Kil Saga - Mass Instability Issues?

D

Dini

Spaceman
Well, I just beat WC1 with no real problems! Except from missions 7-40 or so, that little segment was pretty tough. ;)

But on WC2, I've noticed several very annoying problems. First are all the cutscenes, they seem to go very quickly. VERY quickly. They talk ultra quick, which means the text is on-screen for a short amount of time. Sometimes I can read it all, sometimes I cannot. Is this a bug of some sort?

Also, the game seems to have amazing instability issues for such an old game. I guess porting it to Windows will do it for ya, though. :) I get booted to desktop all the time for no reason. The game crashes, or graphical glitches lead to crashes, or other programs crash which then causes WC2 to crash. I get these quite often, in random spurts before I get a little peace again. 1-3 missions later I'm dealing with incredible instability issues again, and I have no idea why. Is this a known problem, that is, WC2's instability? Is there a patch or something... I'd have beaten this game easily by this time if not for the fact that I have to stop playing after trying to beat the same long mission for 3 hours, and getting interrupted in the beginning, middle, of VERY VERY end (like .0001 of a klick away from landing) by seemingly random crashes and program failures every 2 minutes. Even though sometimes it's the disintegration of other programs that leads to WC2's crashing, I get the feeling the game is responsible since these programs NEVER crash when I'm not playing.

So what's the deal? Isn't this stuff all supposed to work with Windows now? Only WC game I ever played was WC3 for DOS, and that had no problems at all when I played it!

I'll try any and all solutions. I just recently reformatted my system since a virus shredded it to pieces. When I run scandisk after a system crash, it tells me it cannot recognize the last cluster in my C: drive or some such crap. I tell it to go ahead and scan and that yes, I'm sure my disk's configured correctly but really I dont know what that means. I don't think it's connected to my WC2 cutscene speed/game instability problems, but ah well. Just thought I'd throw it out there. That's the only other glitch I've had since reformatting.

AMD 1.2 ghz, Windows 98SE, 64 meg Geforce2 Ultra, 256 RAM, 40 gig drive. I definitely got the power, so it must be a software issue.

Regardless, it's bugging the hell out of me.

Thanks!
-Tom
 
Originally posted by Dini
...other programs crash which then causes WC2 to crash... the disintegration of other programs that leads to WC2's crashing...
Click to expand...
What sort of programs? If it's that bad, I don't think you should be running any other applications in the background.
 
...

Well, my Adaptec cd burning software crashes often. Also, 'stimon' crashes now and again, whatever the heck that is. But I just had the game running, and I paused it and went to go get a drink, and when I came back somehow the system had crashed and i was at scandisk with a message telling me windows hadn't been shut down correctly.

I don't think it's always another program failing, WC2 itself seems to just kick me to windows all the time (and in the wrong resolution, too! It's a pain!) for no reason. We're talking literally, go in, boot up saved game, crash, click play wc2 again, crash, finally get into misson, take off, crash, get back to take off, middle of mission, crash. Usually it doesn't get THAT far because the entire system crumbles eventually.

Is this problem common? Sometimes the instability is not this horrendous. But it is unstable. Never get the problem with WC1. Haven't tried WC3 yet. Surely others have been experiencing odd instability. My disk isn't scratched, I just reformatted, game was bought brand new factory sealed.

Also, how do I make the cutscenes go slower? They go pretty darn quick for being "slowed" for Windows compatibility. It's like running it from DOS! It's kinda crazy!

And finally, very annoying, in the very beginning of the game... title soars into view, crashes together, then the 'II" soars in, then "Vengeance of the Kilrathi" ... then it goes immediately without any sort of prompt into the opening cutscene, all the way to the console in your barracks prompting me to create a new personnel profile. Only after I've exited this to go to what would normally be a "see storyline/fly mission" room, I'm back at the title screen with a "new/load" menu... which I assume is supposed to be there from the start anyway, right?

What's happening to my WC games?! This one at least is giving me a really friggin frustrating time trying to get it to stay up and running like WC1... I don't get it. I just reformatted, this is a clean system! Only things I got running in the taskbar is task scheduler, SB Live Audio HQ, Windows Power Properties, Nortion AntiVirus, Windows Volume Control, and Adaptec's CreateCD. I can turn most of those off. In fact, I had disabled most of those when I experienced the 'went off to get a drink and then it died' scenario I described earlier.

