Fatal Graphics Error on Startup. I have tried just about EVERYTHING.

[Darxy]

I've been running into this issue since I installed medieval 2 on my laptop about 2-3 weeks ago. I have been trying ever since to troubleshoot in every way I can. I've been in ongoing contact with SEGA support, I have tried literally every single suggestion that I could find on forums from Steam to TWCenter to Reddit, and I have had absolutely no luck.

Things I've tried: running Steam and Medieval 2 as admin, disabling antivirus, running Medieval 2 in compatibility mode from Windows XP up to 8.1, running in 640 x 480 resolution, copying a medieval2.preferences file from the web and editing graphics settings that way, updating my graphics drivers (I have Intel i7 and Nvidia GeForce MX330), uninstalling Med2 and deleting the Steam folder, then reinstalling. I've tried creating a test user account and running it there. I've tried downloading and running Microsoft DirectX End-User Runtimes patches, I've tried re-downloading or re-installing DX9. I've gone through to make sure that the medieval 2 folders were not all set to read-only.

There may be more that I've tried already that I've forgotten at this point, as I've been at this for weeks whenever I'm able to divert time from work.

Also, as a point of clarification, I am just trying to run straight vanilla Medieval 2. I have no mods installed whatsoever. I've been working with SEGA support and have sent them my dxdiag and msinfo reports, and still have just had no luck.

If anyone has found a solution to this, please help. I have not even been able to get the game to launch whatsoever and it is maddening. I used to play this game all the time and never ran into this issue before on other pcs, so Idk why I'm running into it here.

[Gigantus]

What's your processor's core speed?
Might want to try LAA: https://ntcore.com/?page_id=371
In compatibility mode have you tried disabling fullscreen optimization together with the 640*480 resolution?

[Darxy]

I've tried the 4GB patch before to no avail--it was one of the things I'd forgotten that I tried when I posted, tho I tried again just to be sure. No luck. Tried the 640*480 with disabling fullscreen optimization and no luck. My processor core speed is 1.80 GHz.

[Darxy]

Also should note that Medieval 2 is the only game I've had this issue with

[Gigantus]

1.8 Ghz is a bit on the low side, 1.5 is minimum. Being 32bit and pretty old the game only uses one processor core which means background processes could hog required processor capability.
The desktop shortcuts of mine make use the affinity command which prioritizes use of core 0 - check if that helps. Follow the simple installation instruction and then use the new desktop shortcuts to start the game:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1921844849

[Taiji]

Try putting this:

windowed = 1
borderless_window = 1

In your medieval2.preference.cfg file under [video]

If that fails you can try adding this to the same bit:

movies = 0

To check if the issue is somehow related to playing the intro video.

[Darxy]

Thanks for the feedback so far. SEGA basically told me that it's likely a hardware corruption or innate incompatibility and that I should get my PC checked (there was more to it but I'm generalizing). I don't think it's a corruption since this is the only game I've ever had the issue with and since this is a brand new PC.

@Gigantus I downloaded the shortcuts and attempted launching through them, but it still is giving me the fatal graphics error. Do you know if there's something specific about Medieval 2 that would give it this issue, but allow other TW games like Rome Total War, Rome II, Warhammer 2, and 3K to all work fine? I haven't downloaded the others due to limited space on my hard drive but I'm expecting that they'd work too.

@Taiji I tried both of those options on the medieval2.preferences file I copied in from the web (cuz the file doesn't naturally generate until the game launches at least once), but it didn't help. Thank you though

I've also noticed that there is no Roaming file for Medieval 2 in the Creative Asssembly appdata folder. I assume that this is because the game has yet to launch as well, but I'm not entirely certain.

[Gigantus]

The desktop shortcuts of mine actually provide partial CFG files in the respective kingdoms campaigns and in a folder called 'launcher' for the main campaign (see 'mods' directory). These CFG files override the one in the main game's folder so feel free to experiment with the settings.
Unlike the main CFG file (which resets manual entries) changes remain permanent in them.
Settings that you may wish to try but that are not present in there can simply be copied from the CFG file you downloaded.

