I have the full package installed, but the HotFix Version as I am running a Sapphire Card which does not work with the original drivers.

The Indie Royale bundle has v1.0.30 of UnEpic. The DRM is unlikely to cause crashes though, AFAIK it's "just" phoning home.

I could fiddle with driver versions and packages, but(again) imo it's not worth it for one game.

I am just going to try another version of the game and see what happens. I'll also test the GG version on my other PC.

If it's still "broken" after that i'll just play Drakensang(once I finish DLing it, anyways).
You're most likely right.....still, it can't hurt to try and see if various things might fix the problem. Of course, many others who have a similar setup(Phenom cpu/ati card/etc) seem to be having these issues, so maybe it's just the (un)luck of the draw & I have a setup the game can't stomach.

I found the humor to be terrible and obtrusive, but that's a rather subjective argument.

The game has cool lighting effects, though. There is also a demo if you want to give it a whirl yourself.