16-bit High Color or 32-bit Full Color Requirement

[Bera Hugs]

Hello !
The game does not work. Every time I start playing, a little box opens with the following requirement :
- This program requires 16-bit High Color or 32-bit Full Color mode. Please change this in your display properties and run again.

Ok, I did that, I changed the compatibility mode to Windows 8 and chose the 16 bit mode but it still does not work.
I tried to reinstall the game, as well as to download the options.ini

Please help, I have no idea what to do to make it work.
I am on Windows 10.

[Brian Monday]

Originally posted by Bera Hugs:

Hello !
The game does not work. Every time I start playing, a little box opens with the following requirement :
- This program requires 16-bit High Color or 32-bit Full Color mode. Please change this in your display properties and run again.

Ok, I did that, I changed the compatibility mode to Windows 8 and chose the 16 bit mode but it still does not work.
I tried to reinstall the game, as well as to download the options.ini

Please help, I have no idea what to do to make it work.
I am on Windows 10.

Hello Bera Hugs,

I'm sorry that you're having trouble getting the Fran Bow game to run on your Windows 10 computer.

I believe that the error message you are receiving is this one: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1xikjRRUNeaCSLNSvnPYvE6RXBlxWnP6v.

I received the error message above only by switching the properties of the "Fran Bow.exe" file to play the game in "8-bit (256) color mode using the "Compatibility Tab" on that .exe file. I did not receive that message when I switched to "16-bit (65536) color" mode using that tab or using the default settings for the "Fran Bow.exe" file, So, on my Windows 10 computer, I can run the game using either 32-bit or 16-bit color mode. So, it's not yet clear why you are having this trouble when running with default settings or in 16-bit color mode.

You did say that you switched the compatibility mode to Windows 8 and chose the 16 bit mode, but you didn't say on which file you made that change. Did you change the mode of the "Fran Bow.exe" file or the "Steam.exe" file? If you changed the "Steam.exe" file, please change those Properties back to the default and then look at the Properties of the "Fran Bow.exe" file instead.

In general, you should not have to switch to "Windows 8 Compatibility Mode" to play the Fran Bow game on a Windows 10 computer. However, some gamers have had success resolving a problem when starting the Fran Bow game where they receive a solid black screen when the game starts by selecting either "Windows 7" or "Windows 8" compatibility on the "Fran Bow.exe" Properties/Compatibility tab. Since you are not getting this completely black screen when starting the game, I'm not sure that changing to "Windows 7" or "Windows 8" compatibility will solve your issue.

My first suggestions to you are:

1. Make sure that both the "Steam.exe" compatibility tab and the "Fran Bow.exe" compatibility tabs are using their default settings. Here's a screen shot of what the "Fran Bow.exe" compatibility tab should look like: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1QMHsVsc0Da01sVAlrMaAcFy3eqnIONiQ. The "Steam.exe" Properties/Compatibility tab settings should also be the same.
   
   Then try to play the game again. I would expect you to receive the same error message you have previously been receiving.
   
   
2. If you haven't already done this, try switching to "16-bit (65536) color" mode on the "Fran Bow.exe" file. Here's a screenshot of the options available on my "Fran Bow.exe" Properties/Compatibility screen: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1TRNUOG957bhLta7RLAeuCb6BJtG2cFG8. Please check the box under "Reduced color mode" and then select the "16-bit (65536) color" mode under that check box.
   
   Then try to play the game again. On my Windows 10 computer, I WAS able to play the game using the "16-bit (65536) color" mode, so this might help if you have an older video card with only a small amount of video memory.
   
   
3. If you still receive the error message, go back to the "Fran Bow.exe" Properties/Compatibility tab then uncheck the box under "Reduced color mode" to return that setting back to its default. Then click on the button that says "Run compatibility troubleshooter" on that tab. When that finishes, try to run the Fran Bow game again.
   
   
4. edit--I see that you've said you've already done this. If that doesn't help, you can try replacing one file in your Fran Bow game folder with the file here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-V4ozvekwP4ejZ2NlFOaW9sZDg. This file is called "options.ini" and it is usually used to solve the "black screen" issue mentioned earlier in this reply. The default location for your Fran Bow game files is here:
   
   c:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\Common\Fran Bow\
   
   Once you've downloaded and copied this "options.ini" file to your Fran Bow game folder and overwritten the file already there with the same name, please try to play the Fran Bow game again.
   
   
5. edit--I see you've said you've already done this as well. If the game still does not run, please Uninstall and then Install the Fran Bow game again. This will ensure that all game files are present and not corrupted. You can uninstall the game by right clicking on the Fran Bow entry on your Steam Client Software Library Screen and selecting "Uninstall" from the menu that appears. Then click on the "Install" button on the Library screen of the Steam Client software to reinstall the game on your computer.
   
   Then try to play the game again.
   
   
6. If the game does not run at this point, then please reply in this forum thread to let me know. Please let me know in your reply post if you originally updated the Properties/Compatibility tab on the "Steam.exe" file or the "Fran Bow.exe" file. It would also be helpful to have a report from the Direct X Diagnostic Tool. This will give me information about your computer's specs including the video card you are using and the last time your video card's drivers were updated, and possibly will provide other information that will be helpful to further diagnose the issue you are experiencing. If you've never used this tool, here is an instructional guide for obtaining this report: http://steamcommunity.com/app/233250/discussions/2/648814845450819657/. After you've clicked the button to "Save All Information" when using that tool, please upload that file to a cloud service and provide the link to that file in your reply message in this thread.

I'm sorry that you're having trouble running the Fran Bow game, Bera Hugs. I hope something in this post helps you to play the game. If not, please reply to this post with the information requested, and I'll try to troubleshoot further with you.