ZH "Serious Error"

[BLZBub 0]

Hi. I'm new here but not new to C&C. I have every game in the series and have never had a problem like this.

 

I bought Generals when it first came out. Back then I had a lot of slow garbage on my computer. It met the system requirements but just by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin. It would play but it would suffer from serious crawl. So, slowly I began upgrading. Then I just stopped playing. I bought ZH when it came out and started playing again. I was able to beat every level but the last two. I would try but the game would go slow that it would almost stop. Being the kind of person I am, I couldn't let those two maps get away. So I beefed up my computer some more.

 

Then recently, I started getting these "Serious Error" messages after my game just shuts down and goes back to my desktop. I ran three different virus scans, a couple of different spyware (malware and adware too) scans and even reformatted my hard drive. I have done everything I could think of and everything I read here and at other forums and I still get this error. My system is not overheating. I don't have a bunch of useless programs running in the background. My comp exceeds every system requirement. And I have no adware, spyware or malware of any kind. WTF??!!

 

My comp:

 

Pentium 4 (1.70G)

120 GB hard Drive

Windows XP

GeForce FX 5500 (128 DDR AGP)

1G DDR ram

ECS Motherboard

DirectX 9

 

What is the problem? Is this my computer or did the folks who created the game just blow it?

 

Thanks in advance for any help you folks can provide.

 

Dave

[Sonic 296]

If you search the Tech Support forum you will find a few topics related to Serious Error crashes with Generals and Zero Hour.

[BLZBub 0]

Okay. I did. And yet, amazingly, I found no solutions. What next?

[Sonic 296]

The serious error problems with Generals and Zero Hour have been an on going long saga. I've never seen a 100% working solution to the problem. Trial and error is the best way to deal with it, updating your drivers etc...

 

Some links....

 

http://www.cncgames.com/cfaq/index.php?qid=4&catid=2

http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/15623/

 

More results from Google.

[BLZBub 0]

Okay. I figured out something today. I am able to play all the way through the last two maps. My problem seems to be with the maps I download from the various C&C map sites online. I downlaod them to the proper spot on my computer. They run fine for awhile with no hint or warning that it's about to shut down. Any ideas why?

 

Thanks again for any help you folks can provide.

[BLZBub 0]

Geez. After reading the second link you provided, I don't hold out much hope that this problem is going away any time soon. Nice work, EA! This will be the last C&C game I buy. Too bad EA got their foul little hands the series.

[BLZBub 0]

Update (for anyone who cares):

 

I had another "serious error" message while playing an official map, so I went to the EA Tech Support page and it said to try deleting the "Options.ini" in the the ZH file. I did this and everything worked great. Every time I would have a problem I would dump the "options" file and voila'! But if I don't dump it every single time before I open ZH, the game will crash. So far, that is.

[Guest MadBadger]

are you adusting game controls/graphics after ditching the Options.ini?