Xcom and VMWare Windows 7 32 bit - Anyone had success with this or similar game

[larry250]

Has Anyone succesfully run Xcom in a virtual Machine, or had a similar problem as I describe below with another recent game and resolved it somehow.

I am running VMWARE 7.1.4 and have sufficent processor, memory, graphics, but still have a problem. The load screens (ie. the 2K/EA/Firaxis/Unreal Logos) load properly, then it goes to the screen with the xcom logo and the fine print on it, but when the game tries to go to the actual start screen (Where it changes resolution and you can click on buttons) it crashes with a windows box "XCOM: Enemy unknown has stopped working -- a problem has caused the program to stop working ..." etc.

I've tried the command line -windowed to make sure it wasn't a screen resolution / driver issue but have no success.

I found a list of command line options in another forum, but have no specific ideas.
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/CommandLineArguments.html#User

[Wulf]

I'd assume it's a graphics issue.

I haven't been keeping up, but does VMware advertise itself as capable of running 3D games nowadays? I've never seen a game from the past decade running successfully in a VM, though I have to admit, I haven't really tried in a long time.

[larry250]

I've tried unchecking the "enable 3D acceleration" in the VMWare Machine setup, but then the game won't run at all. Graphics issue is why I initially tried running it in windowed mode.

Still need help

[Wulf]

Go to this folder:
C:\Users\(user)\Documents\My Games\XCOM - Enemy Unknown\XComGame\Logs

Does the end of launch.log say anything useful?

[larry250]

It does. But I don't know what to make of it.
Here seems to be the relevant portion. The log seems to indicate time from initial load.

[0008.96] Log: Pushing Bink silence
[0029.48] Log: Popping Bink silence
[0029.48] Log: >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Initial startup: 29.48s <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
[0029.54] Critical: appError called: Direct3DDevice->CreateVolumeTexture( SizeX, SizeY, SizeZ, NumMips, GetD3DTextureUsageFlags(Flags), (D3DFORMAT)GPixelFormats[Format].PlatformFormat, GetD3DTexturePool(Flags), (IDirect3DVolumeTexture9 **)Texture3D->GetInitReference(), NULL ) failed
at C:\BuildAgent\work\7be1c3254e1c9da6\branches\UE3_XComPC\Development\Src\D3D9Drv\Src\D3D9Texture.cpp:179
with error D3DERR_INVALIDCALL,
SizeX=82, SizeY=42, SizeZ=21, Format=A8R8G8B8=D3DFMT_A8R8G8B8, NumMips=1, Flags=, TexMemoryAvailable=207MB
[0029.54] Critical: Windows GetLastError: The operation completed successfully. (0)
[0029.54] Warning: Warning, Failed to load 'SwfMovie ?int?gfxui.ime.moviepath?': Failed to find object 'SwfMovie ?int?gfxui.ime.moviepath?'
[0029.54] Log: GFx attempted to load missing object [?int?gfxui.ime.moviepath?]
[0032.40] Critical: appError called: Rendering thread exception:
Direct3DDevice->CreateVolumeTexture( SizeX, SizeY, SizeZ, NumMips, GetD3DTextureUsageFlags(Flags), (D3DFORMAT)GPixelFormats[Format].PlatformFormat, GetD3DTexturePool(Flags), (IDirect3DVolumeTexture9 **)Texture3D->GetInitReference(), NULL ) failed
at C:\BuildAgent\work\7be1c3254e1c9da6\branches\UE3_XComPC\Development\Src\D3D9Drv\Src\D3D9Texture.cpp:179
with error D3DERR_INVALIDCALL,
SizeX=82, SizeY=42, SizeZ=21, Format=A8R8G8B8=D3DFMT_A8R8G8B8, NumMips=1, Flags=, TexMemoryAvailable=207MB

Address = 0x754296c3 (filename not found) [in C:\Windows\system32\KERNELBASE.dll]
Address = 0x12d7bb1 (filename not found) [in C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\XCom-Enemy-Unknown\Binaries\Win32\XComGame.exe]
Address = 0x1068a83 (filename not found) [in C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\XCom-Enemy-Unknown\Binaries\Win32\XComGame.exe]

[0032.40] Critical: Windows GetLastError: The operation completed successfully. (0)
[0032.40] Log: === Critical error: ===
Rendering thread exception:
Direct3DDevice->CreateVolumeTexture( SizeX, SizeY, SizeZ, NumMips, GetD3DTextureUsageFlags(Flags), (D3DFORMAT)GPixelFormats[Format].PlatformFormat, GetD3DTexturePool(Flags), (IDirect3DVolumeTexture9 **)Texture3D->GetInitReference(), NULL ) failed
at C:\BuildAgent\work\7be1c3254e1c9da6\branches\UE3_XComPC\Development\Src\D3D9Drv\Src\D3D9Texture.cpp:179
with error D3DERR_INVALIDCALL,
SizeX=82, SizeY=42, SizeZ=21, Format=A8R8G8B8=D3DFMT_A8R8G8B8, NumMips=1, Flags=, TexMemoryAvailable=207MB

Address = 0x754296c3 (filename not found) [in C:\Windows\system32\KERNELBASE.dll]
Address = 0x12d7bb1 (filename not found) [in C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\XCom-Enemy-Unknown\Binaries\Win32\XComGame.exe]
Address = 0x1068a83 (filename not found) [in C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\XCom-Enemy-Unknown\Binaries\Win32\XComGame.exe]

[larry250]

This is the only thing I can find on the VMWare website.. maybe this means it won't work at all?

"VMware software provides very limited functionality for DirectDraw through the hardware emulation layer in DirectDraw. Many DirectDraw applications will run in a virtual machine only if the Colors setting in the Display Properties control panel is set to 256 colors. Some DirectDraw applications will not run at all.

Windows can emulate DirectX/DirectDraw support for a device that does not support it (such as VMware's virtual SVGA adapter). This is done in the hardware emulation layer within DirectDraw. This emulation may be slow or unreliable.

VMware does not currently support DirectDraw/Directx when used in a virtual machine."

Any thoughts?

[Beelzebud]

No virtual machine supports full featured graphics drivers. It's an emulator, so it's just using a generic driver to output your desktop. It's not using the same drivers a native install would. I assume you're running on a Linux install, and in that case you'll have much better luck with Wine.

[deezus]

You're probably not going to be able to get it to work in VMware. I've tried other games and have had the same kind of issue where it will crash when launched.

[Wulf]

"with error D3DERR_INVALIDCALL, "

Yup, VMware isn't supporting all the needed graphics calls.

[Beelzebud]

No virtual machine does. This is one of the biggest limits of VM tech. They're great for servers, but not for gaming at all.

[[E] Caladus]

Older games, yes. Newer ones you're burnt.

If you're running in Linux, try Wine.