Known bugs : installing the patch makes the game unable to launch

[screetch]

It seems that a few people who installed the patch cannot launch the game anymore : the game crashes when loading (stops at 38%).

We're looking into it at the moment, please just wait a few days until we fix this problem.

[Majestic]

I've had a look around for this patch.....has it been withdrawn because of this known fault?

Not a great start for you guys, but i'm sure it'll be worth the wait.

Cant believe a patch was released that doesnt even allow the game to load!

Can anyone post a link to the patch?

[screetch]

well usually it does ^^ we didn't put a broken patch on the internet :p but it seems some (actually, really few compared to the people i see online) people have problems with it. It could be also a problem with a cracked exe :biggringr we're looking into this problem

[Majestic]

Understood, seems it works fine with me.

Played single player to get used to a few units, then just a while back applied the patch and joined the War Lobby's.....works fine :tup:

Feel sorry for the guys who cant access the game online, but as you say it only seems to have affected a minority...

Happy Gaming

[CapTrooper]

Well, unfortunately I am one of the seeminly very few this has affected. In order to play online with a buddy I had to install the patch. On the first launch with the patch installed everything worked properly and I did get to enjoy two skirmish games. However, every subsequent launch of the game that I attempt fails when it crashes at "38%" on the load screen. This is pretty disappointing... the game is a whole lot of fun and I'd really like to play some more - soon. So devs, please fix this ASAP. Appreciated. Great game otherwise! Best RTS out there.

CapTrooper, PFC USA

[nebu]

I have the problem with the update too. I update the game and when i start the game nothing will happen and after some seconds i see on the taskmanager that the process from the game take 99% from the cpu time and dont start anymore.
I have a ahlton 64 and winxp home with sp1.
I have update the amd driver and some others driver. The latest direct x version and radeon catalyst for the radeon 9800 pro are installed.
I have installed the game in german language.
Without the patch the game work fine and i can play the singleplayer.
I hope you will fix the problem fast.

[PqLear]

Sorry to hear about your problems. If the game doesn't lauch at all after you've applied the patch, it's the copy protection that's the problem, not the game. Please refer to the Release FAQ thread on the U.S. forum (http://www.ataricommunity.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=455721) for a couple suggestions that may or may not help; if not, at least it describes how to report this issue to our customer support team and provide necessary information about your PC configuration (which is necessary for us to resolve the issue).

[CapTrooper]

I found some information on another forum that suggested people having this problem should right-click on the game icon and set the compatability mode (found under Properties then Compatability) to Windows 2000. Doing this has fixed the problem for me. Hopefully it will work for others!

CapTrooper, PFC USA

[nebu]

I update serveral mainboard drivers and the firmware of my dvd but nothing work but the think to set the compatability mode to windows 2000 works great.
finally i can play online ;)

[tango]

ok i have the problem that after installing the patch the game doesn't start after all... i click on the link on the desktop and ... nothing happens... i've deleted it several times now and installed it again... without the patch it works very fine! but after the patch... how i said... the game doesn't start...

btw.: why won't the savegames wont work any more after installing?

other informations:

- 2 weeks ago i've scanned my computer for viruses and 40 were found... ive deleted / repaired them all (my virus-scanner is: "antivir")... now i have no viruses any more but maybe i've damaged something... but why should it work then without patch?

- i have a router and dsl-connection, maybe there's a problem with this... but i dont think so because the game doesn't start.... that has nothing to do with the router or sth like that

[screetch]

Have you tried :

I found some information on another forum that suggested people having this problem should right-click on the game icon and set the compatability mode (found under Properties then Compatability) to Windows 2000. Doing this has fixed the problem for me. Hopefully it will work for others!


what is your configuration?

[blade1975]

i have tryed this and still doesnt work :( also tryed two diffrent dvd rom drives with no joy :(

[screetch]

after patching the game it is usually a bit slow to launch again (it usually needs like 10-15 seconds) because it generates a file for the game. Make sure you let it run for 15 (even 30) seconds before you declare it completely dead (maybe you've already done that). If still no luck, manually delete the file called "index.fat" in the aow directory, and launc the game. If it doesn't work either please tell me if this file was generated correctly (well correctly you can't know) after you deleted it and launched the game. This file should be about 2 megs i think.

