Game will not launch, Help!
Uselessmidget2
Join Date: 2012-04-30 Member: 151350Members
Join Date: 2012-04-30 Member: 151350Members
<div class="IPBDescription">ಠ_ಠ</div>Hello everyone!
I'm having one heck of a time here. Hopefully someone can shed some light!
<u>Heres whats going on:</u>
1. I select Natural Selection 2 from my Steam library.
2. It launches.
3. Audio sounds fine.
4. Natural selection 2 logo and Join, Create, Options, Etc. appear very slowly.
5. I select Join, The icon slowly turns red.
6. Nothing happens.
7. Select options.
8. Options menu slowly appears.
9. Click to change a setting.
10. Nothing happens.
And thats about as far as I have gotten. If I try to launch the steam servers program, natural selection 2 is not a game listed. So I assume I have to join servers within the game?
<u>Hardware:</u>
Asus Motherboard (cannot locate model on exterior, will reboot and record model at startup.)
AMD 64X2 Anthlon 4200+
Nvidia GeForce 7950GX2 (latest drivers)
2x 1GB OCZ PC-3200 DDR (Can I upgrade?)
Creative Labs SoundBlaster Live!-24bit
NZXT PF500 500-watt powersupply (should I upgrade?)
Any help/comments/slandar is welcome!
Thanks!
I'm having one heck of a time here. Hopefully someone can shed some light!
<u>Heres whats going on:</u>
1. I select Natural Selection 2 from my Steam library.
2. It launches.
3. Audio sounds fine.
4. Natural selection 2 logo and Join, Create, Options, Etc. appear very slowly.
5. I select Join, The icon slowly turns red.
6. Nothing happens.
7. Select options.
8. Options menu slowly appears.
9. Click to change a setting.
10. Nothing happens.
And thats about as far as I have gotten. If I try to launch the steam servers program, natural selection 2 is not a game listed. So I assume I have to join servers within the game?
<u>Hardware:</u>
Asus Motherboard (cannot locate model on exterior, will reboot and record model at startup.)
AMD 64X2 Anthlon 4200+
Nvidia GeForce 7950GX2 (latest drivers)
2x 1GB OCZ PC-3200 DDR (Can I upgrade?)
Creative Labs SoundBlaster Live!-24bit
NZXT PF500 500-watt powersupply (should I upgrade?)
Any help/comments/slandar is welcome!
Thanks!
Comments
That's right, you have to use the ingame server browser or connect over a steam friend.
For a solution to your problem I would try as a first step to completely remove the game and reinstall it. To achieve that you have to remove it from the steam library and delete the "%APPDATA%\Natural Selection 2" folder (very important, helped an other guy yesterday, too). Than reinstall the game and hopefully it will work, if not than there is certainly something wrong/different with your system.
(When you enter %APPDATA% in your windows explorer it should resolve to "C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming", there is the "Natural Selection 2" folder you have to delete together with removing it from Steam)
Thanks again!
As he said. Enter it into your address bar on the top. %APPDATA% is a shortcut to the folder that works on every system and is independent of the user name.
You can also press Win+R, type it in there and press enter.
You can also press Win+R, type it in there and press enter.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Sorry I missed that I will read more carefully next time.
I tried it after only having deleted content and reinstalling through the library. Same issues.
I just deleted content again through steam, and deleted the appropriate folder in appdata.
I noticed there was a log, I copied that info within the text document before deletion. I have no idea if its relevant but here it is anyway:
Date: 05/01/12
Time: 20:38:47
--------------------------------------------------------------
Build 206
Starting Natural Selection 2
RenderDevice: NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GX2 (6.14.12.9610)
IDirect3DDevice9::CreateTexture(1280, 768, 1, D3DFMT_A2R10G10B10) failed (Invalid call)
Direct3DDevice::Texture initialize failed- A2R10G10B10, xSize=1280, ySize=768)
IDirect3DDevice9::CreateTexture(1280, 768, 1, D3DFMT_A2R10G10B10) failed (Invalid call)
Direct3DDevice::Texture initialize failed- A2R10G10B10, xSize=1280, ySize=768)
Reinstalling through steam now....
