Game Crashes -- Any Hint or Log File?

Dyre Straits · Post by **Dyre Straits** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 8:49 pm

Like others, one of the most annoying things about Morrowind is the tendency to crash to the desktop (CTD) at almost anytime under just about any circumstances.

Fortunately, I learned early on to rest a LOT so that there would be a recent 'autosave' file to restart from.

This CTD situation is now occuring relentlessly in Tribunal. (I have no mods installed and the game, I think, is patched to the latest patches.)

I'm really hoping that "Oblivion" won't be as plagued by this problem. The announced delay in its release seems to point toward an emphasis on stability and I hope they succeed.

It would also help if a .log file were created that shows just what went wrong when the game CTD.

fable · Post by **fable** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 9:14 pm

[QUOTE=Dyre Straits]Like others, one of the most annoying things about Morrowind is the tendency to crash to the desktop (CTD) at almost anytime under just about any circumstances.[/quote]

Actually, I've had MW hardly crash at all. Even in its original out-of-the-box state, it was pretty damn stable (unlike Daggerfall). The only time I have problems is when there's an area conflict between mods I'm running.

Fortunately, I learned early on to rest a LOT so that there would be a recent 'autosave' file to restart from.

That's good, but if you told us when and where it occurs, and whether you're running any of the add-ons, mods, and patched the game, we may be able to help. Otherwise, this thread is going over to the Oblivion forum, since it discusses a possible feature in that game.

Dyre Straits · Post by **Dyre Straits** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 9:54 pm

There is no rhyme nor reason as to where the game would crash. It could be at the start of a battle, after the battle ended, during a resting moment, entereing or leaving a dwelling.....anywhere under any various numbers of circumstances.

Believe me, I tried finding a common ground for it.

In many cases, I may be able to play 3 - 5 hours without a CTD. Other times, it would happen 5 - 6 times during a 2 hour session.

So, there's nothing I can put my finger on as to why the game would crash.

Also, since I've played the game over such a long period of time, I can attest to the fact that it's happened under various system configurations. I upgrade my computer/s fairly often. So, I know that I've had at least 3 different video cards, and other various system configurations during this time. None were immune to this problem.

Additionally, I run my systems almost always at the default speeds. The only time I overclock is if I'm testing benchmarks. That's not the case when I'm playing games. So, I run on the 'safe side' for this.

Again, I do hope that the developers will incorporate some kind of crash sytem log for future projects. (Not just the upcoming, Oblivion.

)

I DID make it clear that I'm NOT running any of the mods. The only thing installed is the 3-game package I recently purchased. No other downloaded mods are on the system. BUT, this CTD situation has been happening all along....with just the single CD game installed and patched with the latest patch for it.

fable · Post by **fable** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 10:13 pm

That's very odd. What you're describing is certainly not a common problem, despite your opening sentence in this thread. As you stated that you thought you had the latest patch, are you sure? And did you check the readme, or Bethsoft's own forums, to see if there are any memory conflicts with your current video card? Yes, I know you mentioned having tried it with three different ones, but still...it can't hurt.

Dyre Straits · Post by **Dyre Straits** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 10:59 pm

Unless there are newer patches than the ones listed and dated over 2 1/2 years ago on the Bethesda site, I'm using the latest patch for the official game. I'm quite conscious of updating and patching things.

Everything on my system/s over the years gets updated and check on a consistent basis.

I recently replaced some bad DDR RAM that had only been purchased this past January. That was replaced during early or mid summer with Corsair TwinX LOW CAS PC3200 Dual Channel.

If there's anything at all that might point to a problem with Morrowind, it might be that too many things are trying to happen at one time. I've even had it CTD when trying to manually SAVE a game. Now that hurts!

EDIT: To be specific, my patched version reads: 1.6.1820 and is dated for July, 2003.

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 11:30 pm

I really don't know if this helps at all, but I have found since switching to quadratic lighting my game hardly ever crashes and it runs quite a lot more smoothly... It may be worth checking into.
Previously, even with an updated graphics card and additional RAM, my game would crash on a fairly regular basis. At this point, I can't remember the last time I CTDed.

Xandax · Post by **Xandax** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 11:43 pm

I just recently invested in the GOTY edition (hey - it was cheap and I thought the two expansions might improve my "opinion" about Morrowind), but I've also found that my game crashes recentlessly to desktop withouth much of an error then what I can dig out of the "Microsoft - send crash log" message.

It can crash pretty much at any given time withouth any idicators.

I would think that it is some settings which needs to be worked with, because my hardware far far suparses what the requierments are, and I know that there is nothing wrong with my computer

Dyre Straits · Post by **Dyre Straits** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 12:34 am

I just now had another one that happened during a resting period. Not sure if I got it saved or not.

dragon wench: Do you mean to simply change UseQuadratic=0 to UseQuadratic=1? And, if so, did you change the UseLinear=1 to UseLinear=0?

Also, I just noticed -- after checking time stamps -- that there is a Warning.txt file created that shows some texture problems. Does anyone else notice this correlating to the time of a crash?

fable · Post by **fable** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 7:19 am

dragon wench: Do you mean to simply change UseQuadratic=0 to UseQuadratic=1? And, if so, did you change the UseLinear=1 to UseLinear=0?