[tango]

ok i have tried it and it works fine! thanks a lot for this tipp!!!

after that i had another problem (i didn't knew the pw of my gamespy-arcade-account any more)... i don't like that you have a "connection" between your game and gamespy-arcade because i dont like gamespy-arcade... i used it long time ago for 2 weeks and deleted it again...

[screetch]

we're sorry... ;)

so you deleted the index.fat and it worked well, that's what you said ? (so that i can spread the word :) )

[Peoples-Agent]

I will update then give this a go !

[Peoples-Agent]

Nuts...

Same as always, looks like game is about to run, and then I get the "artofwar.exe has encountered a problem...blah blah"

That rubbish!! Those error messages never did give out much info did they :-(

[performance4men]

am I doing something really stupid here? I played through single player then went to go online, but had to install the 1.03 patch to be able to go online, but then i go to CREATE ACCOUNT and i fill in the 3 lines, and the NEXT button doesn't actually click... so I can't make an account and play online? Buh? :confused:

[screetch]

i haven't checked all your messages, people-agent, could you post what's exactly your problem in here? (i'm sorry i can't check all threads :p)

[Peoples-Agent]

Hi there dude,

Just the usual case of what's been going on, having applied the patch the game no longer works, for awhile it was a case of it not responding at all, but after a reboot it begins to load up fine... the spinning disk icon, but then it just crashes before loading up into anything with the "artofwar.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close....etc etc"

My PC specs.....

Athlon 64 3400+ ( That Nx issue whatever it was need not apply as its disabled asmuch as it can be....) !
Realtek ALC650 Audio using 3.70 sound drivers (Latest)
nVidia 6800 GT w/ 76.10 drivers.
Windows XP w/ SP2
1GB Ram...

Game worked fine before applying patch, which is why I wonder what changes were actually made, although there is a bug where troops seem to just die for no blasted reason on the straight version without patch. Just stood there, full health and nothing around and just die.... Soldier lost!! Annoying

Any help would be appreciated!

- D -

[screetch]

(just to be sure, sorry if i repeat myself)

so you've installed the patch and now it crashes during load time (tell me it's at 38 % ;) )

you've tried to :
* set the shortcut to win2k compatibility mode
* manually delete index.fat and launched the game
* launched it in superuser if you installed it as superuser?

[Peoples-Agent]

Doesn't even get that far bud, before anything loads up at all... the silver disk spins for a short while then I get that crash, regardless of whether I choose W2K compatiable mode, not sure what you mean by super user, but I am logged in as Admin on this machine, only has one main user account.

I noticed there were other people with the same problem, need to find out in what thread.

- D -

[Peoples-Agent]

Just tried the latest official nVidia drivers off of their site to confirm what I suspect .....version 71.84 , and yep ...same problem.
So the patch busted the game, so I don't get a nice piece of bug fixed software.... so it blows!

[Peoples-Agent]

Think i've found the culprit, possible Sygate firewall hiding in the background.... here's hoping!

[Echodyne]

Tried all of this but my game disc wont be recognized. I have a Benq 822A Plus DVD-RW drive and cant run the game after the patch.

Will this ever be fixed???

[Sc0rPi0]

hi all

i have a problem. after installing the patch the game doesn't start.
i have installed the new driver for me geforce ti 4200 and installed directx 9c and i have installed the game new but after the patch the game doesn't start. i have delete index.fat and lunched the game but it doesn't work !!!!!!!

When i set the shortcut to win2000 compatibility mode, the game starts but after 10 min or 5min the game crash and i'm on the desktop!!!!!

plz help me !!!!!!!!!

MFG
Sc0rpi0

[Peoples-Agent]

Nope, game still don't work now... it worked once after being patched!

What a piece of garbage, I want my cash back ...but ofcourse they won't so I actively encourage anyone who pirates this product until it's fixed as to not make the mistake I did by paying for it.

[Gnusbrick]

Yeah same Prob...no idea why...

