2.0 doesn't start. Old version still works

[guggelfunsus]

When i start the new version, a tab appears in the task-bar for a few seconds and then vanishes again.
Same in Steam->library: I click on the green "Play" button, choose "Play Mecha Ritz: Steel Rondo" and the button changes to "Stop" as if the game was running.
But after a few seconds it changes back to the green "Play"

The old version and its key config tool still work.

There is a (null)game.log in the game files. It says:
[FATAL] SDL_main : Failed to init SDL: Couldn't create the sensor manager: Dieses Programm wurde durch eine Gruppenrichtlinie geblockt. Wenden Sie sich an den Systema

The German part says:
"This program was blocked by a group policy. Consult your system admin"

I've tried running MECHA_SR.exe as admin. No change

I've rebooted, redownloaded and verified the integrity of the game files.
I'm on Win 10

[Zelnogrard]

The same error happens for me on the current version, "Failed to init SDL: Couldn't create the sensor manager: This program is blocked by group policy". Also on Win 10.

But, after poking around for a bit, I was able to somewhat fix it by replacing the SDL2.dll file in the game folder with the latest version. The game seems to be shipped with 2.0.14.0, and I replaced it with 2.24.2.0 - which is readily available to download from the 'libsdl' project's official github or website.

(And yes, before anyone points this out - downloading an executable file, or in this case, a library, and running it, is a big security risk, and I entirely encourage everyone to wait for the official fix to drop instead, or at least to double-check the sources of the .dll they use.)

With this, the game seems to start and run OK, though I didn't really test it much yet. But I already noticed that it throws a 'MECHA_SR.exe has stopped working' error on every exit. Maybe some other version would perform better, will write an update if I get around to experimenting with this.

As an aside, I really hope we'll see an official patch for this. MRSR is a fun shmup and holds a solid position among my favorites - but its technical state has grown a bit bumpy over the years. Not to hold this against the developer, of course, I'm sure they are doing their best with the small team/resource they have!

[Incognito]

Meantime, you can get around this by turning sensors off in the registry.
https://superuser.com/questions/1412957/why-does-group-policy-block-to-create-isensormanger-instance
Standard warning: Doing this is turning part of the Windows API off, it may cause things to stop working.

[☎ rotary phones forever]

Same issue here. Tried the SDL 2.24.2 DLL and it sort of worked, but the game would crash after the Hanaji splash screen more than half the times. I'm using 2.0.18 instead and wasn't getting any crashes, though might just be luck of the draw on the numbers with some invalid pointers or something with those "random" crashes.

Anyway hoping a dev sees this and gets this stuff fixed.

[DonutGrind]

Didn't realize SDL was that out of date. Will link against the latest in the next update. (I think just updating the DLL may cause crashes since the exe is still linked with the 2.0.18 lib)

[guggelfunsus]

Originally posted by DonutGrind:

Didn't realize SDL was that out of date. Will link against the latest in the next update. (I think just updating the DLL may cause crashes since the exe is still linked with the 2.0.18 lib)

The patch fixed it. Thank you :D

[LinSquid]

Originally posted by guggelfunsus:

Originally posted by DonutGrind:

Didn't realize SDL was that out of date. Will link against the latest in the next update. (I think just updating the DLL may cause crashes since the exe is still linked with the 2.0.18 lib)

The patch fixed it. Thank you :D

And the new Windows update screw the game again. It closes after a few seconds.

[MrSpock]

Originally posted by LinSquid:

Originally posted by guggelfunsus:

The patch fixed it. Thank you :D

And the new Windows update screw the game again. It closes after a few seconds.

Same here....crash again

[Mari/Rin]

I updated to 2.0.1 and the game won't start. Perhaps it is related to the Windows update that MrSpock and LinQuid mentioned? There isn't even a log file I can send so that the problem can be assessed.

[L.Brown]

So it still not works anymore since mid november for some?

[L.Brown]

Originally posted by L.Brown:

So it still not works anymore since mid november for some?

?

[guggelfunsus]

i've just tried normal version and v1.53. both worked for me

[L.Brown]

Originally posted by guggelfunsus:

i've just tried normal version and v1.53. both worked for me

Ok, thanks!

[HAUSER]

Originally posted by DonutGrind:

Didn't realize SDL was that out of date. Will link against the latest in the next update. (I think just updating the DLL may cause crashes since the exe is still linked with the 2.0.18 lib)

run the game via the .exe as administrator and it will work, the issue is still not solved

[Wulk]

Yup. I just bought the game, and it still does not run.

[dewshick]

on win11 game does not start, and running as administrator does not help.
updating the sdl2.dll to the latest version helped, though