(Spoiler Warning) Clear Sky crashes = 'xrEngine.exe caused BREAKPOINT'

[Dia]

Ok; I've D/L'd & installed the most recent patch as well as the Complete mod, and up til today only had a few crashes to desktop, but today I just can't make it through the 'scout the streets of Limansk' mission. I get as far as the Bandit machinegunner (on the balcony of a building around the corner from the ambush) and bam! the game crashes. I've tried reloading from different previous saves thinking that maybe it was the quicksaves that had gone buggy, but to no avail. Any saves after entering Limansk (at the tunnel) seem to be rotten, won't load, and I get the error message.

This is the error message I'm getting (plus system info):





I just read on the GSC forums that one moderator there believes the error to be mod-related, but the only mod I've installed is the Complete mod. Do I need to uninstall CS, then reinstall, add the latest patch and forget about installing CSComplete? Or do I need to forget about the patch as well and just cross my fingers & try playing it minus patch & mod?

This is soooo frustrating since I've really been enjoying CS and I've gotten so much further than before. After the frustrations I experienced the last time I tried to play CS on my old PC I was actually hoping I'd get to play this game thru to the bitter end. Guess I should've known this bitch wasn't done with me yet. This sucks.

[june gloom]

The problem is native to the game, not Complete -- Limansk is an awful mess. A little research tells me that when you first enter Limansk, after going through the tunnel, there's a bit where there's two wounded bandits, but there's another bandit ambush up ahead. The idea is to kill the bandit ambush FIRST, then come back and deal with the two casualties. This seems to work for people who try it. It's also apparently a very random bug.

Savegame corruption is almost unstoppable in this section -- your best bet is to make a hard save before crossing the bridge, and use quick save while in town. If your quicksave goes blooey, resort to the hard save or autosave.

[Dia]

Thanks for the advice dethy. I do have one hardsave that works every time; just at the mouth of the tunnel used to enter Limansk. But as soon as I've tried taking out the machine gunners the whole thing's crashed each time, though at different places within the gunners' nest. Any save after the tunnel to Limansk is corrupted - even quicksaves, so it looks like if your method works I'll not be saving til I leave Limansk again. Keeping my fingers crossed.

[Dia]

Sorry for the double post, but I was wondering if CS would be any more stable through Steam? I'm using the retail version, but if playing through Steam could guarantee that I could finish the game without these stupid crashes, then I'm willing to fork out nine bucks for it.

EDIT: Well, your suggestion is working so far Andy. I've been back & forth to Limansk and so far no crashes. Haven't tried to load from one of the saves I made after leaving Limansk, but as I said, things are looking stable (hope I didn't just jinx it). Thanks again.

[june gloom]

Trust me, it's not Steam. Limansk is a god damned mess. Feel free to make/use saves outside of that map, however.

[StormChaser]

Am I the only one blessed with not a single crash when it comes to Clear Sky? I just finished my first playthrough half an hour ago and encountered not a single bug - Steam version, no mods.

[Bakerman]

I don't remember CS that well, but I've certainly gotten through SoC and CoP without the crashes that seem to plague everyone else. CS I remember for hideous bugs and brokenness, but not for actual crashes.

[june gloom]

I've only ever gotten that far once, my first time through, and didn't have trouble.

My second playthrough, I kept getting crashes when trying to re-enter Garbage after visiting Dark Valley. Damn thing simply would not load.

[Dia]

Well, so far so good; dethy's advice regarding Limansk worked. I can load from any save now - even while I'm in Limansk. Seems once I got past the two bandit-thingy (when you first enter Limansk), everything worked fine with no crashes at all after that. A far cry from the first time I tried to play CS on my 8 yr. old PC; I never even made it as far as the Red Forest and my old PC was never the same after all the CS crashes.

I only had problems with SoC on my old PC at the end while trying to reach the CNPP; I got as far as trying to run the gauntlet to the Sarcophogus past all the NPCs shooting at me from every direction and the game crashed every time. Finally got to finish SoC a couple weeks ago (and enjoyed the hell out of it, too!). For some reason, my old PC never had a problem with CoP and I finished that the first time I played it. Go figure.

I have to admit that I've never played any games ever that had so damn many bugs and glitches as the Stalker games. Wish I could say it added to their charm, but unfortunately it only added to my frustration/rage/rant level. Feels damn good when you finally finish them, though.

[StormChaser]

I don't recall experiencing any crashes while playing any of the games, to be honest. I do remember encountering a few bugs, but that was it.

Also the Loner vs Bandits faction war in Clear Sky was kind of annoying since the outpost near the exit to the Garbage would regularly get overrun by mutants and that would make the guys in Depot leave it so they could capture it and the Depot in turn would be filled with Bandits again seconds later. Yeah, that was fun.

I remember being baffled when I first encountered that element of the game. When they told me I had to go and capture certain positions with a group, I was thinking that I would have to do all the work as in so many games before and be the lead in all of the attacks. I was pleasantly surprised, needless to say. The NPCs actually had a brain, they would capture positions on their own.

That idea had so much potential, it was such a breath of fresh air that it made the game stand out in my eyes. It's such a pity it got hindered by poor implementation and oversights. Sigh.