Well I built this comp when I was playing NS1, it was a $600 graphics card at the time. I can run Half-Life2 maxed out, CSS, GTA IV, BF3, BF2142, CODMW2, etc.
I think I would atleast be able to run it on low...
I cannot find a minimum system requirements for NS2 to verify.
And as for deleting w/ appdata & reinstalling I am still having the same issue.
Thanks,
<ol type='1'><li>It's a beta. A real beta. Development builds.</li><li>Max developed the whole engine all by himself. Dushan only recently joined the team to help.</li><li>The engine is designed for small teams and fast iteration, not amazing performance.</li><li>All non-engine stuff runs on a runtime-interpreted scripting language. Noone has done this before for a game like this.</li></ol>
Due to these reasons, your GPU will not suffice. NS2 doesn't currently make good use of multiple GPU cores. The engine is also designed with dynamic lighting only, which requires a reasonable GPU to run well.
You will need a hefty processor to run this game well due to reasons #1, #3 and #4. Since the overall bottleneck is game logic, which cannot be multithreaded, NS2 also needs pure clock speed, not multiple cores. The bottleneck is so severe that changing graphics settings will most likely not affect your fps at all.
I'm running this on a Q6600 overclocked to 3.4 GHz and a Radeon HD 4850. Both of these components are roughly twice as fast as yours. The game is barely playable.
Also, to be honest, I wouldn't expect six years old hardware to run any recent game at all. Not even to be able to start it.
Well spotted, probably that's the reason.
<!--quoteo(post=1932502:date=May 2 2012, 04:11 AM:name=Uselessmidget2)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Uselessmidget2 @ May 2 2012, 04:11 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1932502"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Well I built this comp when I was playing NS1, it was a $600 graphics card at the time. I can run Half-Life2 maxed out, CSS, GTA IV, BF3, BF2142, CODMW2, etc.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Even if that would be the fasted card on earth there are many more things to consider than raw performance like support for new techniques in textures formats, shaders etc.
It's a pain to develop a engine which supports all different types of graphic cards, that's why many developers stopped developing games for PCs at all and switched completely to console games which is much easier because every system is equal.
However, grab a new card. You better buy every 3 years a new card for 300$ than every 6 years one for 600$ ;)
Any recommendations / guidelines for putting together a new rig? Any guides out there to help me sort out stuff I am not familiar with? When I put this thing together I did my research but due to work I dont have nearly as much free time.
Any help is appreciated.
Sorry I haven't been online in a while. Had a lot going on, bought a new rc plane and went to open house event at a local gun range. Good times! ;D
Yes I would much rather prefer to build it myself. I'm sure that its hard to get as good of hardware for the cost of doing it yourself.
Well when I built this computer I think I put about a grand into it which made it a rocking computer at the time. I dont really want to mess with liquid cooling as a side note.
I would like to be able to play current games for a while, maximum performance settings is not required but I dont want to be left in the dust.
How far would another $1k get me?
It seems to me I need to weigh the option of being able to play games now and in the future, so lets say if I spent an extra $300 dollars now it would save me from another $900 in the future...
I guess I should think of it in the following way & maybe you could fill in the price groups more accurately:
$600-850 - Garb
low/medium performance on current games, probably outdated in 3 years?
$850-1000 - Meh
Medium/high performance on current games, probably outdated in 5 years?
$1200-1500 - Shweet
High performance for the next 5 years?
$1500+ - 1337
Maximum performance for the next 5+ years?
Thanks Dghelneshi!
I'm buying my new PC right now, but I wouldn't advise anyone to do that, especially if you have a bit more money and want a really powerful PC, since Nvidia still has to make the 670 and 660 happen and they could make prices drop really fast.
I've decided to make an excel spreadsheet now since I need to reevaluate all the data I have with US prices. This might take a while, so I will probably edit this post tomorrow. I'm trying as hard as I can to get meaningful numbers, but it all depends on the games you play, your graphics settings (2560x1600 or SSAA can make some graphics cards be <b>TWICE</b> as fast as cards that have similar performance in 1920x1080) and your willingness to overclock. I will mention big exceptions like these in the sheet.
For myself, I am ordering a 3570K and a HD 7850 (overclocked, Sapphire custom cooler) right now, since I don't want to spend too much money on a 7870 when I can get roughly the same performance by overclocking a 7850 (some cards go as high as 1.3GHz, which is a 50% OC).
