Having fury with shells

[pugwash1]

What can I say, I was so looking forward to playing this sim, It has never loaded beyond the title screen, My computer has all the power in the world and a serious graphics card (everything and more than the requirements) It was hard to reach any kind of help but when it came atleast they had some leads, I checked or changed all the things they recomended and still nothing. I have since had a hard drive crash and re-built up an new one and re-loaded the game on the fresh disk before I bogged it down with whatever was stopping it from running and still the same.... Remember.. once you have paid there is NO money back and not much support. If anyone has any clever answers to how I can make this thing run then I will wellcome a note. Right now I think the only way to make this sub dive is to toss it in the drink! I have been waiting for years for a Jutland era game with the full fleet, it looks like these guys will release one "Jutland" but now I am afraid to get it when it is released. Take care guys and do not forget to hold your breath when diving!

[Onkel Neal]

Pug, maybe we can help you.

First, couple you copy the info you received: It was hard to reach any kind of help but when it came atleast they had some leads, I checked or changed all the things they recomended and still nothing. Could you copy and paste the text here?

Also, what exactly is the game doing? Just loading the title screen and freezing?

What are your system specs?

Neal

[Hawk U-375]

Is it a "Hard Copy"...or did you download it off the CDV site?:hmm:

[pugwash1]

It was a downloaded copy, the game loaded from the setup file ok, when you try to start the game from the exe it shows a full screen logo with a loading bar indicator, the bar fills as the game loads as it reaches the last part of the sliding load bar the monitor makes a click sound and I get a program crashed screen, the help people had me run a direct X diagnostic and send it to them, they had me remove two old registry entries but it did not help. When the computer crashed (virus got the Norton files) I put in a new hard drive and built it up fresh and re-loaded the game early in the process in the hopes that at that point nothing would mess up the instilation but to no avail. I have removed the game and given up on the whole thing, I have NEVER had issues like this ever, my computer crash was not even me... My brother visited from England and did the dirty to it! I realy apreciate all of your interest, it is nice to know you are all out there. as a last ditch effort I have attached my system info, just incase the obvious is there and I do not see it!! thanks. Mark

OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 2 Build 2600
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name HOME-T8HFVRDSQT
System Manufacturer Compaq Presario 05
System Model DA219A-ABA 6370US NA850
System Type X86-based PC
Processor x86 Family 15 Model 2 Stepping 7 GenuineIntel ~2523 Mhz
BIOS Version/Date Phoenix Technologies, LTD VG31313, 9/11/2002
SMBIOS Version 2.3
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "5.1.2600.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)"
User Name HOME-T8HFVRDSQT\Administrator
Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Total Physical Memory 2,048.00 MB
Available Physical Memory 1.40 GB
Total Virtual Memory 2.00 GB
Available Virtual Memory 1.96 GB
Page File Space 3.85 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys
The video data is as follows:
Radeon x1650
catalyst version 07.2 with direct x 9.0c

[Chock]

That system should easily run it. It seems very bizarre. One thing I do know is that some graphics cards did have issues with the sim when it was first released, however, I also know that some of the minimum required specs are not actually required at all, for example, pixel shader 2.0 is listed as a minimum requirement on my boxed (German) XP copy, and that's not true at all, it runs on one of my laptops with just simple on-board graphics and Vista rather than XP, so the minimum specs are not even required judging by that. I think a lot of that is to do with the fact that it got chopped down a bit in development and released in a less ambitious form.

With that in mind, one thing you might try is an older version of the Catalyst drivers, I did notice SOF was a bit choppy on my desktop with the latest Catalyst drivers (not the only 3D application to suffer that either), which I've since binned off and dropped back to earlier ones. Might be worth a shot, unless of course you've already tried it. Reloading direct X is always another favourite to try.

Chock

[NiclDoe]

so the pixel shader the english version has the same and now you say you dont need it. hmm that changes everything and its going on my Xmas list. Thanks Chock for bring that up!