Silly sounding suggestion established from long years of bug hunting - when was the last time you updated your sound drivers? For some weird reason these drivers can have an impact on video in this game.

Another question - is a log being generated? You will find it in the main directory.

[Gigantus]

And eventually I found what was in the back of my mind:

after a day and a half of no sleep i finally figured out it was my on-screen display for my framerate MSI Afterburner! as soon as i shut it off it loaded no problem

[HazardHawk]

Too many helping in different directions. However, I will butt in for just a moment

Assuming that is not a laptop and assuming if ti is you have made sure it is using the high performance graphics in the nvidia settings...

Step 1: Create a new folder and rename it DotNet in C drive (C:\DotNet)

Step 2: Download Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 Redistributable Package (dotnetfx.exe). Make sure the setup file is saved as dotnetfx.exe.

Step 3: Download Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 Service Pack 1 (NDP1.1sp1-KB867460-X86.exe). Make sure that the file is renamed and saved as dotnetfxsp1.exe.

Step 4: Move both installation files into the same directory C:\DotNet.

Step 5: Run Command Prompt as Administrator

Step 6: Type cd C:\DotNet and press enter.

Step 7: Type dotnetfx.exe /c:"msiexec.exe /a netfx.msi TARGETDIR=C:\DotNet" and press enter.

Step 8: The Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 Setup window will be shown. Click Yes to continue the installation.

Step 9: Wait for the installation process to complete and click OK

Step 10: Type dotnetfxsp1.exe /Xp:C:\DotNet\netfxsp.msp to the Command Prompt and press enter. No message will appear for this command.

Step 11: Type msiexec.exe /a c:\DotNet\netfx.msi /p c:\DotNet\netfxsp.msp and press enter.

Step 12: Wait for the setup to complete and close automatically.

Step 13: Download and install .net framework 3.5 (If it is already installed will give a choice to repair. Choose repair and finish with a reboot by shutting completely down, counting to 10, then powering back on.

To explain, Medieval 2 used .net framework 1.1. .net framework 3.5 is backwards compatible to 1.0 BUT it is missing a couple of dll files some older games need. I dont remember what they are because this is not used much since other older games usually drop those dll files into place when installed so most dont need them added specifically. I do NOT recommend looking up the names of those files and downloading them from a third party vendor as they will be a major vulnerability inside your system.

NOW, browse into your Medieval 2 folder, right click medieval2, select properties, click on compatibility, set to run XP SVC pack 2, drop down, tick the disable full screen optimizations, drop down and click the link for DPI, set the bottom choice to active with a tick mark and set it to application. click apply or ok as needed and close all this.

Some NOTES: Make sure Medieval 2 is installed to the same hard drive as is Steam. It is ok if Steam is installed to another hard drive as long as the program files folder says Program Files (x86).

There is no appdata folder for medieval 2 as it is a fully portable game when not linked with steam and everything it requires BUT the support software is included in the install folder.

IF AFTER THIS it still will not run, your copy of windows has a corrupted registry key somewhere. Unless you know the specific virus, trojan, malware, adware, spyware or registry key you may have added manually the ONLY fix at this point is a wipe, deep format hard drive, and reinstall windows.

[Darxy]

It is a laptop--does that change whether or not those steps will work? I haven't had a chance to try them yet, but figured I'd ask this before I tried.

[HazardHawk]

Originally posted by Darxys:

It is a laptop--does that change whether or not those steps will work? I haven't had a chance to try them yet, but figured I'd ask this before I tried.

Intel HD integrated graphics will throw errors in loading if it is set to be used.

