EDIT
We've released a hotfix (1.1.4b):
Fixed incorrect video memory detection on startup
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Update 1.1.4 is now available for ICBM: Escalation.
Alongside the latest gameplay improvements and fixes included in today's patch, we'd like to address an issue that has recently generated a lot of discussion within the community. Some players reported freezes that were initially believed to be related to the game's DRM implementation. After an extensive investigation, we can now confirm that this was not the case.
Before diving into the details, you can find the full 1.1.4 Patch Notes below.
1.1.4:
Fixed the problem with war planner targeting dead cities
Aircraft no more can enter other faction's airspace during ceasefire
Fixed some performance issues
fixed a potential crash in war planner
Fixed the performance drop associated with torpedoes going ashore
Changed the AI calculations regarding the territory transfers
Added a separate set of the events for Neutral units
Added the unit HP capping to avoid the AI going crazy when seeing the invincible Player's units
Added new AA gun models, which are affected by the armored vehicle techs
Added a new leader portrait
Enhanced Missile Guidance is now a prerequisite for C-RAM tech, to prevent tech rushing
Updated the city artwork for Dalian
Bombers now fire more conventional ALCMs when a nuclear ALCM is equipped, to improve hit probability
Removed the counter-spy radar from space centers
Fixed a problem with chemical artillery ranges being extended when not entrenched
Fixed MANPADS elevation bug on helicopters. Attack Helicopters now only attack other helicopters and aircraft that are landing/taking off as intended
Increased the fire rate of helicopter ATGMs
Increased the activation delay on submarines from 5 seconds to 10
Missile ASATs on hunter-killer satellites can now be toggled on and off
Fixed 10M pure fusion light ICBM using the wrong explosion, now does more damage
Fixed a translation issue in Chinese where Xining and Xuzhou had the wrong names
Mobile MRBM launchers now count towards the objective in Mission 2 of Endless October
Clarifying the DRM Misconceptions
Over the past few weeks, we've seen a significant amount of misinformation regarding what has been described as a "new DRM" being introduced into the game. We'd like to officially clarify the situation.
First and foremost, there is no new DRM.
The DRM implementation has remained unchanged since the original ICBM. Nothing was introduced specifically for ICBM: Escalation and nothing has changed in the latest updates.
The system performs a single authentication check when the game starts. It does not continuously monitor the game, it does not require a permanent internet connection and it does not repeatedly communicate with external services while you play.
If you encounter a Steam connection error during startup, it simply means the initial authentication process could not be completed. This may happen because:
Your Steam client is outdated
A firewall or antivirus is blocking the request
Microsoft PlayFab services are temporarily unavailable
The game also does not collect telemetry or gameplay analytics. The only information used during authentication is your Steam authentication ticket, which is validated through Microsoft PlayFab against Steam's servers. Outside of that initial verification, PlayFab is only used for leaderboard updates.
For anyone experiencing startup issues, the exact error can always be found inside the Fatal.txt file.
Investigating the Reported Freezes
From the very first diagnostic logs, it became apparent that the issue had nothing to do with DRM. Instead, it appeared to be a rare thread synchronization problem, one of the most difficult categories of bugs to reproduce and debug, especially when it only occurs on a specific machine.
Over multiple rounds of testing and more than a dozen experimental builds, gradually collecting larger diagnostic dumps until the exact source of the freezes was finally identified.
The Real Cause
The freezes were actually caused by the AI.
During its planning phase, the AI determines where newly produced army divisions should be deployed by assigning them to military bases. Under normal circumstances, the AI plans roughly 30 to 50 divisions, making this calculation effectively instantaneous.
However, in the affected save file, the AI somehow concluded that it needed to plan more than 70,000 divisions.
Since this particular algorithm scales quadratically, the workload exploded from only a few thousand calculations to roughly 700 million operations, resulting in freezes lasting several seconds, or even much longer.
The obvious question then became:
Why did the AI suddenly believe it needed 70,000 divisions?
Additional diagnostic dumps eventually revealed the answer.
A third-party trainer was modifying the game's memory by continuously increasing the health values of the player's units. While the trainer was configured to provide only a modest health boost, it was unintentionally altering the internal values used by the AI.
Instead of the normal 150 HP, some units eventually reached internal values of 999,999 HP.
From the AI's perspective, these units had become virtually indestructible.
Naturally, it concluded that defeating a single enemy division would require thousands of its own units, causing its planning system to spiral into generating tens of thousands of divisions and overwhelming the planning algorithm.
Importantly, this was not intentional on the player's part. The trainer itself appeared to be modifying memory incorrectly, creating internal values that differed dramatically from those displayed in-game.
The Fix
Update 1.1.4 introduces a permanent safeguard against this scenario.
The AI now ignores clearly invalid or abnormal HP values when evaluating enemy strength, and an additional hard cap has been introduced to prevent the AI from ever planning absurd numbers of divisions, even if future mods or trainers unexpectedly modify game data.
This not only resolves the reported freezing issue but also makes the AI considerably more robust against corrupted game states.
Thank You
We would like to extend a sincere thank you to Vinland Is Art for the incredible amount of time spent helping us investigate this issue.
Without the logs, crash dumps and countless rounds of testing, identifying a bug this specific would have been virtually impossible.
Finally, we'd like to ask everyone experiencing crashes, freezes or unexpected behaviour to please send us your Fatal.txt, crash dumps and log files located in:
Documents > My Games > ICBM-Escalation
These reports are invaluable. The more information we receive, the faster we're able to identify, reproduce and resolve issues for everyone.