After backing for Tronimal’s new Virtual Boy album, I suddenly received an error message, that delivery to my email address was broken and I am supposed to update my email address.
I ignored that, of course I’d rather have the issue fixed that is causing the error.
Next stop: Emailing my email provider: Namecheap:
As their 2 test emails both arrived to me, the problem must have been at Kickstarter’s end.
So, I did send in the screenshot and a description of the issue via the bug report section of their support contact form.
They came back asking which email didn’t get delivered, and 6 days later, I received this:
The warning message disappeared, and email delivery to me from Kickstarter is restored!
Glad to see, that sometimes tech support is helpful and making them check their backends for errors might be fruitful! 🙂
Just to make sure, this article is just my opinion and based on my experience of the city of Mannheim where I live. This doesn’t necessarily mean it is the same way in smaller of larger cities in Germany.
As a little background, I was raised with zero emphasis on foreigners, to consider them different or deal with them different than my own people wasn’t even a consideration or topic in our household, so I grew up with zero pre-judgement or stereotypes against other cultures, religions, whatsoever.
I was also a witness of one of the refugee trains arriving in Frankfurt On The Main Central Railway Station back in 2015, I was standing a few tracks away and witnessed the whole arrival procedure of the refugees and how they have been welcomed by individuals and refugee help organizations, given care packages, etc. It was – for a person raised as open-minded as I am – a moment that gave back faith into humanity and that one can do good to others and just being human.
That being said, I also witnessed a few moments of frustration of my fellow Germans when e.g. in a refugee camp, somebody got into a fight and got his shoulder broken, however in the hospital’s emergency section, the nurses couldn’t speak any English, so it was a bit of a troublesome process to get things sorted out.
A few years further, I also witnessed a situation where I was in the queue of the DB Travel Center, and the person behind the counter’s mood degrees by the minute as the person before me couldn’t understand neither German, nor English.
In my daily life, I more and more came across people who would try to deliver a Hermes parcel to the neighbor, groceries or food, just to be approached by the question: “Do you speak English?”.
Who knows me well, knows that 99% of everything I am doing on the internet is in English, I also communicate with friends abroad on a daily basis.
Yet, at first I came across moments where both of us would be standing in front of my door trying to sort things out in German as I am used to do that in my life outside of the internet, just to have the realization afterwards “Perhaps I should have asked if the person speaks English, could have been so much easier”.
Nowadays, I come across more and more people who do not understand a single word of German, and now here comes the shocking realization: It does not really matter!
Why it doesn’t, you ask? Because of both parties are fluent enough in English, it’s just working as well, and even better than beating around the bush by using German which the other person doesn’t fully grasp.
I’d rather deal with somebody in English, than sitting in a Flixbus arriving from Luxemburg where the destination is written on in a language I don’t speak and the driver doesn’t speak any common language with the people he transports and is responsible for. How do I know? Because it has happened to me at a long distance bus station for myt trip from Mannheim to Frankfurt On The Main Airport, and I didn’t feel safe knowing if anything is happening to the bus, his French is wasted on me.
The flood of immigrants forced us to be more flexible, and realize, while it might be not something for me to be only living in a bubble, because I do not speak the language of the society I am living in, learning German is not for everybody.
The confirmation was in German, the subject line was in French which I already found wild in itself.
According to the email, the Steam keys should be automatically being sent to me, once 2 weeks after the purchase have passed.
First, I emailed the tech support of Nacon asking if I can get the keys earlier than that if I agree a waver to my EU right to cancel the purchase within 2 weeks.
I was told to email to different email addresses instead, and after writing to both, neither received a reply, nor did I receive the keys 2 weeks after my purchase.
Calling the German customer support number resulted in telling me I can only reach the game purchase department via a email by using their contact form.
Done so, no reply either. I did complain to the tech support email address, just to receive the same email address again which nobody replied to.
I did contact BigBen which is the head company of Nacon, no reply. I did contact Nacon via LinkedIn, no reply.
After over 4 weeks of being ignored and nobody willing to help, today, I was so pissed about the lack of assistance, I was calling the bigben HQ in France and fortunately the front desk told me there is a direct support number for digital game purchases via +33 969397959
I called them and it turns out the German email confirmation of the Test Drive Solar Crown pre-order is wrong, as it falsely says it would ship the Steam codes 2 weeks after my purchase, while instead it should say the Steam codes will be sent 2 weeks after the physical Test Drive Solar Crown limited edition has physically been shipped.
