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R*'s PATHETIC port job: Bully 360 freezing (among other glitches) [PATCH NOW OUT]

FlyinJ

Douchebag. Yes, me.
Costanza said:
I've got an Elite and it's much quieter than my old system... anyway, maybe I was wrong.. it does sound different now that I went back to Bully.. like I can hear the disc drive but not the fan.. where in LOST it was both.

This could potentially be very, very bad. If the fan isn't running, and it's baking the system, it could definitely do long-term damage to the console.
 
FlyinJ said:
This could potentially be very, very bad. If the fan isn't running, and it's baking the system, it could definitely do long-term damage to the console.
How could the machine be set to do that by the game though... surely that gets controlled at an OS level??
 
Surely the fans would be temperature controlled? My old Xenon 360's fans were pretty loud after exiting a game, after several minutes they'd start to slow down a bit.

Perhaps Bully isn't pushing the 360 all that hard, hence lack of fan speed? Maybe the crashing is just systematic of a bug that got through QC? (Any update on the PAL version of the game, last I read in this thread some guy in Oz had his game running flawlessly)
 

Costanza

Banned
sionyboy said:
Surely the fans would be temperature controlled? My old Xenon 360's fans were pretty loud after exiting a game, after several minutes they'd start to slow down a bit.

Perhaps Bully isn't pushing the 360 all that hard, hence lack of fan speed? Maybe the crashing is just systematic of a bug that got through QC? (Any update on the PAL version of the game, last I read in this thread some guy in Oz had his game running flawlessly)
It seems more like the 360 can barely handle the game with all the framerate drops...
 

FlyinJ

Douchebag. Yes, me.
Ok I just talked to one of our programming leads here about it.

The main cause of the fans kicking in is CPU usage. We think that Bully is only utilizing one core, thus the heat generated by the CPU wouldn't cause the fans to really kick in.

He said that, more than likely, only one core was utilized because it was a port. Enabling any more cores to increase performance would require a lot more programming work, so they most likely just stuck it all on one core for a quick port job.

So that's most likely why the fan isn't kicking in.

And it also explains why the game runs like shit in general.
 

Costanza

Banned
FlyinJ said:
Ok I just talked to one of our programming leads here about it.

The main cause of the fans kicking in is CPU usage. We think that Bully is only utilizing one core, thus the heat generated by the CPU wouldn't cause the fans to really kick in.

He said that, more than likely, only one core was utilized because it was a port. Enabling any more cores to increase performance would require a lot more programming work, so they most likely just stuck it all on one core for a quick port job.

So that's most likely why the fan isn't kicking in.

And it also explains why the game runs like shit in general.
hmm...
 

slewis7

Member
No freezes here so far and I have played into Chapter 2. I am really enjoying the game and I hope my luck continues...

By the way, while the graphics and framerate aren't up to current gen standards, the voice work is really great!
 

FlyinJ

Douchebag. Yes, me.
So, hopefully, it's just a really badly-programmed unstable port that should have never made it past Cert... and it isn't frying our boxes as well.

Then again, having the DVD drive constantly spinning without the main fans blowing hard could be bad for the system.
 
slewis7 said:
No freezes here so far and I have played into Chapter 2. I am really enjoying the game and I hope my luck continues...

By the way, while the graphics and framerate aren't up to current gen standards, the voice work is really great!

Good news! I still dont think the framerate is as bad as other have proclaimed. And I totally agree with you on the voicework. While the graphics are sub par at times, I think they did a really great job sprusing them up. The only thing that really sticks out is the polygonal count on people. Theres some odd shapes and angles.
 

squatingyeti

non-sanctioned troll
Costanza said:
It seems more like the 360 can barely handle the game with all the framerate drops...

Bad coding does not mean the system is pushed. You can use 100% of the resources playing pong if you code it the right way.
 
I wonder if a giant patch via Xbox Live would fix these issues. Or, if they're part of the very core of the code, there might be no hope.
 

