Strange problem with version 1.04

[DeadHead]

I've played this brilliant game since version 1.02 and am hooked!

Now that I installed v1.04, I can't play anymore.
The menus work fine, but whenever I am getting on the track, the engine sounds start crackling and buzzing, and the screen is black for about 10-20 seconds before the image shows up.

I haven't got the patience to wait for the start lights to go on and off... I've waited for about a minute for the first lights to appear. The game seems to run awfully slow in-game.

Tried reinstalling (complete uninstall -> reinstall), doesn't cure the problem.
Tried older versions, the same problem appears.
Tried windowed / full screen with different res / color depth. Didn't help.

Oh, and if I start the editor, I have to Ctrl-Alt-Del my way out, as the mouse pointer won't move. So it crashes, I believe.

What is going on?
Nothing has changed in my system. I do update my virus scanner, but I've tried turning it off and then installing and playing, but there's no change in behaviour.

Specs:

AMD Athlon X2 4800+
MSI M2N
2 GB RAM
GeForce 8800 GTS

I use the integrated sound chip, as the second option is a 1st generation SB Live...

Any help in solving this rather annoying problem is greatly appreciated!
Might've forgotten something off this post, as I got timed out on the first try...

Cheers,
DeadHead

[siread]

Maybe a silly question but did you reboot your PC?

If you want to go back to 1.03 it's here:
http://download.newstargames.com/Install_NSGP_103.exe

[DeadHead]

Tried rebooting as well, didn't work.
Also tried to revert to v1.03, which didn't cure the problem either.

This seems odd...

Last time I had to kill the process I checked its memory allocation.
It showed over 150 000 KB for NSGP. Is this normal?
In the menus the allocation is below 10 000 KB...


Cheers,
DeadHead

*Just figured out it might be process priority related or something like that:
Bringing up task manager makes the game run smoothly and the sounds to brighten up for the duration of time it takes for the task manager to pop up.
After task manager has finished loading, the game returns to its troubled state.
Still don't know how to fix it, though. Changing process priority to realtime doesn't fix it.

[siread]

Very strange. I've noticed that sometimes it occasionally takes longer to start up than others (long black screen), so I'll look at what's happening there.

Have you tried updating your graphics and sound card drivers? Gfx instructions are here:

http://www.newstarsoccer.com/newstarforum/showthread.php?t=8213

[DeadHead]

Updated both audio and gfx drivers yesterday.
I'm afraid it didn't help in this case...

Also tried v1.03 after updating, but still get the same problem.
Seems like my computer wants to ban me from playing the game :wall:


Cheers,
DeadHead

[DeadHead]

Updated my gfx and sound card drivers yesterday,
but unfortunately it didn't solve the problem...

Tried uninstalling the newest version and rolled back to v1.03,
but the same problem still exists.


Cheers,
DeadHead

[siread]

I'm not sure what else to suggest right now. I will be looking at the game code to try to streamline it a bit more so all I can do is suggest you try the next update (in a few days).