Freelancer crashes - no answer

Tue May 04, 2004 10:38 am by Bernie

I'm the poor sucker who posted the above subject on I May and here's the follow up:- After trying the archive driver for my GeForce 4 Ti 4200 which allowed me to get past the opening FREELANCER screen, I thought I would try downloading Nvidia's latest Driver 56.64 and to my delight I could still load and play the game. My joy was short lived however because when I got to Level 8 on Leeds the screen froze every time I tried to purchase weapons or ammo in the Equipment Room.

I could go back to a previous save, play the game, get to any base's equipment room and the mouse arrow would still freeze after a few minutes of looking at or selecting weapons to buy ( on the right hand side of the screen ). However, I found that if I entered the Equipment room and quickly topped up my Nano and shield batts only and then went to the bar and took on a mission, I could carry on playing the game until I finally ran out of ammo and returned to a base but as soon as I started buying weapons or ammo in the Equipment room, the mouse and screen would freeze at more or less the same position on the screen. I even tried flying to another base but the same thing happened when buying weapons.

The point of my explaining all this is that I cannot believe the fault is down to my PC - I have ample HD space, spare memory and CPU speed and have tried absolutely every recomendation in MS Support and those in this forum without success and I can play every other game new and old with no problem except Freelancer. I do not see why Microsoft Games should be allowed to get away with producing a game with so many glitches and before I write to them and complain, I would like to know if anyone has had the same crash problem when selecting weapons and as a result, has had to stop playing the game. All those who say aye, post here please.

Tue May 04, 2004 1:31 pm by Stinger

@Bernie

I know myself well enough to say this is going to sound condensending. So that being said I'm going to be myself and just let 'er fly.

You posted this thread today yet said you downloaded the latest drivers from Nvidia. FALSE. The latest drivers are in fact version 56.72 (I'm downloading them now thank you veddy much) that are WHQL certified and were released April 1st 2004. I found it interesting on Nvidia web site the verison 56.64 you mentioned also say they are WHQL certified BUT with an astericks. Here's what the astericks footnote says:

* While this driver is not WHQL certified on TNT2, GeForce 256, GeForce2 GTS/Pro/Ti, and GeForce3 graphics boards, it will install and function correctly.

Never, and I repeat...NEVER use non-WHQL certified drivers then blame the software when games don't work right. The WHQL certification process is there for a reason. Anything other than certified drivers and you're playing with a beta products and your mileage will vary from machine to machine. That's just the cold hard facts my friend.

Noiw the comment about Microsoft being at fault is really a misnomer especially if you're not using software that has been designed and tested throughly to conform to the specifications of the operating system your using.

You want to let off some steam, that's fine I understand that. But please don't come on this forum griping about something YOU caused and try to blame the manufacturer. Pahleeze

Rob "Stinger" Lordier
Creator of the original Privateer FAQ
3+ years here and still lovin' every minute!

Favorite saying - Life is a journey, not a destination

Tue May 04, 2004 1:34 pm by Stinger

I might also add you didn't mention anything about having updated software across the board. If you don't keep things updated with the latest greatest (tested) drivers on all peripherals you shouldn't be surprised if some things just don't seem to work properly.

Wed May 05, 2004 9:42 am by Bernie

Thanks for responding Stinger and I appreciate you are only trying to help but I really must take issue with you over your comments.

Firstly, www.nvidia.co.uk where I download my drivers from, shows the latest driver available to me as 56.64. It is not WHQL certified or astericked and in any case the video cards listed in the footnote did not include my Geforce 4.

Secondly, you must be aware that the Microsoft Knowledge Base Support site for games problems including Freelancer, tells you to ensure you have the latest drivers installed. It does not tell you to install the latest WHQL drivers. It suggests many remedies to try but makes no mention of the word WHQL. Like me and possibly thousands of others who scan the forum for answers to crash problems, we have wasted hours and hours trying to get Freelancer to start and when I eventually phoned the Microsoft Support Centre for help I was gobsmacked when they told me that Freelancer did not work with the latest drivers and that I should load a certified archive one which for me was 41.09. For what it is worth Nvidia has issued five drivers since 41.09 in December 2002, none of which have been certified or astericked right up to 56.64, so is it surprising that so many Freelancer gamers with Nvidia cards had crash problems if they did as Microsoft suggested and downloaded the ' latest ' driver.

