Miscellaneous game crashes (Medieval 1: Total War)

[senator fredus taylorus]

my copy of medieval total war crashes whenever i go on the campaign games, or the tutorial campaign. i always shut down background tasks and i managed to play the tutorial campaign once, after fiddling around with the resolution. but it didnt let me do it twice. my specs are:


Time of this report: 4/23/2005, 13:03:26
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.050301-1519)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Kobian Pte.Ltd.
System Model: KNU400X
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Processor: AMD Duron™ processor, MMX, 3DNow, ~1.3GHz
Memory: 256MB RAM
Page File: 270MB used, 347MB available
Windows Dir: C WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: None
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.2180 32bit Unicode



any ideas ppl?

[Anselm]

I don't know the answer to your question, but I double the request because I have the same trouble at the moment, and re-installing doesn't work.

Does that mean I have a conflicting file outside of MTW that makes it crash loading campaigns?

[dashidash]

i too have the same exact problem...only rarely does the campaign actually load up. the battles work fine, and so does the multiplayer, but i can't play the campaign

my computer has the following:

Windows XP Home Edition w/ Service Pack 2 installed.

Pentium 4 CPU 2.40 GHz
640MB RAM
NVIDIA GeForce 4 MX 440 with AGP8X
DirectX 9.0c

[dashidash]

ok, i actually called customer support and here's what they told me. 95% of the time the video card is too recent, so what you have to do is revert back to the older version of it. at some point, hopefully, NVIDIA will come out with a version that solves this problem, but for now, you have to revert back to the older card.

all you have to do is put both versions on your desktop and then you can flip-flop between the two whenever you need it. it's a bit of a hassle, but it seems to be the only way around this problem.

[LoboKhan]

I have this same problem, and I have an HP notebook with an S3 TwisterK (KN133) video card, variable settings from 8MB to 32MB.

I've tried all the resolution and sound setup options on all my vid card setting 8MB, 16MB, and 32MB and nothing helps.

I'm running DirectX 9.0 (a, b, c??)

I can run the quick battle and it works fine, but not campaign, havn't tried anything else.

[Frankymole]

Very similar here, too. Trying to run the “Medieval: Total War” game, with latest VI patch etc – it always crashes to desktop on trying to go to the Campaign screen. It works briefly on a saved game until the first battle is over and it has to go back to the Campaign Map.

I have tried every combination of screen resolution, colours, sound acceleration (usually off), hardware acceleration (advised to set to full), etc. There may be a drive issue as my CD/DVD drive is “E:\” and I don’t know if a file somewhere in the game wants it to be “D:\”, I couldn’t see an obvious configuration file I could edit in Notebook. However, battles work fine – it’s the switch between screens that crashes to desktop.

My computer setup is:

Compaq Presario 061,
OS= XP-Home 5.1 build 2600,SP2 (or whatever-the-latest-one-is (none outstanding on Windows Update as of 30-May-2005)),
DirectX9.0c (4.09.000.0904),
240Gb Hard Drive,
2.2GHz AMD Athlon64 3400+ MMX 3DNow,
1022MB RAM,
Nvidia Geforce6200 Turbo Cache 2MX400 with Nv4_disp.dll version 6.14.0010.7184 (English)drivers

I think I have nVidia's 66 series drivers, somewhere - is it worth loading these or are they too recent too?

[Frankymole]

ok, i actually called customer support and here's what they told me. 95% of the time the video card is too recent, so what you have to do is revert back to the older version of it. at some point, hopefully, NVIDIA will come out with a version that solves this problem, but for now, you have to revert back to the older card.

all you have to do is put both versions on your desktop and then you can flip-flop between the two whenever you need it. it's a bit of a hassle, but it seems to be the only way around this problem.

Exactly how do you run the drivers from desktop, and make them able to be "flipped"? Any advice welcomed!

[Frankymole]

Okay, guys, here's my solution. It gets the game working in Campaign, but sadly previously-saved games from before this fix won't always work - if you get one working, save it asap, and it should then be fine. [I went back about 3 manual saves before (I save each year) to find one I could continue].

Anyway, I downloaded the 56.72 drivers from the nVidia archive (56.72_winxp2k_english_whql): http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp-2k_archive.html

After running them (removing my current drivers, installing the new ones), I then had to experiment with desktop and game resolution settings. It is most stable with the desktop set at 1280 x 1024 and the game (both Battle and Campaign maps) at 1024 x 768. A few other settings occasionally work. Most low resolutions (800 x 600 etc) won't.

