Torque Constructor Crashes on launch
by Thomas -elfprince13- Dickerson · in Torque Game Engine · 04/09/2007 (7:17 pm) · 16 replies
I've been eagerly awaiting the free release of Constructor, and downloaded it first chance i got today. so i was disappointed to discover that every time i try to start it, it crashes before it can load. My computer meets the system requirements, my graphics card drivers are uptodate, and other Torque based programs run fine on my computer.
I've got a 747 MHz Pentium III, with 512MB of Ram, XP pro, and a Trident Video Accelerator CyberBlade-XP graphics card.
I've got a 747 MHz Pentium III, with 512MB of Ram, XP pro, and a Trident Video Accelerator CyberBlade-XP graphics card.
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C.S. PhD student at Brown University. Project lead for FreeBuild. Administrator, Cemetech tech community. Webmaster for the Village2Village Projects and the Vermont Sustainable Heating Initiative.
#2
I'd stick with QuArK or Hammer, but QuArK all too frequently has issues with brushes getting corrupted with any complex editing, and Hammer irritatingly requires the use of .wad files.
[edit2]
OGL is fine.
04/09/2007 (7:23 pm)
No obvious errors in console.log, and as I said, all my existing Torque based games run fine, as do Blender, Milkshape, QuArK and the Valve Hammer Editor, and various other games all of which require OGL.I'd stick with QuArK or Hammer, but QuArK all too frequently has issues with brushes getting corrupted with any complex editing, and Hammer irritatingly requires the use of .wad files.
[edit2]
--------- Initializing MOD: Constructor: Client --------- Loading compiled script constructor/client/ui/customProfiles.cs. constructor/client/ui/customProfiles.cs (0): Unable to find parent object GuiTreeViewProfile for GuiControlProfile. Loading compiled script common/client/message.cs. Loading compiled script common/client/mission.cs. Loading compiled script common/client/missionDownload.cs. Loading compiled script common/client/actionMap.cs. Video Init: Accelerated OpenGL display device detected. Accelerated D3D device not detected. Voodoo 2 display device not detected. Activating the OpenGL display device... Activating the OpenGL display device... Setting screen mode to 1024x768x32 (w)... Creating a new window... Acquiring a new device context... Pixel format set: 32 color bits, 32 depth bits, 8 stencil bits Creating a new rendering context... Making the new rendering context current... OpenGL driver information: Vendor: Trident Renderer: Blade XP/AGP Version: 1.2.1 OpenGL Init: Enabled Extensions ARB_multitexture (Max Texture Units: 2) EXT_paletted_texture EXT_compiled_vertex_array EXT_packed_pixels OpenGL Init: Disabled Extensions EXT_blend_color EXT_blend_minmax NV_vertex_array_range EXT_texture_env_combine EXT_fog_coord ARB_texture_compression EXT_texture_compression_s3tc 3DFX_texture_compression_FXT1 (ARB|EXT)_texture_env_add EXT_texture_filter_anisotropic WGL_EXT_swap_control
OGL is fine.
#3
04/09/2007 (7:45 pm)
OGL isn't "fine"--a very large portion of the extensions are disabled...and that might very well include extensions that are needed by Constructor. 
#4
Are you getting any significant error from the crash? What does the rest of your console.log say? Did you install Constructor in its own directory (a few of the beta testers had bad bugs because they tried installing Constructor in their TGE directory)?
04/09/2007 (7:45 pm)
Hmm...that looks correct.Are you getting any significant error from the crash? What does the rest of your console.log say? Did you install Constructor in its own directory (a few of the beta testers had bad bugs because they tried installing Constructor in their TGE directory)?
#5
and yes, it has its own directory.
Stephen: given what else runs on this computer I *highly* doubt those extensions are the problem.
04/09/2007 (7:53 pm)
The forum won't let me post the whole text (too long), so here's a pastecode link to it: http://pastecode.com/22487and yes, it has its own directory.
Stephen: given what else runs on this computer I *highly* doubt those extensions are the problem.
