Application problems

[Torin]

Dominions 3 wont work for me anymore.
When i try to launch it, opens the dom3.exe and instantly closes without a message.
Tried reinstalling even in a different folder. Still the same.

Appreciate any help.

[Sombre]

Did you change anything notable before this started happening? New drivers perhaps?

[Torin]

yes, updated ati graphic drivers actually. ill check with the old one.

[Gandalf Parker]

Which OS?
Is this right after running MS Updates?

[nordlys]

Try tinkering with the driver settings in catalyst control center. A safe rule of thumb is switch to "application controlled" everything that can be (like antialiasing) and switch off everything else. Dominions in particular didn't like the "catalyst ai" enabled, it garbled the game fonts for me.

ati is also known for screwed up opengl support, and I figure Dominions uses just that, so you may want to try various command line switches for dom3.exe:

-p --perftest Run a performance test and exit
-x --fastgrx Faster graphics (use 3 times for best performance (-xxx))
--renderpath X Use different optimizations 0-1 (0=good for low mem cards)
-V --novsync Disable vsync
--vsync Enable vsync
--noglext Don't use any OpenGL extensions
--noarcade Don't draw floating damage numbers
--nograss Don't draw the grass
--partamount X Max nbr of particles 0-8 (0=none, 4=default, 8=max)
--nolightfx No light effects in battles
--texqual X Texture quality 1-5 (default=3)
--treequal X Tree quality 1-5 (default=3)
--maxtexsize X Max texture size in pixels 32-4096 (default=unlimited)
--filtering X Quality of OpenGL filtering 0-3 (default=2)
--maxfps X Maximum nbr of frames per second (default=50)
--fps X Aim for this nbr of frames per second (default=20)
--nopopups No helpful popups
-f --nofade No fade effects
--fade Use fade effects
-a --noanimback Don't use animated backgrounds
--animback Use animated backgrounds
-r --res X Y Set screen resolution / window size (default=1024 768)
--opacity X Set gui opacity 0 - 100
--gamma X Set gamma function (brightness) 0.1 - 5.0 (default=1.0)
-T --textonly Use this with --tcpserver to get graphicless server
--zbuffer X Try to use a depth buffer of X bits per pixel (default=16)
--bitplanes X Try to use a color depth of X bits per pixel
-u --fullscreen Use the entire screen
-w --window Run Dominions 3 in a window

some of these may help.

and of course, try using the -ddd command line switch to log debug info in case this is not related to v-card altogether.

[Torin]

nordlys, you certainly know much.
I just had to change my drivers for another game but maybe it was not the graphics.
Whatever the reason i dont know because i chaged my hard drive and installed xp again.
Now i have dominions going again.
Be careful when windows asks to check for errors on hard disk when the computer is starting.
Things that used to work probably will be broken.
I wont let it do that again.

[Arralen]

Originally Posted by Torin

Be careful when windows asks to check for errors on hard disk when the computer is starting.
Things that used to work probably will be broken.
I wont let it do that again.

Oh-oh. Actually, you shold let it do that if it wants to.

And do some more, because this message indicates an error in the files system, or an "unclean" shutdown of the system (which could both trigger and be caused by errors in the file system).
File system errors, though, are a very bad thing, because...
... they might not be fully recoverable, so data might get lost (that includes parts of Windoze itself )
... they often are caused by faulty hardware

Applications not starting any longer after a file system check often is a sign of a HDD having bad sectors, and being in the process of going completely bad.
Normally, I would suggest testing harddrive and RAM, but I have the nagging suspicion that you don't know much about computers, and might do more harm than good, so better get someone knowledgeable check your comp.

[Torin]

You dont have to believe everything Microsoft tells you.
Sometimes windows default options are the worse thing you can choose.
Take autorun feature for example.

[Tollund]

Originally Posted by Torin

You dont have to believe everything Microsoft tells you.
Sometimes windows default options are the worse thing you can choose.
Take autorun feature for example.

What's wrong with autorun? Do you regularly put discs in the drive that you don't want to run? Are you still running an operating system that was released more than ten years ago, or is your computer so old and defective that it can't manage to multitask the spin up of a disc drive while performing other actions?

The sheer number of luddites amongst the computer literate never ceases to amaze me.

[Arralen]

Originally Posted by Torin

You dont have to believe everything Microsoft tells you.

Just wanted to offer some help - from 12 years of experience in the trade.
If you know better, so it be.