TofA crash at end of cutscreen

Debug Message:  Version v1.99 Twilight of the Arnor BETA 1 last updated on: Wed Sep 24 12:03:21 2008
Debug Message:  Could not open reg key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SOFTWARE\Stardock\ComponentManager\Drengin.net\GalCiv2UL
Debug Message:  Could not open reg key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SOFTWARE\Stardock\ComponentManager\Drengin.net\GC2EU
Debug Message:  Could not open reg key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE Software\Stardock\Drengin.net\GalCiv2UL
Debug Message:  Could not open reg key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE Software\Stardock\Drengin.net\GC2EU
Debug Message:  Checking DX Version.
Debug Message:  *********DXDiag info follows.*********
System Info
Time: 10/28/2008, 20:03:52
DirectX Version: DirectX 10
Machine Name: RUNSWITHSCISSORS
Operating System: Windows Vista™ Ultimate (6.0, Build 6001) Service Pack 1 (6001.vistasp1_gdr.080917-1612)
Languages: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: System manufacturer
System Model: System Product Name
BIOS: BIOS Date: 02/07/07 15:12:37 Ver: 08.00.12
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU          6600  @ 2.40GHz (2 CPUs), ~2.4GHz
Physical Memory: 4094MB RAM
Page File: 2086MB used, 6317MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows

Display Info
Display device 1:
Device Name: \\.\DISPLAY1
Card Name: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip Type: GeForce 8800 GTX
DAC Type: Integrated RAMDAC
Key Device: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0191&SUBSYS_C8313842&REV_A2
Display Memory: 2536 MB
Current Display Mode: 1920 x 1200 (32 bit) (59Hz)
Monitor Name: Dell 2407WFP (Digital)
Monitor Max Resolution:
Driver Name: nvd3dumx.dll,nvd3dum,nvwgf2umx.dll, nvwgf2um
Driver Version: 7.15.0011.7824
Driver Date: 10/7/2008 13:33:00
DirectX Acceleration Enabled: Yes
 

Sound info
Sound device 1:
Description: Speakers (2- C-Media USB Headphone Set  )
Default Sound Playback: Yes
Default Voice Playback: Yes
Hardware ID: USB\VID_0D8C&PID_000C&REV_0100&MI_00
Manufacturer ID: 65535
Product ID: 65535
Driver Name: USBAUDIO.sys
Provider: Microsoft
Driver Version: 6.00.6001.18000
Driver Date: 1/19/2008 00:33:58
Type: WDM
Other Drivers:
Acceleration Level: 1
Cap Flags: 0
Min/Max Sample Rate: 0, 0
 
Sound device 1:
Description: Digital Output Device (SPDIF) (High Definition Audio Device)
Default Sound Playback: No
Default Voice Playback: No
Hardware ID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_11D4&DEV_1988&SUBSYS_104381E1&REV_1004
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Driver Name: HdAudio.sys
Provider: Microsoft
Driver Version: 6.00.5840.16387
Driver Date: 11/1/2006 23:28:10
Type: WDM
Other Drivers:
Acceleration Level: 1
Cap Flags: 0
Min/Max Sample Rate: 0, 0
 
