Game freezes and crashes when I click "Play" on the home screen

PersianKushPersianKush Join Date: 2013-09-28 Member: 188502Members
Hi guys,

First off, this game rocks, which makes this problem even more annoying! :)

Here is what we're dealing with. I have recently tried to play NS2 after a few months now (went on a gaming hiatus, never a bad thing...), when I click play on the main screen, the game displays the server browser (completely empty) and then freezes.

In my attempt to solve this problem before posting, I tried a number of things that I'll list in a second, but after I thought I allowed NS2 in my firewall options (i say thought because there were 2 copies of NS2 in the list, one was checked for public networks and one was checked for private, what I did was check all of them for each respective NS2 program). ANYWAYS, after I may or may not have changed my firewall settings, I was able to browse through servers and join a game. It was fun, and I thought my problems were solved. Until I tried to play again tonight, same problem happened again.

I also remember being able to view servers on a separate occasion. So that means this problem may not be evident 100% of the time, for whatever that's worth (instead maybe a solid 97%)

So there's me ranting of how I've been dealing this problem, now I'll list regular stuff.

I've tried...
- Verifying Game Cache
- Complete NS2 Nuke and re-install as the forums requested
- Messing with firewall settings
- Deleting and unsubscribing from all mods
- Resetting options file
- Searching for other threads with my specific problem

I have also attached the techsupport file as well

I'm sorry if I come off not as computer savvy as other on here. Please let me know if there is any other information you would like from me. Thank you in advance for your suggestions, or pointing me to the right direction/threads

Comments

  • PersianKushPersianKush Join Date: 2013-09-28 Member: 188502Members
    Bump/ Update: Just tried to run NS2 today, while listening to some music on Media Monkey, then my comp bluescreened while the speakers emitted a very terrible sound. I'm oficially scared of this game now :(

    I also realized I didn't post my specs, so here is that...
    -Intel core i7-3630QM 2.4 GHz quad core (speed up to 3.2 GHz w/ turbo boost)
    -NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M w/ 2 GB VRAM -12 GB memory

  • tdunc-tdunc- Join Date: 2013-01-12 Member: 179214Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    I've been having the same problem for a while now.
  • GhoulofGSG9GhoulofGSG9 Join Date: 2013-03-31 Member: 184566Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, Forum Moderators, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Squad Five Silver, Reinforced - Supporter, WC 2013 - Supporter, Pistachionauts
    Bump/ Update: Just tried to run NS2 today, while listening to some music on Media Monkey, then my comp bluescreened while the speakers emitted a very terrible sound. I'm oficially scared of this game now :(

    I also realized I didn't post my specs, so here is that...
    -Intel core i7-3630QM 2.4 GHz quad core (speed up to 3.2 GHz w/ turbo boost)
    -NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M w/ 2 GB VRAM -12 GB memory

    Specs are in the tech_support.zip . The Problem is i can't see any problem in your log, settings or the minidump. Could you use this programm: http://www.heise.de/download/bluescreenview.html to get us the bluescreen?
  • PersianKushPersianKush Join Date: 2013-09-28 Member: 188502Members
    Hi, thanks for the response guys.

    First off, the blue screen only happened once, the main problem I was having that tdunc apparently experiences as well, is that we are unable to get to the server browser (and subsequently play matches), because once we click play on the home screen, the game freezes at the browser page.

    However, and tdunc you should pay attention, the many measures I took to nuke the game (by following the methods in the stickied post), when I clicked on mods at the home screen, I saw that I still had one mod active (MANLY MOUSTACHES OF ALL THINGS!!!), even though I had unsubscribed. Deactivating did not fix the problem, I had to delete the content of

    C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Natural Selection 2\Workshop

    And then, I was finally able to access the server screen. BUT there are still 2 really big problems with my game, and here's what they are.

    FIRST: If I join any server w/ mods activated, this problem happens all over again. In fact, the first server I joined had 3 mods active. After I left and tried to browse servers, the game froze. Except this time, deleting the folder wasn't enough. I had to do a full nuke and Redownload the game to get it working again. As far as I know, there is no way to filter out servers with mods, so this problem is very unsustainable if I'm forced to nuke and re-dl the game everytime I join a server w/ mods

    SECOND: The game freezes every single time I try to exit. Not once have I been able to exit w/o using task manager to shut down the process. Though, this is not as bad as the mod problem, as I can still work around it. I have attached the tech support zip of this issue.




    ...So this is where I'm at right now.
  • Metal BunnyMetal Bunny Join Date: 2009-01-13 Member: 66072Members
    I have the exact same problem. Some help on this would be great
  • ConfusedConfused Wait. What? Join Date: 2003-01-28 Member: 12904Members, Constellation, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Subnautica Playtester
    The stpes are pretty simple go to teh workshop via steam click on "my subscribed items", on the right panel. unsubscribe from your mods.

    Once that is done delete the content in %appdata%/Natural Selection 2/ workshop.

    From there is should be smooth sailing.

    If you do that and things still go wrong verfiy your install via steam.