Furthermore, I was told the reason why I received no reply in 4 weeks from neither assistance.nacon@games.fr nor vpcgames@bigben.fr, is simply, the fact, that they are overwhelmed by the sheer amount of emails so they are not able to answer them.
I was told, the better email to use would be support@nacongaming.zendesk.com
That a huge company like Nacon neither can word emails correctly (even the auto-reply tech support email is riddled with errors as mentioned before) nor has enough staff to answer emails is a big shame.
I’m expecting better from you.
I was really close to open a buyer protection with PayPal due to the lack of (proper) communication
It should not require your customer to google phone numbers and call the HQ of Big Ben in France to get working phone numbers with people who actually want to help.
I worked in the field of customer support myself for many years for 3 companies, and if a customer sent an inquiry to the wrong department, we would just forward them ourselves, instead of handing out email addresses knowingly being aware that they will never ever receive a reply.
This guide is based on various sources with suggestions how to avoid or fix various problems with the game on modern hardware, scattered around in the Steam Community surrounding this game.
1) Install Mashed on Steam 2) Download Mashed: Fully Loaded PC version (Google Drive link) 3) Delete all files in the Steam installed Mashed folder (Don’t remove gamesave.bin if you wish to keep your save file) 4) Copy over all files from the downloaded Mashed: Fully Loaded version and paste them in the Steam created Mashed folder where you initially installed the game in step 1 5) Download and install RTSS 6) Open RivaTuner Statistics Server 7) At the bottom left, select the green “Add” button and locate the mashed.exe file in your Mashed Steam directory 8) Set the Framerate Limit on the right side to the current hz of your monitor (e.g. 60 or if higher, like for me, that particular value).
9) Keep RivaTuner Statistics Server open and open Mashed through Steam (You can minimise RivaTuner Statistics Server, it will minimise to your taskbar’s hidden icons)
The reason for having RivaTuner Statistics Server and limiting the framerate to match the hz of your monitor, is to ensure that the game doesn’t run at a lower framerate. For some reason, the base Mashed: Fully Loaded edition runs at 32 fps in game which can feel slow and janky compared to the Steam release. RTSS allows us to enjoy the features of Mashed: Fully Loaded edition while still having the smooth performance the Steam version has.
(hint: if you are using an Nvidia graphics card, you also can use the Nvidia control panel for this:
Manage 3D settings -> Program settings ->choose Mashed as a program to customise ->override global settings for FPS to the current hz of your monitor).
10) Run the game, try picking your resolution x16 in the top half of the drop down menu, not the bottom half. Caution! Never ever pick x32! If you even do so once, the game will fail to create the necessary texture mappings, and selection of x16 resolutions is permanently disabled then. If you happen to have made this mistake, you need to uninstall the game and start over from scratch!
Since I have thousands of other programs and games running fine in my Windows 11 installation, I would generally rule out a damaged OS, and repair just because of one game not working would be a bit too much.
Anyway, my assumption that it is related to the Epic Online Services was correct.
So here is what I have done:
I did uninstall Epic Online Services as Epic Player Support suggested.
Then iObit Software Updater 2 reported that my Epic Games Launcher is outdated and there is an update:
Done that while verifiying the Fall Guys files in Steam again so it would reset the install script so it would reinstall Epic Online Services as you suggested.
The update installation of Epic Games Launcher halted at 56 % at the last step during “waiting for Epic Games Launcher to initialize its settings”.
I then force killed the setup via Task Manager and restarted Windows.
Upon restart, I did start Epic Games Launcher which completed the update installation successfully.
Then I start Fall Guys via Steam again, it did execute the install script but I would get an error message in Fall Guys colour screen (so cyan blue and purple) saying “program exception”, it would black out my 2nd Monitor and halt WIndows. Had to power circle my PC.
Upon Windows 11 having been booted up again, I did start Fall Guys via Steam again, the Epic Online Services install script was executed a second time and I saw a new task in task manager that has been missing previously called “Epic Online Services local application”:
Now the game runs successfully!
So somehow the outdated Epic Games Launcher caused the issue, despite everywhere it is said it is not connected tho the Epic Online Services at all!
Being a PC gamer since the 90s, my 386 from 1993 outgrew my gaming needs quick, so by 1995, I did have a Pentium 100 and 16 MB of RAM, by 1997 a Pentium MMX 2000 and by year 2000, a Pentium III/866 Mhz.