*.exe is shortly loading,...after 10 secs.....nothing,after 20 secs nothing
...game doesn't start..test it with the Win2000 Compb.,updated various drivers,but nothing......the game doesn't start.

Hope there will be help soon.....:sour:



System:
Win Xp Pro SP2
AMD 2800+
Asus A7V...
1 GB RAM
120 GB Western Dig.
Geforce 6800 GT
LiTeOn DVD

[Peoples-Agent]

I have done a complete format, and starting with a crisp clean system.... same problem.

Gimme patch, Gimme patch dammit!

[Mr. Moe]

Originally posted by Peoples-Agent
What a piece of garbage, I want my cash back ...but ofcourse they won't so I actively encourage anyone who pirates this product until it's fixed as to not make the mistake I did by paying for it.

tz... you didn't even try to get your money back and now you want eugen systems to bleed for it? (at least thats what it souns like)

the patch doesn't work for me too but i would NEVER tolerate ***** because of that... you don't make the situation any better this way.
eugen systems gets less money -> less time to work for patch (since "time is money").. furthermore you support killing game producers.

there is no game out there which runs without problems on every system.
...and this is not the first patch which needs to be patched.

btw. i don't know where you live but normaly you can get your money back because of the patch thing. since you have the AOW-Key you should talk with the atari support. tell them you can't play online because if you install the patch, the game doesn't work anymore and because of that you wan't your money back.
not beeing able to play online anymore is a reason to get your money back.

less talking, more thinking.

[Echodyne]

Ok, maybe Atari or the developers could post a message here that our patch-problem has been heared and that they are working on it.

At the moment I feel like as if no help/solution is available shortly.

[Peoples-Agent]

Been on the phone to them, they have NO idea!
Too busy with Driver 3 apparently, old piece of console junk!

So after a format, installation of latest Firmware versions, complete windows update, nothing running in background, following every tip given to me on these forums, being on the phone to Atari tech support, emailing Securom, updating all of my drivers..... and this piece of junk STILL does not want to work with the latest patch.

So serious question if anyone can answer, how do I get my money back? any ideas?

[Echodyne]

Hey Atari!! Wake up and let us know what is going on! We want an offical statement that you are working on a fix. You've got my money, I want a working game!!

[screetch]

we're sorry, we are actually working on this problem at the moment, in the meantime all i can offer are small tips to maybe bypass this problem a bit.

[Echodyne]

Ok, thank you for the update! :tup:

[Peoples-Agent]

That's all I wanted to hear, something is being worked on.

[KingsRevenge]

Any chance the first securerom version could be renabled/installed?

[Echodyne]

Ok, patch 1.03 is almost two weeks old now -> when can we expect a new patch to be released that will deal will the Securom problems. Any hint? Days, months, years?

[Peoples-Agent]

Read this thread here.....

http://www.uk.atari.com/third_party/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7920

I got mine fixed up now, and tested it with someone else.... its working, but obviously won't work for everyone, but there is some hope until Atari / Securom get their **** together to fix this problem. Give me a damn job, i'll show you how to get results lol

- D -

[Peoples-Agent]

Another tip if you have failed to get the game running in succession is to clear your prefetch folder.

This is found in C:\Windows\Prefetch ....delete everything in there.
And try again.

- D -

[Echodyne]

:madred: :madred: :madred:

I was able to play the game once after using the new .exe that was provided by Securom. But after that very single game, I was unable to launch the game afterwards. My disc won't get authenticated anymore.

Deleted the prefetch folder and the index.fat in the game folder, but it just won't work anymore....

A neverending nightmare! :lightbulb

[combat252]

Do you plan on letting us (the ones with the problem) know when the new patch is ready or fixed.

[Echodyne]

Originally posted by combat252
Do you plan on letting us (the ones with the problem) know when the new patch is ready or fixed.

Thats a good point here. How will we be informed - via your website or this forum? Unfortunately, the game wont check for updates on startup (because it can't even startup).

[Peoples-Agent]

Originally posted by Echodyne
:madred: :madred: :madred:

I was able to play the game once after using the new .exe that was provided by Securom. But after that very single game, I was unable to launch the game afterwards. My disc won't get authenticated anymore.

