I have yet to play this game for more than 5 minutes at a time without it crashing. Most of the time it crashes right on start up, but usually it crashes when starting a game. I get a brief glimpse of the world then bam, pa.exe has stopped working. These forums seem pretty active so obviously it's working. You can't ALL have been swindled out of $80, right? (HAH!) So, what's the trick? How do you make it not crash? I've updated my gfx drivers, but that's a f*in cop-out. Every other game I play is rock solid and I hadn't updated my drivers in months. I've updated them now (and got a bunch of crapware from nvidia. Thanks guys!) but it's still crashy as hell.
As you haven't had the chance to play it properly yet I'm assuming you haven't installed any mods? Because I had a problem before that was caused by a mod I had installed.
Step one...give us your system specs, OS version, etc. You do know you can do a custom install to avoid the extra crap-ware from Nvidia (I'm assuming you're referring to the Geforce Experience??). Step two...realize and admit it's not a full release, but still Beta (err...Gamma...which I guess is like Beta part deux...lol!). I'm sure we can get you running...but a complaint thread without providing the proper details is a waste. Include the correct details about your system specs, OS, etc... Have you tried re-installing the game? Are you using Steam or PA Launcher? Are you playing with Mods or not? What part ar you playing? Galactic War? MP? I rarely have issues...I've had great luck on Win 7, 8, 8.1 and Ubuntu 14.04 using Intel and AMD processors and AMD and Nvidia GPU's. Even with my "great luck" I still every once in a while get a pa.exe has crashed...or used to...it's been a while since I remember the last time it really happened. I do make sure I don't have my Google Chrome open with it's 50 tabs as that tends to hog A LOT of my 8GB of memory and that was pissing the game off and causing crashes...I think that has since been fixed and wasn't an issue in Ubuntu. Welcome to the forums and I hope we can get you running and enjoying this great title in pre-release form! Cheers.
PA is very sensitive to graphics drivers, I'm not sure why. Probably once it's released it will be more stable in that respect... Also if you have an Intel Core processor, you need to make sure the Intel integrated drivers are up to date as well (I had crash problems on my laptop until I did that).... The other thing to be aware of- as new features get added to PA it tends to get very crashy until they release a patch for it (usually the next day, they don't hang about) so you might just have joined at a bad time (as they've only just released some major new stuff e.g. galactic war and server modding capabilities). 9 times out of 10 out of date drivers cause problems. If you're still having problems please post your Dx Diag info and I or one of the other guys on the forums will help you sort it out. PA for me is quite stable now, the main issues I get is not being able to connect to the multiplayer lobby server properly after finishing a game however that appears to be getting better. I played an hour long game earlier across about 8 planets with no problem though so the game isn't to bad.
Make sure your drivers are updated: https://forums.uberent.com/threads/how-to-improve-performance-all-video-cards-driver-links.53165/ Updating your drivers fixes 49/50 issues with PA. Also, remember, this game isn't finished! Of course there's bugs, because it isn't finished! Seriously though, update your drivers, that should help.
You actually just discovered for yourself a secret trick of game development: The brand new games you usually buy, are in fact made a year and a half ago. Games don't get made overnight. Also, they probably use "existing technology", that is the engine stuff they have used in a game prior like unity or unreal or stuff. This game, is made on a "not garden variety" engine, within the last year, for OpenGL no less. This is why it requires drivers from this half of the year. Because old drivers don't support OpenGL as well, which is a shame because in this case it is worthwhile better than directx. This game is made using new mostly unused "coherent" and webscript with hooks. Anyway, we have a "gamma bugs" forum for one. But that is ok, we can figure stuff out here or move the thread, but the first step is posting a copy of your "dxdiag", by going to your "run" and entering dxdiag, and attaching the text file made from it. That will let us see your driver, your cards, ect, maybe we can find something.
I have yet to see an Nvidia driver installer with "crapware". The closest thing to crapware is the 3d stuff, but that's just two things you have to uninstall.
I think it's one of those 'should be a word' scenarios.. I personally think it's quite eloquent in that it conveys the problem in a single word in a way we all understood
Still would help to run "dxdiag" in the "run" in windows, as well as go to appdata/local/Uber Entertainment/Planetary Annihilation/logs, and load the most recent crash log. Anyway, to be fair, Minecraft is the most crashiest to me, and people still jump through hoops to get Buildcraft Industrialcraft and crazy *** mod packs with 20 incapatable mods to work.
It's an amazing game, however, with quite a few bugs and performance issues. Like it's been said though, it's not the complete release, and won't be for a while. So just optimize your hardware as best as you can for now and wait for Uber to optimize the game more in the future. TLDR; your experiences will only get better.
Step one: Quit being an arse about it and maybe we'll be more inclined to help you. Step two: Assuming you've updated your drivers and that didn't work, upload your dxdiag here. Then we'll be able to find what's going on and tell you how to make it work.
Probably pointless to revive this thread, but here goes... Ok the game is launched now, hooray! Congrats to Uber! I still can't play it. Craps out when starting a mission, pa.exe has stopped working. I've attached my dxdiag. Also, I bought this through steam, if that matters. Thanks for your help. Sorry for being an 'arse'
4GB of ram is a little low, it may crash if you try and load big systems. Try a small single planet moon and see if you can play it. As for graphics drivers or more involved help, someone else will have to diagnose as I'm unfamiliar.
your graphics drivers are outdated : http://us.download.nvidia.com/GFE/GFEClient/2.1.1.1/GeForce_Experience_v2.1.1.1.exe also here's you : you gotta be realistic man. Your PC's not fit. turn the graphics to absolute minimum and only play two-planet systems with small (under 800) radiuses and (when it becomes available) unit cap if you want reliable performance.
-.the total of planets must not pass 800 radius e.g. 1 planet of 400 radius and 2 moons of 200 raduis (play with the sise)the planet is still big, dont worry. -.never play in a single planet of 800 radius, you can play in that but is not fun, at all (too laggy).
