NEED HELP Blenderplayer Crashes!!

Game Engine Game Engine Support and Discussion
1

I am making a little demo for some important people to see and i have a serious problem.
In my machine it works fine completely fine. No crashes no nothing.
This are my machine’s specs:

4GB Ram
Windows XP SP3
77GB Free Space on HD
AMD Phenom X4 1,8GHz
ATI RADEON HD4870 1GB
Blender 2.49a

BUT i tested it on a laptop with the following specs:

1GB Ram
Windows Vista
23GB Free Space on HD
AMD Athlon X2 2.0GHz
Intel Graphics Support (950)

and the game randomly crashes, i am using the blenderplayer to run the game (I think if you don’t create an executable this is legal, or i hope so) with a Launcher that gives it the parameters and i have implemented some security on the blend file that prevents the file to be opened by blender. (If you have any other security suggestions i’ll be happy to hear you).

I made an Installer that installs the Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable, Python 2.6.2 and the game with its launcher on any machine. The problem is that the game seems to crash in random moments. Ironically i am using the Random Module in the game. And this seems to be related to that because the game never crashes on the menu, it crashes when you are playing and thats the moment when the random module is used.

But i am confused because the game seems to crash EASIER if you use a higher resolution. In the laptop the game crashed a lot less in windowed mode.

I also think this could be related to Python 2.6.2 and Vista but i am not sure either because i sent the game to one of my friends and he tested it in the following machine:

2GB Ram
Windows XP SP2
10GB Free Space on HD
Intel (not sure which one)
Intel Graphics Support (950)

And it crashes but is rare and sometimes it does not crash at all!!

When the blenderplayer crashes it crashes with one of those “Send or Don’t Send” Windows.

The Game uses Blender Multitexture Materials and the random python module.

I don’t know what to do because it does not crash at all in my PC and the console does not tell me anything wrong. Not even warnings.
I like to figure out things for myself, but i have no idea what to do now.

Can you guys give me some suggestions on how to solve this problem? Whatever happens thank you anyway!!

2

Have you tried taking out all uses of the random module to see if it still crashes? If you’re randomly generating a number, just replace it with the same number every time.

Are you including all necessary DLLs and other files? If you copy all the files from a Blender directory into to the game directory, does it still crash? Are you including the random.py file with your game? What makes you think that it’s the random module, other than “it doesn’t crash in the menu.” Are there specific instances when it always crashes?

Have you tried compatibility mode, disabling/enabling Aero, or removing your “encryption” on the blend file? If you run the game on that computer just from the blend file does it crash?

These are all questions that you’ll need to answer. Troubleshooting is about narrowing down the problem… so start narrowing!

Oh… and “Intel Graphics” could DEFINITELY be an issue. Try it on a computer with a REAL graphics card. Blender doesn’t play well with Intel bare-minimum integrated graphics cards(neither do most games).

-Sam

3

Yes, I see the Intel Graphics (especially the 950) as a serious red flag for crashing issues. The fact that it crashes in game and not in the menu could simply mean that there is more demand on the card while the game is running than in the menu (very possible).

4

The Intel integrated graphic chips might be an issue, however, I have a feeling it’s not. Personally, I have an intel integrated graphics chip and I have never had any crashing issues with blender (or the blenderplayer).

Rather than the graphics card, I think it’s a different problem. There seems to be a pattern with the way the blender is crashing:

Windows XP SP2 = no crash
Windows XP SP3 = no crash
Windows Vista = crash

This makes me wonder if there is a buffer overflow (aka: memory leak) somewhere in your game. To understand why it crashes on one OS and not the other, you need to understand how each OS controls memory.

If a buffer overflow occurs on Windows XP:

  • when memory is freed, only known memory will be deleted.
  • unknown memory (data outside the buffer) is not freed and creates a memory leak.
  • the application will continue running, ignoring the memory leak.
  • unusual behavior may occur.

If a buffer overflow occurs on Windows Vista:

  • 99% of the time, Vista will crash.
  • unusual behavior may occur.

And, I’m telling you this from personal experience.

Possible solution:

This may be caused from a bug in the blender game engine itself. However, you should look over your own code first. If it is your code, take a look at all your lists and make sure that none of them go “out of range”. If you need an example, just ask.

i am using the blenderplayer to run the game (I think if you don’t create an executable this is legal, or i hope so) with a Launcher that gives it the parameters
If you pack your blend file with the blenderplayer itself, your blend file falls under the GPL. If so, then you must release your source code. Solution: don’t pack your blend file inside the blenderplayer itself.

(If you have any other security suggestions i’ll be happy to hear you).
Have you seen the BPPlayer?

5

Well first of all thaks guys for your fast answers.

First of all i have done two more tests today. The test was done on this machine:

4GB Ram
Windows XP SP2
10GB Free Space on HD
AMD ATHLON X2 1.8Ghz
ATI RADEON HD3870 512MB

And surprinsingly it did not crash at all. So now we have two machines in which it does not crash.

This one :

4GB Ram
Windows XP SP3
77GB Free Space on HD
AMD Phenom X4 1,8GHz
ATI RADEON HD4870 1GB

and This one:

4GB Ram
Windows XP SP2
10GB Free Space on HD
AMD ATHLON X2 1.8Ghz
ATI RADEON HD3870 512MB

I think this eliminates the random module. However is weird that when it crashes is always after you start playing never before.
But those two machines have some things in common : 1- The OS, 2- Graphic Support (Not exactly equal but same brand)

The truth is i am betting on the Graphic Support right now. But it would be good if i can test with my ATI on Vista, so i will be trying that. And in case it works, would blender work with integrated ATI and NVIDIA supports? I hope so
and i actually found this

http://www.blender.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1419

It actually mention crashes with Intel Video Hardware and VERY OLD ATI Hardware.
However i’ll be testing on VISTA in a few hours. This information should be posted somewhere to make a solid list of minimun requeriments for blender games. (At least avoid crashes). Thank you guys, you have been helpful.
But if it is the OS i am screwed. XD