Runtime error (Win 7 64-bit)

[Garenth]

So I got the game in the mail today, and ever since, I've had nothing but trouble with it.

 

First I had some issues with the installer stopping in the middle of things, so I cancelled it, re-booted and installed it again. This time things checked out but as soon as I tried to launch it I got this error message:

 

 

After that, I thought "I'll just format my drive and re-install Windows, it's about time anyways". When I was done, and had installed the game again, everything seemed to work and the game ran perfectly.

 

The problem is, it only worked ONCE, the next time I tried to launch it I got the same bloody error message. This is really starting to annoy me by now.

 

Anyone have any idea what could be causing this, and more importantly, how I can fix it?

 

Here are my system specs:

 

Intel Core i5 750 @ 2.66GHz

8GB RAM

ATI Radeon HD5870

Windows 7 64-bit

 

/Garenth

Edited May 27, 2010 by Garenth

[Chloe]

I don't hate Obsidian. I just think if they keep working like this, they'll go out of business.

[Purkake]

That's certainly true. The issue isn't exactly clear cut, though and there is plenty of blame to throw around.

 

Not that it changes anything.

[Chloe]

That's certainly true. The issue isn't exactly clear cut, though and there is plenty of blame to throw around.

 

Not that it changes anything.

 

No, it doesn't change anything. I don't lay the blame squarely at Obsidians feet either. It's not only programmers, it is also publishers that are basically ruining the industry by short-term profit thinking. It's not only SEGA, it's also UBI and their disastrous DRM policy, it's EA with their non-existing customer service. It is everywhere, and they are the ones paying developer studios too little money to work on games long enough to iron out the major kinks or to make patches.

 

I'd love to climb on my soap box and sermonize about customers who want everything as cheap as possible, but at least in this case that wouldn't be applicable. Computer games are between 45 and 64 Euros around here, and there's no option of getting them much more or much less cheap. Actually, I'd even pay more. All I'd ask in return is clear communication by the companies to their customers, high-quality games that show the love and dedication that developers invested in their games (cf Mass Effect series, Dragon Age, Baldur's Gate, GTA IV et al).

 

Also, I realize that debugging software can closely resemble a trip through hell. When it was clear that our business would go belly up mid-term, the GF went back to university for a PhD in Computer Science. I've done some programming and administration as well, and I have a vague idea of how hellish it must be to debug a whole frackin' computer game on several standard configurations, not to mention the millions of possible hardware and software combinations out there in the real world.

 

All that doesn't change that customers demand software that runs on their systems. All that doesn't change that a couple of games with severe problems like, oh, say... Alpha Protocol will suffice to ruin the goodwill of the public. All that doesn't change that said public will at some point start ignoring products by a company that is known for buggy games. And no, I'm for once not looking at you exclusively, Obsidian. All that doesn't change that a company whose reputation is ruined in this fashion won't get many contracts from publishers anymore, even if they are the same publishers who share the responsibility for the buggy games that ruined the developer's reputation in the first place.

 

Peace

 

C

C

Edited August 25, 2010 by Chloe

[Purkake]

Aww, you'd fit into the community here perfectly

Edited August 25, 2010 by Purkake

[Chloe]

Aww, you'd fit into the community here perfectly

 

How so?

[Purkake]

We have lots of soap boxes and generally very opinionated posters.

 

Also having nicely argued points is generally preferable to proposing to destroy digital media with fire

Edited August 28, 2010 by Purkake

[Purkake]

There's a stealth patch out now which might help with your issue(s)...

[Chloe]

There's a stealth patch out now which might help with your issue(s)...

 

Heya, thanks for the link. I'll go check it out tomorrow, as I won't have to teach students and I might miss the pain...