Having an odd problem with Star Wars KOTOR.

[Nomad25055]

Greetings Lurkers!

I have had Star Wars KOTOR for some time now but have only recently started playing it. I have two strange problems with this game. First of all my biggest problem: I have a tendency to crash at random when going through a loading screen. This is VERY annoying as those of you whom have played this game know, you go through quite a few of these screens. I have no idea what may be causing this. It has been doing this since I started playing it. I have all the updated drivers for my system yet it's doing this, so I thought okay maybe if I get SP2 it won't do this. WRONG, it did not change a thing. It still does this quite frequently. What happens is I will walk through a door or what have you and then on the loading screen it will pause and I will see an odd "artifact" of sorts appear in the bottom right of my screen for a split second then a little window will pop up saying: "Star Wars Knights Of The Old Republic has encountered an error and needs to close, we are sorry for the inconvenience." (Spelling?) So I click send error report, and when it finishes reporting the game goes and completly crashes to desktop. If my system specs will aid in this matter I will gladly post them. They are as follows: Abit NF7-S V2.0, AMD Athlon XP 3200+ Barton, Kingston Hyper-X PC3200 (512MB 2x256 dual kit) running in dual channel, ATI Radeon 9800PRO 256MB 256bit AGP8X enabled Catalyst 4.9, Windows XP PRO SP2. I also have the latest patch for Star Wars KOTOR. Now as for my second problem, I am not sure if it's just me or something is actually wrong with the game. I cannot enter the sand people enclave on Tatooine. My party consists of myself, Bastila, and HK-47. My entire party is wearing the Sand People disguises complete with Gaffi Sticks yet I am unable to enter the enclave. There is an invisible wall of sorts that stops me in my tracks. I have looked and looked but to no avail, as there is nothing/nobody in the area to talk to. I have spent several hours in this part of the game alone trying to enter the enclave. I simply cannot enter the enclave, can anyone offer some advice here?

NoMaD

[[wcip]Angel]

Hi.

First off, I'd like to quote the netiquette-section on the usage of paragraphs, but seeing as that section is absent in this new version of the forum, you're off the hook. (But seriously, paragraphs would make your post easier to read.)

On to the subject at hand:

It's been a while since I played KOTOR myself, but I seem to remember it running flawless on my system. Have you tried re-installing the game? I know it's a pain, but it might also help. You said you had all the newest drives for your system; I assume that also includes your sound card and video card? Have you got the newest version of Directx? I believe it's "Dirextx 9c" or something. Other than that, I really don't know what to say.

About the sand people. Did you go into town and ask about Mission's brother? Make sure you talk to all the people there before venturing out into the dunes. Also I think it might just be possible that you haven't gotten far enough into the game to access the enclave. Try going to another world and then come back to Tatooine.

If you still can't get anywhere, you could always check a guide over at www.gamefaqs.com.

Good luck! (And save money. Later in the game you'll need bucketloads for the finest armors and weaponry.) :)

[Nomad25055]

First off, I'd like to quote the netiquette-section on the usage of paragraphs, but seeing as that section is absent in this new version of the forum, you're off the hook. (But seriously, paragraphs would make your post easier to read.)

Lol yeah I tend to make one big paragraph while posting. It's something of a habit of mine but it shouldn't be too hard to rectify. As for drivers, I have all the newest drivers for my board (I use onboard audio) and I have the Catalyst 4.9 drivers for my card. Although I have been considering switching to the newest DNA drivers. In case you didn't know the DNA drivers are modified Catalyst drivers, and yes I have DX9.0c. I make a point of keeping current on DX and video card drivers. As far as running the game I have no problems running it with everything set to maximum except for my odd crashing, which occurs no matter what.

No I have not tried reinstalling the game, although as you have suggested this may help. Is this game like D2 in the sense that saved information does not get deleted? In Diablo 2 I recall that character files were not deleted when you reinstall. Or would I have to make a backup of these files? Could these files still cause this problem to occur?

