Startopia multiplayer crashes to desktop

Question

Starting a two player game (TCP/IP or IPX, doesn't matter) works great, but after ~10 minutes of playing the client (and always the client even when switching roles) crashes to desktop without any logfile left. A second, possibly related problem is that on the server one cannot get back to the game from the menu after hitting escape, so loading a previous game doesn't work either :-(

Any ideas what is causing this?

Tested configurations:

• Server: win7pro, 64bit (=:PC1), client: win xp pro 32 bit (=:PC2)
• Server: PC2, client: PC1
• both client and server xp pro 32bit

The game runs fine on each configuration for single player (ok, CTDs occur too but after several hours only).

Answer

I've never tried online play myself.

The brilliant guide RTSC Startopia has a few notes on its starting page. In particular, they say:

• That online play, different from LAN play, doesn't work well. (Yeah, you figured that out yourself.) Meaning it's probably caused by desyncs due to the higher latency, something many older games struggle with.
• That the autosave helped them after the frequent crashes.
• That there's a rumour that the autosave itself causes the crashes and that disabled the autosaving by write-protecting the file might help. (Could this explain why it's almost after ten minutes for you?)
• Do not try to save. Do not pause. Do not open the menu. (More indicating that desyncing is the issue at hand.)
• That you shouldn't get frustrated by crashing multiplayer games, because it will just happen a lot. (Probably the most helpful tip, but also much easier said than done. :))

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How do I stop slugs dying in my slime baths?

Question

I've heard Polvakian Gem Slugs getting stuck in Slugpartment slime baths can happen now and again, but thought it was quite rare. Unfortunately I now have 4 stuck slugs slowly dying and ruining my pretty stats!

I have the official patch added. Is there some form of alternative patch or mod that can fix this problem (for future games) and if at all possible save my ratings... er... visitors in my current game?

Answer

If they really get stuck you could try beaming up the bath and replacing it. However it is quite usual that those stupid slugs die when they are too happy. On the other hand, they will probably also leave enough poo before dying to compensate for the 1000 e that you'll be fined...

edit If even beaming fails, repacking the room might the last resort.

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