DW:U on Windows 8.1

[macaurelius]

I'm running Windows 8.1 with latest versions of drivers installed, and I can't get the game to work. I get to "feeding the giant Kaltors" and then a crash.

I've followed the various troubleshooting steps suggested. Here is the windows crash log, as nothing appears in the %appdata% section:

Application: DistantWorlds.exe
Framework Version: v4.0.30319
Description: The process was terminated due to an unhandled exception.
Exception Info: System.NullReferenceException
Stack:
at DistantWorlds.MusicPlayer.gyF318a13JKkjxrlw6E(System.Object)
at DistantWorlds.MusicPlayer.Finalize()

[feelotraveller]

The game requires Windows Media Player to run. Does windows 8.1 come with this? Also try running with admin privileges. Not sure if this will be helpful but since you were online hoping to play... Best of luck. You will enjoy once it starts working. [:)]

[macaurelius]

Windows Media Player comes embedded / integrated into Win8.1 - I've tried turning it off, rebooting, and then turning it back on with no joy. The same goes for dotNet.

I've found this whole experience deeply frustrating - I was all psyched up to play after listening to John G Hemry's lost fleet books

[VPaulus]

Please try disabling the intro video.

For disabling the video intro:
Open the game folder and locater a file named "Startup.ini". Edit this file and replace PLAYMOVIE 1 with PLAYMOVIE 0. Save the file.

[macaurelius]

I discovered that there was something wrong with my Windows install - having reinstalled everything it now works.

Thanks for the assistance!