Game won\'t start
 

[ January 02, 2004, 16:42: Message edited by: Raven 1701 ]

Re: Game won\'t start
 

...ummm, a more complete description of your system would help. Also, look in the "Newby Guide" under technical problems...

Re: Game won\'t start
 

[ January 02, 2004, 16:42: Message edited by: Raven 1701 ]

Re: Game won\'t start
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">I hope it's not a Geforce 4 "MX" card http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif , other than that I have the same setup as you: P 2.26ghz Geforce 4 Ti 4600/128mg XP with 768 DDR Ram and a SoundbLaster Audigy sound card. It works VERY smoothly at the highest settings http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif . To me it sounds like A) you have an "MX" card...bad, or B) the soundcard? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...s/confused.gif

Re: Game won\'t start
 

[ January 02, 2004, 16:41: Message edited by: Raven 1701 ]

Re: Game won\'t start
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Heehee. Meaning that if they didnt bother with the "junk OS's" they could do a better job of making it work on Windows using every possible variation of hardware configuration? YEAaahhhhh SURE that will make a difference. Improve graphics, maybe. Improve sound, not really. Make the interface friendlier for the Windows handicapped, probably. But make it work with all the Win variants and hardware? doubtful. That would still be there.

--
Did you know that 9 out of 10 Windows Users cant find their ASCII with both hands?

[ January 01, 2004, 16:58: Message edited by: Gandalf Parker ]

Re: Game won\'t start
 

[ January 02, 2004, 16:41: Message edited by: Raven 1701 ]

Re: Game won\'t start
 

Someone needs to "grow up", that's for sure.

Re: Game won\'t start
 

Try exiting any TSRs you might have running. When I first got the game I could not get it to run - I soon traced it to having the ATI multimedia toolbar load on startup. Quitting out of the ATI video TSR (which I only use when I'm using my TV tuner card) solved the problem. The symptom wasthe same as yours - video mode changed, but the game would not run.

Re: Game won\'t start
 

"grow up"? Windows is up from Mac OS-X or Linux and especially Solaris? I think amoung people who have used multiple OS's Windows is considered to be the "user" platform.

But anyway, when I did customer support for ISPs, and any good computer store, will have you try this....

Do a cold reboot of the computer. That means power it down, then turn it off (usually a switch in the back of the computer), then turn it back on. Computer stores tell of a growing number of "lockheed fixes" where the problem is gone when the computer it brought in. Thats because turning it completely off and back on fixes many things (such as allowing for the automatic hardware and driver checks, and fixing badly cleaned up memory changes from other software loading).

If that doesnt work you might try a fresh boot and then kill programs you have autoloading, then try. Just to see if there are conflicts.

Re: Game won\'t start
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Making reliably running system on Mac OS-X or Linux or Solaris is for kids. Doing the same on Windows XP is the job for real men http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

Re: Game won\'t start
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Making reliably running system on Mac OS-X or Linux or Solaris is for kids. Doing the same on Windows XP is the job for real men http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Heehee. Yes Windows does make it harder. But Ive actually not had any problems with WinXP. Im even able to play old Favorites like Master of Magic right along with the newest such as Temple of Elemental Evil. Im so glad I shifted off of WinME

Re: Game won\'t start
 

[ January 02, 2004, 16:40: Message edited by: Raven 1701 ]

Re: Game won\'t start
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Have you bothered to check the list of processes you have running before you're claiming you are not running anything but the games? You'll find quite a bunch of processes running which you're not aware of. Most of them are useless for you (if you just play games), some may be harmful and only few are really needed. The problem is to find which ones are which. Good plan is to shutdown all of them and then reenable only those you know why you need. You can find more detailed information on MS website and XP support Groups. This is not very simple job, that's why comments that it takes plenty of efforts and knowledge to make XP run well.

Re: Game won\'t start
 

A techie might need to know exact driver Versions. 'latest' is unclear in case of products which have multiple driver families, e.g. nVidia-based video cards allow both the 'reference' drivers from nVidia and brand-specific drivers.
For some combinations, the latest drivers might not be the best... I recall that with _Shogun: Total War_, for instance, it was very hit-or-miss which nVidia reference drivers worked.

