Try this client if you have problems

[Entropy]

We have some reasons to believe that the tile map is crashing some computers. We are not sure yet, but we want to rule this possibility out. So if you have frequent crashes, please download and run this client. It has the tiles disabled, so it doesn't look as good, but if it stops the crashes then we know where to look for.

 

http://el.beplacid.net/downloads/el_notiles_noclusters.exe

mirror at http://www.etermal-lands.us/downloads/el_n..._noclusters.exe

 

Please report any results (both negative or positive) on this thread.

 

P.S. remember to run the client you downloaded, not the el.exe

[scafativ]

We have some reasons to believe that the tile map is crashing some computers.

Please report any results (both negative or positive) on this thread.

 

I'm going to reply to this because I may have pertainant info.

 

I have an older laptop (POS Dell D830) that has windows, my unpreferred O/S. It ran the previous version of the client fine.

 

After upgrading to the new client, it crashed a few times, in short order, and there was a weird issue with the tile map flickering when moving about- the tiles would become transparent and you could see objects that penetrated beneath the tile level. I experimented with video settings, primarily to address the tile map issue rather than the crash issue, and found that by selecting "Vertex Buffer Objects" the tile flickering ceased. Also, as a happy side effect, n'ere a crash since.

 

I haven't tried this new noclusters exe because.. it's all working happily now.

 

I hope this is useful- let me know if you want me to try any specific experiments.

 

scaf

[Entropy]

Ok, thanks!

Hopefully, with this client we should determine if the bug is indeed with the tile map. If it is, then we know where to look, if not, we know where not to look

[Jaxbot]

I tried it, worked like a charm, great FPS, no crashes etc, but I couldn't click on the invisible tiles to walk, which made training a little annoying.

 

Did I do something wrong?

[Entropy]

No, everything is fine.

Let's see if others report similar results, then we can focus on this issue and hopefully fix it.

[jbug]

When I click on this notiles noclusters I get the mssg cannot find SDL_IMAGE.dll.

A search of my computer finds the file in c:/Program Files/Eternal Lands, so I cannot try this.

[scafativ]

Please report any results (both negative or positive) on this thread.

 

I had a completely repeatable problem- if I changed the game's video resolution and then changed maps *without* logging out first (which is when options are actually saved to disk), I crashed, reliably.

 

I installed the very latest NVidia driver (November), even though I had updated fairly recently (maybe August?), and the problem is completely gone.

 

The moral of this story? Update your drivers.

 

scaf

Edited November 30, 2007 by scafativ

[Entropy]

When I click on this notiles noclusters I get the mssg cannot find SDL_IMAGE.dll.

A search of my computer finds the file in c:/Program Files/Eternal Lands, so I cannot try this.

 

You are supposed to isntall it in your el folder...

 

I had a completely repeatable problem- if I changed the game's video resolution and then changed maps *without* logging out first (which is when options are actually saved to disk), I crashed, reliably.

 

I installed the very latest NVidia driver (November), even though I had updated fairly recently (maybe August?), and the problem is completely gone.

 

The moral of this story? Update your drivers.

 

scaf

 

Someone else reported that updating their drivers helped with a different crash, so by all means, PLEASE update your video drivers first!

[jbug]

Thank you, Ent. I moved it to the proper location. The game shuts itself down. I will post the whole problem in the proper thread.

 

 

http://www.eternal-lands.com/forum/index.p...mp;#entry401224

Edited November 30, 2007 by jbug

[Mugwump]

I'm getting all manner of odd results!

 

On both original and el_noclusters.exe I would get random freeze-ups with eventual client crash after at least an hour or more of play. No similar events taking place for these and not often at all.

 

Trying el_notiles_noclusters I started with character creation. As soon as I got to the Wraith the client froze then crashed. This occurred right after creation and on second try. All I had to do was pan the camera and freeze.

 

I then logged in with an alt and had no trouble for about a half-hour. Playing with most of the ground unclickable is hard to do! Took boats, changed maps, got killed, no problem.

 

I just updated my NVidia Riva TNT2 Model 64 32MB from the NVidia site yesterday. No difference from before the update. System is WinXP Home 2002 SP2, 600 mhz P3, 384 RAM.