[pugwash1]

Thanks Chock, so far your deductions have been more on the ball than the help desk or whoever they are.. Your comments on the driver sound interesting, I had heard of people having issues with the new drivers, I had trouble with the 7.1 but the latest one seems fine with everything else I have, I will try and load one of the older version 6's and see what happens, the error I get is actualy a windows "were sorry, this program has encounted a problem and windows has had to close it" and then all the microsoft stuff about do you want to report it!! (they should ask if you want to kick and cry out in pain) I just closed down everything that was running in the background including Norton just to see if anything has changed since my re-build but that did not help at all. I realy do think I will stick to my silent hunters and ship sim, and just hope that a WW1 ship version comes out soon!! The good news is that I have now accepted it and will move on, I just wish they had better tech service and or a money back policy. Anyway for thanksgiving I think I will sink a few ships in the Pacific (if they dont get me first that is) "I HAVE NOT YET BEGUN TO FIGHT" TKs

[CCIP]

Seems like it's not just you. Reallydeadpoet was complaining about issues with the game earlier.

Odd, in my case (AMD 4600+, 2GB RAM, GF8600GTS) it runs without too much trouble. A little jerky sometimes, but nothing serious. Certainly not spoiling my experience with it any.

[pugwash1]

Maybe thats the key! Now I have a reason to tell my first mate that this old tub needs to go into the dry dock and get a new engine room!! How do you like the game anyway?

[pugwash1]

Do you know if the new Jutland will be using the same basic code? I would hate to buy that one and have the same issues.

[Chock]

Have you checked the 'detailed information' when you get the 'We're sorry Windows is crap, do you want to send a report?' message, that might give us a clue. Also, you might actually, just for once, choose to send a report. Granted, it probably won't serve any purpose, but you never know, you might get an email from MS about resolving the issue.

Chock

[dcb]

OMG, why don't people carefully read the forums here? I explained this error in at least two instances here, as I encountered it in my case.
Explanation in brief: the game won't work with ATI video cards generation 16xx. More details here, post #3

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=102034

[Chock]

The only trouble with that explanation is that it doesn't tally with my experience of the game actually running ona laptop that doesn't support shader 2.0. It could be the cause (and likely is) on Pugwash's computer of course, but clearly some computers can run it without shader 2.0, because I have one that most definitely does.

Chock

[dcb]

Originally Posted by Chock

The only trouble with that explanation is that it doesn't tally with my experience of the game actually running ona laptop that doesn't support shader 2.0. It could be the cause (and likely is) on Pugwash's computer of course, but clearly some computers can run it without shader 2.0, because I have one that most definitely does.

Chock

My personal experience: In my computer, for some time, I had an ATI card - ASUS 1600 XT (IIRC) - and the game crashed at the loading bar. When I replaced ONLY the video card with my current ASUS 7900 GS (Nvidia) suddenly the game started to work. I met (here on Subsim forums) at least three people with ATI 16xx cards having the same problem I had. And, last but not least, the marinesims.de forum is full of people having the same problem and the explanation was taken from that precise forum.
So, until someone can confirm that he actually runs the game with an ATI 16xx card, I will remain convinced that this is the culprit. Everything indicates so. Maybe someone here can make a sticky based on this explanation, so that new players know what their problem is.
dcb

[CCIP]

Originally Posted by pugwash1

Do you know if the new Jutland will be using the same basic code? I would hate to buy that one and have the same issues.

Why would it? Jutland has absolutely nothing to do with Shells of Fury!

It's being developed by Storm Eagle Studios on their Distant Guns engine. While also a smaller-budget project, it's quite a bit more finished (there were quite a number of bugs in the release version of Distant Guns, but they've since been squashed well). A number of Jutland features have also been patched into the original DG game over time, as I heard, and I don't think there's any specific hardware-related problems that people had with it.

So don't worry about that. If you ARE worried - well, get the Distant Guns demo and give it a try
(I'm a big fan of Distant Guns - not a game for everyone, but I've really gotten a lot of fun and value out of it, even with its rather high price tag)