Deleted the prefetch folder and the index.fat in the game folder, but it just won't work anymore....

A neverending nightmare! :lightbulb

Right, start securom manually ..... from services.msc, and then try launch the game directly from the folder, making sure there is no index.fat , eventually it does agree to work. ****, I know.

[Echodyne]

I tried it at least 10 times but the game only started one more time - the copy protection really sucks. ATARI, EUGEN, when can we expect a fix?

[Peoples-Agent]

But it did start one more time, never lose hope ....

Delete that prefetch **** , index.fat to ....
And reboot ur pc , then start securom manually and try again.

...repeat.

And play like mad when it does work!

- D -

[Skumflodhesten]

The compability trick worked for me too!!! Now i can play online!! Best birthday gift ever!!!

[Peoples-Agent]

Happy Birthday there! :-)

Glad you got it working, cos its a fab game ...shame it has so many issues.

- D -

[blade1975]

i tryed the exe file peoples agent kindly hosted and got the game to work once. but wouldnt boot up after that. so i e-mailed secuROM with the dvd id number and the problem. and they e-mailed me back within one hour with a custom exe which was smaller than the one peoples put up. which works everytime without fail :) so it looks like the exe file from them are made for diffrent problems. :)

[Peoples-Agent]

Cool , yeah there has been a newer .exe created. Dated 29th March.

Here's the direct link incase anybody else was wondering....

http://www.securom.com/support/customers/atari/actofwar_t022/actofwar.zip

Don't work for me though!

- D -

[ska8tershane]

whats up ppl ..on the subject of the patch makeing it imposible to play the game for a few ppl,if u imediatly start pressing the space bar right before the game starts to load it will let u play..so right after u click on ur desktop icon ...as soon as the game screen pops up start pressing space bar as if trying to skip past all of the begining credits and it will let u play.

[popeye86]

I had the same problems, on disabling daemon tools game runs fine

[GTec]

i got the same problem, after installing the patch the aow.exe crash!!!
but i looked into the AoW folder and deleted the autosave files and WOW:D after that done it work's fine, no prob's no crash's!
i dont know why but since i have deleted the autosave file's it work ....

ps:the new autosave's work great

[Allan Lontoc]

I'm running a:

3.2G P4
512 MB DDR2
X600XT 128MB

I've also been having a hell of a time just trying to get the game to start consistently, with 9 out of 10 hangs at 38% of the load screen. One thing I did which seemed to improve the probability of a successful load (not guaranteed mind you, but improved the times I got it running right) was to set my XP to run it as Windows 2000. Things that also seemed to help was dropping my screen resolution to 16bit 600x800 before loading, having my internet/network connection cleanly running, and terminating all user processes with my name on it(the manual recommended it anyways) It seemed to stabilize the game a bit(for me at least). If this wasn't such a great game, I would never have put up with all the errors though. I hope it works for you guys. -Allan Lontoc =)

[LamerBurn]

ANOTHER SOLUTION TO FIX THAT PROBLEM FOR XP USERS!!!

Right Click the Act of War Link on your Desktop!
Now pick Compatibility on the Head
Mark the [x] Start Progra in compatibility Mode
Pick windows 2000
Save and start the Patched Game!!!!

Have phun ;)

[Peoples-Agent]

Thats old news dude, doesnt work for everyone .....

Besides, know what the problem is now ....its mainly related to Athlon 64 CPUs and a bug they have which changes the CPU ID every so often.

http://www.uk.atari.com/third_party/forum/showthread.php?t=8553

Have a gander.... but glad that fix works for you, does for alot of peeps.

- D -

[GTec]

hey i hope there are no problem's for the P4 64bit :eek: (6xx series)
cause i buyed me one today


good luck GTec :confusedb .... :bounce:

[>Mar-X-maN<]

Hi there. Okay, I've just installed the game and patched it with the
auto-update. Now I have this log-in problem.
1. no matter how many variations I use, my nick already seems
to be in use (only writing it backwards works, but that looks a bit stupid=
2. when trying it with that nick, the program tells me that my email address
differs from my password? now why would I want that to be alike?
3. so the program ask if I want to request a password. it would sent
it to me shortly. after several minutes (and that's a long wait, most
free forums are faster than that) there is no password sent.
This is very unsatisfactory. I mean I paid for this game – I am not some
kind of betatester.
I just hope the single player mode works.

