33 réponses à ce sujet

[Whitewind617]

Hey, I just got Neverwinter Nights 2 Platinum from Steam, and I'm having a serious issue that I've never encountered before. I can start the game with no problems, and do pretty much everything else perfectly fine (I haven't actually tried doing everything, and you'll see why when I explain my problem.) You see, aproximatly 15 minutes after starting the game, my computer will abrubtly turn off. No message or warning or anything, no blue screen, no nothing. Just a complete shut down as If I had held the power button down, or as if the power went off, which is what I thought happened when it first occured. I'm running a labtop though, so a power outage wouldn't even do that.

Here's what I know about the issue: My computer does not do this when doing anything else, and the fact that the time it takes for my computer to shut down is almost entirely regular (my steam account says I've played 47 minutes, the shut down has happened three times, making it close to 15 minutes each time.) makes me think it is strictly NWN2 related. I've never had this issue before, and just to test it wasnt some kind of overheating issue I played Battlefield Bad Company 2 at high graphics settings (a game I don't actually even meet the reccommended requirements for) for about an hour with nothing happening, and also tried NWN2 with all low settings and had it happen again, 15 minutes after starting as usual. I'd like to point out that I far surpass NWN2's reccommended settings.

The first two times this happened it occurred in the character creation screen. The third time I rushed through the menus and used a pre-created character, only to have it happen again during the actual gameplay. Nothing in particular was happening each time, and my computer's temperature seemed perfectly fine when I put my hand to it. The only reason I can come up with is that I had been playing for 15 minutes. This is just baffling to me.

I'm currently reinstalling the game, as that is the only reason I can come up with for this bizzare behavior is a faulty install. It is the steam version however: Has anyone else had a problem like this? I'm SOOO confused.
I'm kinda bad at posting system specs, so bear with me here. If you need any other info, just let me know how to find it. I'll post again if a reinstall solves this problem.

SPECS:
Processor: Intel Core2 Duo CPU T6600 @ 2.20 GHz
RAM: 4.0 GB
Graphics Card: Nvidia GeForce GT 130M
Video RAM: 2.7 GB
Sound Card: NVIDIA High Definition Audio
OS: Windows Vista 64-bit.

GAME:
Version: I don't actually know, but Steam keeps all games up to date, so the latest version.
Expansions: All of them, I brought the platinum pack. I can uninstall any, the all install together as far as I can tell.
Retail: Steam downloaded Platinum version.

[NWN DM]

Well, according to http://www.notebookc...0M.13789.0.html; "The Nvidia GeForce GT 130M is a DirectX 10 graphics card for notebooks and  technically a higher clocked GeForce 9650M GT with a lower current consumption."

NWN2 is DirectX 9.0c and requires it, plus gains nothing from 10. 

Could there be some incompatibilities on that front?

10 and 9.0c can co-exist on the same computer with no issues, but if your card can't use 9.0c possibly this is causing the issue.

Also, from personal experience, NWN2 graphics are pretty demanding for a 2006 game.  This still comes into play occasionally with new systems if they have GPUs that can't keep up.  Beyond that, laptops get really warm/hot when NWN2 is playing... is it possible your system is simply shutting off due to excess heat?

Modifié par NWN DM, 30 décembre 2010 - 09:02 .

[BigfootNZ]

Sure sounds like possible GPU overheating... If you do a debug/showfps in nwn2 and go to the main menus etc the fps rockets into the 1000's. This shouldnt really be an issue, but given alot of NWN2's gui like in NWN1 is more or less a 3d plane overlayed with 2d image it could be taxing your GPU to well beyond its normal capacity by I guess flooding it.

It sounds a little odd saying that 2d can over tax your GPU, but it once happened to me in the MMO EVE in its old client engine, while inside a station which was mostly 2d and a low level amount of 3d my GPU temps would sky rocket from the regular 50's to 90+... while outside in the more taxing 3d environment id have regular temps. not to mention that while on the login screen in EVE the temps would sky rocket also.

Sloppy coding on Obsidians part id say, they really should have placed some form of fps cap while in a purely 2d environment... do you run anything like RivaTuner?, you could check your GPU temps with it and notice if anything odd happens with temps prior to system restart.

