DF2 UN-FREEZE fix official release
 

So, with help from a dude who I only know as Frank, I’ve made a patch that allows you to unfreeze your DF2 game. With this patch, when your game freezes, simply press the INSERT key on your keyboard the game should resume like normal. After you download it, replace all the files in your games folder with the contents of the "DF2Fixes" folder. PLEASE read the readme.txt for help or post here. Again, when you appear to freeze while playing DF2, if you have this patch installed, you can simply press the INSERT key on your keyboard and the game will resume like normal. You’ll keep your score and everything.

This fix is compatible with any server, including DF2 EVO servers. As well as all COOP and Single Player! Literally any DF2 server or game. Press the INSERT key to unfreeze your game when it appears frozen.

DOWNLOAD THE PATCH HERE: http://novahq.net/files.php?ID=540

Top work Scott (as always) and the elusive Freeza :gj:

I tried to find you a while ago, to no avail, for assistance with a DF1 32 player patch.

Scott forwarded your patch the other week and it works perfectly :)

That's right I have to post that patch as well. I updated the heartbeat dll to work with it already and will do the same to the host tool soon. Awesome work! Wish I had that sort of knowledge! Maybe one day :)

I have to ask. How?

As a programmer, I'm usually leery of 3rd party freeze/crash fixers as it's probably best to let the game/app crash naturally. That applies more to SP games with a save system, though. I bet it's fine for DF2 multiplayer.

My guess is the game gets stuck in an infinite loop while rendering some graphics / specific parts of objects. This patch basically ends the loop which allows the game to continue as normal.

The way my patch works, when the game is frozen, pressing the inert key changes a few bytes in the games memory. Then as soon as it's unfrozen, changes the bytes back to what they were before the freeze so there are no lasting effects. Otherwise, you'd get some serious graphics issues. I don't think freeze is the right word, but it's what everyone has called it because it always appeared frozen, when really it was just stuck in a loop.

nice

There's a scenario where the activated loop is faster than the script can be read and so it misses the return or command to read next line.

Your fix may give it time to do so.

Good patch! My DF2 crash is very usual.

Patch works wonders.

UnFreeze, yes please
 

Just installed the DF2Patch files and it did make the lobby text clearer and created a new startup screen, but pressing the Insert button when game froze up did nothing on 3 different computers. I even loaded these files on the Host computer. These freeze ups are so frustrating, this would be such a great feature to have. Any ideas, and thanks in advance.

Download the game from here: http://novahq.net/files.php?ID=581

This is the full game with EVO mod. All you need to do is download it, unzip it to your desktop and click df2.exe to play. Try playing with that version of the game to see if you can unfreeze pressing the insert key. Not had any complaints about it not working like that yet.

Whats the behaviour of mouse gestures and keys pressed during freeze? Is that locked or could you 'invisibly' move as a freezer?

i think it unlocks where delta force 2 got stuck this had to be done in the right way it then can continue

the error is not fully known but the part is in a draw function

i think the problem was that we could not make the error happen so we could deeper look what it is (that solution is old)

since the code doesnt crash it doesnt leave a sysdump.txt
but that could be done if we make a error if it apears maybe we find some time at some point

Tried downloading from the link and df2 still froze. No mouse movements, no keyboard, just my poor 'frozen in time' screen. Have go to Task Manager and end task.

I did not load this version on the server, so i will try that next. Thanks for your help, it would be awesome to eliminate these freezes.

did you push the hotkey ? or was the dll loaded ?
if i can scott on teamviewer we gonna look for a better solution

i was trying to make it happen like 3 hours but it did not (win7 64x without services packs) (DF1) DF2 then soon

i need like a trigger to make it happen

is there a sign when it happens like often ? like how many time i have to play ? or on what map it happens very much ? does it requie to turn and run or is turn enough ? are other players needed (multiplayer or single player) ? do it happen if you play windowed mode (this is like important if i have to know i have to switch back to a resolution) ?

in the past i remember it happend like 1 time a day while playing 8 hours or so DF1 i dont remember it much but on that day it happend once but i could not go back to the resolution settings so i could turn on a debugger

It's more rare in DF1 but last weekend I froze 3 times which is unusual. In Df2, it's much more common.

