Straight out, I've been pretty much a [removed] with regard to those complaining about the game. I'd like to restate my case, then I plan to not bother you again with my thoughts.
1). If your machine is locking up, this is most likely a problem on your machine. My reasoning is simple. While there can be thousands of subtle differences between the millions of PCs running the game, the truth is there are only small differences to be expected in each area.
For example, you can have not enough RAM, or 4, 5, 6, whatever number of GB of RAM, but thre is a limit to the possible memory configurations. If there were a common thread, some amount of memory might show a higher incidence of failure. Beyond that, the low level memory timing is controlled by the BIOS or by you using tweaking tools, and if you are a tweaking sort, then it is universally understood you cannot say you machine is not at fault until you run it with generic XMS provided timings, and you have a BIOS that you know recognizes SPI data properly.
Another example is video cards. While there are dozens of suitable cards, there are perhaps half a dozen manufacturers. So, if there were a clean distinction, then it would become obvious, let's just say Sparkle boards have a problem. It wouldn't take long for Sparkle owners to figure out they were having more problems than EVGA owners.
Sound cards are more of a problem than most are willing to understand, and this of course includes embedded audio which is common on today's gaing motherboards. I myself had problems with FC2 that was traced to a bad sound driver, and I've fixed several machines for other people based on this same issue. The sound system can generate a flood of interrupts at certain times during play, never dismiss sound as too slow/infrequent to tax a PC.
Oddball controllers can present issues too, so if you are using anything besides a mause and keyboard, disconnect the other device(s) and try the mouse and keyboard to see...
And yes, xbox and similar pads count as oddball in this case, if for no other reason than a mouse offers better aiming and more fluid movement than any console controller ever could.
Swapdisk and other user controlled system configuration options. Careful here as well, you can be sure that developers are expecting well-behaved systems that offer levels of system functionality that is to be expected for the most generic of cases, and this is another way of saying Windows defaults. If you reconfigure your drives for smaller blocks, or wildly reduced (or enlarged) swap space, you are getting into territory that again puts the onus on you to test with more generic settings before claiming "I've tried EVERYTHING".
2). A major part of my issue with the complaints is, I consider the FC series "adult" titles, yet the complaints are delivered in so very many cases by what is best described as "not even close to adult demeanor". As in spoiled brat, foot stomping, fingers in the ears screaming "la la la la, I can't hear you" demeanor reminiscent of someone of the advanced age of 7, perhaps 8 years old. If you are not 7 or 8 years old but insist on sounding like you are, or if you don't even own the game but are here whining anyway, then please, for the love of all that is good and righteous, s h ut the [removed] up.
3). If you avoid the 7-8 year old delivery, then you might want to consider using easy to understand terms, and avoid hyperbole that one would expect to be used by a pre-teen. "The game is completely unplayable" is total BS when all you have to do is back off one notch on AA or something. Yes, you might WANT it to be playable there, but if you've done your research, can legitimately give your machine a clean bill of health, then I would suggest the following wording looks more adult: "I was able to run FC3 with AA set to 16, why can't I expect FC4 to run the same?". See? That conveys what your issue is so others might actually be able to help (or comisserate), instead of leaving them wonder what "completely unplayable" means to the rest of us.
4). Somehow, some way, we, as the PC gaming community need to make the game developers and the graphics chipset manufacturers aware that having to have at least one, if not two of the very latest graphics cards in order to play the latest release is tantamount to rape. Understand this: $500, no matter how much you can afford, is a genuinely ridiculous sum of money to be considered obsolete after 6 months to a year. Oh, I get it, I do, I used to be right there on the bleeding edge too, but it's gotten much worse lately. Most folks don't realize how very little actual graphical "power" increases with each new "mind-bending performance upgrade!!!". That is to say, other than increased memory size to support wider/taller pixel counts, the actual throughput improvement is generally in the 8-14% range. Not exactly mind-bending, but it is what they are telling you, and its a pretty good indicator that they enjoy being able to lead you around by the nose, essentially commanding you like some sort of puppet to "upgrade now or suffer the humiliation of being one or two WHOLE releases behind!!".
