[KOTOR 1] Stops in the middle of "saving" while changing levels in Korriban

[photon_man62]

Lately, KOTOR has been having problems with changing levels in Korriban. I've noticed this the first time in the Sith Academy, where I could not exit it though the entrance to Dreshdae (exact same thing happened, freezes at exactly the same place). All I did to "fix this" was ignore that exit and just use the other one.

 

I am now at the Tomb of Naga Sadow, where I have completed my final test and all I can do now is leave. But when I try to, the game also freezes when loading the level. It says "saving" and just stops in about 1/4 through. It doesn't freeze per se - the game doesn't stop responding or anything - the sound is still there and pressing ALT-F4 makes the "do you want to quit?" menu pop up (clickable).

 

I have tried playing with my graphics settings, using the ATI .dll fix, the ATI kotor.ini fix, running the game in not-widescreen, restarting the game and computer multiple times, none of it helped. I thought disabling autosaving as well (that seemed obvious), but it still keeps "saving" while changing levels!

 

Here's my "scan hardware" dump (I use Windows 7 Ultimate x64):

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[sWKotOR]

ReportDateTime=2012-04-07 11:02:24

SysInfoVersion=v1.00.60

GameExists=1

GameVersion=v1.03.514077

GameInstallLocation=D:\Program Files (x86)\LucasArts\Star Wars - Knights of the Old Republic\

 

[OS]

Name=Win9x

Version=Windows 9X v6.1 build 7601 Service Pack 1

Service Pack=None

Status=Fail

 

[swapFiles]

?:\pagefile.sys=0

 

[CPU]

CPUCount=4

CPUSpeed=3010

CPUFamily=6

CPUModel=14

CPUStepping=5

CPUVendor=Intel

CPUName=Intel® Core i5 CPU 750 @ 2.67GHz

Status=Pass

 

[Memory]

RAM=4088

Status=Pass

 

[Disk Free Space]

C: (NTFS), UNICODE=1.61GB

D: (NTFS), UNICODE=3.49GB

F: (NTFS), UNICODE=227.93GB

G: (NTFS), UNICODE=18.33GB

K: (NTFS), UNICODE=36.47GB

O: (NTFS), UNICODE=65.70GB

U: (NTFS), UNICODE=720.76GB

Status=Pass

 

[CD-ROMs]

DriveLetters=E:\,R:\

Drives=

 

[Video]

Video Card Name=RDPDD Chained DD

Video Memory=4096

Desktop Resolution=1920x1080x32

DirectX=DirectX (9.0+) (4.09.00.0904)

OpenGL Version=3.2.9239

OpenGL Vendor=ATI Technologies Inc.

OpenGL Renderer=ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series

Vid Card Status=Warning

Vid Card Driver Status=Pass

GL Status=Pass

DX Status=Pass

 

[Audio]

Sound Card Name=Speakers (High Definition Audio Device)

Status=Pass

 

 

;Game Options from swkotor.ini

 

[sound Options]

Sound Init=0

Music Volume=85

Voiceover Volume=85

Sound Effects Volume=85

Movie Volume=100

Force Software=0

EAX=0

Disable Sound=0

Number 3D Voices=16

Number 2D Voices=24

Environment Effects Level=0.60

2D3D Bias=1.50

Environment Effects=1

Environment Effects Nonstreaming=1

Environment Effects Streaming=1

 

[Game Options]

GUIsInScreenShot=1

EnableScreenShot=0

Reverse Mouse Buttons=0

Hide InGame GUI=0

Use Small Fonts=0

Keyboard Camera Deceleration=2000.000000

Keyboard Camera Acceleration=500.000000

Keyboard Camera DPS=200.000000

Hide Unequippable=0

Tutorial Popups=1

Subtitles=1

Mini Map=1

Floating Numbers=1

Status Summary=1

Enable Mouse Teleporting To Buttons=1

Mouse Sensitivity=33

Auto Level Up NPCs=0

Mouse Look=0

AutoSave=0

Reverse Minigame YAxis=0

Combat Movement=1

Enable Tooltips=1

Difficulty Level=1

TooltipDelay Sec=1.000000

Memory Access=1

Memory Level=1

Disable Movies=1

 

[Movies Shown]

Movie 0=0

Movie 1=0

Movie 2=0

Movie 3=0

Movie 4=0

Movie 5=0

Movie 6=0

Movie 7=0

Movie 8=0

Movie 9=0

Movie10=0

 

[Alias]