I have a VM setup, I'm going to make sure I can freeze in it and then we'll do some more testing.

do amd users have this a lot less ? it could be related to new intel cpu

shrd command could be involved intel stays a bit different here since x64

shrd cnt, src, dest
shrd dest, src, cnt

i gave it other try 4:30 hours (amd) 2 maps loaded move left (screen) permanently on , map : CTFMACE

Also, Intel's manual[1] states that the results are undefined when cnt is greater than the operand size, but at least for 32- and 64-bit data sizes it has been observed that shift operations are performed by (cnt mod n), with n being the data size.

i noticed in that ctfmaze that there if i change relevant things a drawing problem apears but on some others maps it almost not doing that, this can happen when the calclations related to the src command are either to be done or not

if thats so its a challange :-) its hardware based but can be fixed in rewriting the entire function software based

sounds interesting at least :-)

but i still could make no freez

I'm not sure it's an intel thing, I use AMD and I freeze all the time. About as much as anyone else.

It's common to freeze a lot on the CTF XMaze map

its 9 hours now but most of the time it only swapped around the screen

it didnt apear that makes it hard to predict where it was at

that function draws only parts of objects the walls on ctfmaze, the bunker , terrans seems not to be the case here

i can make a crasher so it creates a sysdump.txt

that already would go into the right direction however it would not include that 2-3 offsets this functions calcs with

do it happen for you if you stuck a keyboard key to move vision around ?

When frozen you cannot do anything

i mean to trigger the freez

i set a key so it changes the game viewangle but 9 hours nothing

how fast you can trigger the error ?

The freeze is random, I don't have a certain way to trigger it 100% of the time. There are areas where it seems to do it more so, but then sometimes right in the middle of the open I freeze. Sometimes I can play Df2 all day without one freeze. Others I freeze 3-4 times in the same map.

You can see me freeze in DF1 here. I was just going outside of the building and froze. Right at 19:11 the game is frozen. https://youtu.be/P2uchvw-h2M?t=1148

In DF2, the same sort of thing happens in the same type of areas. Identical. The game freezes, and nothing works. I have to close the game via the task manager unless I use the unfreeze.

If I can get some time I will see if I can record it in Df2 as well. We still have to do the TeamViewer.

yes it definatly happend on the same map for me
(i tryed to set a different resolution in windows but i could not if so i could have fixed it, some ideas here ?)

the thing is if DF is stuck somewhere it can be anywhere in the code it will cause the same reaction no keyboard input no mouse no screen activity

i need a memory dump for this when it has happend in df2 we at least have the function
that function process objects but it is not clear what gone wrong without having the values it has calced in this moment , but there only a few placed it can be at

df2 use a lot of that shrd instruction in that function then use sar then shr , this can lead in miscalculations in specific calculations because 1 type is signed and the other is unsigned

that will get clear if i have the values it calcs with

then we would have a very valid solution for this

a other solution would could be done would be that it reacts if that problem (i will make some code for this) happend that prolly also do the job but skips some parts then for a very short amount of time

it contains strings like ("sand03", and "pole") something rings with that names ?

I only have anecdotal evidence, but I crash WAAAAY more in DF2 when playing at 1024x768 compared to 800x600.

i cant make the freez apear

but we can try to come near to the problem in steps (since we have a offset where it is around at)
this is a shoot into the dark but it could fix the problem maybe:
https://www.file-upload.com/w3wp5rrc0s1b
thats the 64 patched 1 i been working on (incomplete) it has some free memory space i could set the patch at


make sure you turn of cheat blocker (cb) (DF favs)
im just uncertain if it trigger 1 of its modifications it cant see the diffrens between the changes


ahh and if the freez apear you dont need to try it twice then its not fixed

any testing results ? seems it fixed it then we can make a beta instead of a tester

I tested it for awhile and didn't freeze, but I need a little more time in a few more games to know.

good work keep it up

this 1 is skipping on certain points and it needs some memory space but lets see how we fix it in near future

I had incorrect install instructions from another site that said to copy and paste the DF2_EVO_1.4 files into your existing DF2 folder, said no need to create separate. Didn't work. So i followed your directions and created all new folder on desktop. Bottom line, i had 2 freezes and both times when i hit Insert key, i was able to continue with very little lost time. This was awesome!! As these freezes really took away from this game, this is a huge bonus, huge....Again, gentlemen, thanks for all the help and a big THANK YOU to whoever created this fix!

did you try the experimental version ?
you need to turn cheat blocker (cb) off for this i think it maybe can trigger it

the diffrens would be that you not even need the hotkey anymore it just wont freez anymore

we could need some testers