You must bear in mind that the majority of gamers like me are not experts - that's why we refer to forums for answers but if what you say about WHQL certified drivers is correct, then I do blame Microsoft for not making this clear in their website. In any case, how do you explain the fact that I can play all the latest high Spec games without crashing - only Freelancer which is why I say it has got to be a glitch in the game.

Finally, getting back to my original request I simply wanted to know if anyone else has problems with crashing at the particular point in the game I had described, so that I can decide whether my constant mid-game crash is an isolated one in which case it is probably my PC at fault or whether it is a common problem, in which case I feel that I should take this up with Microsoft. Lets face it, it is only from feedbacks from gamers that Microsoft are able to update their support website and I am just trying to do my bit.

Wed May 05, 2004 1:36 pm by Stinger

@Bernie

I appreciate your response. I totally agree with you when you say most people are not experts on computers. That's why when most people ask questions about computer related issues (like yours) chances are pretty good someone will offer they educated advice. That being said, here goes.

Keep in mind most of what follows applies to registered versions of Microsoft Windows 98 and above.

Microsoft has made it very simple for users to keep their operating system up-to-date with the latest greatest drivers for most components/peripherals by providing what is called "Windows Update" right on the start menu of every non-customised machine. These updates are ALL WHQL certified drivers even if they don't explicitly say that. Actually, the WHQL certification isn't hidden on purpose and documentation on it is readily available with a very little effort on the users part. Bottom line, you don't have to know about it for it to work for you.

I say non-customised for a reason. When user start adding things (both hardware and software) that didn't come with the computer it is safe to assume you know what you're doing by adding it. ALL peripherals are not created equal though and your mileage will vary from user to user and machine to machine. Bottom line (again), if you add something not part of the normal load you're on your own as far as what may need to be done to maintain said item. If something goes wrong, ask someone!

Now in regards to the Nvidia drivers, the "latest greatest" driver sitting on the Windows Update site is in fact WHQL certified and is version 45.33 and is IS WHQL certified.

Display Driver Version: 45.33
WDM Driver Version: 2.13
Release Date: October 9, 2003
WHQL Certified

Now you said you didn't see anything at all on the Nvidia website saying anything about WHQL certified?? Makes me wonder what browser you are using to surf the internet because the term WHQL certified is clearly plastered all over that site. Many power users like to utlized beta software especially concerning graphics drivers. If you stick with what Microsoft recommends you can't go wrong.

To wrap all this up, if you keep your operating system updated with the Windows Update site chances are VERY good everything will run quite nicely.

Now as far as other issues with a computer here's a short list of items that I personally recommend to every comjputer users regardless of their expertise because if every computer user were to utilize these very easy to understand programs and use them as updated pieces of software they will ensure a computer is running at optimal levels ALL the time.

SpyBot Search and Destroy Used to keep spyware of machines. VERY important. Some people like Ad-Aware but so long as you use something to combat spyware you're ahead of 90% of the computer users in the world.

Any anti-virus software you want, just so long as you keep it up-to-date!

Aida32 This will tell you EVERYTHING you need to know about what's in and on your computer. It also analyses them and provide links to web site if your using any outdated drivers of any kind. NOTE: Aida32 has been replaced with a program called Everest but it's the same program just different name.

Bernie, the main point I'm trying to make it Microsoft gets a bad wrap from comsumers in regards to things not running right on their computers. They have gone over and above what other operating system makers have done to make things E-A-S-Y for users to be able to run things on their computers. But when users go off on a tangent or don't practice some simple computing rules that are not "hidden so only guru's can find them" how can Microsoft be to blame for that?

I seriously doubt that when someone buys a car or a house or some other asset they don't truly believe there's not going to be some maintenance involved in the upkeep. Why would Microsoft Windows be any different?

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