    I
  • PersianKushPersianKush Join Date: 2013-09-28 Member: 188502Members
    edited October 2013
    Been tryin that homeboy, just doesn't work. Literally re-installed my windows, works fine until I accidentally encounter a server that automatically downloads mods, plays game fine, until the next time I join, the frozen server browser. I then infer it's because of the mod, and delete the content in the folder. Will that fix it??? No

    OH so maybe I should verify?? First time it says 100 some items were reacquired, still doesn't work. Restart windows, try again. Nope. Verify again, "all items successfully validated", still doesn't work.

    Basically, the only solution is to re-download the whole damn game. Does that seem reasonable to you? Encounter a server with some minor mods, and I have to re-dl....yeah totally worth my time.

    To clarify, I'm not the one subscribing to mods, it's mods being downloaded by servers. AT LEAST GIVE ME THE OPTION TO FILTER OUT SERVERS WITH MODS INSTEAD OF PLANNING THESE "ZANNY EVENTS", THATS ALL I WANT, NOT EVEN A FIX.

    Edit: Reinstalling the game actually did not work for me this time. No mods present
  • JCDJCD Join Date: 2005-01-07 Member: 33150Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    Play on UWE Official Servers they don't have mods on them.
  • PersianKushPersianKush Join Date: 2013-09-28 Member: 188502Members
    For what it's worth, I nuked the game again today, and pulled it up after download. I got to the browser page and then pressed back to the main menu. Upon returning to the browser page, I had the freeze/crash again. Who knows what the problem is anymore, I give up on this game. What a shame it used to not do this upon release
  • tdunc-tdunc- Join Date: 2013-01-12 Member: 179214Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    I still have the same issue.

    even after the update...

    Lovely how it started right after I donated the 75$......
  • IronHorseIronHorse Developer, QA Manager, Technical Support & contributor Join Date: 2010-05-08 Member: 71669Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, Forum Moderators, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Subnautica Playtester, Subnautica PT Lead, Pistachionauts
    I'll forward your dump file to a dev, but in the meantime: are you sure you nuked everything? Even manually deleted the user data that contains server filter settings?
  • PersianKushPersianKush Join Date: 2013-09-28 Member: 188502Members
    edited October 2013
    IronHorse wrote: »
    I'll forward your dump file to a dev, but in the meantime: are you sure you nuked everything? Even manually deleted the user data that contains server filter settings?

    I was following the Obby's nuke guide on the front page, but this time I just deleted the NS2 folder in userdata, and redl'd the game and I'm able to browse servers again. So that is interesting improvement, I'll try some servers and will avoid modded ones (UWE servers are all empty :|)

    UPDATE: After ironhorse mentioned the userdata, I have found that after every session, deleting the useredata and the appdata will avert this problem, even if the server downloads mods. This also means the game needs to optimize everytime it starts. While inconvenient, I'll take it for now as hopefully devs are working on a fix.
  • nairysnairys usa Join Date: 2013-10-23 Member: 188795Members
    Bumping this thread because this has been happening to me for a few weeks. I finally found a workaround today by deleting a file in this folder:

    C:\Users\X\AppData\Roaming\Natural Selection 2

    The file is:

    HistoryServers.json

    This allows me to click "Play" and see the Server List. However, I still have the following crashes:

    - Immediately upon returning to the "Play" server selection screen after either leaving a server or while in the middle of the game
    - Right clicking on any server in the browser to view the details - crashes immediately
    - Double clicking a full server to wait in queue to join the server. Crashes as soon as the "Waiting..." box comes up.

    Because of this workaround, I have to delete this file whenever I quit the game after playing on any server. A fix would make life a lot easier.
  • AsranielAsraniel Join Date: 2002-06-03 Member: 724Members, Playtest Lead, Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow, Subnautica Playtester, Retired Community Developer
    interesting. can you post the file here? the one that seems corrupted?
  • nairysnairys usa Join Date: 2013-10-23 Member: 188795Members
    I had to Zip it because it wouldn't let me attach a .json file type. Just tested it again with same results - "Play" screen crashed every time until I moved this file out of the folder.
  • AsranielAsraniel Join Date: 2002-06-03 Member: 724Members, Playtest Lead, Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow, Subnautica Playtester, Retired Community Developer
    Just tried with the same file (but with linux) and there is no crash. The file itself also doesn't look strange. But its an interesting clue to find out what is going on
  • nairysnairys usa Join Date: 2013-10-23 Member: 188795Members
    Thanks for trying. I just did the full nuke - didn't fix anything. I have to keep deleting this file every time before starting the game up.
  • nairysnairys usa Join Date: 2013-10-23 Member: 188795Members
    Just wanted to close the loop on this - after the latest build, I no longer encounter this error. Thanks.
  • IronHorseIronHorse Developer, QA Manager, Technical Support & contributor Join Date: 2010-05-08 Member: 71669Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, Forum Moderators, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Subnautica Playtester, Subnautica PT Lead, Pistachionauts
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