It's very very frustrating. Sorry I'm so long-winded about it.

Anyway, I appreciate any help. I need it. Badly!
-Tom
 
It seems like some virus or something, i had, a few months, ago a small archive that made my PC crash (the blue screen of death), made my PC slower and some other things.
 
To Ghost...

Hey Ghost, two questions...

Did you have Jedi Knight II installed on your machine when this virus struck? I know the game's new so probably not, but it's part of some other problems I'm trying to track down.

Also, what do you mean slowed your computer down? Not long after I reformatted my drive, the hard disk kept spinning. Spinning and spinning and spinning, and it caused framerate skips, and everything ran kinda slow and jittery. I uninstalled a security program I thought was the culprit, and it stopped though. But is that similar to what happened to your machine?

How could I have gotten a virus, I hadn't downloaded anything and had JUST reformatted my PC.

Well, any other ideas?

I can't imagine my problems are unique! I thought I read somewhere that others had fast cutscenes and instability in WC2. Granted, mine situation is a tad bit worse, but it is not always so bad. Sometimes it's just "normal" instability. I just want to see if it's a known issue and there is a fix, or at least if it's known. If it's not an issue that has come up before, then I need to figure out the problem because the game is so frustrating to play. I nearly beat the mission I was on when a blue screen (which doesn't really ever happen, usually just a desktop crash) rendered my game inoperable. I could watch it all unfold but couldn't use my controls.

I *did* just buy a Microsoft Sidewinder specifically for my WC games, since my old joystick was getting harder to keep calibrated and precise, and the Control Panel wasn't recognizing that it was plugged in after I upgraded to DX 8.1 I don't think that would create an issue, though, would it...?

Maybe I have a memory or processing problem that I need to fix with some specific options or something. Remember, everytime Scandisk come up it says it can't read the last cluster in drive C, and that there are some things that may not be enabled or configured correctly. Can't remember those at the moment, but could they be connected?

Hmm...

Well, please help me! This is quickly becoming tiring!
-Tom
 
I have Jedi Knight II, but the problem was before it.
In example, when i Alt+Tab when playing Diablo2 after few minutes it crashed always.
The computer took more time than usual to shut down or to start, some strange pop-ups windows with porn publicity, i know that thing because i was searching for Warez Games and movies and a general speed slowdown not too much, but noticeably, and blue screen with some programs.
 
That's what you get for downloading warez. ;)

Originally posted by Dini
Also, 'stimon' crashes now and again, whatever the heck that is.
Click to expand...
Still-Image Monitor, from using a scanner, or something similar. I guess you could close it before playing.

I know KS is known to be fairly unstable (it was a major effort getting them to work in Windows), but I've never heard of anything similar to what you describe, I think the problem is with your system. Do you have WC2 DOS? That runs fine in Windows.
 
When you say you formatted your hard drive because of a virus, that was after you removed the virus with something like Norton Antivirus, right?
 
Uh...

Well, I tried to repair the virus, but that wouldn't work. I tried putting the files into quarantine, but again, that didn't work too good because of all the important system files that had been affected by the virus. So... no, I didn't really get rid of the virus. But I ran a program that wrote 0's to the hard disk... I wiped out everything. EVERYTHING. As far as I know anyway.

But I was unable to really get rid of the virus. That's why I reformatted to begin with.

Ugh. I'm getting discouraged. :) Just all these weird bizarre restarts and strange system crashes, for no apparent reason! Why would it be my system, though? I don't have a newer OS that would be causing conflicts or any really advanced hardware that the game might have trouble interpreting or anything...

Sniff. I just wanna play WC2. I think it's just that game, though, because WC1 had absolutely no problems (occasionally just normal instability issues with Windows, but no major instability with WC1 itself, I believe). WC2's issues, however, were nearly immediate. Maybe I can try a reinstall? I tried once, though, but that was after the Kil Saga stopped recognizing that I had WC2 installed to begin with!

-Tom
 
Okay, no.

