Terran.exe v.3 Crash - Game Won't Even Start - HELP!

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Author Topic:   Terran.exe v.3 Crash - Game Won't Even Start - HELP!

Armandeus posted 03-25-99 09:05 AM ET
I bought the game, installed, upgraded to version 3, and then tried to play for the first time, but terran.exe always gives me a GPF and crashes. I have never gotten the game to run even once! All I get to see is the Firaxis logo.
My CPU is a Pentium II 233 (not overclocked). More details about my system are listed at the end of this message.
I tried changing the settings in different ways in the INI file (d3d, eax, and so on) with no luck. I tried changing the screen resolution before starting the game to 800x600 256 with no luck.
I have the US version. I did the custom install, and put the sound files on the hard drive and left the movie files on the CD.
Here are the details from the GPF:
Module: TERRAN.EXE, Address: 015f:005d6cf8
Registers:
EAX=009e066c CS=015f EIP=005d6cf8 EFLGS=00010206
EBX=00bffc3a SS=0167 ESP=00bffbe4 EBP=00bffc24
ECX=009e066c DS=0167 ESI=009e066c FS=21df
EDX=00000364 ES=0167 EDI=00000000 GS=0000
Bytes at CS:EIP:
ff 92 00 01 00 00 8b 8e f0 00 00 00 85 c9 74 08
Stack dump:
0000dc7a bff72317 0000035c 00000000 dc3e1bf7 1bf71bf7 85380001 0008dc8c
6ce00003 793a005d 00000147 00000000 00bffd7c bff7186d 000011e7 00000000
Here is my system info: (shortened report from DirectX)
------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 24 3 1999, 23:17:18
Machine name: Suarez
Operating System: Windows 98 (4.10, Build 1998)
Language: Japanese (Regional Setting: Japanese)
Processor: Intel Pentium II, MMX
Memory: 96MB RAM
Page File: 45 MB used 409 MB available
DirectX Version: DirectX 6.1 (4.06.02.0436)
---------------
Display Devices
---------------
Card name: Matrox Millennium G200 AGP
Manufacturer: Matrox Graphics
Chip type: MGA - G200 Rev
Card name: Diamond Monster 3D II DirectX 6 Driver
-------------
Sound Devices
-------------
Description: AWE64G Direct Sound Driver [220]
Please help me!
Jeffrey Morris FIRAXIS posted 03-25-99 10:28 AM ET
Sounds like the 3D accelerator is the problem. The intro movie kicks in right after the logo, and some TNT cards as well have this problem. Set your hardware acceleration to 0. Right-click on my computer, select properties, then performance, then graphics. Set the slider to 0. The readme.txt details a way to disable the intro movie in the alpha centauri.ini file, so you might use that to at least get started.
jkm
firaxis games
Flash posted 03-25-99 11:27 AM ET
This is exactly the same place where my system crashes.
I've tried all the updating stuff, all of the turning off directdraw stuff, but nothing works. BTW movies play fine in playuv15.exe.
If you get this working, please let me know. Thanks.
Flash
Flash posted 03-25-99 11:29 AM ET
Hey. I just noticed something we have in common. We are both using the Japanese version of Windows 98.
Flash
Flash posted 03-25-99 04:18 PM ET
New information;
I connected to my primary PC via network with another PC that has the US version of Windows 95(DX6.0, old drivers, etc). I ran the game from the connected machine over the network, and the game ran fine.
Is it the Japanese system?
Flash
Flash posted 03-25-99 04:30 PM ET
Is there anywhere in the program where it gets some information from the system and relies on the result to be in a specific format/language or a specific length?
Getting a date field from the system and getting Japanese when English was expected can cause a big problem. I can imagine other possibilities where Japanese would be longer and overwrite a buffer.
Some system properties that return text could be a problem too. Hmm..
Flash
Flash posted 03-25-99 06:16 PM ET
Norton Crash Guard was able to make the program work.
The program still crashed at the same point, but by asking Crash Guard to fix it. I was able to get it to run. I still haven't played any games though.
Flash
Armandeus posted 03-26-99 08:30 AM ET
Jeff,
I tried your advice, and it did not work.
In addition, I find that if I try starting/GPFing the game more than once, it must be holding my system resources, because the computer responds slower, Internet Explorer can't find web pages, and so on. If I try to run the game about 5 times or so (of course, failing each time) then the mouse cursor gets slower and slower till the system freezes up.
