S.T.A.L.K.E.R. won't start

Mansize_tissue · 27 Jun 2007 at 14:16

So i just installed the game and, when i try to run it, nothing happens. Well, the small splash screen appears, but that's it. Anybody know why this might be happening? I'm running 32-bit Vista, by the way, and the game is patched to 1.0003.

Mansize_tissue · 27 Jun 2007 at 15:32

Thank you for your reply. I've had the 160.04 drivers, and i now have the 162.15 drivers, installed; the game didn't work with either. I'm only using onboard sound at the moment, so this shouldn't be causing any problems.

I've tried changing the Program Compatibility settings, like you said, and running it as an administrator but to no avail. I just tried changing my desktop resolution to 800x600; still, the game won't launch. All of the settings in the NV control panel are set to "Application Controlled" and, not surprisingly, the game still doesn't work.

Thank you for your advice, but it seems my computer is just refusing to play this game. I've already re-installed it 3 times, the only thing i haven't tried is the 1.0001 patch since i went straight to 1.0003. Any more suggestions?

Mansize_tissue · 27 Jun 2007 at 15:55

Would you mind pointing me in the direction of the correct forum? I can't seem to find the right one. Thank you for all of your help, i really appreciate it. I think, if i can't find a solution at the official forum, i'll have to return the game.

Mansize_tissue · 27 Jun 2007 at 16:35

Thank you for the link. I've had a look through the "Knowledge base", "Problems -> Solutions", "Stalker doesnt even start after first install" and "Game Does Not Start" threads but i still can't find a solution. "Error 24: startup failure" in "Knowledge base" is the same problem i'm having, however there's no solution.

I'm going to try re-installing the game and using incremental patches instead. I'll report back shortly.

Mansize_tissue · 27 Jun 2007 at 18:12

The game still doesn't work, even after another re-install of the game and incremental patches.

Mansize_tissue · 27 Jun 2007 at 18:21

james.miller said:
are peopel still having problems with the game not starting *at all* unless a no-cd crack was used? i know that was the only way around it for me

Looks like it! How would i go about using the no-cd crack?

Mansize_tissue · 28 Jun 2007 at 10:41

Any more suggestions?

Mansize_tissue · 28 Jun 2007 at 19:29

Thank you very much, procrastinator. I downloaded and installed oalinst, i believe that was the correct file you were referring to. However, this did not solve my problem. I also emailed Securom telling them my problem, and i attached my AnalysisLog file, too. Let's hope they can find me a solution!

Mansize_tissue · 29 Jun 2007 at 17:00

For anybody who owns S.T.A.L.K.E.R., when you launch the game does the small brown splash screen saying "S.T.A.L.K.E.R." appear then automatically go into launching the game, or do you have to click on something?

Oh, and in the Event Viewer, In Application under Windows Logs, there's an error everytime i try to run the game. It says it's an Application Hang, and that "The program XR_3DA.exe has stopped interacting with Windows..."; is this significant?

Mansize_tissue · 29 Jun 2007 at 20:06

V_R said:
I had this problem when i first got Stalker.

I also had to contact SecrueROM about it, they told me it was Process Explorer running that stopped it running bizarrely....I just cracked it in the end....

However i also had to delete the ct_oal.dll in the sys32 folder. Maybe worth a try, can always put it back if it dont work.

HTH's

EDIT: found the link. (number 9)
http://www.stalker-zone.com/index.php?name=ForumsPro&file=viewtopic&p=153

Hmm, it seems i have neither of those files you mentioned in my System32 folder. What did you do about Process Explorer?

Usher said:
It might be behaving like BF2 in that if you install it & then reinstall it wont go past the splashscreen.

After you uninstall it do a search on your drive & remove every trace before you install it again, dont add the patch till you are sure it will load,

the brown splash screen goes blank for a few seconds as it loads the game

Mmm, i don't think this is the problem because it didn't work when i first installed it without the patch. Plus, when i've uninstalled it, i made sure i manually removed all (well, all that i could find) of the files that were left over. Thank you for the suggestions.

Mansize_tissue · 29 Jun 2007 at 21:20

V_R said:
Nothing, I just used a no cd crack and stalker ran fine. with no more issues involving PE or anything else.

If i could, i'd link to it, but google is your friend.

OK, thanks. So basically i just replace the XR_3DA file in the bin folder with the new one i find, correct? If so, and if i'm doing it correctly, the splash screen appears, as usual, but the Vista spinny loading sign appears when i hover the mouse over it; this didn't happen before. Nevertheless, the game still doesn't actually load. I'm now trying a different no cd crack, i'll let you know how it works our.

Mansize_tissue · 29 Jun 2007 at 22:26

Eh, the cd cracks i tried didn't work. I think i'm just going to send the game back. Maybe i'll buy it again once i reformat, it's just if i keep it until i reformat and find out it doesn't work i'll probably have missed the opportunity to send it back. Annoying...

Mansize_tissue · 29 Jun 2007 at 23:09

V_R said:
Thats a shame, i take it you dont get any kind of error or anything? I had the X-Ray engine come up with something before the crack was applied...

I cant think of anything else of the top of my head, sorry.

If anything come to mind i'll post back.

Nope, no error. Although, by messing around with all of the game files (like moving them into a different folder) i managed to get an X-Ray Engine error appear, but that was only a one-time occurance.

Thank you for all of your help, i really appreciate it.