Mrbob

Member
ManaByte said:
too bad with Gamestop once you open the game, it's yours :(

Does any retail store allow you to return an opened game for full refend? I can't think of any which are left.
 

ManaByte

Member
BTW good luck getting a major games site to cover this. They're too busy sucking Rockstar's cock for GTA4 coverage to risk a negative story about the company right now.
 

ManaByte

Member
Mrbob said:
Does any retail store allow you to return an opened game for full refend? I can't think of any which are left.

I don't want a refund. I'll exchange it for The Show on PS3 and pay the $10 extra, but Gamestops return policy is that you can only exchange the game for the same one once it's been opened.
 
ManaByte said:
I don't want a refund. I'll exchange it for The Show on PS3 and pay the $10 extra, but Gamestops return policy is that you can only exchange the game for the same one once it's been opened.

So just do that saying your is glitched...(which is is) then take the new copy they give you and take it to walmart or target and get a refund on a unopened copy? Aye? or if they wont give you money back at least you get your 50 dollars value back for something else.
 

ManaByte

Member
slasher_thrasher21 said:
So just do that saying your is glitched...(which is is) then take the new copy they give you and take it to walmart or target and get a refund on a unopened copy? Aye?

Wal-Mart and Target around here no longer take games back without a receipt...for that very reason.
 
ManaByte said:
Wal-Mart and Target around here no longer take games back without a receipt...for that very reason.

Well do you have another gamestop you can go to take it back? and man that sucks, since when did walmart and target start doing that. I had to go take a birthday gift game back to Wally world because I already had it and no receipt so they let me exchange it for something else no problem.... hmmm
 

ManaByte

Member
slasher_thrasher21 said:
Well do you have another gamestop you can go to take it back? and man that sucks, since when did walmart and target start doing that. I had to go take a birthday gift game back to Wally world because I already had it and no receipt so they let me exchange it for something else no problem.... hmmm

There are about 6 Gamestops within a 20 mile radius here. They all have the same return policy.
 
ManaByte said:
There are about 6 Gamestops within a 20 mile radius here. They all have the same return policy.

Yeah but I have two in my city, I've returned a game opened saying its defective, got a shiny new shrink wrapped one, and then took it back to the other gamestop looking unopened. Granted I have only done this like twice and for extreme measures (I don't do this normally, eventually they would catch on anyways) Just trying to offer you some tricks to perhaps getting a refund of some sort back is all.
 
Costanza said:
Gamestop opens the package on the new one when you exchange stuff.

Hmmm not around here they don't. Hmmmmm

*Granted when I think about it I primarily shop at the one store and they treat me very well since I spend alot of money there so maybe they are more laid back with me*
 

FlyinJ

Douchebag. Yes, me.
After thinking about this a bit more, I've come up with a few scenarios:


One, it could be that there is a bug that is overriding the OS fan code, causing the fans not to run at full speed. This is pretty unlikely, but it is Mad Doc Software we are talking about here.

More likely, the game is only utilizing one core on the 360, as utilizing more than that would require them to actually have given a shit about the port and would need a lot more programming work. So, only one core is running, thus the OS doesn't kick the fans into high gear. Not many games utilize one core, and this game is constantly spinning the DVD drive which causes a bit of heat in the box as well. This could potentially be bad for the incredibly unstable 360 hardware.

Third option is the above is true, but the system itself is safe... and the random instability, audio glitching and hard crashes are simply just a really shitty programming job by Mad Doc, and should have never passed MS Cert.

What makes me nervous, however, is that I've never seen a game released on the 360 in such an unstable state. All of the crashes are random, which looks like the system itself is failing. And how could a game with this unstable of a codebase ever pass MS Cert?

The 360 test boxes we have at work are generally a lot more stable and less prone to red-ringing than the average consumer system. This is a combination of them all being replaced with the newest heat sinks (because the bad ones failed a year ago) and the others having that large fan casing over the harddrive. Very few of those have failed.