PLEASE correct this MAJOR BIG TIME bug in the game SOON. Many many many people are having similar problems, right? It MUST be the game. I am very dissapointed, not to mention frustrated in a big way.
Thank you.
Jeffrey Morris FIRAXIS posted 03-26-99 11:12 AM ET
Lot's of people are able to play the game fine. This is a conflict between the game and something in your system, and we just need to figure out what it is. I hope it's not the japanese OS, which I'll admit we never tested on here (EA might have). Send the whole DXinfo.exe readout to [email protected] and I'll see what I can figure out. Also, try renaming the sound.dll to make sure it's not the soundcard.
jkm
firaxis games
Flash posted 03-26-99 11:26 AM ET
I suggest you test on a Japanese Win 98, because I'm pretty sure that is the problem. I've tried running it on a number of different machines with the Japanese system installed and they all crashed at the same place. The program almost always runs fine on US systems.
Flash
Flash posted 03-26-99 06:26 PM ET
Just an update.
The game worked flawlessly after Crash Guard got me throught the startup crash. Crash Guard has not fixed the executable. It crashes everytime at startup, but Crash Guard gets me past it.
The game always crashes at the same point documented in this thread. This is an easily repeatable bug that has occurred on every Win 98 Japanese system I have tested it on(count 3). Two of the systems had Crash Guard and were able to get past the problem. All the systems had quite different configurations.
The game is really fun though.
Flash
Armandeus posted 03-27-99 01:31 AM ET
OK, I mailed my Direct X info to Jeff.
I tried starting the game with sound.dll removed from the directory. I get the same problem.
As I told Jeff, I also tried changing the regional Windows setting in the registry to US English and rebooting (that would sometimes allow me to play other companies' games with money-grubbing dishonest location protection), but with no success.
Flash, I'm glad for you that you got SMAC to run with Crash Guard, but I refuse to buy another application just so I can get a game to run when it is supposed to run on its own in the first place.
Jeff, no disrespect or offense intended, but it seems obvious that SMAC is plagued with way more fatal bugs than your average game. The volume of messages in the tech support forum here attests to that.
I am very much looking forward to the solution to this problem or "Enhancement" 4, whichever quashes all SMAC bugs for all eternity. I really want to LOVE this game.
Thanks.
Scott Morton posted 03-29-99 09:19 AM ET
I'm having what seems to be the same problem as the original poster of this thread. I only got the game yesterday and the original ran just fine on my P233MMX with 64 meg ram, directx 6, ATI3D Expression+ with 4meg. I installed the new patch this morning and now when I try to play the tutorial scenarios I get:
TERRAN caused a general protection fault
in module TERRAN.EXE at 0137:0062d189.
Registers:
EAX=00e30f80 CS=0137 EIP=0062d189 EFLGS=00010286
EBX=00bffe28 SS=013f ESP=00b00018 EBP=00b00034
ECX=0000000a DS=013f ESI=c0000005 FS=39d7
EDX=ffffffff ES=013f EDI=00651db8 GS=0000
Bytes at CS:EIP:
39 32 57 8b c2 74 11 8d 3c 49 8d 3c ba 83 c0 0c
Stack dump:
00e30f80 0062d054 c0000005 ffffffff 00000000 00bffe28 c0000005 00bffe38 00627b87 c0000005 00b00060 00627c33 00b00068 00000000 00b00068 00b0013c
I hope a solution can be found for this ASAP
thanks,
Scott
Jeffrey Morris FIRAXIS posted 03-29-99 10:38 AM ET
Start with downloading DX 6.1 from www.microsoft.com/directx. Next try setting your hardware acceleration to 0. Right-click on my computer, select properties, then performance, then graphics. Set the slider to 0. If that doesn't work, try renaming the sound.dll file to sound.dl_ to determine if it's a sound problem. email me at [email protected] if none of those work.
jkm
firaxis games
etienne posted 04-02-99 08:29 AM ET
I got the exact same problem right after the Firaxis game screen. I have Win 98 Japanese .
I had an extra hard drive lying around, and installed win 95US, and guess what no problems, identical system, the only difference was the OS. If you do have a solution pleaselet me know.
Thanks
Etienne
BBGB posted 04-02-99 09:38 PM ET
I've had the same problems with terran.exe. I renamed sound.dll to sound.dl_ and was able to start the first scenario (without sound) but as soon as I build my first city, I get the same terran.exe problem as before.
Armandeus posted 04-02-99 10:25 PM ET
So you are giving up?
