Flashing Screens - Can Not Play Past Cell Stage

nanni wrote: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).

Glad to hear I am not the only one, unfortunately I still think we are in the minority, which won't help in getting the problem fixed or even looked at. I wish I could submit a ticket so someone can look at my DxDiag file but I keep getting an internal server error. Maybe you would have better results.

I wish you luck in solving the problem. I don't know what else to do (I have done everything I can think of) and have pretty much given up. Maybe a patch will fix the issue, but I am pretty doubtful. If you find out please make a trip back to this thread and let us know the solution!

I tried to force "Wait for vertical refresh", but that did not help also.

I do not believe this is a driver or graphics card related issue since you have a graphics adapter with an Nvidia chipset and mine is AMD/ATI. Those kinds of problems are usually (but not always I have to admit) bound to one brand.

Probably some other process is interfering with Spore, but to try that and find out which one could be the culprit (if any) is a tedious trial and error.

I'll keep you posted.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 09/12/2008 19:04:56

nanni wrote:I tried to force "Wait for vertical refresh", but that did not help also.

I do not believe this is a driver or graphics card related issue since you have a graphics adapter with an Nvidia chipset and mine is AMD/ATI. Those kinds of problems are usually (but not always I have to admit) bound to one brand.

Probably some other process is interfering with Spore, but to try that and find out which one could be the culprit (if any) is a tedious trial and error.

I'll keep you posted.

I have tried disabling all non critical background tasks (which is pretty much everything except explorer.exe) so it is not something that is interfering in the background (at least in my case). I have also forced vertical syncing (via the Nvidia CP) as well to no avail.

I don't like to call myself a "genius" when it comes to computers, but I do believe I have tried everything under the sun save for hardware upgrades, which would be absolutely asinine. My system is fine the way it is and shouldn't need to be updated for this game.

You results may differ though so I wouldn't rule out trying to start narrowing down background processes and tasks to see if it solves your problem.

Of course.

As I work in techsupport for hard and software (besides other things) I clain some expertise with problems such as this. To me it seems we have tried nearly all sensible solutions to this problem.

Another one to add:

On another system (also Core 2 Duo but with an ATI 1600 instead of 1650) in this household the game runs without this error. (but here we have another glitch: the floors of villages and cities are higly reflective and do not look as they should, but that is a minor nuisance compared to our problem that renders the game unplayable).

The main difference between the two boxes is the mainboard. I cannot check the one in the other computer atm, but mine is an Asrock 775Dual-VSTA. The other one is definitely not Asrock.

What's your mobo? Maybe this has something to do with this error...

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 09/12/2008 19:20:32

My motherboard is a Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3R. Here is a link to the MoBo for specs and such.

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ProductID=2743

Our configurations are miles apart but we seem to be having the same issue. There must be something that is similar between us.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 09/12/2008 23:25:21

I'm having this issue, minus the flashing colors. It's just black.

But maybe we should try uninstalling and reinstalling the game? Because I recall the first time I started, I was able to complete the cell stage and move onto land.
Random information; the time it worked I chose herbivore, but all these other time I've chosen carnivore on easy mode. (

Heh, I haven't had the game long. ) What are the options you guys are choosing?

Edit: It could be an issue from lack of space. Try Disk Defrag/Disk Cleanup?

pockii wrote:I'm having this issue, minus the flashing colors. It's just black.

But maybe we should try uninstalling and reinstalling the game? Because I recall the first time I started, I was able to complete the cell stage and move onto land.
Random information; the time it worked I chose herbivore, but all these other time I've chosen carnivore on easy mode. ( Heh, I haven't had the game long. ) What are the options you guys are choosing?

Edit: It could be an issue from lack of space. Try Disk Defrag/Disk Cleanup?

I have uninstalled and reinstalled 3 times. Each time has given me the same result. I also have PLENTY of space on my hard drive (+300GB free space) and vista schedules a defrag weekly on my PC.

I tried your suggestion about going with an Herbivore. No luck o my end. You mileage may vary.

UGH! So basically, I reinstalled Spore. I got through the cell stage but I still have the same problem, and NOW I can't even skip it. I'm started to get really mad now.

If you are still having a problem, take a look at this sticky. Solved my problem without a hitch!

http://forum.spore.com/jforum/posts/list/0/1000.page#6456

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 09/13/2008 17:29:18

Was the DirectX SDK already installed on your computer or did you install it after you've read the hint in the other thread?

Edit: Well congrats, but did not work for me.

I'm skimming through the settings of the SDK a bit, maybe i'll find something... Sigh.

Okay, so I fixed my problem. Basically, I don't have enough video card memory, so I set everything on low and it worked perfectly for me. Good luck, guys!

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 09/13/2008 18:04:46

nanni wrote:Was the DirectX SDK already installed on your computer or did you install it after you've read the hint in the other thread?

Edit: Well congrats, but did not work for me.

I'm skimming through the settings of the SDK a bit, maybe i'll find something... Sigh.

I updated the thread to include the regedit value that was causing the crash.

http://forum.spore.com/jforum/posts/list/1000.page

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 09/13/2008 18:16:43

NVM...I know nothing.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 09/13/2008 19:07:17

We don't have a crash- but a flash-problem here...

Seems to be some kind of weird graphic incompatibility that was solved by either installing the SDK (I would guess on maybe something to do with Managed DirectX) or changing the DX-SDK-setting mentioned in the other thread.

So for the Nvidia card it solved the problem, but not for my AMD/ATI.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 09/13/2008 19:55:14

nanni wrote:Was the DirectX SDK already installed on your computer or did you install it after you've read the hint in the other thread?

Edit: Well congrats, but did not work for me.

I'm skimming through the settings of the SDK a bit, maybe i'll find something... Sigh.

The SDK was already installed prior to installation of Spore.