If the problem's lighting-related, since it exists in using the linear switch. So yes, you would turn that off, and turn on quadratic. You may find the lighting rather strange, but if it keeps the CTDs out, let us know, and I'll post some other INI configurations that make quadratic look pretty good.

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 9:42 am

[QUOTE=Dyre Straits]I just now had another one that happened during a resting period. Not sure if I got it saved or not.

dragon wench: Do you mean to simply change UseQuadratic=0 to UseQuadratic=1? And, if so, did you change the UseLinear=1 to UseLinear=0?

Also, I just noticed -- after checking time stamps -- that there is a Warning.txt file created that shows some texture problems. Does anyone else notice this correlating to the time of a crash?[/QUOTE]

I began using quadratic lighting as a result of the Solstheim Castle mod I installed. Here are the mod author's suggestions, taken directly from the readme:

Here is the ORIGINAL section for lighting in the Morrowind.ini file:

UseLinear=1
LinearMethod=1
LinearValue=3.0
LinearRadiusMult=1.0
;
UseQuadratic=0
QuadraticMethod=2
QuadraticValue=16.0
QuadraticRadiusMult=1.0

Here are my RECOMMENDED settings for the castle:

UseLinear=0
LinearMethod=1
LinearValue=3.0
LinearRadiusMult=1.0
;
UseQuadratic=1
QuadraticMethod=2
QuadraticValue=16.0
QuadraticRadiusMult=1.4

If you want your game to be lighter or darker, feel free to adjust this line to your desire:

QuadraticRadiusMult=1.4

Dyre Straits · Post by **Dyre Straits** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 1:29 pm

Well, I tried turning off UseLinear and turning on UseQuadratic. It resulted in the computer locking up as soon as I tried to start up the game. I had to push the Reset button to reboot. So, I'm not sure I want to try that again.

(And, yes, once I made the changes in the .ini file, I saved the changes before trying to start the game.

)

Dyre Straits · Post by **Dyre Straits** » Thu Nov 03, 2005 1:17 pm

I was able to get Quadradic Lighting working and it looks really cool to me.

Not sure just why it locked up the first time. The only other change I made was to the lighting setting from 1.0 to 1.6.

I have another question now not related to crashes that I start a new thread about. I haven't found an answer via Search.

Dyre Straits · Post by **Dyre Straits** » Fri Nov 04, 2005 3:02 am

I've played now for well over 2 hours without the first CTD. So, I'm really hoping that this quadratic lighting is the trick.

Dyre Straits · Post by **Dyre Straits** » Sat Nov 05, 2005 4:16 am

Changing the lighting didn't do it. I just had another game crash during some heavy battles in the den of the Dark Brotherhood.

Xandax · Post by **Xandax** » Sat Nov 05, 2005 2:38 pm

Well, my game is as unstable as ever, irregardless of how much I seem to fiddle around with settings

I can run for what - an hour or 5 minutes before crashing to desktop. Annoying.

Orfinn · Post by **Orfinn** » Sun Nov 13, 2005 7:58 am

similar problem

I have a similar problem. But my GOTY edition with the newest patch crashes when i try to load after i have died, loading when i want or loading a new area. Then the game crashes to desktop with the well known microsoft error report window.

It happens after i have played awhile like 2-5 hours but sometimes ith crashes after only 1 hour.

Its a shame none of the patches fix these problems.

Dyre Straits · Post by **Dyre Straits** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 1:07 am

I've found that the problem continues even into TRIBUNAL. Simply the same thing we've been saying all along...no rhyme nor reason for it and at any point under any set of circumstances.

I certainly hope OBLIVION is much more stable.

billy6guns · Post by **billy6guns** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 11:02 pm

[QUOTE=fable]That's very odd. What you're describing is certainly not a common problem, despite your opening sentence in this thread. As you stated that you thought you had the latest patch, are you sure? And did you check the readme, or Bethsoft's own forums, to see if there are any memory conflicts with your current video card? Yes, I know you mentioned having tried it with three different ones, but still...it can't hurt.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, it's a common problem...Morrowind has always crashed for no apparent reason, i had hoped that Tribunal, Bloodmoon or GOTY would have fixed the issue but it never has. However i have found that it crashes more frequently the more you change area's, rest, travel by silt strider,recall or any other means of teleportation...also when useing trainers (wich i find to be the worst)

Generaly ill crash anywhere between 2-4 hours of normal gameplay unless im useing teleporter mods (or simply "cheating" and useing the trainers very heavily..when i do that it crashes every 2-3 minutes)

Xandax · Post by **Xandax** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 12:43 am

[QUOTE=billy6guns]<snip>
Generaly ill crash anywhere between 2-4 hours of normal gameplay unless im useing teleporter mods (or simply "cheating" and useing the trainers very heavily..when i do that it crashes every 2-3 minutes)[/QUOTE]

I use neither, but you are correct it does seem to happen often with transitions - through doors, teleports, silthriders, boat and loading new areas
But I also have CTDs when just running around and fighting.

Dyre Straits · Post by **Dyre Straits** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 6:31 am

[QUOTE=Xandax]I use neither, but you are correct it does seem to happen often with transitions - through doors, teleports, silthriders, boat and loading new areas
But I also have CTDs when just running around and fighting.[/QUOTE]

I have had a few right in the middle of heavy combat. Ugh!!