[Granite_Bear]

I'll agree with Franky Mole. I'm running a nvidia FX5500, but the game kept crashing randomly. Sometimes it would run fine for hours. Other days I just gave up, because it crashed all the time.. I have downloaded all the old versions of nvidia drivers from the last two years and then loaded one at a time (starting with the latest, then removing and loading the next earliest) until I found a stable one. I now using driver 61.76. latest is 71.89. Game has been stable now for over a week. My resolutions at set to 1280X1024......and now I'm very happy. Hope this helpsthose with a very annoying problem.

[Frankymole]

Okay, a new issue.

How do you stop Windows XP (Home edition, grrr) from constantly reinstalling newer drivers on bootup?

Every time I uninstall the new drivers and put in the old, the damn thing restores the latest drivers on restart. And I don't want them!

They're in a system file called WINDOWS/SYSTEM32/ReinstallBackups. Can I jsut overwrite them with the older driver files, despite the dire warnings not to chenge system directories?

[Don7031]

FWIW, I had the same crash to menu/desktop problem. However, my MTW came bundled with Viking Invasion. Installing Viking Invasion appears to have fixed the problem.

[Hoosierdaddy481]

I too am experiencing the same problem, as above, everything works except the campaign and its tutorial. How exactly did you downgrade the drivers? And if it is the driver, how come it works fine in multiplayer and battle, etc. ?

[Hoosierdaddy481]

I too am experiencing the same problem, as above, everything works except the campaign and its tutorial. How exactly did you downgrade the drivers? And if it is the driver, how come it works fine in multiplayer and battle, etc. ?

Okay so i simply downloaded the same version Granite_Bear says he is using, but to disastrous results. I installed the old driver, rebooted, only to find that my computer was locked in 800x600 res. and FOUR bit color! i had to reinstall the latest drivers to get my color back. So is there any other solution, or anything i did wrong?

[Ragss]

I get CTD's all the time as well. What I do is make at least 2 different save files each time I save; I have rarely had more than one save file become corrupt like this.

[(insert clever name here)]

Ah this is crap. I had this game working fine for hours yesterday and thenout of no where the game crashes like every time it goes to the campaign map. Now at most it will work for a turn. This is crap because i don't know if installing old drivers will let me run my newer games such as half life 2 or GTa San Andreas at the settings i had them.
My graphics card is a nVidia FX 5200.

[King Denny III]

Hi. I have had the same problem but have got it to work. I have tried this a few times so i know t works.

My Spec:-
Operating System:- Windows 2000 (straight out the box - service pack 4)
have also tried on XP (straight out of the box - Service pack 2)
Athlon XP2000+ runnng at 1.8gig
1gig mem
Geforce FX5200 (also works on FX6200 as have tried it on my friends card)
Direct X 9.0c

You need to download the Nvidia Driver version 5.3.0.3 for the FX5200 and version 77.72 for FX6200 upwards.
With version 77.72, i had to make sure the resolutions in the options were higher than that of the desktop. Strange i know but it works.

version 5.3.0.3 works at any resolution

Both also work on Viking addon pack too.

So you can still play Halflife 2 , Doom3 , Quake 4, Fear ect. No Problem

I got my drivers from PNY site. They have both drivers in there support section on their site, http://www.pny.com
If anyone wants to contact me, do so.

[(insert clever name here)]

Thanks a lot!

[rabidbadger]

I appreciate so many people trying new ways of overcoming this problem and posting them here. Unfortunetly, I have tried all of the above, as well as a few of my own ideas, and so far I have had no success. I thought King Denny III's solution would finally set me straight... alas, it turned out to be the least productive as when following his suggestion, I cannot even get the game to the options menu...I will keep trying, if I come up with anything, I will let you all know. Till then.

[King Denny III]

OK . Try taking out your graphics card and memory, reseat them back in the mainboard, nstall the 77.72 driver, change your desktop res to 1024 X whatever it is and you should get it to work. If it doesnt, then buy an ATI card.

just so you all know, if you buy a FX6200, you wont be able to watch dvds until you run riva tuner and unlock all the hidden parts of your card. same for 6600 & 6800. Nvidia are dodgy!!!!!

[The White Knight]

Grrr... I don't like reversing back to older graphical drivers! This is absolute madness!
Hasn't Nvidia got a support line or e-mail? I think I'll write a polite e-mail to either CA or Nvidia concerning compatibility with Medieval TW.