As for the sand people enclave, I have not tried to ask about Mission's brother. I recall reading something about you have to keep up to date with Mission (talking to her about her brother) and you have to meet Lena before the option to talk to people about Griff becomes available. I have not met Lena and Mission simply will not allow me to talk to her about her brother anymore. How might I go about finding Lena? I have fully completed everything up to this point (Taris, Dantooine, Korriban) and have not seen Lena anywhere. I'm pretty clueless at this point. The only option I have is to head to Manaan (Spelling?) and continue with my main mission (at least this is the only option I believe i have). I appreciate you helping me with my problem.

NoMaD

[kandrathe]

Ooo! Ooo! I know this one, or at least your hardware problem. I have not got to the sand people enclave yet.

The problem: KOTOR is an open GL game, and ATI's drivers for open GL have fallen behind the QA standard since Catalyst 4.2.

The solution: Install Catalyst 4.2 drivers to extract the 4.2 version of c:\windows\system32\atioglxx.dll file and place it in your SWKOTOR subdirectory. Reinstall Catalyst 4.9 (latest) ATI drivers to get the system back to current drivers so everything else does not have a problem.

When you run KOTOR, the program will grab and use the atioglxx.dll file from the execution subdirectory first resolving the crash problems.

I just did this 3 days ago and voila! no more crashes.

[Nomad25055]

The solution:  Install Catalyst 4.2 drivers to extract the 4.2 version of c:\windows\system32\atioglxx.dll file and place it in your SWKOTOR subdirectory.  Reinstall Catalyst 4.9 (latest) ATI drivers to get the system back to current drivers so everything else does not have a problem.

I am downloading 4.2 right now to see if this helps. I'll be sure to post again if it doesn't.

NoMaD

[kandrathe]

I am downloading 4.2 right now to see if this helps. I'll be sure to post again if it doesn't.

NoMaD
[right][snapback]56684[/snapback][/right]

...and? I was imagining you in Tatooine bliss, crash free. Am I correct?

[Nomad25055]

...and?  I was imagining you in Tatooine bliss, crash free.  Am I correct?

Lol, yeah sorry about that. I kinda got abosorbed in KOTOR and my daily routines. Thanks for the help Kandrathe. Oh and by the way, ATI now has beta drivers out that increase performance and fix a few bugs such as the memory allocation problem on 256MB cards. And listed specifically in the bug fixes was a little fix concerning problems running Star Wars KOTOR with the 4.9 Cats :lol:. Well at least I have a fix until the non beta form of the 8.07 drivers come out. FYI they are currently called 8.07 but will be renamed to Catalyst 4.10 fairly soon (at least this is what I have read). These drivers increase performance quite a bit. I have been reading various posts about people seeing a 1000 point or more boost in score on 3dMark05 ;) .

NoMaD

[Wyrm]

From what I remember, getting into the sand people enclave has nothing to do with Mission's brother, that's a totally optional sidequest (there are a lot of those in the game, one of the things that I really like about it). If memory serves, all you have to do is talk to people to find out you need a hunting liscence from Czerka, then go to Czerka corp. and agree to trade problems (their sand people problem, your hunting liscence problem). It doesn't even matter if you actually plan to use the liscence (all it's good for is a small amount of extra cash), nor if you get HK-47 to be a translator.

[Nomad25055]

Well, I still can't get in for whatever reason :lol: :angry:

NoMaD

[ldw]

Well, I still can't get in for whatever reason :lol:  :angry:

NoMaD
[right][snapback]56832[/snapback][/right]

Apart form HK-47 anyone else that goes with your character including your character
cannot wear *anything* but robes/gaffi sticks (this includes shields, belts, visors etc.) else you either won't get in or will be attacked on sight once inside.
I know this for certain since I just replayed that part (replaying with different type of character recently).

If your problem is some sort of 'invisible wall' then I don't know how to help you.
:( When I replayed this, the area with the enclave was full of mines/sandpeople/banthas.
I recovered the mines and either avoided or killed the sand people (outside their enclave). There was no barrier.. I simply walked up to the enclave 'door' whilst in my disguise and just went forward and then the game will load the enclave interrior level.

