[1.02 Crash] Crash to desktop before intro starts playing

from Elemental Forums

Hy guys... as I am still waiting on a lifesign from support I am trying my luck with the community.

 

So here is my problem. Bought the game on steam, downloaded it registered and validated my account and once all this is done ... nothing.

 

I start the game and it crashes to desktop even before playing the intro. "Elemental: Fallen Enchantress has stopped working"

So after much forum-diving I tried with the following solutions which all did not help me:

1) Run the game without steam

2) Run the game as Administrator,

3) Deinstall the game via steam and download the standalone via Stardocks HP

4) Reinstalled the attached Redist stuff (C++ and DX)

5) Updated graphic drivers

6) Tinkered in the prefs.ini and settings.ini (In detail:

UseDesktopResolution=1 (from 0)
Fullscreen=1 (from 0)
HardwareMouseCursor=1 (from 0)

As described here https://forums.elementalgame.com/435927 )

7) deleted the "screens" folder in game

8) Started the game in Windows XP SP3 Compatability mode (And every other compatability mode down to Windows 95)

 

Something made me able to play the intro video and after verifying the gamefiles via steam again (restoring the screens folder) I was able to play the game.  ONCE. On the next start it was like in the beginning and even redoing all the steps I´ve listed here did not get me to the point where I could even see the intro.

So if anybody has any idea on HOW TO GET THIS GAME TO PLAY, I´d be awfully grateful.

 

Oh and here is my "debug.err":

 

DebugMessage:  Version 1.02 last updated on: 11-26-2012 19:59
DebugMessage:  Entering WinMain
Debug Message:  Command Line:
DebugMessage:  *********DXDiag info follows.*********
System Info
Time: 11/26/2012, 22:33:40
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
Machine Name: PUPPETMASTER
Operating System: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 (7601.win7sp1_gdr.120830-0333)
Languages: German (Regional Setting: German)
System Manufacturer: Alienware
System Model: Aurora
BIOS: Default System BIOS
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU         920  @ 2.67GHz (8 CPUs), ~2.7GHz
Physical Memory: 12288MB RAM
Page File: 3522MB used, 21033MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows


Display Info
Display device 1:
Device Name: \\.\DISPLAY1
Card Name: ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series
Manufacturer: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
Chip Type: AMD Radeon Graphics Processor (0x6898)
DAC Type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
Key Device: Enum\PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_6898&SUBSYS_0B001002&REV_00
Display Memory: 2794 MB
Current Display Mode: 1920 x 1080 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor Name: BenQ BL2400 (Digital)
Monitor Max Resolution:
Driver Name: aticfx64.dll,aticfx64.dll,aticfx64.dll,aticfx32,aticfx32,aticfx32,atiumd64.dll,atidxx64.dll,atidxx6
Driver Version: 8.17.0010.1151
Driver Date: 9/28/2012 02:41:40
DirectX Acceleration Enabled: Yes
 


Sound info
Sound device 1:
Description: Lautsprecher (Realtek High Definition Audio)
Default Sound Playback: Yes
Default Voice Playback: Yes
Hardware ID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0888&SUBSYS_102802F7&REV_1001
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Driver Name: RTKVHD64.sys
Provider: Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
Driver Version: 6.00.0001.5859
Driver Date: 6/4/2009 00:56:08
Type: WDM
Other Drivers:
Acceleration Level: 1
Cap Flags: 0
Min/Max Sample Rate: 0, 0
 
Sound device 1:
Description: Realtek HDMI Output (Realtek High Definition Audio)
Default Sound Playback: No
Default Voice Playback: No
Hardware ID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0888&SUBSYS_102802F7&REV_1001
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Driver Name: RTKVHD64.sys
Provider: Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
Driver Version: 6.00.0001.5859
Driver Date: 6/4/2009 00:56:08
Type: WDM
Other Drivers:
Acceleration Level: 1
Cap Flags: 0
Min/Max Sample Rate: 0, 0
 
