Crashes on startup

[uni790]

Any chance for fixes? I assume not as the game is ancient and the devs are probably long gone.

If not, any way I can fix it? Sitting on a windows 10 machine.

I'd hate to have to refund a christmas gift, but if it doesn't work, then it's just a scam.

[AgeOfGames]

Originally posted by uni790:

Any chance for fixes? I assume not as the game is ancient and the devs are probably long gone.

If not, any way I can fix it? Sitting on a windows 10 machine.

I'd hate to have to refund a christmas gift, but if it doesn't work, then it's just a scam.

Hi

We're very sorry for the problems you're experiencing with our dear, old Etrom.

Some players have found interesting solutions to be able to play Etrom and have shared them here on steam.

We particularly recommend this post:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/2463420/discussions/0/4029096129884777335/

and also this:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/2463420/discussions/0/3949154699983945063/

Unfortunately, as we also wrote in the short description of the product, we cannot in any way reopen, modify or resolve any bugs in this game created with a very old proprietary engine over 20 years ago.

We understand very well that it is very annoying when a game crashes and does not work and this is why we ourselves encourage you not to play for more than two hours and ask for a refund in case of problems or frequent crashes with Etrom on your system.

We are sorry that you may consider this publication a "scam": this is our hard-earned work from over twenty years ago. We are the same small independent company that changed our name to AgeOfGames and we have been very clear about the problems with this re-release.

This is what we wrote with extreme sincerity and clarity on the product page (https://store.steampowered.com/app/2463420/Etrom_20th_Anniversary_Edition/):

Developer's Technical Note

We regret to share that bugs and system crashes, both during game launch and during gameplay, can happen frequently on some hardware and software configurations.

In our last internal playtests in 2023, 20 years after the game's launch, we have found at least one incidence of major bugs and/or crashes on approximately 30% of PCs running windows 10 and 11 operating systems.

Etrom was first developed by a group of young dreamers from southern Italy who, mad as they were, decided to begin by creating a proprietary engine, which they then used to develop the game. The game, made by AgeofGames (known at the time as PMStudios Italia) should therefore be considered an Artifact, a piece of the Independent Videogame Archeology from the beginning of the millennium. The proprietary engine, developed by a single programmer, was imperfect back then, and likewise right now, as hardware configurations have swiftly evolved.

Players should also note that the game cannot be saved until the first level is completed. The first level takes between 15 to 45 minutes to complete, depending on skill and the amount of each player's interaction with the enemies in the map.

Some antivirus systems may also block the game altogether. Not being able to update the code in the engine in any way, we will not be able to solve the problems that will be reported to us.

We remind you that you can easily request a refund here on steam. If you are one of the 30% of folks who will not be able to run the game, please request a refund within 2 hours of gameplay, as unfortunately the game may continue to crash.

One thing we did manage to fix was the English dialogue (only dialogue not Etrom's journal unfortunately), which has been overhauled by the award winning science fiction writers of the CyberScrivens collective.

We have decided to republish Etrom at a symbolic price despite all these problems because we believe that the setting and the overall narrative structures of the project are still very valid and fascinating today and we hope, also thanks to the addition of a free extract of the novel, that new and old players can immerse themselves for a few hours in this parallel universe that we want to be able to expand in the future with modern technology and development programs.