HELP PLZ

[shnort33]

I just found this game on an old hard drive. i used to play waayy back in the day like 2005-2009. but i guess my computer is a little too much for the game? any help will be appreciated. here is the log

=|debug_symbol :190 |17:27:02|Could not find dbghelp.dll
=|maininit :1402 |17:27:02|Army Men RTS b1202 [RELEASE] Wed Mar 06 10:20:14 2002
=|maininit :1405 |17:27:02|CPU: Pentium III/3600MHz L1:0K L2:256K T:0 F:6 M:14 S:D (MMX,TSC,FPU)
=|maininit :1408 |17:27:02|Mem: 2048.00/4096.00
=|maininit :1411 |17:27:02|Executed by DESKTOP-AQC4C9O\bdril on Windows NT v6.2 Build 9200
=|maininit :1414 |17:27:02|Compiled by TIN-TIN\penelope on Windows NT v5.0 Service Pack 2 Build 2195
=|maininit :1415 |17:27:02|Compiler flags:
=|maininit :1419 |17:27:02|Language: 0x09 0x01
=|setup :86 |17:27:02|Startup directory : C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Army Men RTS
=|vid_enumdx :534 |17:27:02|
=|vid_enumdx :535 |17:27:02|[VID CAPS]
=|vid_enumdx :326 |17:27:02|Device: "Primary Display Driver"
=|vid_enumdx :471 |17:27:02|[VID DIRECT DRAW DRIVER]
=|vid_enumdx :106 |17:27:02|dd : NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER : 4318.7812.2265452611.161
=|vid_enumdx :107 |17:27:02|dd : nvldumd.dll : 0.00.00.0000
=|vid_enumdx :111 |17:27:02|dd : $ alpha only surface support
=|vid_enumdx :119 |17:27:02|dd : $ supports asynchronous blts
=|vid_enumdx :166 |17:27:02|dd : ! hardware not certified
=|vid_enumdx :1160 |17:27:02|d3d : * Direct3D HAL
=|vid_enumdx :1160 |17:27:02|d3d : Direct3D T&L HAL
=|vid_enumdx :982 |17:27:02|d3d : $ non power-of-2 textures
=|vid_enumdx :990 |17:27:02|d3d : $ cubic environment mapping support
=|vid_enumdx :994 |17:27:02|d3d : $ bump mapping support
=|vid_enumdx :1007 |17:27:02|d3d : $ anisotropic filtering
=|vid_enumdx :1011 |17:27:02|d3d : $ edge antialiasing
=|vid_enumdx :1021 |17:27:02|d3d : $ full screen antialiasing: sort independent
=|vid_enumdx :1040 |17:27:02|d3d : * max texture size 16384x16384
=|vid_enumdx :1048 |17:27:02|d3d : * clipGuard: -100000000.0,-100000000.0,100000000.0,100000000.0
=|vid_enumdx :1056 |17:27:02|d3d : * single-pass multitexturing: 8 stages
=|vid_enumdx :838 |17:27:02|mode: * 640 x 480, 32-Bit mem req 3072000
=|vid_enumdx :838 |17:27:02|mode: * 720 x 480, 32-Bit mem req 3456000
=|vid_enumdx :838 |17:27:02|mode: * 720 x 576, 32-Bit mem req 4147200
=|vid_enumdx :838 |17:27:02|mode: * 800 x 600, 32-Bit mem req 4800000
=|vid_enumdx :838 |17:27:02|mode: * 1024 x 768, 32-Bit mem req 7864320
=|vid_enumdx :838 |17:27:02|mode: * 1152 x 864, 32-Bit mem req 9953280
=|vid_enumdx :838 |17:27:02|mode: * 1280 x 720, 32-Bit mem req 9216000
=|vid_enumdx :838 |17:27:02|mode: * 1280 x 768, 32-Bit mem req 9830400
=|vid_enumdx :838 |17:27:02|mode: * 1280 x 800, 32-Bit mem req 10240000
=|vid_enumdx :838 |17:27:02|mode: * 1280 x 960, 32-Bit mem req 12288000
=|vid_enumdx :838 |17:27:02|mode: * 1280 x 1024, 32-Bit mem req 13107200
=|vid_enumdx :838 |17:27:02|mode: * 640 x 480, 16-Bit mem req 1843200
=|vid_enumdx :838 |17:27:02|mode: * 720 x 480, 16-Bit mem req 2073600
=|vid_enumdx :838 |17:27:02|mode: * 720 x 576, 16-Bit mem req 2488320
=|vid_enumdx :838 |17:27:02|mode: * 800 x 600, 16-Bit mem req 2880000
=|vid_enumdx :838 |17:27:02|mode: * 1024 x 768, 16-Bit mem req 4718592
=|vid_enumdx :838 |17:27:02|mode: * 1152 x 864, 16-Bit mem req 5971968
=|vid_enumdx :838 |17:27:02|mode: * 1280 x 720, 16-Bit mem req 5529600