#6
console: pastecode.com/22672
04/10/2007 (8:49 am)
I am having crash issues as well. First it crashed when I clicked to send the key via ignition, which I chalked up to maybe it didn't like my router, but it shouldn't have crashed because of no connection. After that it didn't ask for the key and loaded. Then it crashed on exit, I wasn;t doing anything, just loaded it and quit.console: pastecode.com/22672
#7
what is this?
if better be some crappy old compaq laptop.
if it isnt, it is time to replace that card, I've got a old pci card I could give ya.
man toss that thing in the garbage.
and the engine still supports a voodoo 2?
insane..
Delete.
04/10/2007 (8:53 am)
Trident Blade?what is this?
if better be some crappy old compaq laptop.
if it isnt, it is time to replace that card, I've got a old pci card I could give ya.
man toss that thing in the garbage.
and the engine still supports a voodoo 2?
insane..
Delete.
#8
I mean sure GG states min requirments which are below your specs, but what they list, like all other software companies is total bs. You'll need at least a P4 1.6 Ghz with ATI or Nvidia graphics for Torque work.
Btw my crash went away when I disabled my proxy server.
04/10/2007 (9:16 am)
Thomas, I'd say your box isn't TGE/TGEA Dev ready. PIII 750 with Trident graphics.. No way man.I mean sure GG states min requirments which are below your specs, but what they list, like all other software companies is total bs. You'll need at least a P4 1.6 Ghz with ATI or Nvidia graphics for Torque work.
Btw my crash went away when I disabled my proxy server.
#9
04/10/2007 (10:46 am)
Hi Thomas, sorry to hear you are having problems. Unfortunately, Trident was not a card that I was able to factor into my testing here, so it may be that we are looking into a compatibility issue here with Constructor and your video card. If it's possible, can you borrow a card from someone and put it in the machine to test this theory? 
#10
Thomas, have you downloaded the 'last' drivers ever made for it? Also the Trident CyberBlade-XP may not be your problem- but the fact you only have 512Megs, I watch my taskmanager as Constructor loads and have seen it leap over 800megs when starting up...
04/10/2007 (11:01 am)
Yes the Trident CyberBlade-XP is a integrated PIII laptop video accelerator, it use the CPU as part of its GPU, had some nifty features for its time, but was always an underdog in its class. Thomas, have you downloaded the 'last' drivers ever made for it? Also the Trident CyberBlade-XP may not be your problem- but the fact you only have 512Megs, I watch my taskmanager as Constructor loads and have seen it leap over 800megs when starting up...
#11
Zod: I've been using other Torque based products for 2 years, including the 1.5 engine without problems, the difference between 15fps and 60fps really doesn't bother me. Part of what I love about Torque is that you can set the preferences to support machines like what I have, and still be able to enjoy gameplay. If a computer that runs Blender can't run Constructor because of RAM/processor usage you guys have some pretty serious design issues.
Kenneth: I doubt I can get ahold of another video card, because I'm a cashless highschool student in a pretty lowtech area. What sorts of graphics card features beyond the normal Torque ones does Constructor require?
Gypsy: yes, I do have the newest drivers.
in general: I hope you guys can figure out what the issue is, my goal when developing is to be able to support computers like mine as the bottom end of our spectrum, so that cash-strapped college and highschool age nerds like myself, who make up a MASSIVE portion of the internet can continue to play worthwhile games on their computer. I realise that Torque has to stay competitive with other engines by adding more features to support newer machines, but that doesn't mean you guys should abandon the low-mid range computers that still dominate the internet.
04/10/2007 (12:24 pm)
Its an old Toshiba Pro 4600 that I've revamped to run better than most of the pentium 4s that my friends have (and don't know how to take care of software wise).Zod: I've been using other Torque based products for 2 years, including the 1.5 engine without problems, the difference between 15fps and 60fps really doesn't bother me. Part of what I love about Torque is that you can set the preferences to support machines like what I have, and still be able to enjoy gameplay. If a computer that runs Blender can't run Constructor because of RAM/processor usage you guys have some pretty serious design issues.
Kenneth: I doubt I can get ahold of another video card, because I'm a cashless highschool student in a pretty lowtech area. What sorts of graphics card features beyond the normal Torque ones does Constructor require?
