Installing DW on new computer

[rmwilsonjr]

I've tried both downloading my copy of DW Universe from my Matrix page and installing it from the physical disk I purchased when the game was released on to a new computer. Both installs were successful according to the program. When I click om the DW icon on the desktop, the Start Screen appears, and when I hit the "Play Distant Worlds" button, the smaller screen pops up with the DWU "art" that is typical of the game loading, but then nothing happens. The small loading screen disappears after a few seconds and the Start Screen remains, with all the buttons fully functional. No matter how long I let the computer run, the game never loads. The computer has an Intel i7 chip, 9th gen, 16 GB of RAM. Before the Start Screen, when Windows asks if you want to allow the program to make changes to the system, (to which I respond yes) it says it's starting from "auto.exe"

Any ideas on why the game won't load based on this limited information? Thanks.

[Retreat1970]

Make sure Windows Media Player is installed.

[rmwilsonjr]

Thanks. I installed it, but nothing changed with the game. I have no other "media" so when I download and open the WMP "App", it shows me what I would call "Windows' version of the iTumes main screen", with music, video, etc. libraries (all empty) and playlists listed in a column down the left side. Is that the program you referred to?

[Retreat1970]

Try control panel - programs - turn windows features on or off - media features - windows media player

[Chris21wen]

ORIGINAL: rmwilsonjr

Thanks. I installed it, but nothing changed with the game. I have no other "media" so when I download and open the WMP "App", it shows me what I would call "Windows' version of the iTumes main screen", with music, video, etc. libraries (all empty) and playlists listed in a column down the left side. Is that the program you referred to?

Unfortumately Microsoft stopped supporting Windows Media Player you need to down load it. As said above goto the control panel/Programs and Feature/Turn Windows Features on/off and tick Media Features.

[rmwilsonjr]

Thanks to you both very much. I really appreciate it. I am totally unfamiliar with how these games function. I followed your instructions and the correct boxes are checked in the control panel to enable Windows Media Player, but as they were checked properly when I first looked, at your suggestion, not surprisingly that had no effect. I also tried uninstalling the program and reinstalling it now that WMP is installed and enabled, thinking it might have something to do with the order in which the two programs were installed, but that did not seem to change anything. The same effect was produced as I described above.

I'll continue to fiddle with it within my limited range of thoughts, and if I strike on something, I'll post it. Any other ideas from the community are welcomed. Thanks again.

PS: I hope this doesn't happen with DW2! [X(]

PPS: I have a NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX, according to the sticker on the keyboard, if that means anything.

[Chris21wen]

Can't help with the graphics card.

You can try these.
Does Windows media play anything else not in game. Easiest way is to go to the distant worlds folder, mines here C:\Matrix Games\Distant Worlds Universe\movies, and run the .wmv. If not then it's a Windows media problem and not the game.
Were have you installed the game? Puting many games in program files causes many problems and for that reason alone I never install any games there.
Try running the DWU.exe itself and not the Auto.
Try running it without admin. Go to the exe shortcut properties, (right click, select properties and bottom of context window), shortcut tab/advanced and untick 'run as administrator.

[rmwilsonjr]

Chris21wen, man, you deserve a medal for this, but I'm still not launching. I ran the movie, it played fine, with the voice over and the spooky music. The game is installed in the same manner as yours: C:\Matrix Games\Distant Worlds Universe. The only other program in the C:\Matrix Games folder is Command: Modern Operations. I tried running it from the DW application (exe) file, rather than the autorun (exe) file and the only difference is that when launching from the DW application, the Start screen is skipped and the first thing to appear is the smaller screen with the mechanical face and the bug with three red eyes, just as before. And, as before, that screen disappears after a few seconds and then nothing. As I said in the earlier post, when trying to launch from the Start screen, after the small screen disappears, the buttons on the Start screen remain functional and if I click "Play Distant Worlds" a second, third or fourth time, the results are the same.

Thanks again. Really appreciate it.

[Retreat1970]

Could be a .net issue. Are you running stock or a mod? Check the startup.ini try running in a window. Is it Win10 or 11 btw?

[rmwilsonjr]

Retreat, thank you for your comment, but unfortunately you might as well be speaking in Greek. I am running Windows 11, installed DWU in Windows 11, and I have done nothing to modify the computer, if that's what you mean, by stock or mod. As for .net and .ini stuff, man, I am totally clueless. [:(][&:]

[Retreat1970]

It's fine sorry.

Ensure that you have Windows Media Player and Internet Explorer both installed and enabled plus .net framework.
Control Panel > Programs and Features > Windows Features > Media Features > Windows Media Player
Control Panel > Programs and Features > Windows Features > Internet Explorer 11
Control panel > Programs and Features > Windows Features > .net framework (both checked)

There's a file in the root directory called startup.ini. open in notepad or whatever then try changing playmovie from 1 to 0.

Maybe try reinstalling DirectX.

If there's a crash dump file in the game directory please post it. Are you using the last patch 1.9.5.12?

[beyondwudge]

I had an issue like this. Apparently the movie was crashing because some old directx component hadn't been installed by the launcher, even though I ticked install DirectX.

DirectX is the Microsoft made driver for running games. The game was made a long time ago so it needs to have the old version installed. Since Microsoft might not keep it on the main support page anymore, the developers include the DirectX driver from Jun2010 in the game install to solve this kind of problem. It isn't a virus, just the files Microsoft made a while ago that the game needs to tell your GPU to make the movie play and the ships to fly around on the screen.

You can find the needed DXSETUP.exe in redist folder in Matrix Games install or for steam in the Steamworks Shared folder, in the _CommonRedist sub folder, in the DirectX subfolder, in the Jun2010 subfolder.

I ran that and afterwards got the game running. Win 11 could give you a whole new problem, perhaps with Windows Media Player, but let me know if you try installing the older driver and fix it.

Here is a pic for reference:

[beyondwudge]

Here is a Steam install pic for reference:

Don't know why they are slightly different sizes, but I can confirm that both solve the start up problem on Win 10.

[rmwilsonjr]

Thanks to you both. Hold your breath, I'm going in . . . .

[an hour later. . . ]

Success! It seemed I only had .NET Framework 4.8 installed, and when I ran the DXSETUP.exe file, it called for NET Framework 3.5 which it downloaded automatically. I went back to Windows Features and checked both, as Retreat recommended, and liftoff! Thanks again.

[beyondwudge]

You're welcome.