How do I resolve a direct draw conflict?

[Grandpa Troll]

I've already tried Virtual PC, as well as partitioning the two and, alas, that has not worked. Truly, at least on my end, it seems to be an incompatibility with the opening sequence. Also, on a side note, the computer in question here is also an Alienware.

Oddly enough, the "nostartup" command parameter (which can be used to skip the opening videos) does not fix this spacebar clicking bonanza and go right into the menu as one would expect... for some reason the ONLY way to get in is by this infernal clicking through the intro sequence with the spacebar (and only works when you click it JUST right). Agh! Bloody annoying! Perhaps this will provide a clue into a more efficient fix!

GoddessOfWar

GoddessOfWar

In VirtualPC, this does not support DirectDraw

Whatever DirectDraw is, it must be fairly inclusive to AOEII The Conquerors.

Oh, one thing that is odd, I can play Ages of Empire II no problem thus far..odd

Just the expansion The Conquerors is my problem

Ok, perhaps by continuing this conversation, we may generate some sort of answer?

I have additionallyposted at AMD which owns the radeon ATI line I believe, as well as Ages of Empire forums, minimal response.

I do hope some tech gurus hee do a work around, if not this week I will partition and simply set up a small area to run this and a few older games.

Grandpa Troll

[GoddessOfWar]

Well, that would explain it! Unfortunately, AOE II is what I and my friends have had to resort to since this computer is uncooperative with Conquerors. Being a fan you must know how aggravating that is (I think all I need to say is "farm queuing," haha!) The fact that the game itself is playable makes it even more frustrating, as the only difference is the goddamn startup to the expansion. Plus, as stated, I've gotten the same error and while perhaps on a fluke I have found a way in a half dozen or so times and the game plays perfectly fine.

Also, I (and by "I" I mean myself and the guys I play with) have already tried the partitioning route, and no such luck.

GoddessOfWar

[Grandpa Troll]

Also, I (and by "I" I mean myself and the guys I play with) have already tried the partitioning route, and no such luck.

GoddessOfWar

You tried partioning with a clean OS version of XP?

I am not talking Virtual PC, but an actual partion with a new XP Operating system? Then using Direct X9.0c?

Grandpa Troll

[GoddessOfWar]

Yep, don't let my first post fool you --that description was from my (younger) friend who figured out the clicking "cure" (and downplayed his own knowledge a bit) --I'm more computer literate than I seem. The computer has Windows 7 on it and a partition was done with XP (after the Virtual PC fail) and all the updates. Still no dice.

Anyway... I, too, hope the more tech savvy among us will figure this out!

GoddessOfWar

[Grandpa Troll]

Yep, don't let my first post fool you --that description was from my (younger) friend who figured out the clicking "cure" (and downplayed his own knowledge a bit) --I'm more computer literate than I seem. The computer has Windows 7 on it and a partition was done with XP (after the Virtual PC fail) and all the updates. Still no dice.

Anyway... I, too, hope the more tech savvy among us will figure this out!

GoddessOfWar

Im not a guru, I wonder why a seperate partition wouldnt work?

My ASUS gaming rig, less than 4 months old, WINDOWS 7 played the game just fine.

Now, both had DIRECT X11.

I sure wish I knew a way around.

I am by far no tech guru, just laying some facts out.


I hope those who are in the know can figure out why a partition wont work?

Thanks for input

Grandpa Troll

[Grandpa Troll]

Well, with minimal input ina week or so, at least I dont feel too bad that I couldnt get a wprk around and yet no one else has stepped up either with a fix. But we shall endeavor to persevere

Grandpa Troll

[DaShi]

Wait, people still play AoE games?

[Grandpa Troll]

Wait, people still play AoE games?

Actually I did until this came up......

[Spaced Cowboy]

What about deleting the intro?

[Grandpa Troll]

What about deleting the intro?

How would I do that?

I did "uncheck" the option to install movies and beyond that, what would I do?

(I dont exactly know which file or what I should do, thanks for any suggestions!)

Gramps

[N35t0r]

hmmm.. in that case it'd play them from the cd. Can you play without having the CD in the drive?

[edit:]

Apparently, adding "NoStartup" as a parameter when launching the game skips movies.

