I played this a bit when it was new, still have the disc. I had much better luck with the 1.06 patch than the 1.072 patch. YMMV. IIRC, the 1.072 patch was a beta patch, and only one programmer was working on it. The changelog even states that it was only "unofficially officially supported"; it contained numerous gameplay balancing changes and was fun to play, but I encountered a bug once where a space battle occurred but neither side attacked each other, they just sat motionless. I wound up just 'fleeing' that battle. I think the one programmer hinted on the official forums that they were working on a newer patch, but then silence - I assume sales weren't enough to justify continuing support. This was a LOOOONG time ago, but this is as best as I can remember it. I don't recall very many crash-to-desktop bugs, but I remember that **for me**, the 1.06 patch was more stable, and I remember being slightly ticked that it became so hard to find after the 1.072 beta patch came out. If 1.072 beta was my only choice, I still would have enjoyed the game. I usually play a custom race. Sometimes I get tired of staring at progress bars and waiting, but the game is still fun. Wishlisted just on principal. Still play it occasionally.
