A long while ago, I was on this forum. Some of you may remember me. I doubt it.
Anyway, the reason for my mostly-unnoticed dissappearance was that, for some reason, my game stopped working. I would run it, and the Rivendell scene would show. Then it would dissappear and be replaced by the Mount Doom scene. The game would be stuck on that scene, and wouldn't change. It would show up on Task Manager as "Not Responding".
For the past few months, I've been wrestling with it, trying to get it fixed. I un- and re-installed it at least seven times. To no avail. I posted on EA's official BFME forum, but it is very inactive and I recieved no help. So, now, I come to this forum.
I should probably say that I have Windows Vista. However, I had Vista before it stopped working. On the system check, under the "Operating System" tab, it would show my system as "Vista". Now it comes up as "Unknown". Everything else gets a pass, except this. For some reason, it can't recognize my system, or work with it; but it did before.
Here's the topic from the official EA forum:
When I try to start my BFME 1 game, I see the scene with Rivendell. I know this is normal. After a bit, it dissappears and is replaced by a picture of Mount Doom. I know this is normal as well.
What isn't normal is that the Mount Doom scene doesn't dissappear. The game doesn't start. The scene just stays there adn refuses to budge. I opened Task Manager and it reported the game as "Not Responding." I tried re-installing it, several times, but that didn't work. My conclusion from this is that there's nothing wrong with the game, but that it's my computer that's ticking it off.
I have Windows Vista. I know some people have trouble with it, but I never did. At first it performed beautifully, even at maximum detail settings. Now, however it encounters that bug. What could have happened? Occasionally, before this happened, I ran a system check. Everything checked out okay - the system even registered as "Vista," which I took to mean that the game recognized the system. Now, however, everything except the system checks out fine. The system shows up as "Unknown" and it "fails" to pass. What's behind that?
My conclusion was that I had installed another program that prevents BFME from running. Are there any popular programs, such as a printer driver or Apple software, that might cause this effect? Or is the cause something else entirely?
And most importantly, how can I fix it?
So my question to the people who know so much about how BFME works: What is causing this? How can I fix it? Is there any further troubleshoot I can do?
And a note to the forum moderators - I was very unsure as to which forum to put this. I eventually decided to place it here, because this is the forum for BFME Modding help, and this is preventing me from modding.
Well, no. Problem mainly being that I don't know how, but also it was so long ago I kinda forgot when it started. I've been searching for solutions a long, long time....
So, how would you go about a System Restore? Also, which fiels would it delete, if any? Is there any place to put them where they'd be safe and out of the Restore's way?
You should probably backup all your data and reinstall Windows. Then reinstall BFME and all your programs minus the one that caused the problem. Of course only do this as a last resort.
A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week. Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way George S. Patton
The problem is that I don't know which program causes the problem. Maybe something from Apple? But I have nothing from Apple.... If I knew, I would just uninstall that program and reinstall BFME. Is there any sort of troubleshoot I can run that will find which one it is?
Rivendell scene would show. Then it would dissappear and be replaced by the Mount Doom scene
What do you mean about the scenes? Can you get to the Shellmap in the game or does it only show the Loading Screen on the desktop then crashes?
The problem is that I don't know which program causes the problem. Maybe something from Apple? But I have nothing from Apple.... If I knew, I would just uninstall that program and reinstall BFME. Is there any sort of troubleshoot I can run that will find which one it is?
P.S. Nice sig there, lol.
You may have to try randomly uninstalling programs until you can get it to work. By any chance do you remember installing a New Graphics Card Driver? That can cause problems with a game.
I've been out of this a long, long while..... What is a Shellmap?
You know the picture of Mount Doom you see before the game goes fullscreen? The game gets stuck on that and becomes "Not Responging".
Can printer drivers cause this?
The shellmap is the animated sequence in the background in the main menu of the game. I'm not sure if printer drivers could cause this problem but, I doubt it. Quick question, Does any error screen show up when it crashes? If so what does it say? Have you tried contacting EA Technical Support?
Windows Vista Compatibility Issues for BFME (From EA technical Support)
CODE
Please make sure that you have downloaded all of the necessary updates to Windows Vista, including Service Pack 1.
Note: This setup should be used for games that have been developed before Windows Vista. To check this, please check the minimum system requirements for your game to see if Windows Vista is listed.
1. Right-click the game's desktop shortcut icon and choose Properties. 2. In the Properties Panel, click the Compatibility tab. 3. Place a check in the Compatibility Mode checkbox. 4. Select Windows XP (Service Pack 2) in the mode box. 5. Click Apply to save your changes.
If you did not opt to have a desktop icon installed:
1. Find the game icon listed in your Games directory. 2. Right-click on the game and click on Customize. This will bring up the Customize menu. 3. Select Play. 4. Select Edit. 5. This will bring up the Properties screen. Click the Compatibility tab. 6. Check Run in Compatibility Mode and then choose Windows XP (or whatever operating system the game was designed for). 7. Press Apply, and then press OK. You will be back at the customize menu. 8. Close the customize screen. 9. Now the game is configured to run in Compatibility Mode.
Please note that this will only make the game run in Compatibility Mode if you click on the shortcut that you set Compatibility Mode for. All other shortcut icons (such as those in your Start menu) will have to have these changes made, as well.
Another step you will want to try is running the software as an administrator. To do this:
* Right-click the game's desktop shortcut icon and choose Properties. * In the Properties Panel, click the Compatibility tab. * In the Privilege Level section, place a check in the Run this Program as an Administrator checkbox. * Click Apply to save your changes. * Try the software again.
The Windows Vista Firewall is also more active than the Windows XP Firewall. This can cause problems running games that were designed before Vista and playing online. Turning off the Windows Vista Firewall will not stop the firewall from blocking programs. To ensure that the game is running at peak performance, you need to add the game program and any related programs (for example, Punkbuster for some online titles) to the Firewall Exceptions list.
If the game continues to fail, you may need to edit the run features of the game to override User Account Control features in Windows Vista.
Note: You will be altering operating system security and parental controls when performing the steps below. Please be aware that if you follow these steps, you will need to contact Microsoft for further support.
Pay special attention to:
“Scenario 2: Mark an application to always run elevated” and “Scenario 3: Configure User Account Control”
A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week. Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way George S. Patton
No error screen comes up. In fact, it doesn't crash; it gets stuck. I have to manually shut it down via Task Manager. I've read through that EA tech support, didn't find it to be much help. And the EA forum for BFME is all but dead. Not a single response, even now months later, lol. I've tried compatability mode and running it as an Admin, none worked. However, that last bit in the code box peaked my interest. I'll look into that.
