[NOT-FIXED]Episode 3 seems fairly unstable compared to 1 and 2. (Category: Misc)

[calmlunatic]

> What kind of CPU/Processor you are using in your computer.
Intel Q8300 Core2Quad 2.5Ghz.
-> Amount of physical RAM you have installed on your computer.
4GB DDR2 800MHz Kingston Memory (2 x 2GB sticks configured for dual channeling).
-> What kind of Video Card you have installed in your computer (manufacturer, card model name).
nVidia GeForce 9600FX (using nVidia drivers installed in July 2010, v8.17.12.5896)
-> Operating System you are using.
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit.

The content is great and the puzzles are very interesting.

However, I'm writing this after probably the fifth time in a few hours that the game has crashed and giving me the "TSL.exe" has stopped working. This happens randomly throughout the game (most recently as I was walking from the front gates into the castle on IotC.

.

• Initially, when I started playing, I was restoring from EP 2 and playing through. First thing I noticed was that whenever I opened the druidic scroll/shopping list, it would show me the options context menu instead of the items I needed. I was still able to click off and exit it but I couldn't see what was on it. This was later revealed to be an issue with updating flash in IE (I use Chrome primarily), after which it was resolved.
• Second issue was it hanging/crashing after Graham's opening speech (I promise). I restarted the game and skipped the cinematic and was able to move on.
• Thirdly was the issue of the goodbye option disappearing. Back to the Tech Support Forums (TSF), where I discovered this was due to a problem continuing from Ch2 and recommended starting afresh. A little more annoying but ok. The reason I found this annoying was because I had to regather items that I had gathered in the previous episode and later realized that I didn't have them when i needed them.
• Finally we get to the general crashing. The first time it crashed I was presented with the following message

  An unhandled win32 exception occurred in tsl.exe [1884]

  which my Windows offered to open up in Developer Studio (MS) to debug. Knowing nothing about the problem, code, or game design, I declined.
  
  After a while of playing the game would occasionally boot me out (as indicated originally in the first paragraph) and I'd have to restart the game from where I last saved it; As a result I have resorted to frequent saves.
  
  However, saving frequently is only a precaution and not a solution.

Now I understand that the developers and everyone at Phoenix Online studios did this for free and I appreciate it. I just find it more and more difficult to keep on playing a game not knowing when it's going to crash on me and make me restore to the last point of save.



Edit: I just wanted to add, that I don't want to seem unappreciative of what you've done. I loved the first two episodes and how you've continued the storyline and I realize you had deadlines to meet before you released the game.

Do you think there will be a patch to address some of these issues out in the not too distant future?

edit 2: updated with version of video card drivers.

[oberonqa]

It's a great labor of love the people at Phoenix Online Studios has achieved... it's just I think something went wrong with Episode 3.  It's generally a lot more unstable than Episodes 1 and 2.  I'm now playing the game in Windowed Mode and am still encountering crashes (couldn't even get out of the castle in Fullscreen mode due to shotgun crashes at every room transition).  I save after each and every room change now because I don't know when the game is going to crash on me.  

I've kept a log so far and this is what I've gotten crash-wise before deciding to just stop playing until a patch is made that brings some stability back into the mix:

1. Leaving Graham's Room at start of episode
2. Entering Cassima's chamber after leaving Graham's room
3. Leaving the Bookshop
4. Talking to the blacksmith
5. Clicking the "Ready to sail" dialog option with Hassan
6. Entering the arch-druid's hut
[spoiler]
7. Clicking on retry after being killed by the banshee
8. Getting snagged by the snapdragons when I try to open the inventory screen.
[/spoiler]

I've spent about 45 minutes playing the episode and it's just not playable on my computer.  When it crashes, I always get the same generic "TSL.exe has stopped responding" message.  Then of course there's the 10-15 second load times during room transitions with 3-5 seconds of the mouse cursor not responding to mouse movement that just started happening with Episode 3...

Yea.... methinks this episode may have been pushed out the door a little too early.  The previous episodes had their fair share of issues... but they were playable.  I can't say the same about Episode 3.