The 7950 is probably a better card to buy for US residents, since it comes with 3 free game keys worth approx. $50 on eBay and is pretty future proof with 3GB VRAM (for extreme resolutions, HD texture packs, SSAA) and lots of compute performance potential (which games actually start using recently).
This is a spreadsheet of most current GPUs with some recommendations (in green): <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Au9rX0nU0i4rdDMwNGplR0UxUFR5VGczdF9jdnBMZFE" target="_blank">https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key...VGczdF9jdnBMZFE</a>
Newer generations of cards generally have the advantage of more optimizations to come in future games and the HD 7xxx series are readily available everywhere, unlike the GTX 680 and some of the last-generation cards.
As a CPU, you should definitely get a 2500K. There's nothing that delivers more performance per $$$ right now. I'm only getting a 3570K because I can and it's not too much more expensive. :P
As for a motherboard, pick your favorite brand (almost any major one is good, really) with the Z68 or Z77 chipset (Z77 shouldn't be more expensive, so go for it), look for 6+ USB slots or other features you might need and don't pick the cheapest one, since it might have poor power phases or PWM, making it unusable for overclocking if you ever want to do it. Spend 150$ or so and you're good usually, unless you want good CrossFireX/SLI potential. Watch out for M-Versions of the same MB, they are crappy castrated versions for µATX.
Get 8GB of RAM, it's cheap. I'm personally going for 16GB and then using 8GB as a RAMdisk just for the heck of it. If you want to get a custom cooler on your CPU to overclock (or just to have a silent PC), you should watch for RAM with a low profile. The frequency should be 1600MHz, as everything above that is almost totally useless.
But, as I said, be <b>extremely</b> sure that you want/need your new PC <b>right now</b>, since especially the GPU prices may drop substantially over the next 1-2 months, when the Geforce 670 and 660 are released. Noone knows for sure when they will be launched and when they will be actually available, though.
I'm still on a C2D, which is now overclocked to 3.2Ghz and it's still going strong (2006 era PC). So for around ~€700-€900 you can get an i5 2500K/i7 2600K (Ivy is marketing for the most part), with a good mobo (ASUS) and lot's of DDR3 memory. Slap some HDD's (screw SSD) and a good video card in there and you're good to go for at least a few years
Here is a suggestion for a rig within your 1k budget that will destroy anything you throw at it for years to come:
<a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233" target="_blank">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16811119233</a> Case
<a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072" target="_blank">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819115072</a> CPU
<a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271" target="_blank">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813157271</a> Motherboard
<a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099" target="_blank">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16835103099</a> Cooler
<a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150521" target="_blank">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814150521</a> GPU
<a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136795" target="_blank">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822136795</a> HDD
<a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236052" target="_blank">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16824236052</a> Monitor
<a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314" target="_blank">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820231314</a> RAM
<a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020&Tpk=CORSAIR%20Enthusiast%20Series%20TX650%20V2%20650W%20ATX12V%20v2" target="_blank">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...W%20ATX12V%20v2</a> PSU
All that for 900$ with rebates.
This assumes you have OS/keyboard/mouse. Even then you can still get under the 1k mark easy.
Anyhow, like I said, thats a kick ass rig that will more that cover your needs on any current games.
[...]
Anyhow, like I said, thats a kick ass rig that will more that cover your needs on any current games.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
1. I wouldn't particularly say that the <b>lowest end GPU worth buying right now</b> will "destroy anything you throw at it for years to come".
2. The RAM <i>might</i> not fit under the cooler (it has only 37mm clearance, GSkill stuff is 40mm tall), even though the cooler is not particularly big. Can't measure it from the internetz.
3. 650W PSU is a bit overkill, unless you use dual GPUs. E.g. a GTX 690 (dual GPU) + a 2600K overclocked to 4.5GHz will use about 390W. My system was running on a 350W PSU until I made it explode recently (don't ask how...). He can always upgrade it later on if he runs into problems.
EDIT: I'm not sure if he needs to replace his old PSU. I can't find any proper information on it. It seems to be a model that comes with a case, with a very unstable 12V rail, which is the most important one. So, it may indeed be good to switch to a new PSU. In that case, go for it, even if it is a bit overkill, since you never know what you might need in a few years.
