Game will not start

[KyriosThanaton]

I bought SS-TGS and installed it onto my laptop which has Pentium IV 3 GHz, 1.2 GB RAM, and Windows XP. When I hit "play" on the menu, it switches to a black window for 1 second and then displays a window that says, "Starshatter-TheGatheringStorm.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close." The window requests permission to send an error report. Any assistance you could render would be appreciated.

[cowsrkewl666]

The same thing happened to me.[:@]

[Kuokkanen]

Might be something with resolutions. What is native resolution of your laptop's monitor?

[cowsrkewl666]

1280x800x32

[Kuokkanen]

I give up. Marc, you try it.

[Marc von Martial]

Please attach a DirectX dialog file.

[rcr1969]

I am having the same issue. I can run the Game Menu but when I try to Play I get the black window then the Micrsoft Send/Don't Send Report Dialog pops up. I am also running at 1280x800x32. Did anyone ever get any more suggestions on how to get this to run. This is my third Matrix Game (PureSim Baseball 2007, Starships Unlimited) and they both worked perfectly. I am really excited about playing this game.

Any help would be GREATLY Appreciated!

Sincerely,

Rob R.

[Al1678]

First of all you need to look at the errlog.txt file in your Starshatter folder. That will tell you were the problem lies in the starting of the game. If you can copy and paste that as a new post then we'll be able to see where the problem is.

Cheers

Al

[rcr1969]

Thanks Al!

I will find the file and cut/paste as a new message.

Thank you very much for your time!

Sincerely,

Rob.

[rcr1969]

Hello Al!

Here is a copy of the errlog.txt file from the SS folder...

+====================================================================+
| STARSHATTER 5.0.1                         18 Feb 2007,  8:59:24 PM |
+====================================================================+
|                                                                    |
| Windows XP 5.1 (Build 2600) Service Pack 2                         |
|                                                                    |
| Registered Owner: Rob,                                             |
|                                                                    |
| CPUs Detected: 1    CPU Level: 6.13.6    CPU Speed: 599            |
| x86 Family 6 Model 13 Stepping 6                                   |
| GenuineIntel                                                       |
|                                                                    |
| 751 MB RAM    1837 MB Max Swap    1340 MB Avail Swap               |
|                                                                    |
| DirectX 9 installed.                                               |
|   DDRAW   5.03.2600.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)                |
|   D3DIM   5.1.2600.0 (xpclient.010817-1148)                        |
|   DINPUT  5.03.2600.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)                |
|   DPLAY   5.00.2134.1                                              |
|   DSOUND  5.3.2600.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)                 |
|   DMUSIC  5.3.2600.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)                 |
|                                                                    |
|                                                                    |
| Intel(R) 82852/82855 GM/GME Graphics Controller                    |
|                                                                    |
+====================================================================+

  Checking authorization codes...
  Authorized
  Initializing Game
  Gamma Level = 128

  Initializing instance...
  Window created.
  Instance initialized.
  Initializing content...
  Initializing game...
  Palette loaded.
  Init Video...
  Request 1024 x 768 x 32 mode

********************************
*   Direct 3D version 9        *
********************************

   Creating Video Device for HWND = 00050682
   VideoDX9: (ctor) could not create device. [Invalid call or parameter.]
   SoundCardD3D Primary Buffer Format:
     bits: 16
     chls: 2
     rate: 44100

*** PANIC: Could not create the Video Interface.

+====================================================================+
  Begin Shutdown...
Campaign::Close() - destroying all campaigns

*********************************************
FATAL EXCEPTION:

Registers:
EAX:    00000000
EBX:    00000000
ECX:    011d0550
EDX:    007ee6d0
EDI:    00000000
ESI:    011d0550
EBP:    0012ff34

CS:EIP: 001b:0055eef8
SS:ESP: 0023:0012fd20
DS:     0023
ES:     0023
FS:     003b
GS:     0000
Flags:  00010246

Exception Code:  c0000005 ACCESS_VIOLATION
Exception Addr:  0055eef8
                 Program attempted to READ from address 0x00000004

Loaded IMAGEHLP.DLL

Stack Trace (Symbolic):
Address   Frame
0055eef8  0012ff34  0001:0015DEF8 C:\Matrix Games\Starshatter The Gathering Storm\Stars.exe
006b775e  0012ffc0  0001:002B675E C:\Matrix Games\Starshatter The Gathering Storm\Stars.exe
7c816fd7  0012fff0  RegisterWaitForInputIdle                 [0049]

*********************************************
PROGRAM TERMINATED.


Thanks,

Rob.

[rcr1969]

Hello,

Did some research on the error message from the errlog.txt file and found out that it is probably related to my integrated Intel Graphics adapter.  Since I am trying to run on Dell Inspiron laptop upgrading video is not an option.  Is there anyway I can "turn down" some of the game effects to get it running?  Had no problem with Starships Unlimited.  Problem is I wanted a game that let me Captain a starship and the Starships Unlimited is not that type of game. 

Any help is GREATLY APPRECIATED!

Rob.

[Zanthras]

in the SS TGS folder should be a file called video.cfg, you can open it with notepad or some other text tool.
 
Here you can change those that are 'TRUE' to 'FALSE', this will shut off some of the game detail...although I am not sure if it will help. Good luck.

[wdboyd]

Salutations,
 
I'd suspect the DX9 driver/card version as the culprit. Run dxdiag and see what version you have. Ensure your computer has the latest version. I think its version 9.0c
 
Then again your graphics adaptor may not be able to take advantage of the newest version. Good luck. [;)]

[Al1678]

I had the same error preventing me from running the game, what I did was this;

Update Direct X

Start--- Run--- Dxdiag

select the display tab

select the "disable direct 3d acceleration"

exit

then repeat the above and activate direct 3d acceleration.

Press the test button and follow instructions.

This solved it for me, let me know if this is works.

Good luck

[rcr1969]

Thanks to all for the suggestions.  I will give these things a try tonight when I get home from work. 

Again, thank you all for you help.

Sincerely,

Rob.

[rcr1969]

First off, I wanted to thank everyone that gave me suggestions to get the game to run on my laptop.  Unfortunately I was unable to get it to work.

Zanthros - I was unable to find the video.cfg file you mentioned.  Could it possibly have another name?

Al1678 - I tried your suggestion using dxdiag but unfortunately it also did not work.  The strange thing is I didn't get any errors with DirectX 9.0c yet that is what the errlog.txt says is the problem.

If anyone else has any suggestions I am willing to try almost anything.  I really would like to play this game.  I even tried to install on our "family" desktop and was not able to install.

Thanks to all!

Rob.