To Laptop Users Crashing on Startup

[Mike]

Hey all, we've got a plan of action for this now and John has sent out emails to people helping us test.

Please read, and if any helpful people see posts enquiring about this issue (the game not booting up / crashing on startup) please point the posters to this thread.

Originally posted by John:

Hi,

Firstly thanks for all of your patience whilst we resolve this issue.

We now know how to fix the issue (thanks to everyone who has tried the beta branch on steam) however fixing it causes multiple other issues that we need to resolve.

We will be working through these issues from next week and expect to have the fix ready for testing properly in about 3 to 4 weeks. At this point we would kindly ask your help again for testing.

A more technical description of the issue is given below.

The issue appears to come from the version of Unreal Engine we are using for the game and how it works on Intel graphics hardware. Something changed (either a windows or driver update) over the Christmas period that stopped certain Intel chips working with our game on our version or Unreal Engine. The issue is fixed in more up to date versions of the engine, however updating the engine means things work slightly differently and so our game needs to be tweaked to work correctly with the new version.

Hopefully you can appreciate that this is not a small task and we are working as quickly as we can to get through these issues.

All the best,
John
Slug Disco Studios

[Byzantium]

thanks good to know this annoying issue will be fixed soon :)

[𝓑𝓾𝓻𝓷𝓼𝓮𝔂]

Phew.
I got worried there for a second.

[Nick_25615]

Is there any way to know how much longer it's going to be?

[Mike]

Originally posted by Nick_25615:

Is there any way to know how much longer it's going to be?

Not really, we'll hopefully be running an optional beta with the upgraded engine later this week and will need to work through the inevitable issues that arise.

[Repollo_1234]

what the next optional beta version will be about

[Mike]

Ok, John has updated a build called "crashtestants" to include the new engine upgrade properly. We intend to make this available more generally under the more general optional beta over the next few days, but we need to make a few tweaks to that.

In the meantime, anyone can now test this new build by doing the following:

1. Find Empires of the Undergrowth in your Steam library, right-click on it and choose "Properties"
   
2. Choose the "Betas" tab
   
3. In the box titled "Enter beta access code to unlock private betas", enter the code crashtestants
   
4. After the "Access code correct" information appears, make sure you've chosen "Open beta" from the "Select the beta you would like to opt into" drop-down menu
   
5. Press close - the game will now update to the beta branch.

The main new feature is an expanded selection menu for the extra levels (this is what needs tweaking before we put this patch on the main optional beta tomorrow). Otherwise there's the engine upgrade changes and some general fixes.

This build may have a DirectX issue for some people, crashing on startup. As long as your GPU isn't too old you can force the game to use DX12 as a way round it; add -DX12 to the game launch options.

[struicidic]

Finally, i can now play the game without turning off my wifi

[COD_TODRIPPY]

still crashing

[Mike]

Originally posted by daviehak:

still crashing

The crashtestants build? We know it's unstable, but is the game booting up at all?

If you get an UE4 crash dialogue on startup, try the DX12 tip I posted above.

[COD_TODRIPPY]

yeah it just crashes before it gets a chance to start them prompts me to send a crash report. not sure how to do the dx12 thing. I'll have a look.

thanks

[COD_TODRIPPY]

works with the DX12 tip. thanks!!

[Ziipher]

I have tested both "givemeextraextra" and "crashtestants".
Tried with -DX12 and without.
With wifi and without.

Loading screen pops up, then the main menu loads, I notice the ants moving for a second or two on the computer screen in the room, and then it freezes.

It gives me an error telling me my video drivers crashed and to make sure i have the latest versions.

Currently running Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 with driver version 461.92

Not sure what else i can do. It plays fine on my desktop but my laptop its unplayable

[Ziipher]

Originally posted by Ziipher:

I have tested both "givemeextraextra" and "crashtestants".
Tried with -DX12 and without.
With wifi and without.

Loading screen pops up, then the main menu loads, I notice the ants moving for a second or two on the computer screen in the room, and then it freezes.

It gives me an error telling me my video drivers crashed and to make sure i have the latest versions.

Currently running Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 with driver version 461.92

Not sure what else i can do. It plays fine on my desktop but my laptop its unplayable

Yesterdays update fixed the game for me. Played for an hour, with zero issues.

Thanks for that update. Awesome concept for a game and really look forward to future updates

[Mike]

Originally posted by Ziipher:

Originally posted by Ziipher:

I have tested both "givemeextraextra" and "crashtestants".
Tried with -DX12 and without.
With wifi and without.

Loading screen pops up, then the main menu loads, I notice the ants moving for a second or two on the computer screen in the room, and then it freezes.

It gives me an error telling me my video drivers crashed and to make sure i have the latest versions.

Currently running Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 with driver version 461.92

Not sure what else i can do. It plays fine on my desktop but my laptop its unplayable

Yesterdays update fixed the game for me. Played for an hour, with zero issues.

Thanks for that update. Awesome concept for a game and really look forward to future updates

Great to hear. Hopefully we can get it out of beta and on the main branch today (fingers crossed).

[Mike]

This issue should be resolved with the release of 0.23 - thank you everyone who reported it and has helped us get the fix out. I'm going to unpin and close this thread now.