Why This Game Sucks

Constant Crashes + Memory Hog

from PolMach Forums
First and foremost, this game is the biggest memory hog since I don't know what. I wish I could take a print screen and show it to you guys. It uses at least 750K on my task manager;


That's not even the big problem. The main problem is:


THIS GAME CRASHES MIDWAY THROUGHOUT THE GAME. I've used both the CD and the downloaded version, both happens. Is this because of Windows Vista? Ugh I don't know what to do. I have 2 gigs ram, and 1.7 duo processor. My specs are fine and I have directx10 and everything. It's certainly not the computer's fault. I've even turned off Data Protection or whatever that's called that always shuts up the app

In the end, I HOPE they come out with some major updates to this game, it's EXTREMELY choppy, but sometimes it goes rather smooth, ive turned off the glow, the shadow, and all the other nonsense to make it use less resource but nothing seems to help


HELP, THANKS.
4,724 views 5 replies
Reply #1 from PolMach Forums Top

We have been looking into the game's memory usage. 

We do plan to release an update as soon as it is ready.  The next update will include fixes that will cut down on a lot of the extra memory that was being used.

Multiplicity - Control multiple PCs using one keyboard and mouse
Reply #3 from PolMach Forums Top
Is that even the reason why it spontaneously crashes?
End of quote

Unfortunately for PC game developers, nearly all of our customers have a completely different PC configuration.  We won't know what is causing your problems, nor how we can go about fixing them, until we see some more info from you.

We want you to be able to play our game with zero problems.  Really.  In fact, some people have had zero problems from day one, it just depends on which of the million different kinds of PC configurations you happen to have.

So let's try this:

-What is happening in the game when you get a crash?   Does it always crash when this occurs?  Does it crash anywhere else?  What type of game were you playing at the time (number of turns, etc...).

The more information you can give us, the better.

Also, the next time it crashes, post the contents of the file "debug.err" which can be opened with notepad.  It'll be located at "my documents/my games/polmachine2008/".  The file has information about your system (OS, video card, memory, etc...) as well as game messages than can help us track down the cause of any crashing.

Thanks for your patience, and we hope to get you fixed up in no time.
~C


Reply #4 from PolMach Forums Top
Okay well, it always crashes when the game is extremely choppy. But even then, I've seen it crash when it was completely smooth.

Here are my specs:
Product Details: Sony VAIO FE880E/H
Product Details Processor Brand Intel
Processor Class: Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 1.66 GHz
Mobile Technology Intel Centrino Duo
Installed Memory: 2 GB
Hard Drive Capacity: 160 GB
Installed Memory 2 GB
Maximum Memory 2 GB
Memory Technology DDR II SDRAM
System Memory Configuration 2 x 1 GB
Cache Size 2 MB
Display and Graphics Display Size 15.4 in
Display Type TFT active matrix
Graphics Processor Intel GMA 950
Resolution 1280 x 800 pixels
Display Resolution Standard WXGA




I even have Vista's Readyboost turned on (4GB on my flashdrive) plus I increased my virtual memory to 8000MB. When it crashes, I receive no warning, no nothing, the game minimizes and the message says "The Political Machine has stopped working" and that's it.


Also, whenever I Alt+Tab out to see my desktop and task manager, it shows some CRAZY memory hogging like at 750K, one day it was even above 1,000,000! That's insane

I will post the debug file when it crashes again.



Go here to view what I'm talking about: http://img297.imageshack.us/my.php?image=polmachlg0.jpg
Reply #5 from PolMach Forums Top
Is that even the reason why it spontaneously crashes?
End of quote
 
Yes, when the game runs out of memory it can't create the resources it needs to be able to run properly.  We try to handle this as gracefully as possible when it happens.  Running out of memory was the cause of several crashes that were reported.
 
Also, whenever I Alt+Tab out to see my desktop and task manager, it shows some CRAZY memory hogging like at 750K, one day it was even above 1,000,000! That's insane
End of quote
 
The new update should cut down on that.