You'll need to edit your shortcut and add NoStartup after the final " of the file name. (ie: c:\program files\age of empires\conquerors.exe" nostartup)

[Grandpa Troll]

hmmm.. in that case it'd play them from the cd. Can you play without having the CD in the drive?

[edit:]

Apparently, adding "NoStartup" as a parameter when launching the game skips movies.

You'll need to edit your shortcut and add NoStartup after the final " of the file name. (ie: c:\program files\age of empires\conquerors.exe" nostartup)

I tried but when I added it I got a popupmessage that said the pathway didnt exist??

This was listed as "Target" when I right clicked on desktop ICON, is this correct location?

Thanks

Gramps

[GoddessOfWar]

I stated this before, but I have tried the nostartup parameter... that is what confused me so much. Clearly it's whatever launches in the intro that is incompatible as the game works fine, but for some annoying reason it still crashes with that command.

Edit:

Here's a link to where I learned about the nostartup command originally:
http://aok.heavengames.com/cgi-bin/a...=3,39406,30,30

Maybe you'll have better luck!

GoddessOfWar

[Grandpa Troll]

I tried this maybe 15 times, on one attempt, I opened MY COMPUTER, right clicked on CD and clicked, launched and then froze when game started, CTD and not even that close since

[N35t0r]

GT: you need to do it on a shortcut to the game executable (conquerors.exe)

Right click on the icon, the first text-box (the one that says Target) has the full path of the executable between quotes. Add a space after the last quote and type NoStartup, without quotes or anything. That should do it. If you got the error message when clicking 'OK' or 'Apply', then you probably missed the space between the last " and NoStartup

[Grandpa Troll]

GT: you need to do it on a shortcut to the game executable (conquerors.exe)

Right click on the icon, the first text-box (the one that says Target) has the full path of the executable between quotes. Add a space after the last quote and type NoStartup, without quotes or anything. That should do it. If you got the error message when clicking 'OK' or 'Apply', then you probably missed the space between the last " and NoStartup

Yes, saw that on GoddessOfWar post

Still no luck


(The nostartup was successfully added like you described, game doesnt)

[N35t0r]

Still the DirectDraw error message?

[Grandpa Troll]

Still the DirectDraw error message?

No, Windows has stopped working error message


GT

[Vigge]

Hey, I just pulled mine out today, I am having the same problem. And just a thought, perhaps finding the file that has the direct draw in it, and then modifying it so that it doesn't check, that might work? I skimmed through it and didn't find it, but I'll make a thorough check again. I think once the file is found, it can be changed and set so it doesn't search for it or is forced through? I saw somewhere while I was searching that someone tried it, don't know if it worked being as I lost the page :/ and as for the new error, that should be easier to fix I think, perhaps just getting it compatible now?

[Vigge]

I found the files contianing directdraw references. In the main folder of the game its under EMPIRES2 and then under the age2_x1 folder it is under AGE2_X1. Though I've tried to edit the files, but no matter what I do they just revert back to the previous coding. I'm going to try to find out if I can set the video cards to accept the direct draw. maybe if a proper coder could take a look at the files and get them set right it might fix it?

[Grandpa Troll]

I found the files contianing directdraw references. In the main folder of the game its under EMPIRES2 and then under the age2_x1 folder it is under AGE2_X1. Though I've tried to edit the files, but no matter what I do they just revert back to the previous coding. I'm going to try to find out if I can set the video cards to accept the direct draw. maybe if a proper coder could take a look at the files and get them set right it might fix it?

Thanks, yeah, no one across half a dozen websites could resolve this.

Thanks for efforts too!

Gramps

[Vigge]

Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit and another program I found, I can't remember the name to save my life :/ its wnd something. Its on Gordons tech blog if you can find it, but it won't open the page for me :/ it says its supposed to fix it. Other than that, i can't figure anything out.

[SharpShooterEST]

hmmmm try downloading the golden edition worked for me atleast heres the file my friend uploaded to me

www(dot)megaupload(dot)com/?d=7K6MS30y <---sry since i created an account just to post this it wont let me add links

[Kondrite]

Good day to you all. I am yet another frustrated gamer with this same problem. I joined solely to comment here with my observations from my own laptop computer, in hopes that resolution of this issue might be forthcoming.