And while we have their ear on the $$$ [removed], they need to know that most developers count on a game sales cycle measured in high peaks of a few months max, followed by at most a year of tapering sales. In other words, there is never a reason for a game to be released that cannot be run "fully maxed" for a single display with a single card. Yes, we know where are people that have multiple monitors and expect to run 120Hz or higher refresh rates, these are the only guys that should be buying multiple cards to achieve their goals, the rest of us, and especially those willing to upgrade every year, should be able to get optimal performance out of a game with one card, one monitor, and by optimal, I mean cannot be set any higher for native resolutions.
5). If you feel the need to complain, please understand your first order of business is to contact UBi support with your complaint(s), worded like an adult, an adult that gives the respect they demand themselves. Then the peer to per forums make sense to see if/how others solved it. Why not forum first, then Ubi support? If there is a big problem, and only 3 people report it but ten thousand get their problem solved by a forum or web posting,how does UBi know what the size of the oversight is?
OK, that's about it. Good luck, and remember, in PC gaming, the fact that "all other games run PERFECTLY on my rig" does NOT mean any problems you are having are the games fault entirely!
Originally Posted by GiveMeTactical Go to original post
^Ditto, and it's too vague. For instance I could play the game fine, but after 1.9, I now get long screen freezes in specific spots or performing specific actions. The screen will freeze several seconds, but I can still exit game. This only happens in the main campaign, but Valley of the Yetis plays fine.
Personally though, I can tolerate the abrasiveness toward posts conceived to be more user error than glitch much more than I can Ubi's utter silence after numerous complaints. There are a lot of people complaining about broken SLI since 1.9 on the Steam forums, and it was mentioned in that thread that Ubi have said they're aware of it, but when asked for the source of that claim, all I get are people steering me to a Ubi Support link.
Ubi, you need to come out publicly and state to everyone that you yet again released a so called "patch" that fubared the game. Stop trying to protect your PR more than your customers and product. This silence and making us wait only further damages your reputation.
And you're slow arse forum software is one of the worst I've ever seen.
+1Originally Posted by Frag_Maniac Go to original post
Originally Posted by Far_Cry2_Fan Go to original postuh huh.Originally Posted by Far_Cry2_Fan Go to original post
if you want to look for examples of lacking in "adult demeanor", you only need look for a mirror.
from where i stand, two things are clear: 1) SLI was broken in 1.5, fixed around 1.6 to 1.8, and then was broken again in 1.9. That's just poor QA and code base maintenance. 2) you're an admitted troll and have no place whatsoever to call anyone "immature".
as for comparing one system to another, yes, there are going to be technical differences, glitches, driver issues, and other problems. that's just PCs in general. but when comparing the responses from certain Devs/Publishers to others, that's where the difference is made. Ubi so far is not among the good Devs or Publishers. they *could* take the high road at least and recognize the problem. they could even offer alternate solutions, like rolling back to 1.8, or offering some kind of concessions. instead, it's just maddening silence. it's entirely reasonable to ask for a modicum of customer service for a product people have paid money for.
but let's not mince words here: Far_Cry2_Fan, you're a hypocrite.
Filipino:
I wrote that second quote to you because you were being such an insufferable little tiny [removed]. And Like an adult, I decided even and insufferable tiny little [removed] like you didn't deserve that, no matter how poorly you treated me in your lash out.
So, I apologized, you piled on. Only thing that could possibly mean is you need to fix your machine.
Not wanting to take sides here but my rig is Quad SLI and whatever the problems were with SLI I haven't noticed them. As for glitches the only small glitches that I noticed recently were that a dead RA soldier, a bear and a convoy truck disappeared, in the first case where I was actually on my way to loot his body. That and a couple of RA soldiers who were embedded inside rocks, one of the with just his beret showing.
Apart from that, zero glitches here