Saboteur ATI Freeze Fix

Saboteur game is suffering a freezing issue which affects most ATI users when opening menus and the quest journal, and transitioning between areas. Some ATI gamers are able to play using Windows XP, but even then there are often problems. Pandemic is investigating the problems in conjunction with ATI. Here’s a intermittently-working workaround:

UPDATE:

• 12/18/09): Patch Released:

Apparently missing the point, or facing an improbable time frame, pandemic has released the patch which still requires it to run under a single core…

If you are using Windows 7 you have to do this:

1.) Boot the game.
2.) Wait for the main menu to load, then press Ctrl-Alt-Delete.
3.) Select Start Task Manager.
4.) If the game is visible, press Alt-Tab, otherwise continue to the next step.
5.) Inside the Task Manager, go to the Processes tab.
6.) Find Saboteur.exe, right-click it, and select Set Affinity…
7.) De-select CPU 2 and CPU 3.
8.) Click OK.

In any case, grab the patch here, be sure to get the latest latest ATI drivers here,

• (12/11/09): Real patch is now in internal testing.

We are currently digging into the issue at hand & are working as fast as possible to find a solution. In some of our tests we have found one workaround that seems to allow users to run the game. Some have posted adjusting the affinity process via “Task Manager” but our fix truly puts the system in a 1 core mode and will allow you to run the game. Overall this is not a final fix, nor a perfectly stable fix, but it will allow you to run the game. This work around is entirely base upon CPU processing power & will possibly only work for certain systems.

Steps to turn off cores: (For Windows 7)
1.) Open MSCONFIG (You can open it by entering MSCONFIG in the search bar)
2.) Select the “Boot” tab
3.) Click on “Advanced Options”
4.) Check “Number of Processors”
5.) Select “1” from dropdown menu
6.) Click “Apply”
7.) Restart machine

Steps to turn off cores: (For Windows Vista)
1.) Open MSCONFIG – Start> Run > Type MSCONFIG
2.) Select the “BOOT.INI” tab
3.) Click on “Advanced Options…”
4.) Select the check box for /NUMPROC= set it to 1 & click “OK”
5.) Click “Apply”
6.) Restart machine

Thanks, GameGuru

Opinion: EA’s business strategy seems to depend on pushing release dates. Game developers don’t have the time they need to smooth out bugs and finish testing, and consumers are paying for it by buying an incomplete product.