Telltale Games

bashar · 03/22/2007, 12:53 pm

Dear Telltale,

I have started noticing lower performance since episode 3 if I'm not mistaken. Performance was low, even though my PC is powerful enough to run many action/adventure games. Adventure games are normally easier to run. The bigger problem is my computer started restarting every few minutes, the problem became general Windows issues until I updated to the latest driver. The problem now remains with Sam & Max ep 4, computer restarts after only few minutes into the game. I still did not finish it and ep 5 is coming! I have tried other adventure game like Syberia and did not have any problems. I noticed the same performance and windows restart problems with Ankh however. Looking at how the game is made I can assume Telltale engine was used in it, and it's giving similar behavior. Am I right in my assumption?

My graphics card is ATI Radeon X600 Pro. I understand all the hard effort you put into fixing problems, but the engine seems to be facing serious issues with many graphics cards, and like this I can't think about buying any game I am still stuck with ep 4.

Maratanos · 03/22/2007, 04:13 pm

you're sure you have the latest drivers?

bashar · 03/22/2007, 10:55 pm

Yes I'm very sure. I just downloaded the latest two weeks back. To make sure, below is list of all drivers versions:

DirectX: 9.0c
Catalyst® Version 07.2
Provider ATI Technologies Inc.
2D Driver Version 6.14.10.6666
Direct3D Version 6.14.10.0471
OpenGL Version 6.14.10.6347
Catalyst® Control Center Version 2007.0202.1923.34565
AIW/VIVO WDM Driver Version 6.14.10.6238
AIW/VIVO WDM SP Driver Version 6.14.10.6238

This is what came out after installing their latest Catalyst Control Center. If anything is outdated here, please point it out.

theundergroundhero · 03/23/2007, 10:28 pm

The same problem as well.

I decided to reply in this thread to keep it streamlined.

I have a Radeon 9800 pro video card and here's what happens... During Abe Lincoln Must Die! I had situations where the game would randomly freeze, the screen would go black, and the music would get stuck and stutter. There's no particular point it occurs, just randomly.

I did manage to finish the game, so I decided to play Culture Shock for the first time on this computer. I have the same thing occuring, but I also have situations where my system restarts at random times as well. It can be during an autosave, during a conversation, even walking around. I can't predict a pattern.

My system is capable of running everything o.k.
Windows XP SP2
AMD Athlon 64 3000+
1.5 GB RAM
Radeon 9800 Pro (I noticed new drivers for it yesterday, yet still have the same problems)

Any other information I can give on my system, let me know and I'll provide it.

I won't play Situation Comedy or Mole, Mob, Meatball until I beat Culture Shock again, so unfortunately I can't tell you if there's problems with that.

Even though it seems a lot of people are having problems, thanks for bringing back Sam and Max, and thanks for all your prompt attention to all the threads. I have complete faith in you guys to make the world a safe, hospitable, excessively violent, and entirely devoid of tediousness environment for Canine Shamuses and Hyper Kineticky Rabbity Thingies the world over.

bashar · 03/23/2007, 11:03 pm

Thanks for adding to the post, and yes we have full faith in Telltale. However in the meantime, I won't even bother downloading ep5 until I finish 4 without those issues.

The pattern for this problem is, there is no pattern. I tried to leave the game and go, same problem happened.

Maratanos · 03/24/2007, 11:21 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by bashar

Yes I'm very sure. I just downloaded the latest two weeks back. To make sure, below is list of all drivers versions:

DirectX: 9.0c
Catalyst® Version 07.2
Provider ATI Technologies Inc.
2D Driver Version 6.14.10.6666
Direct3D Version 6.14.10.0471
OpenGL Version 6.14.10.6347
Catalyst® Control Center Version 2007.0202.1923.34565
AIW/VIVO WDM Driver Version 6.14.10.6238
AIW/VIVO WDM SP Driver Version 6.14.10.6238

This is what came out after installing their latest Catalyst Control Center. If anything is outdated here, please point it out.

That looks right for what card you have...

If you say your computer reboots very often, I have a suggestion:

Go to My Computer > Properties > Advanced > Startup and Recovery > Settings. Uncheck the box labeled "Automatically restart" under "System failure".

