Dragon Quest VIII freezes

[Saiki]

try an older pcsx2 gsdx plugin and see if that still crashes. if you need one download an SVN version, or I can post older ones than svn has

[miseru99]

One question, do you use custom internal res or multiplier and FXAA/external shader?

It's probably unrelated since GSdx could fail on other stuff probably, but I remember I had this error when using custom res along with FXAA/external shader. It was different game and only at boot from since I never really used custom res, but maybe it's worth to try either changing the res to multiplier, disabling the shader or both just to be sure and eliminate the possibility of it being the cause;p.

[Saiki]

I had the same error using pure default settings

(so no, that doesn't matter)

[Malachi]

The OP is not the only one. I am also plagued with this issue. The game crashes randomly though, I haven't been able to play over 20 minutes without PCSX2 as a whole crashing. I downloaded the SVN but that made the problem even worse. At first, I would hear my character moving and the music, but now it just instantly crashes the whole program.

Windows 8 64-bit
Intel® Core™ i5-3570K CPU @ 3.40GHz
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660
8GB DDR3 RAM

[Bositman]

That sounds like general system instability...overclocked any? Are your cpu and gpu temperatures good?

[jlwmanagement]

I have been playing DQ8 for weeks on and off (usually a few hours at a time) using 1.0.0 and not a single issue.

[Akio]

Did you try disable overclocking? I can play this game without any crashes. I'm using PCSX2 1.0.0 with GSdx 5632.

[Saiki]

Did you try disable overclocking? I can play this game without any crashes. I'm using PCSX2 1.0.0 with GSdx 5632.

I have no overclocking, and I was getting the same issues

[etking]

I got the GS_merge is null once but most of the time the game is just freezing without any log entry. I am currently experimenting with different clamping modes and reduced GPU overclocking to find out if this might be the cause.

For me, the random freeze happens in towns only (crashed around 15 times within 17 hours of gameplay). I use async audio mode and MTVU speedhack. The game runs in gsdx avx DX11 1280x1080 custom resolution and 1080p output without any AA applied. The sound is choppy sometimes during occasional frame drops and my current version is pcsx2 1.1.0.5628. My GPU is a GT555M with latest drivers.

@jlwmanagement: Could you please try pcsx2 1.1.0 and find out if it crashes with your configuration?

[Malachi]

That sounds like general system instability...overclocked any? Are your cpu and gpu temperatures good?

I've switched the GS to SSE41 (originally using AVX), took away PCSX2's ability to overclock, moved the scaling down to x3 Native, and that has seemed to solve the problem IF I only play while full-screened on my second monitor. However, I still haven't played as long as OP (only played a little over an hour) so the problem may still be there.