Sound device 1:
Description: Headphones (High Definition Audio Device)
Default Sound Playback: No
Default Voice Playback: No
Hardware ID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_11D4&DEV_1988&SUBSYS_104381E1&REV_1004
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Driver Name: HdAudio.sys
Provider: Microsoft
Driver Version: 6.00.5840.16387
Driver Date: 11/1/2006 23:28:10
Type: WDM
Other Drivers:
Acceleration Level: 1
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:  Could not open reg key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE Software\Stardock\Drengin.net\GalCiv2UL
Debug Message:  Could not open reg key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE Software\Stardock\Drengin.net\GC2EU
Debug Message:  Could not query reg key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SOFTWARE\Stardock\Drengin.net\GalCiv2 value named Language
Debug Message:  Going Fullscreen
Debug Message:  Preparing to change display settings.
Debug Message:  Using hardware vertex processing
Debug Message:  Using multilsample setting: D3DMULTISAMPLE_4_SAMPLES
Debug Message:  Attempting to create D3DDevice at resolution 1600 x 900, Windowed: 0, Multisample: 4
Debug Message:  Game Resolution: 1600 x 900
Debug Message:  Running fullscreen.
Debug Message:  HAL (hw vp): NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX
Debug Message:  D3DPRESENT_INTERVAL_DEFAULT
Debug Message:  Refresh rate: 59
Debug Message:  Bit Depth: 32 bit.
Debug Message:  *********Checking D3DDevice Caps***********************
Debug Message:  A full-color cursor is supported in hardware at high resolution modes.
Debug Message:  RGB in format 6:6:6, Masks reported as ff0000:ff00:ff
Debug Message:  Now Fullscreen
Debug Message:  Shell initialization complete
Debug Message:  GalCiv2 is activated.
Debug Message:  ***** Initializing Game *****
Debug Message:  Timer Frequency is 0 da7a64
Debug Message:  Could not open reg key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE Software\Stardock\Drengin.net\GalCiv2UL
Debug Message:  Could not open reg key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE Software\Stardock\Drengin.net\GC2EU
Debug Message:  No files found matching mask C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2\./Data/ShipCfg/\*.shipcfg
Debug Message:  No files found matching mask C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2\./Data/ShipTemplates/\*.shipcfg
Debug Message:  No files found matching mask C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2\DarkAvatar\./Data/ShipCfg/\*.shipcfg
Debug Message:  No files found matching mask C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2\DarkAvatar\./Data/ShipTemplates/\*.shipcfg
Debug Message:  No files found matching mask C:\Users\bela\Documents\My Games\GC2TwilightArnor\shiptemplates\*.shipcfg
Debug Message:  Could not open reg key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SOFTWARE\Stardock\ObjectDesktop\DesktopX
Debug Message:  Initializing sound card.
Debug Message:  initailizing bink
Debug Message:  No files found matching mask C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2\Movies\*.bik
Debug Message:  No files found matching mask C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2\Movies\techs\*.bik
Debug Message:  No files found matching mask C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2\Gfx\Tutorials\*.bik
Debug Message:  No files found matching mask C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2\Gfx\*.png
Debug Message:  No files found matching mask C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2\Gfx\Race\*.png
Debug Message:  No files found matching mask C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2\DarkAvatar\Movies\*.bik
Debug Message:  No files found matching mask C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2\DarkAvatar\Movies\techs\*.bik
Debug Message:  No files found matching mask C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2\DarkAvatar\Gfx\Tutorials\*.bik
Debug Message:  No files found matching mask C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2\DarkAvatar\Gfx\*.png
Debug Message:  No files found matching mask C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2\DarkAvatar\Gfx\Race\*.png
Debug Message:  No files found matching mask Movies\techs\*.bik
Debug Message:  No files found matching mask Gfx\Tutorials\*.bik
Debug Message:  No files found matching mask C:\Users\bela\Documents\My Games\GC2TwilightArnor\Gfx\Movies\*.bik
Debug Message:  No files found matching mask C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2\Screens\*.dxpack
Debug Message:  No files found matching mask C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2\DarkAvatar\Screens\*.dxpack
Debug Message:  No files found matching mask C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2\sfx\*.wav
Debug Message:  No files found matching mask C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2\Music\*.mp3
Debug Message:  No files found matching mask C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2\Event Music\*.mp3
Debug Message:  No files found matching mask C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2\DarkAvatar\sfx\*.wav
Debug Message:  No files found matching mask C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2\DarkAvatar\Music\*.mp3
Debug Message:  No files found matching mask C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2\DarkAvatar\Event Music\*.mp3
Debug Message:  No files found matching mask C:\Users\bela\Documents\My Games\GC2TwilightArnor\sfx\*.wav
Debug Message:  No files found matching mask C:\Users\bela\Documents\My Games\GC2TwilightArnor\Music\*.mp3
Debug Message:  No files found matching mask C:\Users\bela\Documents\My Games\GC2TwilightArnor\Event Music\*.mp3
Debug Message:  Create setup screens.
Debug Message:  Clear galaxy settings.
Debug Message:  Clear influence.
Debug Message:  Clear up laws.
Debug Message:  Clear first time events.
Debug Message:  Clear wonders and trade goods.
Debug Message:  Clear sector mapper.
Debug Message:  Set mouse.
Debug Message:  Set update timer.
Debug Message:  No files found matching mask C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2./Data/*.xml
Debug Message:  No files found matching mask C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2./Data/English/*.xml
Debug Message:  No files found matching mask C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2\DarkAvatar./Data/*.xml
Debug Message:  No files found matching mask C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2\DarkAvatar./Data/English/*.xml
Debug Message:  No files found matching mask ./Data/*.xml
Debug Message:  Clear data definitions.
Debug Message:  Killing ship styles:
Debug Message:  No files found matching mask C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2\DarkAvatar./Data/ShipTemplates/\*.xml
Debug Message:  No files found matching mask C:\Users\bela\Documents\My Games\GC2TwilightArnor\shiptemplates\*.xml
Debug Message:  No files found matching mask C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2./Data/English/\ShipStyles\*.xml
Debug Message:  No files found matching mask C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2\DarkAvatar./Data/English/\ShipStyles\*.xml
Debug Message:  No files found matching mask C:\Users\bela\Documents\My Games\GC2TwilightArnor\ShipStyles\*.xml
Debug Message:  No files found matching mask C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2./Data/\FleetFormations\*.fleet
Debug Message:  No files found matching mask C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2\DarkAvatar./Data/\FleetFormations\*.fleet
Debug Message:  No files found matching mask ./Data/\FleetFormations\*.fleet
Debug Message:  No files found matching mask C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2\Gfx\Planets\C0*.png
Debug Message:  No files found matching mask C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2\DarkAvatar\Gfx\Planets\C0*.png
Debug Message:  No files found matching mask Gfx\Planets\C0*.png

