Can't Play Alexander the great

[JohnHar]

Question from a novice.

I loaded A the G and pressed play. But the screen goes black and, after a few seconds, returns back to the original introduction. Why won't it play?

I have a brand new computer with up-to-date hardware etc.

I could find nothing unusual in the log.

I can read the manual and run the alien software programs without any hitch.

I messed about with Microsoft updates (as some of the tech support suggests) and NOW get a 'TSATG.exe - fatal error' message which then aborts the entire program. What went wrong?

Any ideas and solutions would be appreciated.

(By the way I think that it should be a more user-friendly experience than this, especially for a novice. I am about to give up on the entire experience and spend my money elsewhere in future).

Thanks, John

[Terl]

You mentioned having a new computer....are you running the new MS Vista? If so, have a look here (different game but same publisher): Check this thread.

[JohnHar]

Hi and thanks for your response. No, I am not using Vista. I have XP.

By the way, I forgot to mention in my first post that the same thing happens with my disk on my computer at work. So I thought I needed the patch. However, when I download the patch Winzip wouldn't let me open it (not a valid archive). According to my Google search this means that probably even the patch is corrupted!

[Terl]

I should tell you, I don't have this game...I am answering as a fellow gamer as to what I would try.

Well, the patch could have been corrupted during the download; the first thing to do in this case is to download the patch again. Sometimes a bad download just happens.

Do you get any further message when you get the fatal error? Are there more details available?

[JohnHar]

Hi Teri,

I have downloaded the patch from 2 sites and it still doesn't work.

There was no other error message.

I will try downloading the patch again but....

Thanks, John

[Terl]

Another troubleshooting idea is to take the movie files and either rename them or move them to a new folder (I have just made a folder in the game's directory and moved them there). Try restarting the game. If it goes there may be a codec issue.

[Erik Rutins]

Hi John,

Can you please post a DxDiag as well as the log file for us?

Can you confirm that you allowed BOTH the .NET framework AND the Managed DirectX setup to complete during installation?

You can try reinstalling those manually from the /redist sub-folder of your installation if necessary. I believe the files are dotnetfx and mdxredist

Regards,

- Erik

[JohnHar]

Hi Erik,

Thanks for your reply.

I have uploaded both the log file and the DxDiag file (or at least I hope I have).

Hope this gives you some clue.

I also reinstalled the dotnetfx and mdxredist files. Didn't seem to work as when I press 'play' I still get that TSATG.exe error message.

Thanks, John

[JohnHar]

Hi Erik,

The log file was too big to send (231KB vs 200KB allowed) and it won't let me send it as a zip file. So I have split the log file into 2 sections(!). Here is the first half. Sorry about that but I don't know how else to send it.

John

[JohnHar]

And here's the second half.

[Erik Rutins]

John,

I've found the problem. DirectX claims you have no sound card and one is required to run the game. Do you actually not have one or are there just no drivers for it currently installed?

Also, the log to upload is the one located in the /log sub-folder of Alexander. Should be a much smaller file! [8D]

Regards,

- Erik

[JohnHar]

Hi Erik,

I just got the sound card fixed over the weekend and I'm happy to report that I can NOW play Alexander the Great!

The problem was therefore entirely due to my own ignorance and had nothing to do with the software. Sorry for any frustration on my part but I really wanted to play it then and there.

So thanks Erik for all your help.

Well, I'm off to conquer India. Regards, John