Buggy to the point of being shameful.

Warpspasm · 08-25-2010, 10:29 AM

I really would like to play this game, but the excessive (extremely) load times make it unplayable. If I were the only person having this problem it would be one thing, but it appears that I am far from being alone. If, as some have suggested, this only happens with the Steam version of the game, then Steam needs to work this out for their customers. I'm irritated, but if I would have paid full price for the game I'd be furious. Having said that, just because it wasn't expensive, doesn't mean it shouldn't work.

Mr Fart Pants · 08-25-2010, 10:50 AM

u say u arent the only person with the problem but im guesssing u havent tried any fixes for it - and u dont even say which game u r talking about

Warpspasm · 08-25-2010, 11:38 AM

Well, you're guessing wrong. I've tried every fix I've seen and the game still takes so long to load it makes it unplayable. Besides, that's not really the point. The average person probably doesn't think to look on the forums to find answers to why a game is so screwed up and they shouldn't have to. I would hope Steam does read the forums and if they see this much of a problem they need to figure out what's going wrong and fix it. Perhaps that is the case, but they haven't said as much. This kind of stuff is what makes people leave PC gaming and jump to consoles. It shouldn't be this hard to play a game you've paid for.

BTW... I'm talking about SOC. I haven't even tried the other one yet.

DrippingCheese · 08-25-2010, 12:19 PM

The avegage person has no common sense. ALWAYS look at forums for answers! Someone is almost always bound to have had the same problem and overcome it before you!

Also, it is not Valve's/Steam's responsibility to fix any game you bought that has been published by a third party. You should really be barking up GSC/THQ's tree, Steam is just the delivery system.

tr0n187 · 08-25-2010, 01:26 PM

Please post your system specs as well when you are having issues like this. Granted the game is buggy, I'm running on:

I7 920
6BG corsair RAM
ATI 4870 1GB

and I notice times where the game seems to pause for a second, even act like it stops responding, then continues on. Annoying, but rare and not game breaking. Also, load times are longer than I'd like but no where near a problem.

08-25-2010, 01:45 PM

I have not run into any bugs yet(10hrs of gametime) and the load times are about 25-55 seconds

08-25-2010, 02:21 PM

Hmmm, no bugs here but your right, it must just be a buggy POS game eh?

Being that the vast majority of people run the game just fine I suspect it is likely something on your end. I would try to help you but you seem like your much more interested in whining on these forums blaming steam (selling the game, in no way responsible for maintaining it) and whoever else you can blame weather logic supports it or not.

RaspberryClock · 08-25-2010, 04:35 PM

Man I put two hours of searching into this forum to find the fix to my SoC game, do the research. Sure its a buggy game, but between the three games, I have over 600 hours played. It is a great series, don't stop playing cause of ♥♥♥♥ing load times.

Bad_Motha · 08-25-2010, 05:02 PM

Since u obviously have the game working/running, there are alot of various tricks that might help your situation.

I would try this first.
https://support.steampowered.com/kb_...3160-agcb-2555

Be sure to update your video, sound, mb chipset drivers, and directx runtime too.
It also helps not to have any background programs running if can help it.
Defrag your HDD too, can help more then people think.
If you have security/AV software, either turn if off completely for playing games, or temp disable it until reboot.

IObit GameBooster can help to free up ram and close out background apps/processes to help with games.

Warpspasm · 08-25-2010, 06:11 PM

From what I've read on the forum, the problem only seems to arise from the Steam version of the game and NOT the disk version. Therefore, I've been coming down on Steam as opposed to the publisher. Perhaps it's NOT only a problem with the Steam version. I'm only going by what I read here. I have nothing against Steam, however, I'm not a Steam apologist as some of you seem to be. You can call it whining if you like, but if it's only on their version they need to figure it out and fix it.

Since installing the game I have, in fact, updated video, audio, motherboard drivers, reinstalled the game twice, verified the files, defragged, turned off anit-malware, turned off firewall, disconnected from internet, added -dsound, -nointro, -noprefetch to the start up options,and run offline. The game looks like it will be a lot of fun, but like I said in an earlier post, it should not be this difficult to get it working properly. I'm from back in the old MSDOS and Apple II days, so I know what it's like to struggle with getting games running, but we should be past that by this time. Again, that's one of the main reasons PC gaming is going away, as console gaming is thriving. People don't want to put up with all headaches. I've probably been PC gaming since before the vast majority of you were born, and I hate to see it happen.