Then try to reproduce the crash. It should bring up the blue screen of death, which could help in pinpointing the cause of the error.

bashar · 03/25/2007, 03:26 am

I tried that Uncheck box trick times and times, still no blue screen and same thing. Best thing is, it just goes off and doesn't restart. Bill Gates has made sure blue screen doesn't show up anymore, now it's black.

Maratanos · 03/25/2007, 03:38 pm

Weird...

Next best thing is to check the system log.

Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management.

Then, in the treeview, go to System Tools > Event Viewer > System.

The OS should dump log information there as long as you have "Write an event to the system log" selected in the startup and recovery options.

Emily · 03/26/2007, 06:20 pm

There was a problem with certain Radeon drivers a while back, where the driver caused the card to overheat and the game to reboot. This was not only a problem with our games, and it was something Radeon was supposed to have fixed several months ago. I'm wondering if they released newer drivers after that, which could have broken this again...? You might try the third party drivers at www.omegadrivers.net -- they seem to work well for a lot of our customers.

Also - episodes 2 and 3 have performance problems because the version of the activation software we used on it had a memory leak. Episode 4 does not have the same memory leak. If you only started noticing problems with episode 3 (not 2), and the problems are continuing with episode 4, it's possible that this is a problem with something on the computer, not with the game. Are episodes 1 and 2 (which I presume played okay for you originally) still okay?

Just because the computer runs other adventure games well does not necessarily mean it will run Sam & Max well. The true test is whether it runs other 3D games well. That said, your Radeon 600 card should run the game.

But it might not run the game as well as it does Syberia or other adventure games. (Random reboots aren't normal, though, so I'd like to help you get to the bottom of it.)

bashar · 03/27/2007, 04:12 am

Thanks Maratanos and Emily. I have tried looking at the logs previously, when I ended up updating the drivers. I doubt omegadrivers can have more recent update than the official ati site, but will give it a try when I get home.

Thanks again for your followup.

Emily · 03/27/2007, 12:02 pm

Quote:

I doubt omegadrivers can have more recent update than the official ati site, but will give it a try when I get home.

Probably not more recent, but if it is the drivers causing this problem, the Omega drivers might not have the same problem.

Please let us know how it goes.

fhqwhgads · 03/27/2007, 12:53 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emily

You might try the third party drivers at www.omegadrivers.com -- they seem to work well for a lot of our customers.

I think you might mean www.omegadrivers.net Emily.

Emily · 03/27/2007, 03:31 pm

Indeed I do. I suck.

fhqwhgads · 03/28/2007, 05:53 am

Don't be so hard on yourself!

I do the same with slashdot.net all the time!

bashar · 03/28/2007, 08:43 pm

Sorry all I'm late, Emily, no adventure fan really sucks, and especially you. I just felt insulted my self when I read ur post.

[I do the same with slashdot.net all the time! ]
If I dont bookmark it, i would never find it again. Not a smart name to be honest.

I tried all the suggestions, found new driver AGAIN from ATI, downloaded it using MSFT Update, same problem. I tried OmegaDrive as well, I felt happy for few minutes before I saw the PC has restarted again. So we're still where we started

Ahare · 03/31/2007, 12:29 pm

Are you playing on low res or high res?

Low res + 800x600 + Omega drivers helped me a lot.

Also is it windowed or full screen?

I seemed that if clicked outside to so something else while in windowed mode is started to hurt performance...

You might also want to shut down your other programs and see if that helps...

Good luck :P

bashar · 04/01/2007, 10:47 pm

Thanks Ashare. It is lowest resolution, full screen, and even the game is idle. So without doing anything it goes restarting. I go to the extent of disabling my anti-virus for the sake of the game and still suffer!

It seems the game is resource intensive causing over-heat problems, as I did not have those issues with other games.

bashar · 04/04/2007, 03:37 am

There come episode 5 and I am still stuck with ep4 hanging problem. Ohh well, no more sam & max for me. Just my luck, and another reason to get more jobs done.

theundergroundhero · 04/04/2007, 09:44 am

Sorry, it's been a while since I've updated on how my computer is working. I was following Maratanos and I unchecked the automatic restart, was going to wait for my computer to reboot and read the log and... nothing restarted.

I was able to play from Sam getting the plans and parts for the anti-hypnosis helmet all the way to the end without any problems.