Sound device 1:
Description: Realtek Digital Output (Realtek High Definition Audio)
Default Sound Playback: No
Default Voice Playback: No
Hardware ID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0888&SUBSYS_102802F7&REV_1001
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Driver Name: RTKVHD64.sys
Provider: Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
Driver Version: 6.00.0001.5859
Driver Date: 6/4/2009 00:56:08
Type: WDM
Other Drivers:
Acceleration Level: 1
Cap Flags: 0
Min/Max Sample Rate: 0, 0
 


DebugMessage:  *********END dxdiag info.*********
DebugMessage:  Using 2 samples for multisampling.
DebugMessage:  Game Resolution: 1920 x 1080 (full screen mode)
DebugMessage:  HAL (hardware vertex processing)ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series
DebugMessage:  Presentation Interval: Immediate.
DebugMessage:  Refresh Rate: 0hz.
DebugMessage:  Back Buffer Bit Depth: X8R8G8B8.
DebugMessage:  32-bit z-buffer using 24-bits for the depth channel and 8-bits for the stencil channel.
DebugMessage:  ** Checking Direct3D 9 Device Capabilities ************************************
DebugMessage:  A full-color cursor is supported in hardware at high resolution modes.
DebugMessage:  Bump mapping is supported.
Debug Message:  Device is now ready
Debug Message:  GFX-THREAD: DISABLED

 

35,079 views 10 replies
Reply #1 from Elemental Forums Top

I've had similar issues. Today, I started the game four times and it kept crashing on me while pondering sovereign choices in New Game. I'd previously disabled the intro videos in options.

Oddly, I have a ATI Radeon HD 5800 series as well... In fact, my computer is Alienware too...

Currently, I have Crossfire disabled (haven't tried it enabled), but no other modifications to Catalyst. I always disable anti-aliasing, seems to cause a lot of issues with games. I'm not running the absolute latest ATI video drivers, running version 12.8 (mobility version). I have 12.10, but it's such a pain to delete old drivers and install new ones...

Normally, games are pretty stable, but late game sometimes I have some issues. And I'm not sure why it didn't start up today. I didn't change anything, and suddenly it was OK.

 

 

+1 Loading…
Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top

Hi dwilson,

 

thanks for the reply.

 

How do I turn off the Anti-Aliasing? I cant in CCC (Only allows me to use Application settings or the normal slider from 2x - 8x) and I cant find a setting in the prefs.ini.

 

Thx in advance

Galactic Civilizations IV
Reply #3 from Elemental Forums Top

 

Aerouge,

  Are you outside of the US?  We have a known issue we are working on for 1.1 where the game crashes on start because windows is set to use commas for decimals places instead of the periods we use.  Oddly even if you set English as your language it still uses commas for the decimal places if your location is set as a country that does that.

  If this is the issue you can resolve it yourself by setting the character to use for decimal places ot be a period in the control panel.  But we are also working on a fix on our end so that either way works and players own't have to do that.

Reply #4 from Elemental Forums Top

Hi Derek, sorry about the "late" reply... is here somewhere a secret button to notify me when someone answeres this thread?

 

Anyway. Yes I am outside the US and I already stumbled upon this problem in the forums and changed the decimal point to be a "." rather than a "," sorry I did not list it in the initial post but this was such a minor change and did not help so I even forgott about doing so until I´ve read your post.

Still thanks for the idea ... got more?

Oh and if you need more details about my setup / rig. My support Ticket is #WIU-980-89617 but pretty unanswered :(

Reply #5 from Elemental Forums Top

I have the exact same problem I have tried every fix i can find but I can not get it to run again. Weird thing is though I can't even get a debug report. I sent a report to support but I have gotten no reply on this matter.

Reply #6 from Elemental Forums Top

Hmm, you're right. I do have AA on in Catalyst (it doesn't shut off there), but shut off in the game. Not sure hovv to shut it off in the game INI files... Closest entry that makes sense is Multisample. Try Multisample=0 in Prefs.ini

I've had to mess vvith Catalyst to get a fevv games running vvith crashing. These are my Catalyst settings, since our computers are so similar...