There are others on the same bulletin board topic with Japanese Windows having the exact same problem. It is not only my problem, and it is not a hardware conflict specific to my system. I am convinced it is a problem with the game itself, and it is a direct result of your neglecting to test the game with non-English and non-European versions of Windows.
I am not the only person in the world with a Japanese system trying to play this game. I bought this game in Tokyo, and hundreds of Japanese also bought it. I had to go to several stores specializing in imported games because it was sold out. Perhaps the others don't have a good enough command of English to want to try posting to your message board, but as QA Director, are you going to ignore a major fault in your game and give up on me and these other customers? I am very disappointed.
No, I will not chalk it up to a hardware or OS conflict, because that is not what it is. There is absolutely nothing wrong with my system. The blame lies solely with your game. It is the direct result of a lack of quality assurance and an attitude that only gamers in the US and Europe are worth supporting and writing games for.
I do not want to return the game. I want to play it. I travelled 300 km and searched several stores to find this game. I do not give up as easily as Firaxis does.
Please prove me wrong by fixing this major bug in your game as quickly as possible.

Armand
----- Original Message -----
From: Jeffrey Morris <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, April 03, 1999 5:30 AM
Subject: Re: Contents of DXInfo - Japanese System

> Well, just use the US patch, and it doesn't have any copy protection at
> all. I'm not certain what else to try. You may be able to solve it by
> extensive troubleshooting (like yanking cards to see if there is a
> conflict), but I understand if you don't want to. Perhaps the best thing
> to do is chalk it up to an OS/HW conflict and contact the warranty
> people listed in the back of the install guide for a refund. Please let
> me know if you have any difficulty.
>
> --
> Jeffrey Kennedy Morris
> Firaxis Games
> QA Director/Programmer
NeptuneAngel posted 04-03-99 10:51 AM ET
Hey I have the same problem to with the full and the "recomended" install....
yupe the Firaxis logo kicks in and wham the game crashes with the GPF popping out.
However when I choose the custom install option and installed the game without the movies file the game runs fine although I must say it's a bit below "below average" speed. The sounds sound "sick". and the movie take helluva time to load.......
I've tried the full install on another computer with a K6-2 and Win 98 ( the rest specs is the same ) and it runs like charm.....
NeptuneAngel posted 04-03-99 10:56 AM ET
Yeah one more thing.... I've tried the patch ( US version ) didn't work
Firaxis OT your staffs to work out the prob will ya ?!
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Author	Topic: Terran.exe v.3 Crash - Game Won't Even Start - HELP!
Armandeus	posted 03-25-99 09:05 AM ET I bought the game, installed, upgraded to version 3, and then tried to play for the first time, but terran.exe always gives me a GPF and crashes. I have never gotten the game to run even once! All I get to see is the Firaxis logo. My CPU is a Pentium II 233 (not overclocked). More details about my system are listed at the end of this message. I tried changing the settings in different ways in the INI file (d3d, eax, and so on) with no luck. I tried changing the screen resolution before starting the game to 800x600 256 with no luck. I have the US version. I did the custom install, and put the sound files on the hard drive and left the movie files on the CD. Here are the details from the GPF: Module: TERRAN.EXE, Address: 015f:005d6cf8 Registers: EAX=009e066c CS=015f EIP=005d6cf8 EFLGS=00010206 EBX=00bffc3a SS=0167 ESP=00bffbe4 EBP=00bffc24 ECX=009e066c DS=0167 ESI=009e066c FS=21df EDX=00000364 ES=0167 EDI=00000000 GS=0000 Bytes at CS:EIP: ff 92 00 01 00 00 8b 8e f0 00 00 00 85 c9 74 08 Stack dump: 0000dc7a bff72317 0000035c 00000000 dc3e1bf7 1bf71bf7 85380001 0008dc8c 6ce00003 793a005d 00000147 00000000 00bffd7c bff7186d 000011e7 00000000 Here is my system info: (shortened report from DirectX) ------------------ System Information ------------------ Time of this report: 24 3 1999, 23:17:18 Machine name: Suarez Operating System: Windows 98 (4.10, Build 1998) Language: Japanese (Regional Setting: Japanese) Processor: Intel Pentium II, MMX Memory: 96MB RAM Page File: 45 MB used 409 MB available DirectX Version: DirectX 6.1 (4.06.02.0436) --------------- Display Devices --------------- Card name: Matrox Millennium G200 AGP Manufacturer: Matrox Graphics Chip type: MGA - G200 Rev Card name: Diamond Monster 3D II DirectX 6 Driver ------------- Sound Devices ------------- Description: AWE64G Direct Sound Driver [220] Please help me!
