I had Reality (though not the base game) crash on me a lot when I first tried it on a modern machine/OS. IIRC, it invariably happened when I used the historical map (although I may not RC and it could have been random maps) and intermittently when I used random (although etc.). There's definitely some issues with it and modern technology (and/or just straight-up with 64-bit systems).
For that matter, I'm still struggling to get it to work properly - I had it working a couple of months ago, but have since "upgraded" from Win7 to Win8 on a new machine following a meltdown, and it seems markedly less inclined to run at all. I'll probably try once more before throwing in the towel, but it's not looking good for me, either.
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Girlinhat - even if you're disinclined to play the MP as it would indeed amount to being thrown into the ocean with a couple hundred kilos of random unlabeled and unassembled gear strapped to your back, I'd say you might get some passing enjoyment out of trying the base game, which in my prior experience is stable. It's also a lot more beginner-friendly as the tech trees are flatter and you start off much more slowly and with fewer resources. Frankly, I'd not recommend any extent EFS mod to learn the game on - the base game (with the limited tutorials it offers) plus the dumb, barely-effectual AI is a much better companion for your first foray than the convoluted mess that is pretty much every rebalancing mod out there.