.

Paul,

Which graphics card are you using? Have you been able to play other video games on your system for extended periods of time (1 hr or so) without issues?

[Anoril]

Hoy!

I'm not such of a gamer. By the way, I game developper. My primary CG is nVidia GeForce 285.

I'm used to playing Assassin's Creed, World of Warcraft, EvE Online and Guild Wars. Obviously not really up-to-date gaming experiences but actually reliable on my system (using also nVidia 3D googles :p). I also play around with future Game Hits (joking) that ask for graphic power; but I have another developper test CG with no name to try out some latest functionalities.

I will stand with my Virtual Machine stuff for a while until they push new CG drivers up :)

Thanks for support ;)

Paul

[Foen]

I run Win7 x64 both on a laptop and on a desktop machine:

The laptop has on-board nVidia Quadro FX 2700M and ForceWare 176.53, using DirectX 10 - it runs FG/RMC fine.
The desktop has Quadro FX 3800 and driver version 195.39, using DirectX 11 - it has BSoD with FG/RMC.


I think the newer nVidia drivers are to blame: they don't seem stable on Win7.

Stuart