I built my PC myself a few years back, so it's kind of behind the curve, but it should be able to play this game. Here's the specs:

Gigabyte P35 D3SL
CPU: E4500
CPU COOLER: ROSEWILL|RCX-Z775-EX
Memory: 1Gx2|Crucial Ballistix DDR2 800
Power Supply: OCZ 700W GameXStream
Graphics Card: EVGA 8800GT 512M
Case: Cooler Master 830 Evo

Bad_Motha · 08-25-2010, 06:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Warpspasm

added -dsound, -nointro, -noprefetch to the start up options

FYI, these options do not work for CoP.
BWT, a 8800GT and 2GB of RAM is barely enough for CS or CoP, unless you run low/med settings at 720p or less.
You might get away with 2GB ram, but that GPU isn't good enough.

Warpspasm · 08-25-2010, 07:15 PM

Thanks for the info on the prelaunch stuff. Yeah, I know the GPU is old, but I don't think the problems are GPU related. Actually, once the game gets up and started initially, it's better than it was as when I first tried it. It still takes over 2 minutes if I change something in the settings, like a key control, before it gets back to the game.

jDk · 08-25-2010, 07:40 PM

I just finished Stalker: SOC a few hours ago, that too with the complete mod. Not a single damn crash. Not even a hitch. Before blaming the game and steam for your problems, learn how to look for information in the first place. Then eliminate in a step-by-step process. Most of the problems I've seen people run into are those who are trying to run it using Intel's GMA series. Oh FFS, use some common sense guys :S... This is a PC only title, meaning it will bring most if not the latest graphic cards to its knees. So do yourself a favor and stop using that piece of crap intel gpu and get urself a real gpu.

Trypa · 08-25-2010, 09:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Warpspasm

Thanks for the info on the prelaunch stuff. Yeah, I know the GPU is old, but I don't think the problems are GPU related. Actually, once the game gets up and started initially, it's better than it was as when I first tried it. It still takes over 2 minutes if I change something in the settings, like a key control, before it gets back to the game.

It's not general. Anyway, try installing the Complete 2009 mod.

[edit]I see it's CoP. Indeed it can take long time to load, specially if you have the atmosfear mod installed. After first load it becomes fast, just matters of seconds to reload a game. Just be patient.

Bad_Motha · 08-25-2010, 09:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Warpspasm

added -dsound, -nointro, -noprefetch to the start up options

My bad, you're playing SoC. In that case these commands do work in SoC & CS (just not CoP). I see no reason why a 8800 wouldn't be enough for SoC. I played without issues on a 5700 Ultra and 6800.

08-25-2010, 10:29 AM	#1
Warpspasm Join Date: Aug 2010 Reputation: 0 Posts: 9	Buggy to the point of being shameful. I really would like to play this game, but the excessive (extremely) load times make it unplayable. If I were the only person having this problem it would be one thing, but it appears that I am far from being alone. If, as some have suggested, this only happens with the Steam version of the game, then Steam needs to work this out for their customers. I'm irritated, but if I would have paid full price for the game I'd be furious. Having said that, just because it wasn't expensive, doesn't mean it shouldn't work.

08-25-2010, 11:38 AM	#3
Warpspasm Join Date: Aug 2010 Reputation: 0 Posts: 9	Well, you're guessing wrong. I've tried every fix I've seen and the game still takes so long to load it makes it unplayable. Besides, that's not really the point. The average person probably doesn't think to look on the forums to find answers to why a game is so screwed up and they shouldn't have to. I would hope Steam does read the forums and if they see this much of a problem they need to figure out what's going wrong and fix it. Perhaps that is the case, but they haven't said as much. This kind of stuff is what makes people leave PC gaming and jump to consoles. It shouldn't be this hard to play a game you've paid for. BTW... I'm talking about SOC. I haven't even tried the other one yet. Last edited by Warpspasm: 08-25-2010 at 11:39 AM. Reason: addition

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08-25-2010, 10:50 AM	#2
Mr Fart Pants Join Date: May 2010 Reputation: 15 Posts: 383	u say u arent the only person with the problem but im guesssing u havent tried any fixes for it - and u dont even say which game u r talking about

08-25-2010, 12:19 PM	#4
DrippingCheese Join Date: Apr 2007 Reputation: 124 Posts: 1,040	The avegage person has no common sense. ALWAYS look at forums for answers! Someone is almost always bound to have had the same problem and overcome it before you! Also, it is not Valve's/Steam's responsibility to fix any game you bought that has been published by a third party. You should really be barking up GSC/THQ's tree, Steam is just the delivery system.