EDIT:

> What kind of CPU/Processor you are using in your computer.
Phenom II X4 955 @ 3.2Ghz.
-> Amount of physical RAM you have installed on your computer.
4GB DDR3 1600MHz Crucial Ballistix Memory (2 x 2GB sticks in dual-channel unganged mode).
-> What kind of Video Card you have installed in your computer (manufacturer, card model name).
Sapphire Radeon 5770 (using ATI Catalyst drivers dated August 2010, 8.17.0010.1041)
-> Operating System you are using.
Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit SP2

[wilco64256]

Try the big build (huge, I know, sorry!) and see if you have the same problems.  I actually have consistently experienced fewer errors with this episodes than either of the previous two and one of my machines is fairly close in specs to yours.  I'm wondering if it may just be the patcher making it more unstable for some people.

Either way, the stability is a HUGE priority for us for the next release.  We're always looking at it now and then but it is going to be a major focus for Episode 4.

[oberonqa]

I managed to improve stability significantly by unchecking all of the graphic options... essentially turning off all the extra rendering bells and whistles.  This did not help with the room transition load times, and the game still crashed, but the crash frequency was significantly reduced (would crash every 20-30 minutes as opposed to every minute or two).

Perhaps there is an issue with the shader scripting?

[spoiler]
BTW.... great job on the Tower sequence!  I was amazed at the visual quality of this segment... and I firmly believe that this segment puts Phoenix Online Studios on the map as a major competitor to Telltale Games and other developers when it comes to producing interactive cinematic experiences.

Great job!
[/spoiler]

[Enchantermon]

I'm experiencing the random crashes as well, but not every 2-3 minutes, more like 10-15 I'd say. I used the patcher; if I did decide to try the full release can I just copy my saved games into it (I imagine I can, but I thought I'd ask)? I'm deep into the episode and the story and I really don't want to start over...

[wilco64256]

I'm experiencing the random crashes as well, but not every 2-3 minutes, more like 10-15 I'd say. I used the patcher; if I did decide to try the full release can I just copy my saved games into it (I imagine I can, but I thought I'd ask)? I'm deep into the episode and the story and I really don't want to start over...

Yeah you can just uninstall one version and reinstall the other without concern for your saved games - they get left behind and end up in the same directory afterwards anyway.

[Enchantermon]

Ah, okay. I'll probably try that then and let you know if I still experience crashes afterward.

[Alboma]

Hello! First I want to say great game! And appreciate your team's effort to make this happen.

Just started EP3 yesterday. The EP3 patch-only version gave me frequent crashes last night. Today I tried the patcher and it said "cannot find a compatible version of the silver lining" So I uninstalled everything and got the complete ep1-3 version. There were still crashes at random, but happened fewer times like before, I need to confirm first. I have Windows 7 64-bit ultimate. When playing EP1 and 2 before I didn't experience any crash.

[Enchantermon]

I reinstalled with the full download and haven't experienced any crashes yet, but when I restored my latest game, I found that the red checker has reappeared on the far right side of the Isle of Wonder's beach, as if it's waiting for its cue to roll out when Graham lands there for the first time in Episode 3.

Edit: Still crashes, too. But as others have mentioned, it doesn't seem to be as frequent. Interestingly, I've also gotten the bug where the scroll doesn't list the ingredients properly, which I've never had before. Even more interesting is that it didn't show up the first time I looked at the scroll after restoring.

[Dogward]

Same kind of issues here...

I had none with Episode 2, I've installed the full 1.21GB Episode 1+2+3, (only played on Ep 3 with it) and had many crashes ... Mostly when jumping from a scene to another one, the game crashed. It happens about every 15-20mins of game play and can't find out "why"...

If you need more info on this, I'll gladly make some screenshots or explain a bit more...

Excellent Episode, I can't wait for Ep.4 and 5... Thanks for reviving it !

[wilco64256]

Yeah it does typically happen on a scene change and we're already starting to look into potential causes and resolutions on this one.

[sissa]

I'm having the same issues. Every 15-20 minutes, the game will crash between screen changes.

I downloaded the Ep. 3 patch to my existing Ep. 1 & 2.
Takes ~10-15 seconds every time a new screen loads.
When game crashes, I get that same error message, "tsl.exe has stopped working." When I get this message/the game crashes, I lose all of my progress up to my last save point. So, I've taken to saving between each screen change.

I have Windows Vista with a nvidia graphics card.

I did not have this problem with Ep. 1 & 2.

I love this game, and thank you to the phoenix online team for putting so much work into it. I'm sure these bugs will be resolved soon.