[screetch]

You probably have a gamespy account already set up, if so just use that account.

[sidesh0wbob]

u protect ur games agains piracy - which is no bad thing u know ;)
but .. **** like this .. is real shitz u know :P
. its not the first time this happening and games are unplayable :sour:

me -> :lightbulb

atari -> :tonguegre ??


installed game totaly new
patched it with latest ...

system freeze totaly !!
*iam with win2k- NO xp*
(what is that 38% about??i havnt seen it yet :P)

fix out yet ?
or me wait until new patch is out ??
:cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

tried the securom exe fix thing from the other post...
not working either

:mad: :mad:

[RJFarmer]

u protect ur games agains piracy - which is no bad thing u know ;)
but .. **** like this .. is real shitz u know :P
. its not the first time this happening and games are unplayable :sour:

me -> :lightbulb

atari -> :tonguegre ??


installed game totaly new
patched it with latest ...

system freeze totaly !!
*iam with win2k- NO xp*
(what is that 38% about??i havnt seen it yet :P)

fix out yet ?
or me wait until new patch is out ??
:cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

tried the securom exe fix thing from the other post...
not working either

:mad: :mad:
naughty naughty :bounce:

[sidesh0wbob]

naughty naughty :bounce:


me or securom ?

:tonguegre

i payed 45€ to be... :P

[Peoples-Agent]

naughty naughty :bounce:

I have been accused of being racist in the past, which is BS .....

What support options does this guy have? he's doing a good job of speaking the language, but out of curiousity what support options are there for users outside of the continents usual language barriers?

Dude, what is the latest patch you have installed? 1.06? .....!

[sidesh0wbob]

unistalled old installation ->
installed game completly NEW into a new folder ->
and then i patched it with
-> ActOfWar_DirectAction_Patch4_MultiLang_ver01_06_3. exe

what happens when i click exe is -> system freeze




thx in advance
:lightbulb

[Emulated]

ActOfWar_DirectAction_Patch4_MultiLang_ver01_06_3

after i instaled this and tryed to launch the game i got a error:

Registers:
EAX = 7C9C5AB8 CS = 001B EIP = 016F0D91 Flags = 00210202
EBX = 00015AB9 SS = 0023 ESP = 0022F3C0 EBP = 0022F3E8
ECX = 02E3B549 DS = 0023 ESI = 02E51000 FS = 003B
EDX = 7C9B0000 ES = 0023 EDI = 7C9B0000 GS = 0000
Code at CS:EIP
89 48 04 8D 42 08 EB 02 33 C0 5F 5E 5B 8B E5 5D
Stack:
00010E18 00CAF6FC 7636E1E8 00000FFF 7C9B0000
0022F3E8 02B04868 00000000 00000000 00000000
00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 7C816D4F
02B04805 03BB8EDC 7636E40B 00000002 00015D00

Call stack:
:016F0D91 [ACTOFWAR.EXE]
:016FFD48 [ACTOFWAR.EXE]
:0040A695 [ACTOFWAR.EXE]
:0052697E [ACTOFWAR.EXE]
:0055CFB9 [ACTOFWAR.EXE]
:00522B88 [ACTOFWAR.EXE]
:017070F1 [ACTOFWAR.EXE]
:009DC5B0 [ACTOFWAR.EXE]
:009DBFC4 [ACTOFWAR.EXE]
:005854DE [ACTOFWAR.EXE]
Recursive call (2 times):
:00584F8E [ACTOFWAR.EXE]
:007353D2 [ACTOFWAR.EXE]
:00C916E7 [ACTOFWAR.EXE]
:7C816D4F [kernel32.dll]
:00F08F1B [ACTOFWAR.EXE]
:0115912F [ACTOFWAR.EXE]
:7C816D4F [kernel32.dll]