Oh and yah long time ago this played flawlessly now with catalyst 4.9 it crashes every 4-12 saves/loads. Bah!

[kandrathe]

Well, I still can't get in for whatever reason :lol:  :angry:

NoMaD
[right][snapback]56832[/snapback][/right]

I'm past that part now. If you are trying to get into the East Dune Sea area it won't let you until you talk to the Sand People Leader. You need to get the sand people uniforms from the ambushing sand people in the Dune Sea, and it seems you can only don the disguse out in the desert. If you transport back to the Ebon Hawk, you are in your skivies. Did that as I forgot to take HK-47 the first time to the enclave. Make sure you are trying to access the area called Sand People Enclave.

[Nomad25055]

Greetings,

As for my problem with entering the sand people enclave I did not know about the part of not having ANYTHING BUT the disguises and gaffi sticks on, I will try this shortly. As for your problem with crashing I myself had the same problem. All you have to do is use the method of fixing as described by Kandrathe earlier in this thread OR get the new beta catalyst drivers which are currently entitle 8.07. There will be a new release of this driver within the next few days entitled Catalyst 4.10 and will presumably be "official" not beta. Listed among the bug fixes for this driver is a specific reference to crashing problems with SWKOTOR while using the 4.9 Cats :P.

NoMaD

EDIT: Oh and just so everyone knows, the sand people enclave is the only thing I have left to do on Tatooine except for the 3rd tier of swoop races. I presume I need swoop bike mods to win this tier but nobody has them for sale (parts I mean).

EDIT2: Still no luck. I cannot enter the enclave not matter what or so it seems. Maybe if I meet Lena and talk to her about Mission's brother I can enter. One problem though: Where and how do I meet Lena to do this?

[Drasca]

EDIT2: Still no luck. I cannot enter the enclave not matter what or so it seems. Maybe if I meet Lena and talk to her about Mission's brother I can enter. One problem though: Where and how do I meet Lena to do this?
[right][snapback]56842[/snapback][/right]

A few tips.

A) You'll need help from a certain psychotic droid.

B) You do *not* need bike mods to win the race. The "special" engine for the first race was to make sure that cinematic race couldn't be lost. You get no cheats here because its an optional skill based race. Look up race-tactics, but in general, it is all about hitting as many speed boosters early on, making top speed, and avoiding any obstacles from then on.

It is all skill.

Also, you'll want to reduce your graphical options (resolution, special effects) to increase reaction time. You'll beat third tier sooner or later.

[Nomad25055]

As for turning graphics down, I shouldn't have too. I have yet to see anything that will even slow my system down with the exception of Doom 3. I get 57-73 fps on high with the occasional slowdown that drops it to about 36. My rig can handle SWKOTOR with no problem (about 80FPS with everything turned up unless FRAPS is lying to me). As it is I get within .26 or less of the winning time. But i do tend to miss some of the speed boosters <_< . And as for not entering the Eastern Dune Sea before talking to the Sand People Chieftan: Not true, enter the sand people territory and you will find you can get into the eastern dune sea from there. How else could I have completed that part of Tatooine not having entered the enclave? I have tried everything I can think of trying to get into the enclave but no dice. I talk and talk to people trying to find out something and even talk to no end to HK-47 but still no luck. Its almost as if I am hated and therefore not allowed into the enclave. I have even started a new game and have made it to Tatooine and cannot enter the enclave even in this new game. I have even stooped so low as to have read a guide and it doesn't tell me anything. All it says is equip the outfits and walk right in. I get stopped at the entrance, there is an invisible barrier there. I have even tried running around at the entrance with nothing but my weapons equipped (quit odd looking if you ask me <_< ) to see if I could get some sand people to appear and still nothing. And as for whoever it was that said there were banthas outside the enclave, not for me there isn't. Nothing but mines and the enclave entrance for me. I am clueless and am getting very frustrated. I am considering emailing tech support about this :unsure:

NoMaD