Also laptops and notebooks are never a good thing to play games on im afraid, their components just cant handle the demands regardless of how 'powerful' they might be advertised as compared to a desktop PC. It could even be your notebooks powersupply not being capable of supplying the power demands on the GPU under heavy load, which could cause fatal power levels in the CPU.

Also one note, NWN2 appears to be more CPU dependent than GPU, I say this because my brothers PC has a similar strength GPU as my own yet he gets far better performance than me, and the only real difference is a much much stronger CPU compared to my own... it could be your CPU overheating? (since GPU over heating tends to result in freezing, rather than restarts which is more a symptom of CPU overheating... so that could be an avenue).

Modifié par BigfootNZ, 30 décembre 2010 - 09:23 .

[Whitewind617]

Well, I've never had any issues with using DirectX 9.0 before, my computer has played many games using directX 9 (and lower) before, and I'm fairly sure almost any graphics card is backwards compatible with older versions of directX. I don't know much about it to be honest, but I can play older games like warcraft III and even Baldur's Gate II perfectly fine. And if I had such a incompatibility problem, then would that cause my computer to shut down 15 minutes after starting it up? Seems doubtful, but then again I don't know much.



As for overheating, that was the first thing I though of. I have my doubts about that as well though. For one thing, I meet the recommended requirements and then some. However, my graphics card could be going. If that was the case though, I think there'd definitely be noticeable effects outside of NWN2. I mentioned I tried playing some other, more recent games (I've played some more since then) and had nothing go wrong. The main reason I don't think it's overheating however is that the game has crashed 2 times in the main menu. I felt my laptop then and it didn't feel all that hot, and in a menu? I'm not really sure the menu would cause the graphics card to heat up from use. The game took almost the exact same time to shut down that one time I got into game-play, and I feel like overheating would be a bigger issue then, meaning it might take less time to shut down. But no, the main menu took the exact same amount, which doesn't really add up.



I'm still waiting for the game to re-download from steam, It's taking me a while, but It'll be done by tonight, and I'll try it out then. I'll look into the overheating and DirectX 9 though, might get me somewhere.

[Whitewind617]

Well, I looked it up, and yes, my card can indeed us DirectX 9.0c perfectly fine. That's one thing down.



I also installed EVEREST to check the temps. I can see where the CPU temp is on it, but I can't really figure out where to find the GPU temp. I'll see if I can figure it out, then I'll check the temps when it finishes downloading.

[Selene Moonsong]

The newer NVIDIA cards are backwards compatible to DX9.0c. And, it should be noted, DX9.0c and DX 10 or 11 can co-exist with DX9.0c; those applications designed for use with DX9.0c will use those driver features as needed while those with DX 10 or 11 will use those drivers, neither overrides the other.

NWN 2 is designed for use with DX9.0c (Re-distributable) and one needs to understand that the DX 10 and 11 drivers are not fully backward compatible for all applications/programs designed for use with DX9.0c.

Modifié par Selene Moonsong, 31 décembre 2010 - 01:48 .

[MasterChanger]

From my experience with occasional instant shutdowns, I know there should be a way to see the crash code even if you don't get a blue screen. Sometimes it might be on the reboot: "Your system has recovered from a problem" with a stop code, or on the Event Viewer. This could help you figure out what your problem is, whether it's a display adapter problem or whatever.

[BobWalt]

My son's Gateway has the same problem and he can play games that are far more taxing then NWN2. Indeed, I compleated NWN2 when it first came out on a much older laptop without any problem.



Bob

[Whitewind617]

Well, I tried reinstalling. I played it again soon after and it lasted pretty long, about 25 minutes I'd say. Then I tried a few days later and disaster struck once more, complete computer shut-down 16 minutes in (I timed it that time.) I felt my computer all the way through it that time, and it got hot. REALLY hot. It's overheating all-right.



I'm pretty much giving up at this point. I definitely don't want to cause any damage to my computer, and it's looking like nothing can even solve this problem. If anyone knows of some kind of patch that fixes this problem, then direct me to it please. If not, then I guess I'll play it if I ever get a new computer.

