Weird problem with games

Amraam · 6 Jun 2011 at 22:12

Hey all,

Can't get any games to run that I've installed except Unreal Tournament? I have the latest DirectX, latest drivers etc, but every time I try to run MassEffect or STALKER they error out. Mass Effect says it can't find d3d9.dll in the system32 folder (but it's definitely there) and STALKER whinges about a problem with the xray1.6 engine. UT installed to C:\ whereas the others are on G:\ (games). Would the different install location cause problems? It's a freshly formatting drive.

Cheers!

tronath · 6 Jun 2011 at 23:03

Its likely to be missing registry keys if you're running the games on a freshly installed copy of windows. If you don't have the keys backed up, you'll need to re-install the game(s).

Amraam · 7 Jun 2011 at 17:41

tronath said:
Its likely to be missing registry keys if you're running the games on a freshly installed copy of windows. If you don't have the keys backed up, you'll need to re-install the game(s).

Sorry, they are freshly installed. Only difference was that I installed to G: rather than C:

tronath · 7 Jun 2011 at 21:03

I install all my games to G:\ drive too but it hasn't been a problem with any of them... Are both games fully patched?

Hairybudda · 7 Jun 2011 at 21:13

So your process was install new HD (nothing changed in the BIOS), format new HD, install games fresh from CD/DVD (rather than copying them from an old location)?

What OS are you running and have you tried reinstalling the DX redistributable?

Impy77 · 7 Jun 2011 at 21:26

Run the MS directx web installer - thats fixed problems i had with dead space 2 after a fresh windows install, without having to reinstall the games themselves

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=2da43d38-db71-4c1b-bc6a-9b6652cd92a3&displaylang=en

Amraam · 7 Jun 2011 at 23:19

Have already done all of the above. I installed the HDD into the PC, booted up, formatted it and then gave it a drive letter. Rebooted and installed the games from scratch, I never bother copying old installs - I don't see the point.

Fresh windows install too. Installing to C drive doesn't work either. Have all the latest drivers, and have tried the dx web installer and the redist, but to no avail.

Amraam · 7 Jun 2011 at 23:21

They don't even get as far as the intro movie, could it be a problem with the bik files? although Unreal Tournament works, which is really strange.

Amraam · 8 Jun 2011 at 13:20

The only thing I can think of is the first game I installed was UT, which is like DX6 or something old. Wonder if somehiow this has buggered up DX. Every time I try to install Dx9 it says current or newer files are already installed.

I have also checked permissions to the drive, and the system and admins have full access, so I doubt that's the issue. The event viewer mentions someting about a BASEKERNEL but I'm at work so I can't check the exact message. Does that ring a bell with anyone?

Raumarik · 8 Jun 2011 at 13:37

try putting the d3d9.dll file into the root of the game folder, this has fixed problems for older games for me in the past. It's usually a slightly different name though, but it's still a directx9 dll.

Amraam · 8 Jun 2011 at 15:28

Halfmad said:
try putting the d3d9.dll file into the root of the game folder, this has fixed problems for older games for me in the past. It's usually a slightly different name though, but it's still a directx9 dll.

But these are newish games that have always installed and ran fine in the past?

Amraam · 9 Jun 2011 at 00:27

Well I can only think having UT installed was the culprit. I was prepping my system ready to format and start from scratch, and was uninstalling everything (I like to do this before I format as to help me remember to back everything up I need). For the hell of I tried installing STALKER one last time, and it worked! Installing Mass Effect now.

I had installed some EAX files to let UT use EAX sound cards - I wonder if that was to blame some how?