The types of issues you're having sound more to me like the types of issues plaguing a corrupted install. Being that you've introduced a new operating system into the fold adds a new variable to the mix however so it could be because you're playing on Windows 8. Let the record show that neither Bloodlines nor TFN was ever meant to run on Windows 7 or 8 as both me, and Troika developed our parts of it using XP.
Right now I am developing TFN 1.2 on Windows 7 because I want to create it on a newer OS, but for proper play testing I will technically need to try it out on both 7 and XP before releasing it. When it comes time for beta testing with TCI members I will be asking for half 7 users and half XP users to test it. I honestly don't think I'll even bother with Windows 8 testing EVER because by the time 8 is main stream, I will had probably retired from modding Bloodlines.
We'll see, but as of right now TFN officially only supports Windows XP and 7, along with the standard 4:3 video format with 1280 x 1024 being the optimum resolution to play at (mostly because of font size reasons).