The last computer I built together myself is from 2012, the same machine I am currently using to this day.
Granted, a BIOS update in 2013 made it possible to turn the AM3 socket into a AM3+ socket and double the supported DDR3 RAM amount from 16 to 32 GB.
The Pilediver architecture is known to be very inefficient when it comes to power consumption and produced heat. But an AMD FX-8370 is the max it can handle, and with its 8 Cores, 8 Threads @ 4Ghz, 2K Gaming is slowing pushing the limits.
While, in the 90s and early 00s, if your PC didn’t match the system requirements, the game simply wouldn’t run, nowadays, you sometimes squint your eyes and bend the truth a bit 😀
The disadvantage of using an AMD platform from 2010 as a base, is the incredible power consumption, also given I still use a midi tower case 4 x 5.25″ & 2 x 3.5″ drive bays on the front, and this includes a whopping 8 x HDDs/SSDs in this machine, as well as using all the PCI and PCIe slots the motherboard can offer, the range of 700 watts PSUs I can use is very limited, as many do not offer enough juice on the combined 3.3v + 5v rails.
According to the outervision PSU Calculator, recommended is a PSU with 209 W on the combined 3.3V/5V rails, i.e. 13.6 A on the 3.3V and 32.7 A on the 5V rail.
32.7 is utopic! 20-23 A is the max I can find, and even those are an exception of the rue.
This means, this rail typically has combined wattage of the range of 100 to 130 watts – sounds edgy yes, but it works. One way to find out, is running Discord, being in a voice or video call with a person while playing PUBG. It causes enough load on this rail, that if there is not enough juice, the other party will report loss of hearing you clearly, and you will get constant ping spikes as well as “network lag” warnings.
Another topic we shall tap into is cooling. As mentioned earlier, Pilediver is a piece of sh* when it comes to this regard.
when upgrading from 6 core to octa core, I had to get an ARTIC Freezer A32, and add a 2nd fan to it for more efficient cooling.
I’ve found a screenshot I made in November 2017 when I freshly installed the cooler and 2 fans:
by installing the 2nd CPU inverted by accident (sucking warm air from one side of the heatsink rather than blowing on it), not only is the CPU 4°C cooler (74°C now vs 78°C then) than back in 2017 with stock installation, but also the HDDs and SSDs are cooler now.
(taken May 2024)
Both temps screenshots were taken under normal operating conditions, not under heavy load.
Now let’s talk about, what I mean by saying “System requirements today are not what they used to be”.
Back in August 2020 when Project Cars 3 was released, I barely could run the game. there would be framerate dips and after that, the game would speed up uncontrollably for seconds afterwards, to catch up – hence constant crashes into the wall, and as a consequence losing the race and ranks.
The game was poorly optimized on release, I even emailed with AMD asking what can be done.
Here is an excerpt of their reply to me:
If I have understood you correctly, Project Cars 3 is the only game that stutters on your PC. So let’s compare the minimum requirements of the game with your hardware configuration.
Your processor is a FX-8370, minimum requirement is a FX-8350, so your processor is just above the minimum requirement Your graphics card is a GTX 1050ti, the minimum requirement is a GTX 680. Since the GTX 680 is about 20% more powerful than the 1050ti according to independent comparison tests, the minimum requirement is not met here.
It is quite possible that the game stutters due to the CPU, as the FX-8370 is only slightly faster than the FX-8350, which is the minimum requirement to be able to play the game at all.
In the long term, many new games will probably run better if you install a newer processor, not just Project Cars 3.
A few updates down the road, the game no longer had those issues on my then GTX 1050ti although still 20% below the minimum system requirements.
When Bethesda invited me to the presentation of “Starfield” to the press (thanks Bethesda!), I knew I had to get the game once released.
What I didn’t pay attention to were the system requirements once again. A Ryzen 5 2600 which has 18% more effective speed than an FX-8370 And a GTX 1070 Ti which has 119% more effective speed than my GTX 1650 at that time. I’ve managed to play the game in HD resolution just fine though. Not the highest details setting of course, but it was not having frame drops or other issues that made it unplayable.
Surprisingly, Robocop Rogue City plays better in HD on my setup, than many players with their Ryzen CPUS and their 4090s! 🙂
Where the age of my CPU clearly showed was FIFA23, which requires an AMD Ryzen 5 1600 which is 13% more effective in speed than my FX-8370. I had to put all the graphic settings to the lowest (which isn’t easy as they aren’t many to fiddle with), and to a HD resolution as max to make the frame dips bearable and the game playable.