Re: Game won\'t start
 

The problem is not with DOM2, but with your machine.

Which driver Versions are you using?
Did you run dxdiag?
Would you care to save the info it generates and post it here?

At first, try running DOM with the -w command line switch - this should start it in windowed mode.

A.

Re: Game won\'t start
 

[ January 02, 2004, 16:40: Message edited by: Raven 1701 ]

Re: Game won\'t start
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">And your asking US for help? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif Well, i have to agree since you know the in's and out's of computers, as i designed my Last three myself, that it is your computer...call it an anomaly if you will. The newest drivers for Nvidia products do not perform well, or work at all, for "some" games...that is the developers oversight. I have had to "roll back" the drivers for one or two "graphics intensive" games to get them to work but that aside it only seems logical that your "setup" won't run this game...there are SO many configurations but in my years of experience Windows XP can be wonderful after the steep learning curve. I design computers for Gaming ONLY, therefore after meticulous research i only use components that will be "game compatible" and i've had a 99% success rate...Win Me games being the elusive 1% that don't always work http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif .I don't use the very latest Nvidia drivers...yet...it might be your only solution http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...s/confused.gif . In your case after i have experienced Dominions 2 since it's release and consider myself a jaded game snob i would suggest buying/making a new PC...but that's just me http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif . Good Luck!

Re: Game won\'t start
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Ahhhh I see. A computer hardware guru. I understand, Im abit of an OS guru. That explains alot. A guru isnt a guru if he recommends the same things that 90% of the machines use. So I take it for granted that about half of your computer is made of parts that no local computer store ever heard of? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Re: Game won\'t start
 

[quote]Originally posted by Gandalf Parker:
QUOTE: Ahhhh I see. A computer hardware guru. I understand, Im abit of an OS guru. That explains alot. A guru isnt a guru if he recommends the same things that 90% of the machines use. So I take it for granted that about half of your computer is made of parts that no local computer store ever heard of? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif [End Quote:]

"As we know
There are known knowns.
These are the things we know we know.
We also know
There are known unknowns.
That is to say
We know there are some things
We do not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns
The ones we don't know
We don't know."
Donald Rumsfeld Feb. 12,2002 Department of Defense news briefing... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

[ January 02, 2004, 02:20: Message edited by: Lord Hammer ]

Re: Game won\'t start
 

[ January 02, 2004, 21:22: Message edited by: Raven 1701 ]

Re: Game won\'t start
 

Hm. Debugging this is going to be difficult anyway since Dominions/Dominions II have a small fan base, so the probability of finding someone with a near-identical configuration might be low. You might still be able to find other assistance -- perhaps the nVidia newsgroup, forums like those at www.ntcompatible.com, similar.
I've an ancient Frankenstein's Monster of a machine myself, and the one bugaboo I've sometimes run into is nVidia -- some drivers failed for Shogun, some drivers (again hit or miss) were buggy for Combat Mission, etc. My understanding is that the video card companies frequently cut corners or sacrifice complete compliance with APIs in order to eke out more FPS.

Re: Game won\'t start
 

Hmmm Taqwus might be right about the difficulty of finding a Dominions player with matching config.

Maybe you can go about it the other direction? Do you have the same problem with the demo? Maybe you can find someone with the same hardware and ask them to run the demo. If they have the problem, bingo. If they dont, then you can concentrate on other softwares that might be running.

Hmmm new thought. Maybe you should scandisk and reinstall. A bad spot on the harddrive might have scrambled an important video-code bit.

[ January 02, 2004, 20:47: Message edited by: Gandalf Parker ]

Re: Game won\'t start
 

I got the game to work, thanks for no help.

Re: Game won\'t start
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">ok, and so you were planning to repay in kind?
What got it to work? Was it something we SHOULD have known or something specific to your machine? Would posting the info help the next guy?

Re: Game won\'t start
 

I will PM the person that Posts a problem that sounds like mine.

Re: Game won\'t start
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Great, i knew plugging the computer in would work http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...s/rolleyes.gif .

Re: Game won\'t start
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Well OK. Thanks for no help then. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Re: Game won\'t start
 

Thats just what I said.