Am I blessed?

[PubliusKhannus]

So after playing ETW for over a month now, mods included, I have not had a single CTD. Why is this? I have not modified any of my files personally(merely playing around with the mypack and main packs used for modding) Did I stumble upon the one non-CTD capable copy in all of TWC? Did I accidentally offer up some sacrificial ritual to gods? Did I please the developers in some unbeknowst way?


Any thoughts on how the hell this is possible?

[TheBlobThing]

Nah, I got one of the special gold-plated non-ctd versions too.

[ManKinD]

So after playing ETW for over a month now, mods included, I have not had a single CTD. Why is this? I have not modified any of my files personally(merely playing around with the mypack and main packs used for modding) Did I stumble upon the one non-CTD capable copy in all of TWC? Did I accidentally offer up some sacrificial ritual to gods? Did I please the developers in some unbeknowst way?


Any thoughts on how the hell this is possible?

Great to hear that they still exist - My copy isnt too bad - not perfect though

I'm just getting some popcorn and getting ready for the replies cant wait!

[Yorkshireman]

Any thoughts on how the hell this is possible?

No idea. I have a retail copy (disc) my game is unmodified, as I don't have much computer know-how and I'm also blessed with never having a ctd.

[PubliusKhannus]

well it seems the game cashiers pulled straws to see who had to give out the special copies (the rest are in on a CA plot to run asunder with its good name). If you bought from steam, it really doesn't need further explanation.

[Lord Nova]

Hey try this, turn on particle effects to ultra and everything else on ultra including SSAO. The CTDs I've been experiencing only happen when I have particles on ultra and SSAO on. The other reasons most are mad about CTDs is cause they happen more on high-end or newer systems not so much on XP systems. In fact it really screws with multi-core and 64-bit operating systems. I'm sure the game runs just fine on medium settings but once you start upping the bells and whistles that come built into the game, the CTD ratio increases dramatically (another thing is widescreen resolutions like 720p cause more CTDs so basically I'm punished for playing this game on my 42' plasma, forget reading the text). So far now with everything on ultra except shadows(high), particles(high), and vertical sync ticked off the game runs just fine at 60fps 1280x720 no AA, Trillinear and no crashes. However I should be able to run it with everything on ultra + at least 2x anisotropic, cosidering my system specs (nvidia 9800gtx+, Intel Core2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.4ghz, 4gb ram). I bought this system months ago and recently got the videocard to play a number of new PC games coming out this year and Empire was very high on my list (well within the top 5) and it's quite disapointing how the game underperforms.

Another thing I notice that cause more crashes is if you exit to the main menu and tweak your graphical settings a lot (something most people do when they first get a game.) If you do change graphical settings, it's a smart idea to restart the app or alt-tab out and re-enter so the ap properly loads the new settings. Don't even bother trying to tweak your graphics while in a battle or on the campaign map since this seems to cause slowdown or a CTD. If you still havent been able to get a CTD then I would say that you are indeed a lucky one and your system configuration is perfect for Empire. The rest of us however have to prey to voodoochickens and trying a number a juju spells and tweaks to end the CTDs. As I said my game no longer crashes but only due to those settings (doesn't matter the resolution, it's some kinda shader bug) and I had to do 3 more steps to get it working this way.
1-Using current Nvida drivers (not beta, they aren't better, they are just from another team at Nvidia testing out new effects, so the beta drivers are actually less stable due to new features... other then that it contains the same code as the normal nvidia driver).
2- Enabling more then 2gb of memory in the App, this can be found in the technical forum
3- Using the Windows Vista-64 bit hotfix for multi-core processors (doesn't really stop crashes but at least no need to restart when one occurs)

The idea that your code for the game is magically blessed is silly since steam verifies that every user has the Same files when you first install the game (it checks the disc files and gives you the auto-update you get off steam), both store bought CDs/DVDs and steam delivery versions of the game are exactly the same except steam users don't have to worry about CDs/DVDs. What is really going on here is settings/system specs.

[RVFVS]

Mine has never CTDed as well...

[jouno53]

Hey try this, turn on particle effects to ultra and everything else on ultra including SSAO. The CTDs I've been experiencing only happen when I have particles on ultra and SSAO on. The other reasons most are mad about CTDs is cause they happen more on high-end or newer systems not so much on XP systems. In fact it really screws with multi-core and 64-bit operating systems. I'm sure the game runs just fine on medium settings but once you start upping the bells and whistles that come built into the game, the CTD ratio increases dramatically (another thing is widescreen resolutions like 720p cause more CTDs so basically I'm punished for playing this game on my 42' plasma, forget reading the text). So far now with everything on ultra except shadows(high), particles(high), and vertical sync ticked off the game runs just fine at 60fps 1280x720 no AA, Trillinear and no crashes. However I should be able to run it with everything on ultra + at least 2x anisotropic, cosidering my system specs (nvidia 9800gtx+, Intel Core2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.4ghz, 4gb ram). I bought this system months ago and recently got the videocard to play a number of new PC games coming out this year and Empire was very high on my list (well within the top 5) and it's quite disapointing how the game underperforms.

