X3AP and TC lock up when using Flak Artillery or Plasma Burst Generator?

[Terrachova]

Guess I'll start off by stating that, in all other situations, the game seems to run just fine (except for when I'm in a sector with either one of my massive complexes, or a massive fleet battle, but that's understandable). Computer has 4gb RAM, Vista 64bit, Nvidia GT130M graphics card, and a dual core CPU (forget which one, like 2.8ghz though).

Anyway, when using the PBG or FFA (myself - when a turret or AI controlled ship uses them there's no problem at all), the game will sometimes lock up and drop me to a black screen - rarely, it will then recover, but usually, it just remains like that, forcing me to hard-reset the computer.

I've had similar tings happen in games before - it feels like an error or lockup with the graphics card, since those are high-effect weapons. It just seems odd to me that it doesn't always happen, and only when I myself am pulling the trigger (for reference, a Tiger loaded with FAAs in every turret causes no problems unless I myself go to use those turrets).

Its rather annoying when flying a fighter equipped with PBGs though, which is where I mainly encounter it. I dunno... has anyone else encountered this? Is there any way to prevent it from happening? I lowered the visual settings a bit (medium-ish all around), but that didn't prevent it.

[Alan Phipps]

A 2009 review of your Notebook graphics onboard card said:
"The performance of the [Nvidia] GT 130M should be somewhere near the 9650M GS. Therefore high end games like GTA 4 and Crysis wont run in high settings, but less demanding games (like Left 4 Dead) should run fluently in high settings."

Whilst X3 is generally cpu-limited I guess that PSG flare and FAA explosion graphics from the first person perspective, and any on-target effects, may be taxing your mobility card. There is far more detail to calculate and render when you are at the centre of things rather than being offset at a distance. You have tried lowering the graphics settings but would changing any of the graphic effects such as glow etc have helped?

The other thing is to check that it is not a sound issue associated with those weapons firing or hitting that is causing the problem. Temporarily disable the sound device(s) in Device Manager and see if that changes things. This is where the info requested in the first Announcement on this forum would have been useful as I could have checked your update state, devices, drivers and codecs etc.