My game path was linear with solving all the puzzles, so I didn't look around at things too much. When I start replaying Situation Comedy, I'll notify you guys if I have any more problems.

Emily · 04/04/2007, 09:47 am

Sorry, bashar. I'm not sure what else to suggest.

I can get you a refund for the games that aren't working, if you want.

EDIT: theundergroundhero, glad that fixed it for you! Let us know how it goes with ep2.

03/22/2007, 12:53 pm	#1
bashar Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 41	ATI Radeon Problem Dear Telltale, I have started noticing lower performance since episode 3 if I'm not mistaken. Performance was low, even though my PC is powerful enough to run many action/adventure games. Adventure games are normally easier to run. The bigger problem is my computer started restarting every few minutes, the problem became general Windows issues until I updated to the latest driver. The problem now remains with Sam & Max ep 4, computer restarts after only few minutes into the game. I still did not finish it and ep 5 is coming! I have tried other adventure game like Syberia and did not have any problems. I noticed the same performance and windows restart problems with Ankh however. Looking at how the game is made I can assume Telltale engine was used in it, and it's giving similar behavior. Am I right in my assumption? My graphics card is ATI Radeon X600 Pro. I understand all the hard effort you put into fixing problems, but the engine seems to be facing serious issues with many graphics cards, and like this I can't think about buying any game I am still stuck with ep 4.

03/22/2007, 04:13 pm	#2
Maratanos Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 851	you're sure you have the latest drivers? __________________ I'll combine your MOM with those items!

03/23/2007, 10:28 pm	#4
theundergroundhero Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 6	I've noticed... The same problem as well. I decided to reply in this thread to keep it streamlined. I have a Radeon 9800 pro video card and here's what happens... During Abe Lincoln Must Die! I had situations where the game would randomly freeze, the screen would go black, and the music would get stuck and stutter. There's no particular point it occurs, just randomly. I did manage to finish the game, so I decided to play Culture Shock for the first time on this computer. I have the same thing occuring, but I also have situations where my system restarts at random times as well. It can be during an autosave, during a conversation, even walking around. I can't predict a pattern. My system is capable of running everything o.k. Windows XP SP2 AMD Athlon 64 3000+ 1.5 GB RAM Radeon 9800 Pro (I noticed new drivers for it yesterday, yet still have the same problems) Any other information I can give on my system, let me know and I'll provide it. I won't play Situation Comedy or Mole, Mob, Meatball until I beat Culture Shock again, so unfortunately I can't tell you if there's problems with that. Even though it seems a lot of people are having problems, thanks for bringing back Sam and Max, and thanks for all your prompt attention to all the threads. I have complete faith in you guys to make the world a safe, hospitable, excessively violent, and entirely devoid of tediousness environment for Canine Shamuses and Hyper Kineticky Rabbity Thingies the world over.

03/23/2007, 11:03 pm	#5
bashar Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 41	Thanks for adding to the post, and yes we have full faith in Telltale. However in the meantime, I won't even bother downloading ep5 until I finish 4 without those issues. The pattern for this problem is, there is no pattern. I tried to leave the game and go, same problem happened. Last edited by bashar; 03/24/2007 at 03:56 am. Reason: spelling mistake

03/25/2007, 03:38 pm	#8
Maratanos Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 851	Weird... Next best thing is to check the system log. Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management. Then, in the treeview, go to System Tools > Event Viewer > System. The OS should dump log information there as long as you have "Write an event to the system log" selected in the startup and recovery options. __________________ I'll combine your MOM with those items!

03/22/2007, 10:55 pm	#3
bashar Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 41	Yes I'm very sure. I just downloaded the latest two weeks back. To make sure, below is list of all drivers versions: DirectX: 9.0c Catalyst® Version 07.2 Provider ATI Technologies Inc. 2D Driver Version 6.14.10.6666 Direct3D Version 6.14.10.0471 OpenGL Version 6.14.10.6347 Catalyst® Control Center Version 2007.0202.1923.34565 AIW/VIVO WDM Driver Version 6.14.10.6238 AIW/VIVO WDM SP Driver Version 6.14.10.6238 This is what came out after installing their latest Catalyst Control Center. If anything is outdated here, please point it out.

