<r> the level and amount of historical unit detail in this game is IMPRESSIVE !! but at the same time it is also intimidating.<br/>
<br/>
20,000 leaders<br/>
8,000+ ships<br/>
40,000+ devices for the 8,000+ ships<br/>
500+ bases<br/>
<br/>
playability is about the manageability of the data ...

<t> just try moving the 192kbps file out of the sound folder... the floowing is list of 192 and 128s<br/>
<br/>
192kbps 128kbps<br/>
1000.sfx 120 1055.sfx 84 <br/>
1001.sfx 103 1058.sfx 89 <br/>
1002.sfx 106 1061.sfx 174 <br/>
1003.sfx 120 1062.sfx 498 <br/>
1004.sfx 179 1067.sfx 66 <br ...

<t> i dug a little deeper... check this out !!!<br/>
3 sound formats used in this games are..<br/>
<br/>
1/ MPEG 2.0 Layer-III 22,050hz Stereo 64kbps <br/>
2/ MPEG 2.0 Layer-III 22,050hz Stereo 128kbps <br/>
3/ MPEG 1.0 Layer-III 44,100hz Stereo 192kbps<br/>
<br/>
192kbps are MPEG 1.0 codec ...

<t> this for sure is 192kbs sound file problem.. move the 192kbs files out of the sound folder and the R2D2 beeps go away too.<br/>
the sound files are 1 of 3 audio formats<br/>
1/ MPEG 2.0 Layer-III 22,050hz Stereo 64kbps<br/>
2/ MPEG 2.0 Layer-III 22,050hz Stereo 128kbps<br/>
3/ MPEG 1.0 Layer ...

<t> the sound files use one of 3 bit rates 64kbs, 128kbs and 192kbs...<br/>
on 512MB pc it is FOR SURE the 192kbs sound files that crash the program.. i beleive it not really a codec problem but rather a paged/cached memory issue since the graphics in this software make it a SERIOUS memory and CPU ...

<t> removing the 196kbs sound files works much better...<br/>
but neither audio codec or the bit rate is not the real problem.. <br/>
<br/>
the real problem is cached/paged memory.<br/>
<br/>
i have 2 monitors.. i have task manager performance app running on my 2nd monitor.<br/>
<br/>
anytime ...

<t> here are the 128kbs sound files<br/>
<br/>
1062.sfx 498 <br/>
1279.sfx 356 <br/>
1061.sfx 174 <br/>
1084.sfx 169 <br/>
1300.sfx 159 <br/>
1301.sfx 158 <br/>
1159.sfx 135 <br/>
1157.sfx 135 <br/>
1162.sfx 135 <br/>
1201.sfx 129 <br/>
1161.sfx 126 <br/>
1160.sfx 126 <br/>
1163.sfx ...

<t> actually using both 64kbs and 128kbs sound files seems to work ok.<br/>
<br/>
i think the problem is with 196kbs.. the majority of the 196 files are large music and intro file...<br/>
but there are about 35 of the files under 200k.. some of which used in aircombat. here is the list of 196kbs ...

<t> the following is my take on the 4 approaches suggested in this forum for fixing the sound bug<br/>
1/ the "pinata" approach- blinding swinging away by installing patches for this..that and everything else<br/>
2/ the "hell with it" approach - rename the sound folder and not care about audio<br ...