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PhilsterD
PhilsterD
Join Date 09/2004
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Game was working fine . . . . . . .

September 6, 2004 2:20:55 PM from PoliticalMachine ForumsPoliticalMachine Forums
So I installed the game and downloaded the patch. I was playing this game for about a week, loving every minute. Now suddenly, the game crashes right after the intro. I know this is a common problem with the copy-protection, but damn I was playing fine before! I unistalled, then re-installed (lost all my saved games, arrrrrggh), and it kept on crashing. I'm seriously frustrated since i was able to play, but now i can't!!!!


Any help would be welcomed.
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PhilsterD
ScottTykoski
Join Date 03/2001
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Reply #1 September 7, 2004 8:55:07 AM
from PoliticalMachine ForumsPoliticalMachine Forums
Sorry about the inconvenience...we're looking into possible causes at the moment.

Could you post your system specs, and in the meantime, set the "ForceTextureUpdate" tag in the "Prefs.ini" file to "True". This will recalculate the textures (which may be the source of the problem).
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PhilsterD
ScottTykoski
Join Date 03/2001
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Reply #2 September 7, 2004 9:07:17 AM
from PoliticalMachine ForumsPoliticalMachine Forums
Here's the official list of changes to make in the 'prefs' file for the textures to automaticall re-generate upon game-start.

ForceTextureUpdate=1
DeviceType=1
BehaviorFlags=68

note: You'll want to save a version with the old values as well if this dosent fixt the problem. Otherwise the textures will regenerate each time the game starts (which results in a longer load time )
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PhilsterD
PhilsterD
Join Date 09/2004
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Reply #3 September 7, 2004 10:29:41 AM
from PoliticalMachine ForumsPoliticalMachine Forums
ForceTextureUpdate=1
DeviceType=1
BehaviorFlags=68

I can't find these in the Prefs.ini file but they are in the PolMachine.ini file. I tried changing the settings like instructed, but it did not work.


My specs are :

AMD Athlon(tm) XP 3200+
2.21 GHz
1.00GB of ram
Radeon 9800 PRO
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PhilsterD
PhilsterD
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Reply #4 September 7, 2004 10:31:45 AM
from PoliticalMachine ForumsPoliticalMachine Forums
Oh and thanks for the prompt response!
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PhilsterD
Frogboy
Join Date 03/2001
+2419 sdemperor
Reply #5 September 7, 2004 12:52:45 PM
from PoliticalMachine ForumsPoliticalMachine Forums

I'm thinking that it's that bloody copy protection thing.

 

This requires the 1.01 update from

http://storage.stardock.com/files/pm101_update.exe

be installed first. Then replace PolMachine.exe with the one in http://134.215.215.67/private/PolMachine.1.01.119.CD_CHECK.zip .

The retail CD must still be in the drive.

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PhilsterD
PhilsterD
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Reply #6 September 7, 2004 5:54:07 PM
from PoliticalMachine ForumsPoliticalMachine Forums
I tried what you said Frogboy, but now all im getting is a black screen after intro with the new .exe file. I can hear the music but everything is all black.

Thanks for your help none the less.
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PhilsterD
PhilsterD
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Reply #7 September 7, 2004 6:15:00 PM
from PoliticalMachine ForumsPoliticalMachine Forums
lol, support@ubisoft.com wont even take my emails....

Im thinking this Copy protection thing means im screwed.
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PhilsterD
PhilsterD
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Reply #8 September 7, 2004 7:51:21 PM
from PoliticalMachine ForumsPoliticalMachine Forums
I'm not even sure its the CD protection problem


Debug Message: ******* Starting Game Shell *******
Debug Message: Could not open reg key.
Debug Message: Could not find a Drengin.net Serial No.
Debug Message: Could not open reg key.
Debug Message: Could not find political machine serial in registry subdirectory PM1.
Debug Message: Could not open reg key.
Debug Message: Can't find political machine serial in registry subdirectory PM.
Debug Message: Can't find any serial numbers.
Debug Message: Going Fullscreen
Debug Message: Preparing to change display settings.
Debug Message: *********Checking D3DDevice Caps***********************
Debug Message: Device type: D3DDEVTYPE_HAL. Hardware rasterization. Shading is done with software, hardware, or mixed transform and lighting.
Debug Message: A full-color cursor is supported in hardware at high resolution modes.
Debug Message: Now Fullscreen
Debug Message: Shell initialization complete
Debug Message: ***** Initializing Game *****
Debug Message: Timer Frequency is 0 369e99
Debug Message: Added fonts: font2 font1 Arial13B Arial16B2 Arial10
Debug Message: Added fonts: Arial12 Arial12B Arial14 Arial14B Arial16
Debug Message: Added fonts: Arial16B Arial18 Arial18B
Debug Message: Initializing sound card.
Debug Message: Issues Loaded
Debug Message: Issues Tweaked
Debug Message: Loading 15 questions from Data\60SecQuestions.questions.
Debug Message: Loading 14 questions from Data\HardHitterQuestions.questions.
Debug Message: Loading 15 questions from Data\JoeUserQuestions.questions.
Debug Message: Loading 9 questions from Data\KingQuestions.questions.
Debug Message: Loading 22 questions from Data\NightTimeQuestions.questions.
Debug Message: Loading 19 questions from Data\OMaleyQuestions.questions.
Debug Message: Loading 15 questions from Data\SawyerQuestions.questions.
Debug Message: Question Files Loaded
Debug Message: Special Interest Loaded
Debug Message: Create setup screens.
Debug Message: Set mouse.
Debug Message: Unhide opening menu.
Debug Message: Set update timer.
Debug Message: Second chance back buffer failure attempt!
Debug Message: Error flipping back buffer to primary buffer.
Debug Message: Second chance back buffer failure attempt!
Debug Message: Error flipping back buffer to primary buffer.
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PhilsterD
Frogboy
Join Date 03/2001
+2419 sdemperor
Reply #9 September 7, 2004 9:57:42 PM
from PoliticalMachine ForumsPoliticalMachine Forums
You can also try support@stardock.com.
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PhilsterD
CariElf
Join Date 08/2001
+68 sdemployee
Reply #10 September 8, 2004 10:25:23 AM
from PoliticalMachine ForumsPoliticalMachine Forums
Well it doesn't seem to be a data error, since it's loading all the issues, etc without reporting any errors.

Try running in windowed mode.

Open Prefs.ini and set
WindowedMode = 1
SkipIntro = 1
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PhilsterD
PhilsterD
Join Date 09/2004
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Reply #11 September 8, 2004 11:28:23 AM
from PoliticalMachine ForumsPoliticalMachine Forums
Thanks Citizen Calif! That seemed to have done the trick!
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PhilsterD
CariElf
Join Date 08/2001
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Reply #12 September 8, 2004 12:05:01 PM
from PoliticalMachine ForumsPoliticalMachine Forums
Great. If you prefer fullscreen, you may be able to run in fullscreen mode if you leave the SkipIntro set to 1. I'm not sure why you would suddenly start having problems with our directshow implementation. Did you recently upgrade any media players like Windows Media Player or a dvd player program?
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