[Whitewind617]

I'm going to try one more time actually. I went into the game just now for like 2 minutes and lowered every single graphics setting down as low as it will go, and turned off a whole bunch of settings I left on the last times I tried, a few of the bloom and shadow settings I missed, as well as water reflections and the like. This might work, but idk. One last effort. If it doesn't work, then so be it.

[wkdesigns]

I have never seen a laptop just shut off out of nowhere, so I am going to say that it is overheating. It doesn't have to be the GPU, it could very well be the CPU or RAM. Try propping up the back and pointing a desk fan at the side/back of the laptop. See how long it stays on after that.

[Selene Moonsong]

BobWalt wrote...

My son's Gateway has the same problem and he can play games that are far more taxing then NWN2. Indeed, I compleated NWN2 when it first came out on a much older laptop without any problem.

Bob

There are very few games published that will tax your GPU more than NWN 2. This is partially due to the Light and Shadow engines in the game, and includes day/night cycles, point lighting (from common light sources like torches and from spells that emit light), etc. The higher the shadow setting used, the lower your frame rate will be, as an example, as well as running video settings on high, including Anti-alias, etc. Other things that are taxing are various visual effects as well as the number of actors (creatures, NPCs, etc) .

From everything I have seen with GPUs, any time a NWN 2 crashes after a given amount of time, the most likely cause is overheating.

Other possibilities are graphics drivers for your GPU not being up to date, GPUs using system RAM to supplement the graphics adapter RAM, and GPUs not listed as supported as well as a bad GPU RAM chip, bad System RAM, scheduled antivirus or anti-malware scans running during game play.

To eliminate the GPU as a possibility, you will need to run an application that monitors and records your GPU temperature. It should be noted that 105 Deg C is the maximum temp for a NVIDIA GPU, whether it is a 6600 or one of the new Fermi cards. It is my experience that some models of the NVIDIA cards may begin to show signs of problems somewhere around 85 Deg C.

Modifié par Selene Moonsong, 02 janvier 2011 - 02:03 .

[Whitewind617]

I turned every setting in creation off, updated my video drivers (they were kinda out of date,) and even set NWN2s processor affinity so that it only used one CPU (ive heard that doing so can increase performance.) They game ran perfectly fine, but my computer still got hot, so I wimped out close to the 20 minute mark. It seemed promising though, so I'll try it again after I get a new program to check heat levels (I can't figure out the one I have.)

[Selene Moonsong]

Yes, Whitewind617, I should have also noted that NWN 2 is designed as a 32-bit application and not designed for Dual-Core/Core Duo processors (although the toolset is designed for such).



I used to use a third party freeware app to monitor and record my GPU temps and frame rates, you should be able to Google Riva Tuner and find a download for their freeware/shareware.

[Whitewind617]

I used Everest to check the temps as I was playing. The GPU reached 96 degrees C, and was going higher before I stopped it, falling back down to 80* after the game was closed. I've never seen it that high before. I didn't really notice any artifacts, which I hear are what you usually get when a GPU overheats, and the computer didn't really feel that hot. I mean, I'll take Everest's word for it, but damn. This seems odd that it would heat up that much.



Well, everything I've tried has not seemed to change this problem at all. The GPU heats up to infinity no matter what the graphics settings. I'm giving up.

[Selene Moonsong]

That seems rather excessive, though Fermi GPUs run somewhere around 80 C. You may want to check with Tech Support for your system and find out what they suggest are normal GPU operating temps.

Do you have your laptop on a cooling mat?

Modifié par Selene Moonsong, 02 janvier 2011 - 11:52 .

[Skuggans]

Your graphics card can become extremely hot even if you play an old game, the reason to it is if you dont use V-Sync your card will always work as fast as possible to maintain maximum amount of framerate. If you instead turn on V-Sync the framerate will be capped at 60fps or whatever your monitors max refreshrate is set to and your graphics card will not have to work so hard.

If there is no option in the game you can create a profile for it, rightclick on your desktop and go to the NVidia Controlpanel.

[Whitewind617]

I just can't seem to catch a break with this game, can I.

Well, a week later, I finally wised up and decided to start blowing into my laptop's vents with a bottle of compressed air. Dust came flying out. Why this wasn't the very first thing I tried, I have no idea. Next thing I know, I can feel a lot more air coming out of those vents than I used to. My computer is much quieter overall, and checking the temperature, everything seems to have dropped about 16* C. I played the game for a bit, on high setting even, and it seemed to work fine, hardware-wise. My computer barely even heated up, no more than 70*. Sounds great right?