=|vid_enumdx :838 |17:27:02|mode: * 1280 x 768, 16-Bit mem req 5898240
=|vid_enumdx :838 |17:27:02|mode: * 1280 x 800, 16-Bit mem req 6144000
=|vid_enumdx :838 |17:27:02|mode: * 1280 x 960, 16-Bit mem req 7372800
=|vid_enumdx :838 |17:27:02|mode: * 1280 x 1024, 16-Bit mem req 7864320
=|vid_enumdx :844 |17:27:02|mode: * Win640x480 32 mem req 11366400
=|vid_enumdx :267 |17:27:02|zbuf: * 16 bit
=|vid_enumdx :267 |17:27:02|zbuf: * 32 bit
=|vid_enumdx :262 |17:27:02|zbuf: * 24 bit with 8 bit stencil buffer
=|vid_enumdx :262 |17:27:02|zbuf: * 24 bit with 8 bit stencil buffer
=|vid_enumdx :267 |17:27:02|zbuf: * 32 bit
=|vid_enumdx :267 |17:27:02|zbuf: * 24 bit
=|vid_enumdx :241 |17:27:02|pix : * 555
=|vid_enumdx :241 |17:27:02|pix : * 5551
=|vid_enumdx :241 |17:27:02|pix : * 4444
=|vid_enumdx :241 |17:27:02|pix : * 565
=|vid_enumdx :241 |17:27:02|pix : * 888
=|vid_enumdx :241 |17:27:02|pix : * 8888
=|vid_enumdx :207 |17:27:02|pix : BumpMap16
=|vid_enumdx :207 |17:27:02|pix : BumpMap32
=|vid_enumdx :202 |17:27:02|pix : Compressed1
=|vid_enumdx :202 |17:27:02|pix : Compressed2
=|vid_enumdx :202 |17:27:02|pix : Compressed3
=|vid_enumdx :202 |17:27:02|pix : Compressed4
=|vid_enumdx :202 |17:27:02|pix : Compressed5
=|vid_enumdx :241 |17:27:02|pix : alpha
=|vid_enumdx :310 |17:27:02|CheckD3D complete
=|vid_enumdx :314 |17:27:02|device released
=|vid_enumdx :483 |17:27:02|Releasing front
=|vid_enumdx :487 |17:27:02|Releasing d3d
=|vid_enumdx :491 |17:27:02|Reporting free vidmem
=|vid :1838 |17:27:02|mem : 3080 mb free 3064.09 mb
=|vid :1863 |17:27:02|tex : 3080 mb free 3064.09 mb
=|vid_enumdx :494 |17:27:02|
=|vid_enumdx :326 |17:27:02|Device: "NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER"
=|vid_enumdx :331 |17:27:02| - multimon monitor (65537)
=|vid :750 |17:27:02|[VID INITD3D: 0]
=|vid :1064 |17:27:02|[VID INITSURFACES: 0]
=|vid :1284 |17:27:02|[VID INITSURFACES: 1]
=|vid :782 |17:27:02|[VID INITD3D: pre zbuf]
=|vid :893 |17:27:02|[VID INITD3D: post zbuf: 0, 0]
=|vid :908 |17:27:02|[VID INITD3D: post device]
=|vid :990 |17:27:02|[VID INITD3D: post pix]
=|vid :2016 |17:27:02|
=|vid :2017 |17:27:02|[VID CURRENT]
=|vid :2018 |17:27:02|NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER : 4318.7812.2265452611.161
=|vid :2019 |17:27:02|640 x 480, 16-Bit : Direct3D HAL
=|vid :2022 |17:27:02|mode: using a flipable surface pair
=|vid :2029 |17:27:02|zbuf: 16 bit
=|vid :2030 |17:27:02|pix : 565
=|vid :2031 |17:27:02|pix : 4444
=|vid :2032 |17:27:02|pix : 5551
=|vid :1838 |17:27:02|mem : 3072 mb free 3069.01 mb
=|vid :1863 |17:27:02|tex : 3072 mb free 3069.01 mb
=|vid :2038 |17:27:02|perf: 0 triplebuf; 1 mipmap; 1 mipfilter; 1 antialias; 0 gamma
=|vid :2040 |17:27:02|
=|vid :1020 |17:27:02|[VID INITD3D: pre blends]
=|vid_detail :187 |17:27:02|Detail::Detect: Using saved parameters (world=2, texture=1)
=|vid :1049 |17:27:02|[VID INITD3D: 1]
=|input :566 |17:27:02| - max ofs = 19
=|input :566 |17:27:02| - max ofs = 237

[TommyCD1]

Unforunately this log doesn't provide any helpful information. It doesn't even confirm if the game is crashed. So I'm going to assume it's the common error where the game hangs on a black screen. There's a fairly nice checklist of things that I would recommend trying to use to allow the game running, and of the ones I know how to do I recommend trying them in the order given, one at a time.

