Blizzard details StarCraft 2 bugs, workarounds and hardware issues

by David Hinkle on Jul 27th 2010 6:00PM

We can't imagine why you'd be taking a break from StarCraft 2 right about now but, regardless, you've chosen quite the appropriate post to read while resting. Activision-Blizzard has revealed some of the discovered bugs and issues hassling the game, the majority of which seem to be sound related. There are also some problems with the game crashing on Windows 7 (maybe that's why you're taking that break).

If you're one of those people trying to download StarCraft 2 through Battle.net, you may want to prime yourself with the thread on hardware configurations below. We know, it's all a lot to digest, but keep in mind this is StarCraft 2 we're talking about -- AKA the most important thing ever. We'd hate for you to finally boot up your game after all these years of waiting only to run into a fatal error.

Via: Big Download
Source: Battle.net - Bugs, Battle.net - System Requirements, Battle.net - Known Issues

Tags: activision, Activision-Blizzard, blizzard, Blizzard-Entertainment, pc, Real-Time-Strategy, rts, starcraft, Starcraft-2, starcraft-ii, starcraft-ii-wings-of-liberty

Reader Comments (38)

The one thing I hate about buying a game right when it comes out on PC:

You're automatically a beta tester.

@Wiizer

Though, it seems to happen to everyone now that online patches can be utilized...

@Wiizer
Yeah, but PCs also seem to get the most free DLC, so I'm okay with a couple bugs as long as they're fixed.

@Wiizer

Um, I don't know what you're talking about, I've gotten plenty of bugs on consoles and what's worse is there's no work arounds until an official patch. I've probably had more games crash/freeze on my ps3/360 than my PC

Diablo III is the most important thing ever.

That is all.

@ShadowXIII

yea, but at least PC gamers can do workarounds themselves, it's very easy to download a file online and put it int he right folder.

Not so easy on the consoles.

@Wiizer
Super Paper Mario.
That is all.

@Wiizer I think you also have to consider the fact that on consoles, you need only concern yourself with known specifications, whereas with PC, you have to account for a near infinite set of configurations

You would think that with the time it took for this game to get released, all bugs would have been squashed.

@daytripper

No way.

QA in most studios work from a list of bugs organized by priority, from game breaking to annoying. Obviously they tackle the game breaking bugs first. They usually end up shipping the game with known bugs with the intention of patching in fixes.

@Kid Icarus

That may be true, but Starcraft 2 has been in development a lot longer than your typical game. As such, it should definitely have fewer bugs, especially critical crashes on major operating systems and hardware configurations. More time = more bugs crushed. With this kind of launch, I have to wonder what they were spending all their time doing.

Reading threads on the problems Starcraft 2 is having, and all the workarounds and fixes people were dealing with.. make me glad I don't game on PC.

I mean, I'd love to build myself a beastly gaming rig, but I just don't have the patience for anything but popping a disc in.

/sigh

@Ezio Auditore da Firenze

Right there with you, homie.

@megapixel

I don't agree. PC games require tons more QA testing just because there are so many different hardware configurations out there - and they need to make sure everything runs decently across models, chipsets, and operating systems.

For consoles, devs know exactly what hardware everyone is running and can focus on making the game work perfectly for that setup.

@Ezio Auditore da Firenze

Yet console game bugs have been on the rise while PC game bugs have been declining. The hardware issue isn't as pronounced as it used to be. Both major video card manufacturers utilize the DirectX system fairly uniformly. Apart from small features between the two (ATI's superior antistropic filtering vs Nvidia's PhysX), there isn't much different between the video card hardware. The same is true for the CPU. We are no longer in the days where OpenGL is being independently developed by numerous competing video card companies, 3DFX, Matroxx, and other smaller video card designers have either folded or been absorbed by larger cousins. The CPU markets has functioned the same way.

These days, the only major hardware profile difference PC developers have to worry about anymore is the amount of system RAM, and even that is just deciding what the minimum should be since the more the merrier when it comes to RAM. All they have to do is follow the basic DirectX platform and they can get their product working fine on any hardware combination that can be thrown at it. The little extras that the major manufacturers offer are not critically important but are there for those attempting to do something bigger.

@LaughingTarget

Ah, and one more thing, game engines have started becoming standardized and not built from the ground up anymore. Companies like Epic or id have put in all the grunt work in getting all the little intricacies functioning. All the developer has to worry about is getting his own code ironed out and that has little to do with the hardware being thrown at it since all of that is pre-managed by a third party engine developer.

Worked fine on my PC and Mac.. although I wish my mini had a better graphics card. Great game.

@abelpc
Well, it's a Mac.... and it's a mini... what did you expect?

Sound only works for me if I put it on stereo. 5.1 is a no go, unfortunately. That, however, is the only issue I'm having.

As a side note, I absolutely love this game, it was worth the wait.

lol, got a guess pass for 7hours... and i'm downloading the installer... and it's taking 10hours+ god damn...

@(Unverified) Those 7 hours will only start counting when you are playing the game. So you can take a break for a few days and come back, as long as you haven't actually played for more than 7 hours.

@ZayCube Aye, the guest passes state "7 hours of game time or 14 days from activations (whichever comes first)." meaning that it won't start counting until you're actually in the game and playing it. You have 14 days to use up those 7 hours, though. If you only play for an hour every couple days you might not use the whole... wait... this is Starcraft 2. Nevermind. You'll use it up tomorrow.

So much for Blizzard's legendary 'we'll ship when it's done' quality control.

@Brockobama123

Fantastic biography, my kin.

@Brockobama123 Marvelous anecdote broodling.

I found a fatal error. I just booted up StarCraft 2.

You can never make a game work perfectly on all kinds of hardware combinations.

