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Solved ENGINE.exe crash new game Win8.1

H

hotpepperguy

Landlubber
Hello, new member here!

I recently pulled out my old PoTC CDs and tried installing on Windows 8.1. Installation went great, and I can open the game fine (both modded and vanilla) but when I try to create a new game, the ENGINE.exe crashes (both modded and vanilla.)

Sounds like the Intel graphics problem, but please keep reading.

I have been browsing the forums and trying all sorts of fixes for the seemingly common new game engine crash problem. Nothing has worked.

I have an MSI GS70 2PE notebook, with hybrid graphics (intel integrated and NVidia.) Intel is i7-4710HQ. NVidia is GeForce GTX 870M with 3Gb DDR. I have 16Gb RAM.

I will list the fixes I have tried, then post the contents of my system.log file.

As a fore-note, I am much more familiar with linux than windows, so excuse my ignorance please!

-switched my global graphics settings to use NVidia in the NVidia control panel

-several fresh installs

-tried a "no-cd crack"

-turned off safe mode, and tried all sorts of settings in config

-installed in a games folder, not default

-modded with build 13 (latest one)

-changed my screen resolution to the same as the game

-ran everything possible in comparability modes

I am sure I tried a few else that I am forgetting as well.

My system.log file reads as follows:

Scanning current directory
Loading modules...
Loaded 0
Reset...
Initializing CORE...
User Rised Exception
C:\PROJECTS\DRIVE_V2\ENGINE\SOURCES\Core.cpp line 364 no 'engine.ini' file

That directory, by the way, doesn't exist. Don't know if that one is the problem. Also, the game is installed on a separate HDD than Windows 8.1.

Sorry for the long post, I just wanted to give as much info as possible. Thanks so much for the help; I can't wait to get pirating the seven seas! Well one sea, but one is good enough ;)

Cheers,

Borislav
 
:ahoy

There are several possible reasons for your problems. First let us get vanilla POTC working and then try the mods.

Are you sure the Nvidia graphics is working? There is a thread in my signature that discusses this.

Do you have POTC installed on an external hard drive? Some laptop users have problems with that and are better off installing POTC to their C: drive OUTSIDE of program files. I use C: POTC.

In the engine.ini at the top you can set your screen resolution to match your screen.

This should be a good start.
 
Thanks for the reply.

I just reinstalled to C:/

I did all of those, but it is still crashing after new game. I'm set to use NVidia GPU globally at the moment, so I know it should be using that.
 
Wow. Thanks, mate. I can't believe it really was the Intel graphics problem! I have changed everything globally to the NVidea GPU, and still could not run it until running that Intel fix!

Any ideas on why this may be? My laptop is quite new and has a lot of over-the-top power saving options that change around the usage of everything, so I am wondering if this is the reason.

Thanks so much, can't wait to get playing!

Cheers,

Borislav
 
There is another thread somewhere about how to make sure your laptop is actually using Nvidia graphics. All I can vaguely remember is that is has something to do with the power saving options. Methinks you need to set the power profile to "performance".
 
Okay, I will keep mucking around with the settings. So far no luck. The ENGINE.exe begins running with the nVidea GPU, but then switches to the Intel integrated when the main menu shows up for some reason. I hit new game, it CTDs, and it switches to the nVidea to tell me the ENGINE.exe crashed. When I close out of this dialogue, the GPU switches again to Intel integrated. So it looks like the desktop is being defiant and runs with Intel despite my setting Global to use nVidea.

Tried the power "performance" mode, but still no luck.

I can play with Intel for now, but it would be nice to use a better GPU for the ocean effects.

*****EDIT I got the system to use nVidea exclusively by opening one of my AutoCAD files... still crashed. I think I'll give up for now.


Thanks for the help mate,

Borislav
 
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Does the game not recognize or can't handle advanced NVidia Graphic Cards?
 
All recent NVidia cards should handle the game just fine, I believe the problem lies in the implementation of shared graphics memory. It is really a nightmare for gaming.
 
Yea, it is quite frustrating. I believe that the Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind uses the same engine as PoTC. Correct me if I am wrong. I may try seeing what folks on those forums are doing to counteract this problem. Probably no luck for now, but I will keep mucking around, then post anything I find for people with these newer systems and power savings nonsense.
 
The Storm engine? Wikipedia says it uses a version of the XnGine.

Anyway, try to set up a profile just for POTC and see if that works. Someone made a thread about this problem a couple of years ago but I can not find it now. :facepalm
 
Ya, it's kinda embarrassing to ask people to use a link in yur sig that goes to the wrong place. :pirate07:

Fixed now.
 
Hmm, yes, it would appear that they don't use the same engine. I seem to recall someone telling me that they did, back when PoTC first came out.

Ah well, Intel it is for now.
 
The problem is half solved. The game is running, but not on the GPU I would prefer. This is good enough for now, though. Thanks mates.

Looking forward to Hearts of Oak, in the mean time :D
 
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Holy crap! i had been struggking to get the PotC vanilla game working for like three days now! The Intel fix thing did it!! Thanks!!
 
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