• Try deleting the settings.cfg file inside the game's main directory.
• Try to run the game in compatibility mode. Windows XP (Service Pack 2) is a good one to start one, but any choice should help.
• Try to rename/remove the dbghelp.dll file located in the game's \..\library\dbg\ folder. (The log seems to indicate this was already attempted?)
• Try running the game using dgVoodoo2. I detail how to install and use this program in this post.

If none of these work, you can try to use different combinations and see if that solves anything.

If you still are having troubles, then some more drastic measures I would attempt would be:

• Forcing the game to run as administrator / in 640x480.
• Manually set your resolution to 640x480 before launching the game.
• Install DirectX 8 from the game's install disc. If you do not have this, you can easilly find an ISO of one here on the forum.
• If all else fails, you can visit the vendor's site of your graphics card, and try to downgrade your graphics drivers. This should only be used as a last resort, and only if you are SURE your exact machine was able to run this game in the past.

If any of these solutions helped you, or if they didn't, please report back here either way!

[shnort33]

thanks for the reply. yes my main issue is getting stuck on a black screen and the only way out is CTRL ALT DEL and sign out. i have tried the things you have suggested in various combinations, its like sometimes it will work and sometimes it wont, even if i dont make any changes to any settings, ill open the game, exit and try to open it again and it wont work. it is as if i can play the game on my machine as is but some setting changes(on its own) from one time i play to another and i cant figure out what it could be

[TommyCD1]

Unfortunately I think any other solutions would involve the physical hardware of your computer... such as outputting to VGA instead of HDMI, or different graphics cards / CPUs.

But if the game successfully runs sometimes, maybe performing the fix for each session will help boost the consistency of it running? Also, this is just speculation at this point, but if you're running a newer machine there might be something being "memorized" by either the OS or graphics card/driver which could be causing issues. I'm unsure how to go about discovering or even changing this, but that might be something worth looking into.
I bring this up because I've personally experienced something like this: I had a copy of the game installed on a Windows 10 machine, and the machine "remembered" and automatically made back-ups of the files I had installed to the game, including mods. So when I tried to either update or remove them, the damn thing remembered them and restored them without asking or notifying me...

[moyy203499]

I tried more than one way to run the game after 20 attempts
The code changes sometimes
I tried dgVoodoo2
It did not work for me, it was showing me the black screen problem, after that I changed the device to wind 98
Now I see an access violation issue
My device specs
amd5 5600g
rx6600xt
I've tried every method you can think of
It didn't work for you
I tried to download another version, I tried installing dic8, it didn't work
etc...

Please help

[TommyCD1]

• Try deleting the settings.cfg file inside the game's main directory.
• Try to run the game in compatibility mode. Windows XP (Service Pack 2) is a good one to start one, but any choice should help.
• Try to rename/remove the dbghelp.dll file located in the game's \..\library\dbg\ folder. (The log seems to indicate this was already attempted?)
• Try running the game using dgVoodoo2. I detail how to install and use this program in this post.

If you still are having troubles, then some more drastic measures I would attempt would be:

• Forcing the game to run as administrator / in 640x480.
• Manually set your resolution to 640x480 before launching the game.
• Install DirectX 8 from the game's install disc. If you do not have this, you can easilly find an ISO of one here on the forum.
• If all else fails, you can visit the vendor's site of your graphics card, and try to downgrade your graphics drivers. This should only be used as a last resort, and only if you are SURE your exact machine was able to run this game in the past.

If you truly have tried every single thing on this list, then I'm simply out of options / ideas to try... Perhaps if all else fails try running the game on an entirely different machine? Such as a cheap laptop or something you don't use anymore.

[moyy203499]

Do you have an idea to try to run the game I've been playing for 8 years
And now I see the access violation
I don't have another computer

Thanks for trying to help me: TommyCD1

[TommyCD1]

Unfortunately no. The root of this problem is your graphics card and its drivers being incompatible with this game. And aside from what's mentioned above and upgrading / downgrading graphics drivers, different hardware is the only way that I know of at least to get any kind of change in results.

[moyy203498]

Hi, I'm moyy203499
But I lost the account information, it doesn't matter, I apologize for the inconvenience, but I tried to change the card, it didn't work, and this card was in the previous computer, the game was running, and it was a very weak card gt 210, now it doesn't work, I don't know why
But a previous computer was damaged

[shnort33]

UPDATE... what i did but it works now.

Ke$h on gameranger