Allow me to preface this by stating that I'm a caveman where programming and software functions are concerned, and I apologize in advance.

My two favorite games are Age of Empires II: The Conquerors, and Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds, which is run off of the same engine. This problem originally occurred when I tried to play SWGB, and I tried AoEC right after to verify that I hadn't done anything to mess things up. I'm using a new Toshiba Satellite, though methinks the brand is somewhat irrelevant considering the universality I've seen amongst the posts in forums and ask-sites across the internet. It is running Windows 7, much to my chagrin.

After installing SWGB, I ran it and successfully played it once yesterday, immediately after I put it on this computer, all without incident. Only today has it been giving me this message.

But on to the important section: After reading every random post and witch-doctored solution I could find, I decided to do some experimentation of my own. I of course started running the game on different compatibility settings, with no effect. I looked again, and found the "disable your graphics card" solution, which I didn't want to try. Instead, I made a guess that rather than be the fault of the graphics themselves, it was the resolution that was the problem, as the greatest visual change in the past ten years outside of the color palette we use is the monstrous size of our screens. My laptop by default has its screen resolution set to 1600x800, so I brought it down to 1280x720, which was my old laptop resolution. My old laptop ran the game fine with a Vista OS. The only compatibility options I had set on my old machine were for Windows XP SP2, and for it to run as an Administrator. When I tried those same settings, same error. So I nixed the Administrator setting. Lo and behold, the cinematic began. Forgive the next few lines of description, I'm going to try and be as accurate as possible:

It began centered on the screen, appropriately sized, with no color problems, and remained so for approx. a quarter of a second. Then it shifted to the upper left corner, and to about 640x480 resolution, again without color problems, for another half-second. Then it minimized entirely, The sound continued for a little bit, then it cut out. I clicked the system tray icon, and it maximized, began playing again from from where the sound left off, still in the upper left corner, and then cut out again another half-second later. The sound continued to the end of the "LucasArts" cinematic. I did so again, and it began to play the introductory cinematic, with the same result. About three clicks later that movie had ended, and the game screen appeared for an instant with badly distorted color, centered at about 800x600 resolution, before it minimized again. I couldn't revive it after that, and closed the program with a right-click from the system tray.

I've replicated this effect a few times since, each time with resolutions on the lower end of the scale, and without Administrator privilege running. If I switch on the Admin, I get the error message. Now I realize that my experiment was with a different game, but it is run off of the same engine, and has the exact same problem. I hope this somehow helps. Apologies for the length.

[earlobe]

Hey guys, I've stumbled upon this looking for a fix to play this online. Sadly, that is yet to happen. However, I do have a few of different fixes to play single player.

The first is fairly simple, just go to your shortcut and paste this after the target exe: "NoStartup Msync NOSC Mfill"

It should look like this: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Age of Empires II\age2_x1\age2_x1.exe" NoStartup Msync NOSC Mfill

That should run the game fine.

The second fix involves creating a batch file which I found on another forum, which I'll paste below.

Batch File Fix
1) Open Up Notepad
2) Paste This In:

@echo off
taskkill /f /IM explorer.exe
age2_x1.exe NoStartup Msync NOSC Mfill 800
start explorer.exe

3) Select 'Save As' from the 'File' menu and save it as 'ConquerorsFix.bat'
4) Put this in the same directory as your age2_x1.exe file (For example, C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Age Of Empires II Gold Edition)
5) Create a shortcut to this '.bat' file and from now on, use this to start the game!

EXTRA (STILL NECESSARY) BITS!
1) Right click 'age2_x1.exe' and select Properties, then select Compatibility
2) Check 'Windows XP Service Pack 3 Compatibility Mode' '256 Colors' 'Disable Visual Themes' and 'Run As Administrator'
3) HAVE A BARREL OF FUN!

Hopefully that'll help you guys out! If anybody has the slightest clue on how to get this working with gameranger or voobly, I'll let you name my first born child.

Cheers

Jacob

[bradlara]

Exiting Microsoft Bing fixed my MCI Error, "The device driver is not ready". I saw this error in a Windows 7 PC using the AMD Radeon HD 6570 graphics card.

[Sava]

I imagine exiting or uninstalling Microsoft bloatware would solve a lot of problems.