TRII - PS1- Barkhang Monastery

>>3902198
>Anyone else encounter issues with crashing/freezing when playing the Barkhang Monastery level in Tomb Raider II?

The TR games use Redbook audio tracks. They're incredibly sensitive about any of that data being corrupt or out of place. Likely, the game is trying to load an audio track at a specific part of the level, but the data is corrupt or in the wrong position. This is most likely to occur with emulation or playing from a burned disc.

the pc version played it just fine on my birds celeron 2gb shitbook, framerate dont dip at all, surprisingly

>>3902625
I used the original disc. The crashing doesn't happen too often, but I always have to remind myself of the possibility. I could try getting into the habit of saving more often, but it won't be easy since I've gotten so good at the level.

>>3903458
I was playing the PS1 version. I'm sure the PC version runs smoother.

>>3905071
>I used the original disc

Your disc may be too scratched up though. If the PS1's laser is having trouble finding the placement of audio tracks, it will freeze the game when events attempt to trigger music. This issue is notorious with Tomb Raider games specifically, due to the way they're designed. They can't tolerate the slightest data misalignment.

>>3902198
No never had a problem on that level,maybe your laser is on the way out.

>>3902198
I still have my original Playsation and TRII (Greatest Hits release, I believe), and yes, I've always had issues with the game freezing at the exact spot your screenshot is from. If you keep all the monks alive (as I always do) and return to that area later, the bad guys bust in and there are just too many actors for the game to handle.

It's really easy to avoid the crash, though. As soon as the ambush triggers, just turn away and run around a corner until a couple of the guys are dead. As long as you don't try to fight them in that big open room (which is already a little taxing on the PS, due to the giant statue) it works fine.

Other than ocassional frame drops in busy areas, I haven't had any other issues with the rest of the level, and I agree that Barkhang Monastery is one of the best. I think it's the best level in the entire series, actually. Great atmosphere and lots of traps.

>>3906462
>best level
I think Temple of Xian is a little better than Barkhang just because it's such a hostile gauntlet of traps and death rooms. Really feels like an ordeal making your way back up to the dagger, a cool journey from the "dungeon" cave area up to the top.

>>3906462
>If you keep all the monks alive (as I always do) and return to that area later, the bad guys bust in and there are just too many actors for the game to handle.

This isn't an issue. It has to do with data corruption from damage to the disc. If the game can't detect an audio track at its precise position, the game will lock-up.

I also own a Greatest Hits pressing. (of which they are many revisions, as several different GH versions add different demos to the game) No, the game does not trigger a freeze at this point under normal circumstances.

>>3908385
I don't see how your explanation makes any sense. The freeze clearly happens when you get a ton of guys on screen. It doesn't correlate to any music trigger so I don't know why you would think of audio at all. I can reproduce it easily on my system.

>>3908445
>It doesn't correlate to any music trigger so I don't know why you would think of audio at all.

It does. The classic TR intro theme is triggered during this scene.

I know about this error because I had to research it extensively to understand why TR discs were so difficult to produce accurate rips of. The rips would incessantly freeze when run in an emulator because the games are designed to be so sensitive about the placement of the audio tracks. If any data corruption (e.g. scratches) makes it difficult for the system to load the audio, the entire game will freeze as opposed to the audio track simply stuttering or not loading at all.

Sony even had this issue when trying to bring TR over to PSN. They had to produce a hacked version of the game before it could actually be emulated.

>I can reproduce it easily on my system.

I can't reproduce it because it's not an issue. Your disc is scratched, or was scratched at one point, but had the scratches buffed out (which doesn't actually reverse the physical damage caused by the scratches)

>>3908459
>The classic TR intro theme is triggered during this scene.

Correction: Some sort of chanson rendition of the classic TR theme plays. I just tested it again to be sure.

For further clarification: It's not that you and OP happen to be experiencing a specific error at this precise scene, it's that the misalignment of data on the disc is actually going to prompt freezes at a number of different scenes during the course of the game. Data misalignment won't necessarily affect a single music track. A whole series of tracks may be affected. And when any of these tracks is prompted by an event, the game will freeze. This includes ambient tracks that may not be immediately noticeable.

I cannot produce this freeze because my disc does not have any data corruption / misalignment. No amount of on-screen action will prompt my game to freeze at any point. And bear in mind that TR2 throws a very large number of human opponents at you at any given time.

>>3908476
There may well be a separate music issue that causes problems, but it's not what I'm talking about. 1) No music cue plays in that room when the guys attack, you're just wrong. 2) Barkhang Monastery has MANY more human enemies possible on-screen than any other level in the game, because no other level has friendly NPCs (the monks) that can gather and add up more and more as the level goes on.

https://youtu.be/fAfXtGK29-0?t=30m52s
Watch at 30:50. You can see the monks flickering in and out of existence as OP said. On my PS, if I stay in this room and fight the guys that come in next, it will freeze every time. I have to turn away or run around a corner so there are fewer on screen. Note that no music plays during this part.