Well, all that is. But this isn't.

http://img602.images...0911002530.jpg/

^What you are seeing is the opening to storm of zehir. Taking the place of my character's model is what appears to be a helmet or bucket, and the captain up the stairs is the same way. The thing to the left is not a statue, that's a person, and when I zoom in on him, he will appear as his regular self. Zoomed out, he is some kind of hulking monstrosity that looks like Mr. T in a shredder costume. Take note that this is on high graphics, but this also happened before I raised the graphics settings.

This happens everytime I play the game, with every character, in every module, and even in saved games I had before I reistalled and before I even had this problem. I have no clue why this is now happening. I'm going to reinstall tomorrow morning and see what the results are. Until then, well, damn. This blows.

[kevL]

Whitewind617 wrote...

Mr. T in a shredder costume.

come to think of it .. why hasn't anyone made a Mr. T model?

that aside, did ya check / rename / clear out your overrides (both MyDocs & ProgFiles)? It strikes me as a 'model' conflict .. though it honestly seems yer on top of that kinda thing - ALRIGHT WHO MADE THE BUCKET MODEL!!


glad to hear your set is working, that's the biggie. ( I gotta take a soft, clean, long-haired paintbrush through the CPU cooling fins every few months, myself )

too bad ya can't charge $5 admission, i'd pay to see that ;|


Anybody else ever had the bucket issue ..? no. Seriously

I just can't seem to catch a break with this game, can I.

eventually you'll get the game running fine. The forum, on the other hand ..


Bear Trap!!!

ps. graphics drivers up-to-date? I'm just trying to throw things at you and hopefully you'll think of something, before re*nst*lling.

Modifié par kevL, 09 janvier 2011 - 09:33 .

[Whitewind617]

Well, everything's been fine after a reinstall. I've yet to see actually how much my computer can take of it, I only played for about 15 minutes, and the temp only got to 67* C for the GPU, which very quickly lowered into the 50s after closing it. I might be set here, but I'll post again if there are any further problems.

[darklight_tr]

I'm having the same issue with my new Sandy Bridge system. I'll be playing NWN2 and my PC will suddenly power off completely without any warning and will power back on after about 5 seconds.

I thought my PC was failing but I narrowed the issue to NWN2 after finding this post and playing Crysis for several hours last night with no issues at all.

What is it about this game that is busting my PC? I ran some logging in the background during gameplay and there was nothing worrisome about my CPU and GPU temps.

I'm going to try setting the Antialiasing from 8x to 0x and see if that helps. I just think its ironic that a ho-hum game in terms of graphics is killing my system.

[Gorath Alpha]

The Sandy Bridge Chipset having been admitted to as being defective, you will need to exchange the mainboard when the replacement Chipset becomes available, and only then should you feel as if it is the game, instead of something else, you have trouble with. 

[darklight_tr]

Gorath Alpha wrote...

The Sandy Bridge Chipset having been admitted to as being defective, you will need to exchange the mainboard when the replacement Chipset becomes available, and only then should you feel as if it is the game, instead of something else, you have trouble with. 

While I am aware of this issue I am not using the affected SATA ports so the problem does not rest with the chipset.

When I turned off antialiasing that seems to have fixed the issue for me.  I haven't gotten in an extended play session in yet but the test I ran with it off ran longer than I was usually able to before the power off/on.

Modifié par darklight_tr, 28 février 2011 - 03:45 .

[Gorath Alpha]

Almost every time an admitted failure exists of this one's severe nature (Sandy Bridge's SATA functions), it means that testing was rushed, and other failures also slipped through. We simply don't know yet what those others amount to.

[darklight_tr]

Gorath Alpha wrote...

Almost every time an admitted failure exists of this one's severe nature (Sandy Bridge's SATA functions), it means that testing was rushed, and other failures also slipped through. We simply don't know yet what those others amount to.

Its funny, because the same can be said of Neverwinter Nights 2 itself - even after a ton of patches.  It has to be one of the buggiest PC games I have ever played.

Anyways, thanks for your input.