Jeffrey Morris FIRAXIS	posted 03-25-99 10:28 AM ET Sounds like the 3D accelerator is the problem. The intro movie kicks in right after the logo, and some TNT cards as well have this problem. Set your hardware acceleration to 0. Right-click on my computer, select properties, then performance, then graphics. Set the slider to 0. The readme.txt details a way to disable the intro movie in the alpha centauri.ini file, so you might use that to at least get started. jkm firaxis games
Flash	posted 03-25-99 11:27 AM ET This is exactly the same place where my system crashes. I've tried all the updating stuff, all of the turning off directdraw stuff, but nothing works. BTW movies play fine in playuv15.exe. If you get this working, please let me know. Thanks. Flash
Flash	posted 03-25-99 11:29 AM ET Hey. I just noticed something we have in common. We are both using the Japanese version of Windows 98. Flash
Flash	posted 03-25-99 04:18 PM ET New information; I connected to my primary PC via network with another PC that has the US version of Windows 95(DX6.0, old drivers, etc). I ran the game from the connected machine over the network, and the game ran fine. Is it the Japanese system? Flash
Flash	posted 03-25-99 04:30 PM ET Is there anywhere in the program where it gets some information from the system and relies on the result to be in a specific format/language or a specific length? Getting a date field from the system and getting Japanese when English was expected can cause a big problem. I can imagine other possibilities where Japanese would be longer and overwrite a buffer. Some system properties that return text could be a problem too. Hmm.. Flash
Flash	posted 03-25-99 06:16 PM ET Norton Crash Guard was able to make the program work. The program still crashed at the same point, but by asking Crash Guard to fix it. I was able to get it to run. I still haven't played any games though. Flash
Armandeus	posted 03-26-99 08:30 AM ET Jeff, I tried your advice, and it did not work. In addition, I find that if I try starting/GPFing the game more than once, it must be holding my system resources, because the computer responds slower, Internet Explorer can't find web pages, and so on. If I try to run the game about 5 times or so (of course, failing each time) then the mouse cursor gets slower and slower till the system freezes up. PLEASE correct this MAJOR BIG TIME bug in the game SOON. Many many many people are having similar problems, right? It MUST be the game. I am very dissapointed, not to mention frustrated in a big way. Thank you.
Jeffrey Morris FIRAXIS	posted 03-26-99 11:12 AM ET Lot's of people are able to play the game fine. This is a conflict between the game and something in your system, and we just need to figure out what it is. I hope it's not the japanese OS, which I'll admit we never tested on here (EA might have). Send the whole DXinfo.exe readout to [email protected] and I'll see what I can figure out. Also, try renaming the sound.dll to make sure it's not the soundcard. jkm firaxis games
Flash	posted 03-26-99 11:26 AM ET I suggest you test on a Japanese Win 98, because I'm pretty sure that is the problem. I've tried running it on a number of different machines with the Japanese system installed and they all crashed at the same place. The program almost always runs fine on US systems. Flash
Flash	posted 03-26-99 06:26 PM ET Just an update. The game worked flawlessly after Crash Guard got me throught the startup crash. Crash Guard has not fixed the executable. It crashes everytime at startup, but Crash Guard gets me past it. The game always crashes at the same point documented in this thread. This is an easily repeatable bug that has occurred on every Win 98 Japanese system I have tested it on(count 3). Two of the systems had Crash Guard and were able to get past the problem. All the systems had quite different configurations. The game is really fun though. Flash
Armandeus	posted 03-27-99 01:31 AM ET OK, I mailed my Direct X info to Jeff. I tried starting the game with sound.dll removed from the directory. I get the same problem. As I told Jeff, I also tried changing the regional Windows setting in the registry to US English and rebooting (that would sometimes allow me to play other companies' games with money-grubbing dishonest location protection), but with no success. Flash, I'm glad for you that you got SMAC to run with Crash Guard, but I refuse to buy another application just so I can get a game to run when it is supposed to run on its own in the first place. Jeff, no disrespect or offense intended, but it seems obvious that SMAC is plagued with way more fatal bugs than your average game. The volume of messages in the tech support forum here attests to that. I am very much looking forward to the solution to this problem or "Enhancement" 4, whichever quashes all SMAC bugs for all eternity. I really want to LOVE this game. Thanks.