HD0=.\

OVERRIDE=.\Override

TEMP=.\Temp

MODULES=.\Modules

LOGS=.\Logs

LOCALVAULT=.\LocalVault

DMVAULT=.\DMVault

SERVERVAULT=.\ServerVault

STREAMMUSIC=.\StreamMusic

TEMPCLIENT=.\Tempclient

SAVES=.\saves

CURRENTGAME=.\currentgame

TEXTUREPACKS=.\texturepacks

STREAMWAVES=.\StreamWaves

 

[Graphics Options]

V-Sync=1

Anisotropy=1

Frame Buffer=0

Anti Aliasing=0

Texture Quality=2

Emitters=1

Grass=1

Soft Shadows=0

Shadows=1

Brightness=57

EnableHardwareMouse=1

FullScreen=1

AllowSoftShadows=1

RefreshRate=60

Width=800

Height=600

Disable Vertex Buffer Objects=1

 

[Autopause Options]

Mine Sighted=1

End Of Combat Round=0

Enemy Sighted=1

Party Killed=1

Action Menu=0

New Target Selected=1

 

[config]

firstrun=0

 

[Keymapping]

Action286B=8

Action286A=7

Action285B=10

Action285A=9

Action284B=54

Action284A=51

Action283B=54

Action283A=51

Action282B=69

Action282A=73

Action281B=53

Action281A=76

Action280B=69

Action280A=73

Action265=52

Action264=57

Action263=43

Action262=85

Action261=84

Action260=83

Action259=82

Action258=81

Action257=80

Action256=79

Action255=78

Action254=77

Action253=31

Action245=75

Action244=55

Action243=67

Action242=74

Action241=87

Action240=56

Action239=68

Action238=82

Action236=83

Action234=81

Action232=80

Action230=79

Action228=78

Action226=77

Action225=70

Action224=90

Action223=31

Action222=25

Action221=24

Action220=29

Action219=28

Action218=42

Action217=87

Action216=65

Action215=63

Action214=62

Action213=60

Action212=61

Action211=66

Action210=59

Action209=71

Action208=89

Action207=72

Action206=30

Action205=55

Action204=67

[Q]

Thanks for posting your specs.

 

Normally I would suggest reinstalling the game according to the large-print instructions at the top of the second post in this thread, but that might render your saves unusable at this point.

 

Your error may very well be due to KotOR not playing nice with your multi-core CPU, and here's the fix for that:

It's possible to alter your shortcut to automatically launch an application with the affinity you want.

 

The command I have in my target box of the shortcut is:

 

C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /C start "SWKOTOR" /D "C:\Users\Public\Games\SWKotoR" /high /affinity 1 "C:\Users\Public\Games\SWKotoR\swkotor.exe"

 

Obviously you'd replace the directory I have my swkotor.exe file in with the one yours is in in both places in the above line.

 

So it's a shortcut to the cmd.exe that launches what follows as a command. The command actually being executed is the start command, and the start command is what allows you to pick what CPU(s) to use for executing the game. The affinity integer is a bit flag, with the least significant bit representing the first CPU and going up from there.

 

You need to run this shortcut as administrator as well.

 

The actual game executables will run in compatability mode/as administrator since you should have set those properties already if you followed the steps outlined in the second post.

 

Since it's a shortcut to the cmd.exe, the icon will be for cmd.exe. To change it to the swkotor icon you just open the properties for the shortcut, click on the change icon button, and browse to your swkotor.exe and select the icon to change it.

 

Obviously this will work for any old game that doesn't work well on multiple cores.

Of course, you would substitute your game directory for the one in the instructions, so in your case the target would look like this:

C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /C start "SWKOTOR" /D "D:\Program Files (x86)\LucasArts\Star Wars - Knights of the Old Republic" /high /affinity 1 "D:\Program Files (x86)\LucasArts\Star Wars - Knights of the Old Republic\swkotor.exe"

[photon_man62]

I of course reinstalled the game (forgot to mention that), just didn't use those instructions (I also didn't use them the first time). SecuROM updated .exe files also don't fix it. I tried your shortcut trick, but it didn't help either.

 

I also just recorded a short video showcasing exactly what is happening, hope it helps:

 

Note that as soon as the problem occurs, my cursor appears (while during normal saving/loading it is hidden).

[photon_man62]

I've also tried installing KOTOR on another PC. No dice, problem persists. I even used another version of KOTOR (4CD instead of 1DVD) - problem is not in the installation media either. Damn, this is quite a problem.

[Q]

At this point I would try reinstalling while following the instructions I linked to.

 

You've really got nothing to lose.