Another thing I notice that cause more crashes is if you exit to the main menu and tweak your graphical settings a lot (something most people do when they first get a game.) If you do change graphical settings, it's a smart idea to restart the app or alt-tab out and re-enter so the ap properly loads the new settings. Don't even bother trying to tweak your graphics while in a battle or on the campaign map since this seems to cause slowdown or a CTD. If you still havent been able to get a CTD then I would say that you are indeed a lucky one and your system configuration is perfect for Empire. The rest of us however have to prey to voodoochickens and trying a number a juju spells and tweaks to end the CTDs. As I said my game no longer crashes but only due to those settings (doesn't matter the resolution, it's some kinda shader bug) and I had to do 3 more steps to get it working this way.
1-Using current Nvida drivers (not beta, they aren't better, they are just from another team at Nvidia testing out new effects, so the beta drivers are actually less stable due to new features... other then that it contains the same code as the normal nvidia driver).
2- Enabling more then 2gb of memory in the App, this can be found in the technical forum
3- Using the Windows Vista-64 bit hotfix for multi-core processors (doesn't really stop crashes but at least no need to restart when one occurs)

The idea that your code for the game is magically blessed is silly since steam verifies that every user has the Same files when you first install the game (it checks the disc files and gives you the auto-update you get off steam), both store bought CDs/DVDs and steam delivery versions of the game are exactly the same except steam users don't have to worry about CDs/DVDs. What is really going on here is settings/system specs.

What's weird is that I never had a CTD when I was playing on medium settings, no AA or AF @ 1680 x 1050 with my lower end 8600GT. I just got a GTX 260 Core 216, maxed everything out on Ultra, full AF and 2x AA, and I crash almost every time I play, it's so messed up.

[Frost, colonel]

Have all the lucky non CTD peeps actually played a campaign until they have completed all the techs(especially all the navy movement techs), built top end fleets(heavy first raters), fought the Huron/Indians, ect, etc.

Someone posted recently that they hadn't had a CTD, and then said that they had mainly just played in cutom battles, and so hadn't even ventured to where the CTD's are waiting in ambush.
All my random and luckily few CTD's have happened deep into my varius campaigns.

[Yorkshireman]

Have all the lucky non CTD peeps actually played a campaign until they have completed all the techs(especially all the navy movement techs), built top end fleets(heavy first raters), fought the Huron/Indians, ect, etc.

Your possibly correct here. I don't think I'm halfway past a full campaign yet due to work/pub/life etc.

With a bit of luck the game will be patched up better by the time I get around to finishing a campaign.

[Valerius Maximus]

I've had 1 CTD with most graphics settings on ultra in a GC with prussia. about 160 turns now, so 1780, researched everything, fleets with heavy 1st rates...so hopefully can complete the campaign and then start a new one once the gameplay patch is released

[Abel12512]

I don't have that much CTD's either, only about 7-8 in hours and hours of playing.

[english tyrant]

Never had one.

[zhaz]

never had one after first patch.. yes ive played until endgame twice

[kokonut666]

i had one minor one but played daily almost so you can say a less than 1% crashing rate. i play at ultra on most settings, high on the rest because i found that some high settings are better than ultra. search all tech twice (some are useless like free the slaves one). play till the end four times with no problem (even the one that crashed, i found a way around it). don't know. i do have ati graphic card and NO vista. sometimes you got lucky. sometimes the most update platform is not always the best for a pc game.

[Toshiba]

Me neither. No CTD's here.

[Ondaderthad]

No more than 1 CTD every about 10 hours of play. And yes I have played 2 or 3 campaigns to victory conditions including one up to 1800+

My computer is not top of the range but I use Windows XP and run all on Ultra.
Computer specs:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Mainboard : Gigabyte EP45-DS4P
Chipset : Intel P45
Processor : Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3000 MHz
Physical Memory : 2048 MB (2 x 1024 DDR2-SDRAM )
Video Card : NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT 512MB
Hard Disk : WDC (80 GB)
DVD-Rom Drive : LITE-ON DVD+RW LDW-401S
Monitor Type : LG Electronics L1930SQ - 19 inches
Network Card : Realtek Semiconductor RTL8168/8111 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet NIC
Network Card : Realtek Semiconductor RTL8168/8111 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet NIC
Operating System : Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition 5.01.2600 Service Pack 3
DirectX : Version 9.0c (October 2008)

Empire Total War:
All Ultra

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Campaign Map:
zoomed out scrolling 22fps
zoomed in scrolling 26 fps

AI end of turn processing:
On 1750 with 40 provinces and at war with 5 other factions.
Show CPU moves accelerated (space bar)
2 minutes 06 sec
Don't show CPU moves
1 minute 14 seconds

But including 2 autoresolved battles and 2 trade/diplomacy offers.

Battle Map:
zoomed out 28-32 fps
zoomed in 22-26 fps

Sea battle with maximum number of ships ie. 2vs2 with 32 ships total and fully zoomed in it runs at 11-16 fps

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6DMr4cX_Tk

RE: NVIDIA drivers
Always make sure that you uninstall the old ones (and reboot) before installing video drivers.

see the guides here: http://www.tweakguides.com/System.html

[War&Politics]

Well I'm playing with IS and I only ever got one CTD...

[Sir Winston Churchill]

So after playing ETW for over a month now, mods included, I have not had a single CTD. Why is this? I have not modified any of my files personally(merely playing around with the mypack and main packs used for modding) Did I stumble upon the one non-CTD capable copy in all of TWC? Did I accidentally offer up some sacrificial ritual to gods? Did I please the developers in some unbeknowst way?


Any thoughts on how the hell this is possible?

The only time I have ever CTD'd is when I was a curios idiot and tried to play an emergent faction.

Other than that, no, you are not alone.

[Monsieur Alphonse]

Well according to the poll in this thread http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=247762 some 45% almost never get a CTD, while 25% of all who participated are suffering from a lot of CTD's