Flashing Screens - Can Not Play Past Cell Stage

This message was edited 4 times. Last update was at 09/09/2008 23:15:40

Not sure why but my post was deleted. I will try and re-type everything from the deleted post.

When starting the game and going into the cell stage I get a flashing screen (yellow, red, green, purple, etc). If I Ctrl + Alt + Del and select the task manager I can then go back into the game and play the cell stage all the way through. This only works after the opening movie of the cell stage. After the cell stage it happens again. This time I can not get back into the game. The screen continues to flash. I can hear my creature and hear all the sounds correctly so I know the game is still running in the background. It must be a graphical issue but I am unsure how to fix it.

Here are my specs:
Windows Vista 64-bit Ultimate SP1
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 (3.0 GHz)
4GB RAM
BFG 8800GTS 512 MB Video Card
MoBo does not have onboard video
Onboard Sound (Realtek)

Here is what I have done:
Wiped out and cleaned old drivers
Installed most up to date video drivers
Installed beta video drivers
Installed video drivers that came with the card
Installed up to date audio drivers
Uninstalled game and reinstalled
Run as administrator and Disable UAC
Run in Compatibility Mode (XP SP2)
Disable Antivirus / Firewall
Updated DirectX to the August update
Ran in windowed mode

Other games can run fine (Crysis, COD4, Bioshock, World of Warcraft, Team Fortress 2, and even the spore creature creator which has been uninstalled). Certain sections of the game run fine. I can create creatures, buildings, etc in the create area. I just cant play the actual game.

Any thoughts on what I should do? Thank You!

Does it work in windowed mode?

awolx wrote:Does it work in windowed mode?

Good call. I will try that when I get home this afternoon after work.

I read somewhere on the old forum that the game isn't dual core friendly, and if you have that you need to specify windows that it should only use one core, otherwise bad stuff like that happens.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 09/09/2008 21:59:49

awolx wrote:Does it work in windowed mode?

It does not work in Windowed mode. Instead the flashing goes away and it is just a black screen. I can still hear noise in the background and the cursor is still the spore in-game cursor as well. No different than my previous problem (except the flashing screen is black)

xlapin wrote:I read somewhere on the old forum that the game isn't dual core friendly, and if you have that you need to specify windows that it should only use one core, otherwise bad stuff like that happens.

The specifications state that it is core duo compatible. that would be absolutely ridiculous if the game had issue with dual core processors. Thats basically what everyone is running.

xlapin wrote:I read somewhere on the old forum that the game isn't dual core friendly, and if you have that you need to specify windows that it should only use one core, otherwise bad stuff like that happens.

HUM! That's good to know... Is that a tested thing or just a "I think that..." Anyone corroborated whoever claimed that?

madjack wrote:

xlapin wrote:I read somewhere on the old forum that the game isn't dual core friendly, and if you have that you need to specify windows that it should only use one core, otherwise bad stuff like that happens.

HUM! That's good to know... Is that a tested thing or just a "I think that..." Anyone corroborated whoever claimed that?

I disabled one core for the Spore process and it did nothing to remedy the issue. I am sure that this solution is an assumption. I have never heard of this rumor before.

Any other thoughts. Frustrated that I can't play the game! ARRRRGGGGGggg!

Wow I'm not sure at all what your problem would be. It may help others or someone with more knowledge to assist if you post your dxdiag however.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 09/09/2008 23:04:51

awolx wrote:Wow I'm not sure at all what your problem would be. It may help others or someone with more knowledge to assist if you post your dxdiag however.

Thanks for your help anyways!

Here is a link to my dxdiag text file for anyone with more knowledge.

DxDiag.txt

Thanks in advance for the help!

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 09/10/2008 22:54:53

Bump!

Anyone have any solutions? I can use all the creature editors. I just cant play the game. The game is going in the background but the screen is black...

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 09/11/2008 22:38:02

Still having issues here. I tried updating my drivers (after running a driver cleaner) to the 177.92 Beta drivers as directed and I am still getting black screens (in windowed mode) between phases (flashing screens in full screen). I cant get into the creature stage. I feel like I am the only one so I am sure it's something wrong with my computer.

Any suggestions? My system is all up to date and meets the requirements by a large margin. Thank you!

I am trying to submit a ticket and my DxDiag info to Customer Support but the form doesnt seem to be working. I keep getting a 500 Error. Is anyone else also having trouble submitting a question (ticket) to customer support.

Thanks!

If you are having trouble submitting a ticket try clearing your cache and cookies. Also ensure you are running an up to date version of your web browser, for example Firefox needs to be 3.0.1 . If that fails try using another browser, most Windows system include Internet Explorer as well.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 09/12/2008 12:56:27

This is the screen I get after trying to submit a questions via the "Contact Us" form. I have tried this in Firefox (updated to 3.0.1), and Internet Explorer (both 64-bit and 32-bit versions). I have tried from two computers (home and work) and each time, I have cleared my cache and cookies.

https://easpore.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/easpore.cfg/php/enduser/ask_submit.php except it comes up as a 500 Error - Internal Server Error.

Is this still a problem on my end?

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 09/12/2008 16:22:24

You are definitely not the only one with that problem.

Here it is a Core 2 Duo at 2GHz, 2GB Ram, Win XP Pro with an ATI 1650 XT with 512 MB

I have exactly the same graphical glitches and tried the same solutions as you did, including deinstalling the Catalyst without and with a cleaner tool and reinstalling the newest version ( C8.8 ) and installed DX 9 in the latest version from august 2008. I did not try the Omegadrivers though, as I have problems with those in other games and general performance.

Nothing helps. I found some mentions of the same problem in german and international game-forums. Most of the hints suggested the same as we already tried, but never to any avail.

This is definitely a bug.

But knowing EA nothing will happen to help us (with luck until the first patch comes out in weeks, but maybe not even then).