Tips To Try To Avoid Video Game Freezes Discussion

[oldgamerz]

I've been taking a few mental notes over the years and I want to share my experiences with everyone on here. first off you all are free to include your own tips and disagree with me

let me start.

(for disc based consoles of any generation)

1: many might not know this but if you are playing a game for a long play session. changing options in the in game option menu. Or doing multiple rounds of golf, in a golf game or? (Even) if you has no laser issues. Or scratches on your disc, or even disc rot? Some of game will freeze up for no apparent (random) reason. If you don't reset the console after doing a few rounds of golf sessions like on the game "Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004" for the PlayStation 2 OR "Links 2004 for the original Xbox".

2: Make Sure that all consoles have proper ventilation, and a working fan inside of most disc based consoles. Or they will overheat and freeze your game. I am not sure if the Sega Saturn or the PlayStation 1 has a cooling system/ fan so maybe someone else could post about that?

3: keep your Consoles Clean and Disc Clean. free from dust, hair, bugs, dirt, and sticky substance, and any liquid spills or food.

4: Make Sure your Game Disc does not Have too many Scratches. especially round scratch marks. Because that can officially destroy any disc permanently.

5: don't change a games options in the menu after playing a long play session. Than start another game before restarting your console

6: Save your game often in games that have a save state system. Don't run long gaming sessions without saving your game progress along the way, it will eventually freeze if you don't. I know  something about the consoles memory system? I think? if you don't save often your console can get data backed up somehow? and your console will not take anymore temporary data or, something I don't know so could someone else explain? this better then I can? 

7: try to remember to hit the reset button more often (Before it freezes), (on some games), to restart the console. After a long play session. on game like golf simulation games for example.

8: immediately turn off the controller vibration / force feedback.  If you are using a non official controller or, you might experience the freezing or even a shorted out controller itself.

(PC)
1: Keep your computer free of any kind of Malware or, viruses, worms. spyware and take other security measures. to ensure you computer's recourses are not getting hogged by junk apps. you should not need something like Skype running unless you are using that app for whatever reason, otherwise it will hog your PC resources and slow down your framerate on some newer PC games.

2: Run all kinds of security checks often on your PC, also Defrag your hard drive once in a while check for disc errors as well

3: Save often, some games like The Sims series. All will crash if you don't save often even without malware on the system.

4: Make sure your PC is powerful enough to play the game you are choosing to play. Make sure it has enough RAM, disc space, and video card if you are running most modern games.
note: I never has a video card growing up with a PC. And I played all of my games off Integrated graphics. Most of them will run just fine. If you got enough RAM in your PC.

5: make sure you run some older PC games on newer Windows operating systems in Administrator mode.


Cartridges' Video games.

1:Keep all video game cartridges clean. If they are dirty you can use 91% isopropyl alcohol with cue tips never use round cotton balls

2: Never move or touch or remove any video game while it's currently on and running in the console

3: if you ever insert a game cartridge and see the game glitch, always turn off and re-insert the game cartridge don't just hit the reset button, because even if it appears to have no glitches on start up if you don't somehow reposition the game cartridge. it will freeze up when your playing it, it always did for me,

I'll leave more to the rest of this community.

[oldgamerz]

6: Save your game often in games that have a save state system. Don't run long gaming sessions without saving your game progress along the way, it will eventually freeze if you don't. I know  something about the consoles memory system? I think? if you don't save often your console can get data backed up somehow? and your console will not take anymore temporary data or, something I don't know so could someone else explain? this better then I can?

After some thought I think I have a theory on why I think the following quote is true.,

 older CD based consoles have two primary types of data, temporary data, and. semi Permanent  data. Semi Permanent data  is stored on a CD based console's save state. To a memory card or a hardrive (etc)

and the temporary data is stored on each and every keystroke, or button pressed. Temporary Data I think holds a video game together, (for example) on a 3D platformer video game you've just made a jump 3 times. So you pressed the jump button 3 times. Well those 3 button presses and those 3 jump action. was just placed into the CD consoles temporary storage. during  the current gaming session.

 If you make a save state some of the Temporary data is then stored to your save state, but some of the old Temporary data remains until you restart your CD based console. the Semi Permanent aka the save state data is the place holder file for the game console to read the disc. after you turn off or reset your game console. (I assume), and is created so the CD/DVD/Bluray console can read the data off the physical disc exactly where you left off in your previous game session.

Similar  to  like how you can skip music tracks on most music CD players. I think this was how it worked on all or most, 5th, and 6th, and 7th, generation disc based consoles where a laser was used.

Feel free to correct me on anything I got wrong, most of this is just my own educated guess from playing on various PC's and video game consoles in my life.

sometimes consoles need to relieve   themselves of temporary data or they'll freeze up sometimes. just like when you drink a gallon of water and your body needs to go pee before you wet yourself.

this is an open discussion and I don't know everything, but this is just how I think they work.

(edit)

I am not a programmer, but I also believe that the reason why so many retro game had the enemies respawn and disappear. every time you moved forward or backwards up or down in a console video game. As you jump up down and move forward in a 2D platformer for example, each time the console needed to load that portion of the cartridge and disc and programmers I think needed a way for the game to use less of this so called temporary data, to try to avoid a quicker freeze-up. Temporary data (for example) can also be a score or a life or continue limit

ROM data meaning "Read Only Memory", is the physical data on the cartridge or CD/DVD/Bluray itself, and it is the permanent data . A  video game console needs to load off the cartridge's or disc's ROM data. On the game itself but, the ROM/Physical data  cannot be changed and needs to load from some kind of position, before it let's you play or continue the game.

The reason why CD based consoles have dead bodies disappear in FPS games, was due to a temporary memory issue, if the dead bodies of game characters remained it would use too much temporary data and would freeze any the game console faster.

What I can't quite explain is how video game CD based consoles played music at the same time you played the game.