EDIT2: To clarify: I'm suggesting that you should go for a new PSU >500W (550-650W suffice for anything not involving 3 or more graphics cards) if you have problems with your current one. If you don't have problems, there's no need to upgrade.
<!--quoteo(post=1934634:date=May 9 2012, 03:59 AM:name=Wheeee)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Wheeee @ May 9 2012, 03:59 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1934634"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->he should be able to run it on the 7950. how much vram is on it? the game only uses dx9 shaders and crap so there shouldn't be any issues with the card itself (unless he's trying to run it in a high res/high quality settings).<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Neither of his current components are sufficient. It's not about VRAM... His card is just incredibly old and also a Dual-GPU card, which does not fit NS2 very well.
2. The RAM <i>might</i> not fit under the cooler (it has only 37mm clearance, GSkill stuff is 40mm tall), even though the cooler is not particularly big. Can't measure it from the internetz.
3. 650W PSU is a bit overkill, unless you use dual GPUs. E.g. a GTX 690 (dual GPU) + a 2600K overclocked to 4.5GHz will use about 390W. My system was running on a 350W PSU until I made it explode recently (don't ask how...). He can always upgrade it later on if he runs into problems.
EDIT: I'm not sure if he needs to replace his old PSU. I can't find any proper information on it. It seems to be a model that comes with a case, with a very unstable 12V rail, which is the most important one. So, it may indeed be good to switch to a new PSU. In that case, go for it, even if it is a bit overkill, since you never know what you might need in a few years.
Neither of his current components are sufficient. It's not about VRAM... His card is just incredibly old and also a Dual-GPU card, which does not fit NS2 very well.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
1. That was Hyperbole my friend. And a 6870 is hardly a "low end" GPU. What about your 4850? And again he asked for a <u><b>budget build</b></u>.
2. The ram fits fine on that board with a 212 EVO. I have it.
3. Overkill? Its giving him room to expand. Maybe hge wants to crossfire or SLI? My setup OCed to 4.7ghz with crossfired 6870s uses roughly 500 watts.
Anyhow, Dghelneshi, its just a suggestion in response to his question. No need to pick it apart. He can take it or leave it.<i></i>
Not sure where you are getting your data but <u>unless im reading your data wrong</u> those FPS numbers are way off.
35 FPS with BF3 on a 6870?
<img src="http://media.bestofmicro.com/Y/N/313583/original/amd%20high%201920.png" border="0" class="linked-image" />
Thats just one example and thats at 1920x1080.
My own personal experience gives better results with my current rig.
Here is a comparison:
<a href="http://www.hwcompare.com/12078/radeon-hd-6870-vs-radeon-hd-7850/" target="_blank">http://www.hwcompare.com/12078/radeon-hd-6...radeon-hd-7850/</a>
Come to your own conclusions based on that.
<u><b>Anyhow Crossfired 6870s will out perform a single 7850 for roughly the same price.</b></u>
2. The ram fits fine on that board with a 212 EVO. I have it.
3. Overkill? Its called giving him room to expand. My setup OCed to 4.7ghz with crossfired 6870s uses roughly 500 watts.
Anyhow, Dghelneshi, its just a suggestion in response to his question. No need to pick it apart. He can take it or leave it.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
1. If you're going to say something completely wrong, why state it in the first place and then call it a hyperbole?
It's not "low end" (low end being the cards that barely outperform integrated GPUs), but it's the lowest I would go for a new graphics card, which was also exactly what I stated ("lowest end GPU worth buying"). Running some recent games below playable framerates isn't really a plus and if you go any lower, you will have to sacrifice visual quality right away, which doesn't feel good for a <b>new</b> graphics card. The 6870 is fine and I'd buy it on a constrained budged, but just not anything below that.
I was guessing he only wanted/needed to upgrade the main parts of the computer, not the whole case and everything, which leaves more room for a good GPU.
2. Okay, I wasn't 100% sure.
3. My reaction was more towards buying a new PSU just for that system. CrossFireX and SLI is usually not something you want to have for smooth gaming and as you say, it uses up A LOT of power, which also <b>costs money</b>. As you can see, I've edited the post afterwards and said that it's okay to go for it if he has any problems with his current PSU.