Smoothvision: Use application settings

Tesselation: AMD Optimized

Catalyst AI Advanced

Mipmap detail: High Quality

Vertical Refresh: on unless app specifies (I usually turn this on in all video games)

Anti-aliasing: Adaptive Multisample

OpenGL Triple Buffering: on

 

Here's vvhats in my Debug.err after your's stops...

DebugMessage:  *********END dxdiag info.*********
DebugMessage:  Using 0 samples for multisampling.
DebugMessage:  Game Resolution: 1920 x 1200 (windowed mode)
DebugMessage:  HAL (hardware vertex processing)ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5800 Series
DebugMessage:  Presentation Interval: Immediate.
DebugMessage:  Back Buffer Bit Depth: X8R8G8B8.
DebugMessage:  32-bit z-buffer using 24-bits for the depth channel and 8-bits for the stencil channel.
DebugMessage:  ** Checking Direct3D 9 Device Capabilities ************************************
DebugMessage:  A full-color cursor is supported in hardware at high resolution modes.
DebugMessage:  Bump mapping is supported.
Debug Message:  Device is now ready
Debug Message:  GFX-THREAD: DISABLED
DebugMessage:  Border size reported as 6 by 28
DebugMessage:  Shell initialization complete
DebugMessage:  ***** Initializing Game *****
DebugMessage:  Loaded font Arial-13
DebugMessage:  Loaded font Trajan Pro_lu-16
DebugMessage:  Loaded font Trajan Pro_lu-13
DebugMessage:  Timer Frequency is 0 17c899
DebugMessage:  Initializing sound card.
DebugMessage:  initailizing bink

 

So, it looks like it's not a graphics issue because it does all the graphics stuff fine in Debug.err...

Maybe try the follovving:

- Set your computer's language and regional settings to English. Probably not the issue because I suspect other German players have this game, but it's different than my config.

- try setting your desktop resolution to something else, like 1024x768. Could be an aspect ratio issue because it crashes finding "Border size"

- I've run into some issues vvith other programs vvith path names using non-english symbols in the past, but that's been on machines set for Arabic language. Do you have any non-english symbols in your program or data paths?

 

 

 

 

Reply #7 from Elemental Forums Top

Hi Dwilson,

First of all thank you for your advices.

- I´ve changed Catalyst settings to perfectly match yours.

- I lowered desktop resolution

- I changed the regional settings to english

And tried to start the game again after each step. Still nothing helps.

As for the game patch... it´s standard steam gamepath (C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\Elemental Fallen Enchantress), but I also tried downloading the standalone from stardock and install it at C:\Games\Fallen Enchantress ... so unless "\" is not present in english this should not be the problem.

Could you maybe share your prefs.ini and settings.ini? So maybe you´ve set a different switch there? I think that somewhere among the Gfx or HDR settings the solution may hide... but I already tried so many different settings there that I am nearly out of ideas.

Reply #8 from Elemental Forums Top

Actually, my prefs and settings are standard... haven't changed anything there except through the game options screen.

 

Have you tried d/ling the new 1.02Frog EXE? Apparently, there's a lot of fixes in there related to crashes...

 

Reply #10 from Elemental Forums Top

Hmm... I'm running out of ideas. The issue isn't really with Fallen Enchantress, as your problem is fairly unique from what I've seen in my admittedly short time on the forums. There's something about your computer causing the issue, but I'm not sure what it could be. Looks like you've gone through all the normal issues with video drivers, directX, etc.

Might be worth running DXDIAG, since I'm thinking this is a graphics-related problem.

There's a website called tweakguides.com that might be able to help. They have guides on optimizing ATI video systems. http://www.tweakguides.com/ATICAT_1.html Could be some stuff there to try. If you have a choice between stability or performance, take the stability option until you get the program running.

Could also be a conflict with a background program running on your computer. Run MSCONFIG on your 'puter to see what's being loaded and try disabling stuff related to video, like video capture programs and weird video codecs. You can try disabling all the startup programs and non essential services if that doesn't work so you have essentially a clean boot.