Gypsy: yes, I do have the newest drivers.
in general: I hope you guys can figure out what the issue is, my goal when developing is to be able to support computers like mine as the bottom end of our spectrum, so that cash-strapped college and highschool age nerds like myself, who make up a MASSIVE portion of the internet can continue to play worthwhile games on their computer. I realise that Torque has to stay competitive with other engines by adding more features to support newer machines, but that doesn't mean you guys should abandon the low-mid range computers that still dominate the internet.
#12
04/10/2007 (1:08 pm)
Dev machines are often quite high-end in comparison to the final product that is released for lower end machines. Are you able to run the newest version of Adobe Premiere with all the bells and whistles? Probably not (nor would I want to try), but you can probably watch movies that were rendered out of it.
#13
and as I said I can run blender, milkshape, and various interior editors just fine, so Constructor, having comparative features and running on an engine that my computer can handle just fine should not take up massive amounts of extra overhead.
04/10/2007 (1:18 pm)
There's a HUGE difference in the computation necessary for editing existing animations, and creating your own ;) the difference in the number of bytes needed to store uncompressed models, and uncompressed movies is different on at a level of 4 or 5 orders of magnitude.and as I said I can run blender, milkshape, and various interior editors just fine, so Constructor, having comparative features and running on an engine that my computer can handle just fine should not take up massive amounts of extra overhead.
#14
I'm amazed that Blender would work that well with a complex scene, but maybe they've done some fancy legwork behind the scenes for low-res texture display in caching and such. Milkshape's requirements haven't changed in a long time. But just because it's built on top of Torque does not mean that it works the same way as the engine itself.
I'm thinking it has more to do with your card than anything else, though. I can run Constructor just fine on my desktop with 512m. It has a Radeon card. My Tablet PC has 512 as well as a crappy Intel chipset. My UX180P Vaio (with a strangely-sized screen) works well as well with 512m again with a crap intel chipset. My Windows desktop that I use for writing is a crap Dell 3ghz with 512m and a Radeon x1300 PCI Express card. All of them run Constructor well, as does the Mac Mini with 1g of memory and the Dual G5 with 8g. The Intel chipsets are common (and often somewhat problematic), but they are working.
I could definitely be wrong, but I'm thinking it's the card.
04/10/2007 (2:45 pm)
You're right. There is a huge difference between a dev machine and an end-user machine. Real-time editing of raw HD video takes a powerhouse machine with some rather hefty specs, even if the end-product is not. Loading texture libraries into 3D apps, filter sets in Photoshop (or GiMP), etc require a bit more than a viewer application. Likewise, most development applications have higher requirements than the engines that use them.I'm amazed that Blender would work that well with a complex scene, but maybe they've done some fancy legwork behind the scenes for low-res texture display in caching and such. Milkshape's requirements haven't changed in a long time. But just because it's built on top of Torque does not mean that it works the same way as the engine itself.
I'm thinking it has more to do with your card than anything else, though. I can run Constructor just fine on my desktop with 512m. It has a Radeon card. My Tablet PC has 512 as well as a crappy Intel chipset. My UX180P Vaio (with a strangely-sized screen) works well as well with 512m again with a crap intel chipset. My Windows desktop that I use for writing is a crap Dell 3ghz with 512m and a Radeon x1300 PCI Express card. All of them run Constructor well, as does the Mac Mini with 1g of memory and the Dual G5 with 8g. The Intel chipsets are common (and often somewhat problematic), but they are working.
I could definitely be wrong, but I'm thinking it's the card.
#15
looks like you might have to break out the lawnmower.
04/10/2007 (2:46 pm)
Constructor will definately be harder hitting than all the afore mentioned.looks like you might have to break out the lawnmower.
#16
04/12/2007 (9:18 am)
We just had this problem, anytime we used any torque product on our compiler machine it would automatically bring up the debugger, sound familiar. We fixed these crashes by making sure windows permissions were set correctly, and that the latest direct X runtime is installed. There may have been something else Ill ask out tech:) 
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