<!--quoteo(post=1934688:date=May 9 2012, 08:03 AM:name=bEEb)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (bEEb @ May 9 2012, 08:03 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1934688"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Not sure where you are getting your data but <u>unless im reading your data wrong</u> those FPS numbers are way off.
35 FPS with BF3 on a 6870?
[...]
Thats just one example and thats at 1920x1080.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
As you can see, my data is for 1650x1080 <b>with AA and AF</b> (4x/16x). I could put 100s of more data points in there, but I personally think this is the most common configuration as aliasing is horrible (at least for me) and I didn't want to clutter the sheet with information (it's already too much). I'm providing average data for very high and normal resolutions with and without AA/AF to show how different GPUs scale with different kinds of settings and also because I don't know what Uselessmidget2 wants to play at.
I'm not trying to be aggressive or to offend you, i'm just stating what I think about what you post as Uselessmidget2 said he doesn't have the time to do that much research by himself, but I'm not going to patronize and do all the choices for him, as people have different expectations or requirements. Also, <a href="http://xkcd.com/386/" target="_blank">http://xkcd.com/386/</a> strikes again. :)
EDIT: I would respond to the rest of your suggestions (6870 CrossFire, HWCompare site), but you seem to get offended by what I say, which I'm really sorry for. This is not a competition, I'm just trying to give the OP information so he can make his decision. I don't want to turn this into an endless debate or flame war, so I'm gonna step back and let the OP decide by himself.
Was that necessary? And did you really suggest I was patronizing him?
Anyhow. Good luck with your build.
I'm thinking I will come up with a list and make a new thread specifically about recommended components with what I have in mind. I hope you will all take a look and critic it.
One last thing, is there something I could swap out to have a drastic change in the mean time? Setup is in original post but I also have a spare GPU. Its a EVGA E-GeForce 9600GT "P/N: 01G.." I am assuming this is a 1GB card from that number. Would this and some more ram help? Maybe I can overclock this CPU?
Thanks again guys!
I'm thinking I will come up with a list and make a new thread specifically about recommended components with what I have in mind. I hope you will all take a look and critic it.
One last thing, is there something I could swap out to have a drastic change in the mean time? Setup is in original post but I also have a spare GPU. Its a EVGA E-GeForce 9600GT "P/N: 01G.." I am assuming this is a 1GB card from that number. Would this and some more ram help? Maybe I can overclock this CPU?
Thanks again guys!<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
It would be much appreciated if you could be very specific about things like whether you want to risk overclocking, whether you are sensitive to noise, exactly what price range you have in mind, which components you want to upgrade (besides CPU/GPU/MoBo/RAM, which are required anyway) and your personal experience with your Multi-GPU setup (i.e. micro-stuttering and driver support).
The 9600GT would certainly help. It's just slightly faster in other games, but should be much better in NS2 due to it's non-existing support for dual GPUs. Besides, you stated that you can't even start the game at all, so everything's better than that, right? :) (If the problem with starting the game is the GPU, I don't know for sure)
Having more than 2GB RAM would help, too, but since your DDR (1) RAM is so old and not produced anymore, it's usually very expensive to get.
There's no way you can swap out anything without replacing everything else (other than the GPU). CPU, Motherboard and RAM all depend on each other and it's unlikely you will find anything fitting anymore since it's so old and rare now. I would never waste money on such an old system.
Overclocking can be a very time consuming process and you probably won't see any miracles. <a href="http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=555058" target="_blank">Here's an overlocking guide for your old processor</a>. Make sure you read carefully and you always know what you're doing, don't just blindly follow every word. Don't overdo the voltage (ALWAYS stay below 1.5V on air/water cooling) and always be aware that you will not only overclock your processor if you increase the FSB, but also your memory, which will definitely fail first, so you will have to set a different FSB:RAM divider.
Whateves, as promised I got a new setup:
ASRock Z77 Extreme4
i5-3570k
Cooler Master 212+
Corsair 650w
EVGA GTX 670 FTW
8GB Corsair Vengeance ram
Kingston 120gb SSD
1TB Hitachi HDD
Cooler Master HAF 912
2x Asus 24" monitors