Latest example is Star Trek Resurgence, where a GTX 1080 is required, which is has 18% more effective speed than my GTX 1070. I did suffer from stutters and as this fellow here calls it – “teething problems”, but I have managed that by moving the game files from a HDD to a SSD. The GPU is pretty permanently on 100% load, though. (While for Robocop Rogue city, the GPU is on 90% load but the temps in their 90s°C, as well).
Once again: System requirements today are not what they used to be.
Question is, how much can I still push the envelope, until it no longer is sufficient?
I once had the issue of buying a warehouse deal Western Digital HDD to put into my NAS. Turns out the electronics of the drive were damaged and ended up short circuiting my NAS case, Amazon refusing to cover the full costs, but only a small amount which they claimed equals the “2nd hand market value” of my NAS, I got a refund for the my ordered HDD and they didn’t demand the drive back.
I explained the whole case to the RMA department of Western Digital, they got me covered, I sent in the damaged drive, they sent me a new one, I flipped the RMA replacement as such on eBay and this way had enough money to buy a new NAS case.
Another case was when our Postal Service was on strike and an OCZ SSD from Amazon was considered lost in the post, I was refunded, but received it weeks later anyway. However they sent me a different drive than what I ordered, at the item bar code was confused with another model. After a year in my cupboard, I found the drive was dead.
Meanwhile Toshiba took over OCZ and when I explained the whole situation to Toshiba’s RMA department, they allowed me to send it in for a replacement. In both cases, the stories and circumstances were so wild, I was surprised by the outstanding support from both Western Digital and Toshiba! 🙂
For a best rate of success, there are some dos and don’ts on this one.
Don’ts: – don’t use the patch for upgrading to version 1.1, it will cause the game to crash when you try to run it. – the controller compatibility patch for XBOX and Playstation controllers has been removed from the general patch for this version of Need For Speed, stay away from it at it will also cause the game to crash. The game will run fine without, but simply not displaying the PS/XBOX buttons to press.
Dos: 1) download the Need For Speed ProStreet Generic Fix, you can enable all options on this one as your heart desires. – even including resolutions past FullHD and above 60 Hz refresh rate 🙂
2) Apply a no DVD Patch for version 1.0 of the game
First of all, follow these instructions, however if you have a multi-monitor setup like myself, you might run into the problem that the game will open on the wrong monitor and hence also use a wrong resolution. Solution here is, too choose “Windowed Mode” in config.exe and install the tool Borderless Gaming, which will force opening the game in full screen on the correct monitor 🙂
In my case, I bought a key for Origin / EA App , which brings in some things to take care about, I will mention them here.
Download the Generic fix by selecting \/ -> Developer Build (untested). The final release (aka “Direct Link”) did not work for me. The Developer Build was from early 2024, which would be executed under Win11 just fine, while the final release would simply not activate, so no changes were made to the game: https://thirteenag.github.io/wfp#nfs
. Activating all re-sizing options (1) as by default was however worth It, the FMVs were not in a wrong aspect, at least not on an Nvidia GTX 1070 in FHD. I also activated XBOX Controller Support
When using an optical media, you may need a no CD Fix, for EA App download, just had to decline the PunkBuster installation at the end of the setup process. Unfortunately the progress for the EA App will freeze at 72%. I had to force close EA App via Task Manager, then re-open the EA App.
Enjoy playing this 16 years of jewel in gaming history in Full HD 😊 – it’s one of the rare games even supporting higher resolutions than that! 😊
If you have however a 2K or higher res monitor with G-Sync functionality, then do this:
1) use the final release of the Generic Fix.
2) Make sure G-Sync is on for your graphics card and in the monitor
3) Set the following settings in NFSUndercover.GenericFix.ini:
[MultiFix] ResDetect = 0 ; Adds resolution auto-detection for the in-game options menu.
[MAIN] Scaling = 0 ; Adjusts FOV aspect ratio to be mathematically correct. Requires FixFOV to be enabled.
[MISC] SkipIntro = 1 ; Skips FMVs that play when you launch the game.
[GRAPHICS] SimRate = 0 ; Controls the refresh rate of the gameplay engine. Match your monitor’s refresh rate or your target frame rate. (0 = Disabled | -1 = Monitor Refresh Rate | -2 = Double Monitor Refresh Rate)
4) Rename the file “dinput8.dll” to “dinput8.dll.disable”
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