Use these directions and see if it works. The above directions may not need to be used.

https://www.getdroidtips.com/force-app-game-use-nvidia-gpu-integrated-graphics/

[Darxy]

It still gives me the error when I set it to only use the Nvidia gpu. Does that mean I should attempt the 13 step process you recommended earlier?

[HazardHawk]

Originally posted by Darxys:

It still gives me the error when I set it to only use the Nvidia gpu. Does that mean I should attempt the 13 step process you recommended earlier?

Sadly, your only two choices remaining are attempt to reinforce the .net framework or completely wipe and reload your laptop.

I will likely be away except for quick pop ins another two days. Some options for you to consider. Not knowing how tech savvy you may be, there are several ways to reload a laptop in general.

Depending upon the laptop there is a partition from which to boot and load fresh.

Next is go to the microsoft windows upgrade site and use the process to upgrade your windows. For this, even if you have the same exact version it will do a new image overlay leaving all your programs and files intact basically performing a system upgrade. If you will go this route, first you really should download, install and run the free versions of malwarebytes and spybot search and destroy cleaning out the system of any bugs and potential hiding places of bugs. Next, disable your antivirus completely until you turn it back on again. Run the windows upgrade tool and allow it to upgrade. When it finishes, your very first task is to reenter your sign in information to reactivate windows 10 and then turn your antivirus back on.

The last option is you either have a dvd drive, the ability to boot from a thumb drive, or both. before you proceed with this path make sure you make copies to somewhere else of anything on your computer you want to keep as we will wipe completely and deep level format the hard drive. You can burn to dvds if you have a dvd burner, put on a thumb drive, upload to google drive, post to facebook with the privacy set to only you, and there are multiple options for this. Just remember everything you do not back up somewhere else will be erased and destroyed. This also means any programs you have installed will also be wiped away and you will need the base installer to replace again.

Go to your laptop manufacturer website and download all drivers and software now again burning to disk or putting on a thumb drive with your data as you may not have wireless or Ethernet connection abilities until the drivers are installed again.

Most of the software installed has an embedded key. If replacement is not available at the manufacturer website, you will need to google how to find the key for each application so you can again use it to install from the web later to replace the programs. Steam maintains all your games so that you can sign on anywhere, download what you want, and play from there so do not worry about Steam. All you need with Steam is your name and password. All of your passwords your browser will have stored, they will remain, but be useless for first sign in as you will have to revalidate the new install of windows so it is a good idea to pull those up and make a manual list if you do not remember them all automatically. Also make sure you have the installer and sign in information for your antivirus. If you need a free one, avast for home is free.

Once you have everything from your computer and the latest drivers downloaded and saved off of the computer for your laptop, now go to the windows upgrade site, start the process, but this time you need to create a media installation source. Easiest is to use an empty thumb drive (usb drive) and have windows upgrade format and make your empty thumb drive into an install medium or if you have a dvd recorder, put in a blank dvd and have the upgrade site create and burn you an install disk. Once completed all that remains is boot to the device you choose, run a new install which will wipe everything, choose to delete the partition and allow it to create a new one and follow the directions on the screen. If it asks for a windows key, if there is one on a sticker on your laptop you can enter it or you can simply skip that step as your windows is already registered to your sign in and password. When it completes, follow the steps to sign in and first thing is install your drivers and antivirus. Next is reinstalling your programs you use. Done.

the third way is the BEST way, but it is also a pain in the backside.

[Ultrabot]

I don't know why he's telling you to do all that.

Do you have windows 10? (you mention compatibility modes xp -8.1?)

You can perform a "fresh start" or a "reset", and keep all your old files.
If it *is* windows corruption, that will fix it.

https://www.howtogeek.com/132428/everything-you-need-to-know-about-refreshing-and-resetting-your-windows-8-pc/
(link says 8, but also includes 10)

If your computer came with Windows pre-installed, you may also see a third option, “Restore Factory Settings”.

I'm not entirely convinced it is windows, try the other suggestions first.

edit: well, hoping you haven't started yet, anyway/