 

Other than the few crashes, my only problems have been a slight time delay in key input (typing) and mouse clicking, plus a very jerky animation. My character while walking looks like he's doing the chicken dance and the moonwalk at the same time! My FPS has been very low from much earlier clients (2005) but this doesn't seem to be related. The restricted movement I'm normally used to still occurs under 8 FPS but this choppy animation is consistent at any FPS.

 

~~ I'm using the character I created that crashed at the Wraith now with no trouble on the original el.exe, it has only crashed using el_notiles.....

One other thing I noticed was logging in earlier today with el_noclusters.exe, some graphics were acting strange. My leather gloves were all black in MM but MM cave looked normal. The small stones on the ground were blank white until I changed maps, and some faces were all black til I moved away and came back into view. A few hours previous to this, everything was fine and I had changed nothing at all.

 

So far I've tried many of the advised tricks to the point of uninstalling all versions of EL and starting fresh including the data folder in My Documents, turning off everything running in the background, and defragging the drive. Nothing has changed the way EL runs since the update.

 

I am wondering if there is another source for graphics drivers recommended. This one appears to be perfect for the card and dated this year, but ya never know. Meanwhile, my issues are very minor and I'm loving the update.

 

I'll try a few more things, and if anything is worth mentioning I'll get back.

Edited November 30, 2007 by Mugwump

[Erossa]

Ok i tried this and my game seems to work alot better now, not as much lag and no graphic card errors yay thank you ent you da man

[Entropy]

Erossa, update your video drivers, theyw ere causing some of the problems fixed by this client.

[Suncie]

I get the following error when I run the patch:

 

This application has failed to start because SDL_image.dll was not found.Re-installing the application may fix this problem.

 

Unfortunately that does not work.

 

Suncie

[robotbob]

I get the following error when I run the patch:

 

This application has failed to start because SDL_image.dll was not found.Re-installing the application may fix this problem.

 

Unfortunately that does not work.

 

Suncie

 

 

Just like Jbug, this must go in your El folder. Then you run it from your el folder and not el.exe

[LeoI]

great! im actually able to log in and stay logged in now working fine so far

[FatboyJaxx]

I have tried both the "no tiles" and "no tiles or clusters" clients and with the "no tiles or clusters" client I had no crashes in several hours. With the "no clusters" client I had a lot less crashes than with the normal client but I still had a couple.

 

Also, in both clients there's still the bug where it crashes if you eat fruit while changing map.

 

I'm running on Windows XP with intel core duo, Geforce 8600GT and 1gb ram.

 

Hope this helps resolve the problem.

[Entropy]

Did you update your nvidia drivers to the very last driver version?

[nicky]

Wanted to add that on the normal el.exe executable worked until last night. I walked into the c1 fast read room. I walked to the middle of the room, client froze the os. I performed a reset, restarted el.exe and now i get 1 FPS on the screen, the toolbars load and the view turns grey and the os freezes there. This notiles noclusters executable you provided resolved the issue.

 

If there's any more info that would help you, just ask.

 

Thanks!

[Entropy]

Update your video drivers.

[macca]

all seems fine for me running with a constant 40 fps without changing the limitation of it tried reproducing a crash i had from before that used to turn my monitor off nothing from that which was nice just need to use mouse bug to walk around coz of no tiles. i'll update if anything changes just feels wierd seeing no floor but tp room looks nice without a floor

 

edit: also my drivers are as up to date as i can get them, tried omega drivers but couldnt run el at all.

anyways everything seems fine with this client thnx ent i can cope without tiles

Edited December 4, 2007 by macca

[falonor]

Downloaded the EXE file . copied it into the EL game's folder ,

double-clicked the EXE downloaded file .

 

el_notiles_noclusters.exe effect : loads faster than the basic EL.EXE ;

automatically changes game's window resolution to 800x600 ;

after login , instead of showing the game , it exits immediately .

 

After that , I deleted it and ran EL.EXE simple , turns out EL.EXE

si acting the same way now , although before that it worked fine

[ except it's crashes for the game and operating system , and

constant freezing ]