I had an error just exactly like this, and while I wasn't able to pinpoint the source to a single file, the problem was solved when I removed all files from the TA directory in My Games.  My guess would be a corrupt ship design, or possibly one that is too large (which doesn't seem to be an issue until you shut TA down).

Go to My Documents\My Games\GC2TwilightArnor, open the file prefs.ini, and make the following changes:

Change
DisplayWidth=1600
DisplayHeight=900
ColorDepth=32
Fullscreen=1

To
DisplayWidth=1920
DisplayHeight=1200
ColorDepth=32
Fullscreen=0

Then save the file and start the game.

Or there's that.

Why do you always have to be right, Kryo?

WHY?

(For the record, though, my problem wasn't caused by an incorrect/incapable resolution setting-and it was windowed the entire time.)

Tried that and no love.  I removed the entire game and reinstalled the base and both expansions fresh from stardock but still no love -- same issue.  Also am bombing out at the same place w/ Dark Avatar although the base game will run.  Any other suggestions?  I'm wondering if maybe this is related to me having bought the base and expansions seperately vs the gold version as I'm seeing some other oddities after reinstalling.  Specifically I can't launch the games from impulse directly.  I get an error box with title "Error Running GalCivII Gold Edition" with text "Please run setup.exe from your CD or reinstall from Stardock Central"  Thanks in advance for the help.

You don't explicitly state that you've tried my suggestion, as you don't say what it is that you've tried.  To my knowledge (and I doubt this has changed), uninstalling and reinstalling does not remove your savegames, shipconfigs, raceconfigs, etc.

Your other issue sounds like a different problem than the one I had, though.

My apologies for not being able to be more helpful.

I will suggest that : "removing" all these is as simple as simply renaming the folders galciv2, GC2DarkAvatar, GC2TwilightArnor in "My Documents\My Games" to something else

I did actually try deleting all the files and folders under 'my games' as well.  At this point I've deleted and reinstalled everything (including the my games files) and tried various video settings.  I can get the base GC2 to run but not DA or TA which both crash out after the cut scene.  I've tried with and without the beta patch.  Oddly this did work as of a few weeks ago -- so not really sure what has changed other than having tried the beta patch but have since tried without it as well.  *shrug*  Got me.

Didn't you update the gfx driver by any chance? Sometimes when I upgrade my 8800GTS512 driver, it's ... counter-productive in some games

I did a few weeks back -- pretty sure it worked after that however.   Good idea though -- If I can work out how I'll try backing out that driver update.

No love on vid driver downgrade...at a loss.  :/