08-25-2010, 01:26 PM	#5
tr0n187 Join Date: Aug 2009 Reputation: 108 Posts: 791	Please post your system specs as well when you are having issues like this. Granted the game is buggy, I'm running on: I7 920 6BG corsair RAM ATI 4870 1GB and I notice times where the game seems to pause for a second, even act like it stops responding, then continues on. Annoying, but rare and not game breaking. Also, load times are longer than I'd like but no where near a problem.

08-25-2010, 01:45 PM	#6
GIRAFFE OF GOD Guest Posts: n/a	I have not run into any bugs yet(10hrs of gametime) and the load times are about 25-55 seconds

08-25-2010, 02:21 PM	#7
Chevyboy88 Guest Posts: n/a	Hmmm, no bugs here but your right, it must just be a buggy POS game eh? Being that the vast majority of people run the game just fine I suspect it is likely something on your end. I would try to help you but you seem like your much more interested in whining on these forums blaming steam (selling the game, in no way responsible for maintaining it) and whoever else you can blame weather logic supports it or not.

08-25-2010, 04:35 PM	#8
RaspberryClock Join Date: Aug 2008 Reputation: 4 Posts: 285	Man I put two hours of searching into this forum to find the fix to my SoC game, do the research. Sure its a buggy game, but between the three games, I have over 600 hours played. It is a great series, don't stop playing cause of ♥♥♥♥ing load times.

08-25-2010, 05:02 PM	#9
Bad_Motha Join Date: Sep 2008 Reputation: 3103 Posts: 13,022	Since u obviously have the game working/running, there are alot of various tricks that might help your situation. I would try this first. https://support.steampowered.com/kb_...3160-agcb-2555 Be sure to update your video, sound, mb chipset drivers, and directx runtime too. It also helps not to have any background programs running if can help it. Defrag your HDD too, can help more then people think. If you have security/AV software, either turn if off completely for playing games, or temp disable it until reboot. IObit GameBooster can help to free up ram and close out background apps/processes to help with games.

08-25-2010, 06:11 PM	#10
Warpspasm Join Date: Aug 2010 Reputation: 0 Posts: 9	From what I've read on the forum, the problem only seems to arise from the Steam version of the game and NOT the disk version. Therefore, I've been coming down on Steam as opposed to the publisher. Perhaps it's NOT only a problem with the Steam version. I'm only going by what I read here. I have nothing against Steam, however, I'm not a Steam apologist as some of you seem to be. You can call it whining if you like, but if it's only on their version they need to figure it out and fix it. Since installing the game I have, in fact, updated video, audio, motherboard drivers, reinstalled the game twice, verified the files, defragged, turned off anit-malware, turned off firewall, disconnected from internet, added -dsound, -nointro, -noprefetch to the start up options,and run offline. The game looks like it will be a lot of fun, but like I said in an earlier post, it should not be this difficult to get it working properly. I'm from back in the old MSDOS and Apple II days, so I know what it's like to struggle with getting games running, but we should be past that by this time. Again, that's one of the main reasons PC gaming is going away, as console gaming is thriving. People don't want to put up with all headaches. I've probably been PC gaming since before the vast majority of you were born, and I hate to see it happen. I built my PC myself a few years back, so it's kind of behind the curve, but it should be able to play this game. Here's the specs: Gigabyte P35 D3SL CPU: E4500 CPU COOLER: ROSEWILL\|RCX-Z775-EX Memory: 1Gx2\|Crucial Ballistix DDR2 800 Power Supply: OCZ 700W GameXStream Graphics Card: EVGA 8800GT 512M Case: Cooler Master 830 Evo

08-25-2010, 07:15 PM	#12
Warpspasm Join Date: Aug 2010 Reputation: 0 Posts: 9	Thanks for the info on the prelaunch stuff. Yeah, I know the GPU is old, but I don't think the problems are GPU related. Actually, once the game gets up and started initially, it's better than it was as when I first tried it. It still takes over 2 minutes if I change something in the settings, like a key control, before it gets back to the game.

08-25-2010, 07:40 PM	#13
jDk Join Date: Apr 2010 Reputation: 0 Posts: 25	I just finished Stalker: SOC a few hours ago, that too with the complete mod. Not a single damn crash. Not even a hitch. Before blaming the game and steam for your problems, learn how to look for information in the first place. Then eliminate in a step-by-step process. Most of the problems I've seen people run into are those who are trying to run it using Intel's GMA series. Oh FFS, use some common sense guys :S... This is a PC only title, meaning it will bring most if not the latest graphic cards to its knees. So do yourself a favor and stop using that piece of crap intel gpu and get urself a real gpu.