A scenario that may be likely is that MS Cert has much more stable and better cooled boxes, so they didn't notice the game crashing because of the heat generated by the main fans not kicking in.
 

Costanza

Banned
If you really want your money back....

They're going for like 45 new on ebay.. list it BIN for like 40 with 5 bucks shipped and don't specify whether it's new or used. I do this sometimes and it almost always sells and I still get 100% good feedback too.
 

Haunted

Member
ManaByte said:
BTW good luck getting a major games site to cover this. They're too busy sucking Rockstar's cock for GTA4 coverage to risk a negative story about the company right now.
snappy.
 

hokahey

Member
Psychotext said:
Almost all the stories of games ruining the 360 tend to be people thinking a game killed their 360 because they were playing it when the machine died.

As we all know though, the 360 is perfectly capable of killing itself.


Yeah, whatever the reasons are it's massive failure rate is too much for me. I don't know anyone with a 360 that hasn't encountered at least 2 RROD's, and then had to go through all hell trying to get it fixed.

Funny thing is, I felt the same way about the PS2, and then when I finally caved and bought one - Disc Read Error.

Not trying to be too fanboyish here, but I've never sent back a Nintendo system. It's one of the reasons their's are my first console bought each gen. It's nice to know that I can buy something at launch and not have to worry too much.
 
There's lots of people that haven't had any problems with their 360 having issues with this game though... would point to sloppy coding more than anything, but yes... you wonder how this could get through cert.
 
hokahey said:
Not trying to be too fanboyish here, but I've never sent back a Nintendo system. It's one of the reasons their's are my first console bought each gen. It's nice to know that I can buy something at launch and not have to worry too much.
Amusingly the Wii I bought my mother has failed twice and my gamecube died. :lol
 
Psychotext said:
There's lots of people that haven't had any problems with their 360 having issues with this game though... would point to sloppy coding more than anything, but yes... you wonder how this could get through cert.

That's true, I have a new Elite Falcon and have had absolutely ZERO problems until this game.
 

Costanza

Banned
monkspider said:
That's true, I have a new Elite Falcon and have had absolutely ZERO problems until this game.
I have an April 29th, 2007 launch Elite (without a falcon) and I've had absolutely ZERO problems until this game.
 
Psychotext said:
There's lots of people that haven't had any problems with their 360 having issues with this game though... would point to sloppy coding more than anything, but yes... you wonder how this could get through cert.

-edit double-postin' like woah.
 
Shaheed79 said:
So the wii version is ok?

I really don't get the discrepancy between the consoles here. How is it that the Wii version is fine while the 360 version crashes like crazy?

I guess it must be a hardware thing.
 

FlyinJ

Douchebag. Yes, me.
backflip10019 said:
I really don't get the discrepancy between the consoles here. How is it that the Wii version is fine while the 360 version crashes like crazy?

I guess it must be a hardware thing.

It's just shitty programming. Did Mad Doc do the Wii port too? Seems doubtful...
 
If I continue to TRY to play this game, will it kill my 360? I saw the discussion above about it, but didn't see the conclusive verdict.

If there's any danger, fuck it, I'm going to finish The Orange Box.
 

Costanza

Banned
MaizeRage25 said:
If I continue to TRY to play this game, will it kill my 360? I saw the discussion above about it, but didn't see the conclusive verdict.

If there's any danger, fuck it, I'm going to finish The Orange Box.
I doubt it honestly.
 
MaizeRage25 said:
If I continue to TRY to play this game, will it kill my 360? I saw the discussion above about it, but didn't see the conclusive verdict.

If there's any danger, fuck it, I'm going to finish The Orange Box.
Yeah, I say go for it. It shouldn't be any more damaging than any other game.
 
Despite everything, I would still say it is a worthwhile purchase so 360 owners who already want it shouldn't let this hold them back. I wouldn't blame the people who are on the fence to wait for a patch though.

I gave you a digg Costanza.
 
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