Need help from MrT

[FrosT37]

I wrote a support message to Strategy First and I got a very pathetic response (personnal informations are marked with "x"):

Bonjour,

Re-installé le jeux est mais le 1.06 patch pour regle c'est problem.

Brock Beaubien
Strategy First Customer Support
Email: support@strategyfirst.com
Tel: (514)844-2433

-----Original Message-----
From: xxxxxx xxxxx [mailto:xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.ca]
Sent: Saturday, February 15, 2003 1:59 PM
To: support@strategyfirst.com
Subject: Problème avec Europa Universalis 2


Je vous ai écrit il y a environ 1 semaine parce que je suis dans
l'incapacité de jouer à mon jeu Europa Universalis 2 depuis que le patch
1.06 est sorti. Je clique sur l'executable et rien ne se passe. Pour le
patch 1.05 vous m'aviez donné un executable spécial que je copiais
par-dessus l'original (après que la patch ait été installé) et j'aurais
besoin d'un executable semblable pour le patch 1.06. Voici le lien vers la
discussion originale à propos du patch 1.05:

http://www.europa-universalis.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=48576

Si vous réglez pas mon problème, je vais vous retourner mon produit dans sa
boîte originale pour être remboursé.
xxxxxx xxxxx (aka FrosT37)

Free translation:

Hello,

Re-install the game with the patch 1.06 to fix the problem.

Brock Beaubien
Strategy First Customer Support
Email: support@strategyfirst.com
Tel: (514)844-2433

-----Original Message-----
From: xxxxxx xxxxx [mailto:xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.ca]
Sent: Saturday, February 15, 2003 1:59 PM
To: support@strategyfirst.com
Subject: Problem with Europa Universalis 2


I wrote to you one week ago because I was unable to play with my Europa Universalis 2 game since the patch 1.06 is out. I click on the executable(?) and nothing happens (It doesn’t start at all…). For the patch 1.05 you gave me a special executable(?) that I had to copy over the original file (after the patch installation) and I would need a similar executable(?) for the patch 1.06. Here’s the link of the original thread about the patch 1.05 (in french, sorry):

http://www.europa-universalis.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=48576

If you don’t fix my problem, I’ll return my product in its original box to get refunded.
xxxxxx xxxxx (aka FrosT37)

Viper told me that you could help me to find the "good" person at Strategy First. Here's the related thread (in french):

http://www.europa-universalis.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=72944

 

[unmerged(6777)]

Pas un problème. J'écrirai à mon contact demain matin et je verrai ce que je peux faire pour vous aider aussi rapidement que possible.

En plus... aucun besoin de traduire. Mon Français n'est pas trop mauvais...ni trop bon.

 

[unmerged(6777)]

Reply received from SF (thanks guys...that was fast! ).

FrosT37: check your PM box and let me know here if that works.

Edit: woops....I forgot to write that in the right language. Oh well...I'm sure in the long run you'll have fewer problems understanding my English than my French.

 

[unmerged(6777)]

Drat...well I gather we're still having no luck.

I'm going to need detailed system specs to really be able to figure out what's up so please run the DirectX diagnostics tool and then post the complete information here.

Start-->Run--> dxgiag.exe

Then click the "save information" tab at the bottom, open the file this creates with Notepad, and post the full results here (don't worry if it's long). That will probably be enough to get me started.

 

[FrosT37]

Here it is.

 

[unmerged(6777)]

Okay...thanks.

I have two suggestions for you that might help.

First of all, try disconnecting your joystick in case that's somehow causing interference at the moment (a few brands do).

The other possible fix is to try disabling both your video acceleration and sound acceleration since on a few systems this also can cause problems.

I don't know if either of those will work, but they're worth attempting.

I wish there was a more recent video driver available for your system but I searched the ATI site and could only find one alternative driver and it's quite old too. Ultimately, I think that's where the problem is likely to lie since EU2 doesn't support as many of the earlier drivers as might be hoped.

 

[FrosT37]

Ok, I disconnected my joystick...

How do I disable video and sound acceleration?!

*EDIT: You think it has something to do with my old graphic card?*

 

[unmerged(6777)]

It's possible. I see two registry entries for graphics cards there and your current one is fairly old (dated more than 2 years ago).

If you run dxdiag.exe and go to the vidio tab you'll see a button you can click to disable video acceleration. On the sound tab there's a slider that you can drag all the way to the left.

If that doesn't do the trick then my next suggestion will be to uninstall your graphics drivers completely and then reinstall them (Windows ought to detect and install them automatically when you reboot).

I just think that the source of the crash almost certainly must be either the sound or the video drivers (or both) since you do not need the CD to launch 1.06 (SF removed that so there *is* no non-CD version for them to send to you). If it isn't that...then I'm pretty much at a complete loss as to what the cause might be. I'll keep working on it though until we figure it out.

 

[FrosT37]

Well, my video card is much more older than two years It's just because I'm not very rich so I've to upgrade my computer progressively (piece by piece).

Anyway, I tried disabling video and sound acceleration, it didn't work. I also reinstalled my video card drivers, it didn't help too.

Now, what was the difference between the "original 1.05 executable" and the "modified 1.05 executable" except the CD protection? I could play with the "modified 1.05 executable", it must have something the original had not. Could you ask the SF guy about that?

 

[unmerged(6777)]

Yep. I'll send him an e-mail in the morning to see what he says.

 

[unmerged(6777)]

A new suggestion...

Any chance you're running anti-virus software that might be interfering somehow - either during the instalation or during gameplay? Try turning it off...

 

[FrosT37]

during the installation? really? Well, yes I use an anti-virus... like everyone does

I'll try that... But I doubt it will work.

 

[unmerged(6777)]

Originally posted by FrosT37
during the installation? really? Well, yes I use an anti-virus... like everyone does

I'll try that... But I doubt it will work.

Me too, frankly, but we're grasping at straws at the moment...

 

[viper37]

Frost:
did you uninstall the game and re-install a fresh copy before installing patch 1.06?
As you don't have the original 1.05 EXE, this is a necessary step.
Uninstall the game completely, following the instructions in the sticky thread, then run scandisk and defrag (or their equivalent).
Disable any Antivirus software you may have as well as any other software running in the background.
Install EU2 1.00 and apply 1.06.
Lauch the game, and if it doesn't work, apply the SF patch file over your game and try it again.

and as usual, post feedback

 

[unmerged(6777)]

Via PM or e-mail (I forget which) I asked him to do so thus I *think* that he's still getting the same problem with a fresh install.

One thing I don't think I've asked FrosT37 to do and would like to check...

Could you please do a fresh 1.00 install from the CD and then not patch it. Just try to launch the game under 1.00 and see if it will work that way. This will help me narrow down whether it's a basic game file that's not getting copied or whether it's something related to the 1.06 patch.

Thanks.

 

[viper37]

so as Mr T said, try EU2 1.00, nothing added and then try EU2 1.06 with no patch of any kind.

 

[FrosT37]

That's a good idea!

I'm trying it now.

 

[unmerged(6777)]

Good. Thanks for your patience in all this.

I sent you a PM too.

 

[FrosT37]

1.00 WORKS! Very strange!

What do we do now that we know that?

*EDIT*:
So,
1.00 and 1.05 modified work
1.05 original and 1.06 don't work

 

[unmerged(6777)]

! <---me being confused

Hmmm....are you 100% sure that you've got the SF version? It almost sounds as though the patch is the wrong one for your version of the game. What logos are on the top of the CD?