Matrix Games Forums

I am experiencing multiple forced closings of the game. There are apparently multiple things which bring on a crash, freezing, or a partial freeze.
I copied a couple of the windows dialogs;

1. Debug Error!
Program I/Program files/GI/GI.exe
Damage:after normal block C#281898337) at 0x18AA6030
________________________________________________________

2. Debug assertion failed!
File dbgheap,c
Line1017
Block_Type_info_IS_VALID (..
For Info---Seethe Visual C++ doc on asserts

Herewith some suggestions from the AGEOD forum:
 
- Disable or Uninstall antivirus and firewalls (mainly Norton Antivirus and Zone Alarm, the "worst" ones)
- disable logo (via Setup tool, expecially if your DivX codec is not supported by Windows Vista)
- disable musics and sounds if you have low RAM (via Setup tool);
- disable autosave (via Game Options or Setup tool);
- play at LOW game speed, or at least not at high speed;
- try playing in windowed mode (use always Setup tool to set this option);

Anti-virus and firewall (resident) programs, and in theory most resident programs, FREQUENTLY generate popup windows, alerts, onscreen animations etc. etc. THAT CAUSE the game application "loose" the focus from the fullscreen mode. This causes the graphic engine of Great Invasion crashes and the behaviour is always so: the DirectX engine tries to "resize" the 3D environment, fails, the game freezes and then crashes. In some PC is terrific, because the whole OS seems blocked...

Some side notes and tips about antivirus and firewalls:

- these programs often notify automatic updates (both available, or downloaded or to be installed) through popup windows. This "noisy" activity makes the game unstable and mostly causes crashes.
- these antivirus and firewalls are often difficult to be disabled, because they require a lot of settings management (especially Norton Antivirus and Zone Alarm), so that it becomes almost mandatory to uninstalle them!
- most firewalls block multiplayer gaming for Great Invasions, unless customized accordingly.[/align]

Thanks for the reply.

Pop-ups seemed to be the primary culprit in causing crashes. I have turned off anything which uses auto updating and the game is doing fine. No doubt it is a good idea to make sure no Virus scan will start while a game is in progress.

thanks