In a case like that, you need to boot from an uninfected bootdisk and remove the virus from there. Formatting, even over-writing your entire drive, solves absolutely nothing (well, in most cases). The virus could have survived in a number of ways, most likely in your drive's boot sector.

Also, the next time you format, make it check for bad sectors.
 
Ahhh, crap...

Lol. Figures.

Well, Norton's dead and the rest of my prog's are falling apart, just like what the virus did last time. I guess you guys are right!

So how do I get rid of this virus? I don't have a boot disk... I think I may have a disk entitled "Universal Boot Disk" which to me means it'll work if I use it, but I dunno where it is at the moment.

I've called the antivirus dudes before and they weren't exactly able to help me... well that's a given, seeing as how this virus still seems to be present and I can't even run my antivirus prog to scan for it! I don't even know how that virus got there, I try to be very careful.

Anyway, I've uninstalled everything to try and keep the system's decay from speeding up, but I am just out of ideas. I don't know how to get rid of this virus!

Heeellllp...

-Tom
 
You need a clean Bootdisk (ask a friend, neighbor)
Then do a FDISK and later a Format.
Then Install your OS
 
Hmm...

Alright, so... do my friends need the same OS as me for the bootdisk to work? What do I tell them to include with the disk, since I don't even know myself since I've never created or used a bootdisk before... And after I get the bootdisk, what do I do with it... basically, how will it help me make sure I get this virus out of my system once and for all?

And... what's an FDISK? I get the format - I'll just write zero's to the drive using the little DOS utility I have, no problem. And installing the OS - not an issue, already did that once before. But what's an... "FDISK"...

Thanks for being patient with me, I appreciate it since without some guidance I'm sorta screwed here...

-Tom
 
Any bootdisk will do. I think Norton should have some kind of DOS utility you can use. Check http://www.symantec.com .

As for formatting, writing all 0's is not the normal procedure. Normally it's just format c:
 
But how do I use the bootdisk to help me...?

And Ghost mentioned some sort of utility or procedure called an 'FDISK.' Not a clue what that is.

And I right clicked my c drive, I see the format option so I will use that now instead of writing 0's.

I'm getting closer... :) Just need some direction, now...


-Tom
 
Originally posted by Dini
And I right clicked my c drive, I see the format option so I will use that now instead of writing 0's.
Click to expand...
Eek! No, you don't format the hard disk in Windows, especially not if Windows is on your C drive. :)

Just get a clean boot disk from somewhere (other than your own computer, obviously). There's an option to make a bootdisk in Windows' Control Panel -> Add/Remove Programs, IIRC. Use that disk to boot your computer (just leave the disk in the drive while booting, hence the term 'boot-disk'). At the command prompt type: FORMAT C:

Not sure if you need the /S or /B parameters, nor am I sure about making sure the virus is gone.
 
:eek: oh no! not another boot disk. The cut scenes i believe are unsolvable in WC2 on KS the problem is incredibly common.
Just take a speed reading class it worked for me. :D
 
I would put a virus scanner on CD, boot from a clean floppy (with CD support), format C, run the antivirus, reboot, run antivirus again, install Windows. That's assuming you can part with anything that's on the hard drive...

If you want to keep as much stuff as possible, boot from a floppy, deltree Windows, deltree Program Files, run antivirus (make sure it examines each and every file just to be safe), reboot, run antivirus again, install Windows.
 
THANKS!!!!!!!

Hey, I did what you guys advised and all seems to be working pretty dandy now. I still have some instability issues (pretty bad crashes sometimes) but nothing as horrendous or destructive as earlier, nor is it as frequent. I take it to be the normal WC2 instability you mentioned earlier as being a known issue with the KS version of the game.

So... basically... THANK YOU!

I appreciate it guys. WC2 is definitely one of my fave space sims thus far, for some reason i just really really like it. :)

Maybe it's cause im actually kinda good at it :)

And now I can take the time to go after targets of opportunity cuz my machine isn't bustin' up in the middle of extended operations.

Again, my thanks guys. You put me on the right track and now my dilemma seems to be resolved. Virus = gone. WC2 = nothin but the normal instability. Situation = FIXED! Woo hoo!

-Tom
 
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