Luckely Starcraft 2 works flawleslyy on my new gaming rig.

@Brockobama123
http://broolstoryco.com/store/

@Brockobama123

I'm sorry, but Brock is right. FU Activision and any other company that screws it's loyal customers. This is America, and we vote with our wallet.

Blizzard was doing fine without activision anyway.

i'm wondering why games are still get affected by the "wrong" hardware combinations.

directx should be the one responsible for talking to the hardware right? and the game should talk only to directx, right?

I have what seems like ALL reported SC2 problems and the single player campaign is even worse than the Multiplayer Beta was. I also get the hang on exit and I have to ctrl+alt+del. I have the latest nvidia drivers, tried several different versions. I get artifacting like flashes of lightning constantly, eventually I get artifacting that is not limited to the game and is dots everywhere, I have to restart my comp to fix the problem. Happening throughout Beta.

I also can't quit the game or ctrl+alt+del the game when an in-engine cinematic crashes (this happens often)

System specs:

Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
Core i7 2.67ghz
12gb DDR3 1600 ram in triple channel.
2x 60gb Intel SSD in Raid 0
nVidia Geforce 285GTX latest drivers 258.96. I have also tried 197.45 and 257.21

This game is very unstable. No other game I have does anything like this.

Other games I play often:

HL2 max settings
TF2 max settings
Unreal 3 max settings
WoW max settings
Warcraft 3 max settings
Crysis max settings
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 max settings
Mirror's Edge max settings
Portal max settings
Street Fighter IV max settings
COD: MW2 max settings
CS: Source max settings

SC2 has more performance problems on my computer than Crysis... which has none.... and that is probably the sloppiest resource-hogging game I've ever played...

I'd love it for the Blizz dev's to patch this game and fix these problems as soon as possible, OR at least recommend what hardware I need to have for the game to run correctly. Right now I don't have any piece of hardware that isn't 'supported' but I have a ton of issues.

W.

@willchristiansen Thats pretty hilarious considering my 3 year old rig with an 8800 runs the game at max with no fps problems or crashes. Its flawless.

@bloodsoul5 I'm glad you get to play without any problems, its an awesome game.

@willchristiansen

Hmm, I think it may be your graphics card drivers, as my specs are about the same exact, minus less RAM and a HDD instead of SSD, but I have a ATI 4850X2.

I know a lot of my guildies who have GeForce 280-series say their WoW hangs after LK fight when it loads the video. :o

sorry i preordered from amazon to get the beta code and now have to wait for it to come in.. i hate ordering from online, stupid shipping times. But i guess that is what i get.

Heh.... I guess the lack of reviews really precluded anyone knowing about this sort of thing.... eh?

I think this is the first time the phrase has ever been uttered in the history of mankind, but... thank goodness I use Vista. I haven't had a single crash problem with SC2 and I've got about 15 hours of play in so far.

@(Unverified)

Yeah, Activision Blizzard REALLY screws the consumer by making high quality games that everyone likes.

Starcraft II? COD4? Diablo III? Omg, those aren't worth 60 bucks! That's almost like a day of work at a minimum wage job!

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StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty

Blizzard details StarCraft 2 bugs, workarounds and hardware issues

Reader Comments (38)

Posted: Jul 27th 2010 6:06PM Wiizer said

Posted: Jul 27th 2010 6:07PM Wiizer said

Posted: Jul 27th 2010 6:18PM Special Agent Steve said

Posted: Jul 27th 2010 6:29PM Cleric said

Posted: Jul 27th 2010 6:51PM ShadowXIII said

Posted: Jul 27th 2010 8:47PM BrianH said

Posted: Jul 27th 2010 8:51PM Esposch said

Posted: Jul 28th 2010 12:52PM jumpshot said

Posted: Jul 27th 2010 6:06PM daytripper said

Posted: Jul 27th 2010 6:13PM Kid Icarus said

Posted: Jul 27th 2010 7:21PM LaughingTarget said

Posted: Jul 27th 2010 6:11PM Ezio Auditore da Firenze said

Posted: Jul 27th 2010 6:19PM Acosta02 said

Posted: Jul 27th 2010 7:04PM packy17 said

Posted: Jul 27th 2010 7:26PM LaughingTarget said

Posted: Jul 27th 2010 7:28PM LaughingTarget said

Posted: Jul 27th 2010 6:16PM abelpc said

Posted: Jul 27th 2010 6:25PM Special Agent Steve said

Posted: Jul 27th 2010 6:16PM mrgascoin said

Posted: Jul 27th 2010 6:16PM blah604 said

Posted: Jul 27th 2010 6:25PM ZayCube said

Posted: Jul 27th 2010 7:03PM Skorpeyon said

Posted: Jul 27th 2010 6:29PM Dance Love Pop said

Posted: Jul 27th 2010 7:16PM Falcon6 said

Posted: Jul 27th 2010 7:32PM justinslot said

Posted: Jul 27th 2010 7:43PM This Little Man Says His Name Is said

Posted: Jul 27th 2010 7:59PM EpicBawksy said

Posted: Jul 27th 2010 10:43PM Esposch said

Posted: Jul 28th 2010 12:58AM Bearcut said

Posted: Jul 28th 2010 1:18AM mocax said

Posted: Jul 28th 2010 1:41AM willchristiansen said

Posted: Jul 28th 2010 2:12AM bloodsoul5 said

Posted: Jul 28th 2010 2:32AM willchristiansen said

Posted: Jul 28th 2010 3:25AM Jonny said

Posted: Jul 28th 2010 2:14AM monkeyontherun4 said

Posted: Jul 28th 2010 4:27AM Duoae said

Posted: Jul 28th 2010 4:34AM twocows said

Posted: Jul 28th 2010 11:57AM Verrier said

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