03/25/2007, 03:26 am	#7
bashar Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 41	I tried that Uncheck box trick times and times, still no blue screen and same thing. Best thing is, it just goes off and doesn't restart. Bill Gates has made sure blue screen doesn't show up anymore, now it's black.

03/26/2007, 06:20 pm	#9
Emily Formerly of the Telltale Team Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: San Francisco Posts: 4,549	There was a problem with certain Radeon drivers a while back, where the driver caused the card to overheat and the game to reboot. This was not only a problem with our games, and it was something Radeon was supposed to have fixed several months ago. I'm wondering if they released newer drivers after that, which could have broken this again...? You might try the third party drivers at www.omegadrivers.net -- they seem to work well for a lot of our customers. Also - episodes 2 and 3 have performance problems because the version of the activation software we used on it had a memory leak. Episode 4 does not have the same memory leak. If you only started noticing problems with episode 3 (not 2), and the problems are continuing with episode 4, it's possible that this is a problem with something on the computer, not with the game. Are episodes 1 and 2 (which I presume played okay for you originally) still okay? Just because the computer runs other adventure games well does not necessarily mean it will run Sam & Max well. The true test is whether it runs other 3D games well. That said, your Radeon 600 card should run the game. But it might not run the game as well as it does Syberia or other adventure games. (Random reboots aren't normal, though, so I'd like to help you get to the bottom of it.) Last edited by Emily; 03/27/2007 at 03:31 pm.

03/27/2007, 04:12 am	#10
bashar Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 41	Thanks Maratanos and Emily. I have tried looking at the logs previously, when I ended up updating the drivers. I doubt omegadrivers can have more recent update than the official ati site, but will give it a try when I get home. Thanks again for your followup.

03/27/2007, 03:31 pm	#13
Emily Formerly of the Telltale Team Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: San Francisco Posts: 4,549	Indeed I do. I suck.

03/28/2007, 05:53 am	#14
fhqwhgads To the Limit! Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: South Africa Posts: 222	Don't be so hard on yourself! I do the same with slashdot.net all the time! __________________ Max: It's a metaphor! Sam: You don't even know what that means! Max: Yes I do! It's like a metal floor, without the L's.

03/28/2007, 08:43 pm	#15
bashar Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 41	Sorry all I'm late, Emily, no adventure fan really sucks, and especially you. I just felt insulted my self when I read ur post. [I do the same with slashdot.net all the time! ] If I dont bookmark it, i would never find it again. Not a smart name to be honest. I tried all the suggestions, found new driver AGAIN from ATI, downloaded it using MSFT Update, same problem. I tried OmegaDrive as well, I felt happy for few minutes before I saw the PC has restarted again. So we're still where we started

03/31/2007, 12:29 pm	#16
Ahare Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 8	Are you playing on low res or high res? Low res + 800x600 + Omega drivers helped me a lot. Also is it windowed or full screen? I seemed that if clicked outside to so something else while in windowed mode is started to hurt performance... You might also want to shut down your other programs and see if that helps... Good luck :P

04/01/2007, 10:47 pm	#17
bashar Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 41	Thanks Ashare. It is lowest resolution, full screen, and even the game is idle. So without doing anything it goes restarting. I go to the extent of disabling my anti-virus for the sake of the game and still suffer! It seems the game is resource intensive causing over-heat problems, as I did not have those issues with other games.

04/04/2007, 03:37 am	#18
bashar Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 41	There come episode 5 and I am still stuck with ep4 hanging problem. Ohh well, no more sam & max for me. Just my luck, and another reason to get more jobs done.

04/04/2007, 09:44 am	#19
theundergroundhero Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 6	Sorry, it's been a while since I've updated on how my computer is working. I was following Maratanos and I unchecked the automatic restart, was going to wait for my computer to reboot and read the log and... nothing restarted. I was able to play from Sam getting the plans and parts for the anti-hypnosis helmet all the way to the end without any problems. My game path was linear with solving all the puzzles, so I didn't look around at things too much. When I start replaying Situation Comedy, I'll notify you guys if I have any more problems.

04/04/2007, 09:47 am	#20
Emily Formerly of the Telltale Team Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: San Francisco Posts: 4,549	Sorry, bashar. I'm not sure what else to suggest. I can get you a refund for the games that aren't working, if you want. EDIT: theundergroundhero, glad that fixed it for you! Let us know how it goes with ep2.

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