Scott Morton	posted 03-29-99 09:19 AM ET I'm having what seems to be the same problem as the original poster of this thread. I only got the game yesterday and the original ran just fine on my P233MMX with 64 meg ram, directx 6, ATI3D Expression+ with 4meg. I installed the new patch this morning and now when I try to play the tutorial scenarios I get: TERRAN caused a general protection fault in module TERRAN.EXE at 0137:0062d189. Registers: EAX=00e30f80 CS=0137 EIP=0062d189 EFLGS=00010286 EBX=00bffe28 SS=013f ESP=00b00018 EBP=00b00034 ECX=0000000a DS=013f ESI=c0000005 FS=39d7 EDX=ffffffff ES=013f EDI=00651db8 GS=0000 Bytes at CS:EIP: 39 32 57 8b c2 74 11 8d 3c 49 8d 3c ba 83 c0 0c Stack dump: 00e30f80 0062d054 c0000005 ffffffff 00000000 00bffe28 c0000005 00bffe38 00627b87 c0000005 00b00060 00627c33 00b00068 00000000 00b00068 00b0013c I hope a solution can be found for this ASAP thanks, Scott
Jeffrey Morris FIRAXIS	posted 03-29-99 10:38 AM ET Start with downloading DX 6.1 from www.microsoft.com/directx. Next try setting your hardware acceleration to 0. Right-click on my computer, select properties, then performance, then graphics. Set the slider to 0. If that doesn't work, try renaming the sound.dll file to sound.dl_ to determine if it's a sound problem. email me at [email protected] if none of those work. jkm firaxis games
etienne	posted 04-02-99 08:29 AM ET I got the exact same problem right after the Firaxis game screen. I have Win 98 Japanese . I had an extra hard drive lying around, and installed win 95US, and guess what no problems, identical system, the only difference was the OS. If you do have a solution pleaselet me know. Thanks Etienne
BBGB	posted 04-02-99 09:38 PM ET I've had the same problems with terran.exe. I renamed sound.dll to sound.dl_ and was able to start the first scenario (without sound) but as soon as I build my first city, I get the same terran.exe problem as before.
Armandeus	posted 04-02-99 10:25 PM ET So you are giving up? There are others on the same bulletin board topic with Japanese Windows having the exact same problem. It is not only my problem, and it is not a hardware conflict specific to my system. I am convinced it is a problem with the game itself, and it is a direct result of your neglecting to test the game with non-English and non-European versions of Windows. I am not the only person in the world with a Japanese system trying to play this game. I bought this game in Tokyo, and hundreds of Japanese also bought it. I had to go to several stores specializing in imported games because it was sold out. Perhaps the others don't have a good enough command of English to want to try posting to your message board, but as QA Director, are you going to ignore a major fault in your game and give up on me and these other customers? I am very disappointed. No, I will not chalk it up to a hardware or OS conflict, because that is not what it is. There is absolutely nothing wrong with my system. The blame lies solely with your game. It is the direct result of a lack of quality assurance and an attitude that only gamers in the US and Europe are worth supporting and writing games for. I do not want to return the game. I want to play it. I travelled 300 km and searched several stores to find this game. I do not give up as easily as Firaxis does. Please prove me wrong by fixing this major bug in your game as quickly as possible. Armand ----- Original Message ----- From: Jeffrey Morris <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, April 03, 1999 5:30 AM Subject: Re: Contents of DXInfo - Japanese System > Well, just use the US patch, and it doesn't have any copy protection at > all. I'm not certain what else to try. You may be able to solve it by > extensive troubleshooting (like yanking cards to see if there is a > conflict), but I understand if you don't want to. Perhaps the best thing > to do is chalk it up to an OS/HW conflict and contact the warranty > people listed in the back of the install guide for a refund. Please let > me know if you have any difficulty. > > -- > Jeffrey Kennedy Morris > Firaxis Games > QA Director/Programmer
NeptuneAngel	posted 04-03-99 10:51 AM ET Hey I have the same problem to with the full and the "recomended" install.... yupe the Firaxis logo kicks in and wham the game crashes with the GPF popping out. However when I choose the custom install option and installed the game without the movies file the game runs fine although I must say it's a bit below "below average" speed. The sounds sound "sick". and the movie take helluva time to load....... I've tried the full install on another computer with a K6-2 and Win 98 ( the rest specs is the same ) and it runs like charm.....
NeptuneAngel	posted 04-03-99 10:56 AM ET Yeah one more thing.... I've tried the patch ( US version ) didn't work Firaxis OT your staffs to work out the prob will ya ?!