computer crashes at game load

Virtually every time the game loads it crashes my computer after the opening movie plays. I see the game look like it has just finifhed loading and suddenly my monitor goes to black and my computer is still running but unresponsive. I have to do a cold reboot. I have reinstalled Politcal machine. I have the latest update. I have the latest driver for my video, I have upped the amount of virtual memory.

Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.070227-2254)
Languages: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: System manufacturer
System Model: System Product Name
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6600 @ 2.40GHz (2 CPUs)
Physical Memory: 2046MB RAM
Page File: 318MB used, 4643MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS

Display Info
Display device 1:
Device Name: \\.\DISPLAY1
Card Name: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip Type: GeForce 8800 GTS
DAC Type: Integrated RAMDAC
Key Device: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0193&SUBSYS_82341043&REV_A2
Display Memory: 640.0 MB
Current Display Mode: 1440 x 900 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor Name: Plug and Play Monitor
Monitor Max Resolution: 1600,1200
Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0011.7519
Driver Date: 5/16/2008 14:01:00
DirectX Acceleration Enabled: Yes

Sound info
Sound device 1:
Description: SoundMAX HD Audio
Default Sound Playback: Yes
Default Voice Playback: Yes
Hardware ID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_11D4&DEV_198B&SUBSYS_104381F6&REV_1002
Manufacturer ID: 65535
Product ID: 65535
Driver Name: ADIHdAud.sys
Provider: AnalogDevices
Driver Version: 5.10.0001.4530
Driver Date: 5/2/2006 18:12:06
Type: WDM
Other Drivers:
Acceleration Level: 3
Cap Flags: 0
Min/Max Sample Rate: 0, 0

Debug Message: *********END dxdiag info.*********
Debug Message: Entering WinMain
Debug Message: ******* Starting Game Shell *******
Debug Message: Candidate Outlines: ON
Debug Message: Map Glow: ON
Debug Message: Candidate Animated Bobbling: ON
Debug Message: Error. String Not Found. Table: Common String Name: CrashReport
Debug Message: Using 4 samples for multisampling.
Debug Message: Game Resolution: 1280 x 1024 (full screen mode)
Debug Message: HAL (hardware vertex processing)NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS
Debug Message: Presentation Interval: Immediate.
Debug Message: Refresh Rate: 0hz.
Debug Message: Back Buffer Bit Depth: X8R8G8B8.
Debug Message: 32-bit z-buffer using 24-bits for the depth channel and 8-bits for the stencil channel.
Debug Message: ** Checking Direct3D 9 Device Capabilities ************************************
Debug Message: A full-color cursor is supported in hardware at high resolution modes.
Debug Message: Bump mapping is supported.
Debug Message: RGB in format 6:6:6, Masks reported as ff0000:ff00:ff
Debug Message: Shell initialization complete
Debug Message: The Political Machine 2008 is activated.
Debug Message: ***** Initializing Game *****
Debug Message: No files found matching mask fonts\*.otf
Debug Message: Timer Frequency is 0 8f0fd720
Debug Message: Initializing sound card.
Debug Message: initailizing bink
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Program Files\Stardock Games\The Political Machine 2008\Data\*xml
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Documents and Settings\Wade M\My Documents\My Games\PolMachine2008/Campaign\*xml
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Documents and Settings\Wade M\My Documents\My Games\PolMachine2008/Gfx\*xml
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Documents and Settings\Wade M\My Documents\My Games\PolMachine2008/Maps\*xml
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Documents and Settings\Wade M\My Documents\My Games\PolMachine2008/Snapshots\*xml
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Documents and Settings\Wade M\My Documents\My Games\PolMachine2008/Gfx/Candidates\*xml
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Documents and Settings\Wade M\My Documents\My Games\PolMachine2008/Gfx/Icons\*xml
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Documents and Settings\Wade M\My Documents\My Games\PolMachine2008/Maps\*.PM2MapListXML
Debug Message: Map list file loaded successfully!
Debug Message: Create setup screens.
Debug Message: Create setup screens.

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What version of the game are you running? It is normally the first line in your debug.err file.

Debug Message: Candidate Outlines: ON
Debug Message: Map Glow: ON
Debug Message: Candidate Animated Bobbling: ON
Debug Message: Using 4 samples for multisampling.
Debug Message: Game Resolution: 1280 x 1024 (full screen mode)

For some users, certain game settings cause problems. You might try turning off Candidate Outlines, Map Glow, and Animated Candidate heads, to see if that helps. Turning your multisampling (anti-aliasing) down could also help. Finally, running in non full screen mode might also make a difference.

Being that you cannot start up the game to get to the options screen in order to tweak these settings, you can edit the config file directly in notepad. The file is called "Prefs.Ini" and is located at "My Documents/My Games/PolMachine2008/".

Change these settings to "0" to turn them off (a value of "1" means on):
Fullscreen=1
DrawOutlines=1
MapGlow=1
AnimatedBobbling=1

Let us know if this solves your issue or not. If it does, then you can turn the options back on one by one to see which you can run with and which you cannot.

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