Rome: Total War will not launch.

[furious]

I'm making this because solutions I've seen people post simply don't work. I possess a hard copy of R:TW, which I know isn't Steam, but the Total War forums don't have a history of actually providing working solutions, at least in my experience, so here I am.

I possess two hard copies of R:TW, the standalone, and a disc that came with a physical Total War bundle. I have tried installing both (not at the same time), and though they install without any issue at all, the game refuses to load. I click play on the pop-up menu after installation, I run the .exe file, and I run the shortcut. I have to run it as an administrator, if I don't it just tell me to do so, but when I do, nothing happens. Nothing appears in my task manager. I have reinstalled three times. I saw a solution where The Creative Assembly folder that Rome created to install in needs to go in Program Files, instead of Program Files (x86) for some technical reasons. Tried it, didn't work.

I ran R:TW in every compatibility setting available, and with none. Nothing. I ran the compatibility shooter to find the recommended settings, and ran the 'test' of it. Still nothing. It's not giving me error messages or anything of that sort. It's simply refusing to launch point blank.

I've read thread posts by people saying R:TW doesn't work on Windows 8, but at the same time I've seen posts that say it does. Given that I've yet to find a thread that posts a working solution, or a thread that can even agree on what version of Windows R:TW works on, I come to you for assistance.

Any and all help or advice would be appreciated. I don't know too much about PC specs or anything like that, but if you think they're necessary and tell me how to find them, I can post them if they are useful.

[hoonii]

Maybe the problem is DirectX but MAYBE. I can't guarantee it. You can try putting d3d8.dll file to the game files if there is nothing to do. But use at your own risk it can collapse game files and you might need to reinstall the game. But this have a little chance happening. Or try this: If installed via Steam go Rome Total War properties>Set launch options then write -nv -nm. If installed via disc basicly find the shortcut and do the same. This disables the graphic test just before the launch. The error may happening because of this. It wont hurt the files or pc so use safely^^. Maybe the Rome Total War professionals helps you m8. Cheers.

[Armchair Civilian]

found this in the comments section for the guide on getting RTW to work on win 10:

TFD] al Qamar [author] 20 Jan @ 8:22pm
Shadw, unfortunately the CD copy of RTW will fail to work on Windows 8.1 and 10 due to a removed copy protection that has security issues and the original developer does not supply further updates. So Microsoft ceased as trustworthy device driver.

However you can enter you RTW or Medival 2 legacy key in Steam to get a free Steam copy of the products (as Gold editions). Please let me know if this helped you or if you need further assistance

[furious]

Thanks for the responses guys. It turned out all I needed to do was use the key to get the free Steam copy. Given that I've done that before I feel like quite the idiot for not knowing right away.

Problem is fixed and I can now play R:TW with no difficulty. Thanks again!

[hoonii]

Originally posted by ⚡️⚡ ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ ⚡⚡:

Thanks for the responses guys. It turned out all I needed to do was use the key to get the free Steam copy. Given that I've done that before I feel like quite the idiot for not knowing right away.

Problem is fixed and I can now play R:TW with no difficulty. Thanks again!

Wish you good games ^^.

[BlueLight]

Originally posted by The Winking Skeever:

However you can enter you RTW or Medival 2 legacy key in Steam to get a free Steam copy of the products (as Gold editions).

Hi ^^
How do we do that please ? I don't get it

[furious]

Originally posted by BlueLight:

Originally posted by The Winking Skeever:

However you can enter you RTW or Medival 2 legacy key in Steam to get a free Steam copy of the products (as Gold editions).

Hi ^^
How do we do that please ? I don't get it

On your steam client, go to the bottom left where it says "+ ADD A GAME..."

Click on that, and then on the option that says "Activate a product on Steam"

Click next, then "I Agree", and then look in your disc case. Either in the case itself or any instruction manual you have, depending on the game, should be a series of numbers and digits, likely separated by '-' at some point. Type that sequence in to the field exactly as it appears and click next. The product should activate and you can then install from Steam.

[klaxir1]

Originally posted by The Winking Skeever:

found this in the comments section for the guide on getting RTW to work on win 10:

TFD] al Qamar [author] 20 Jan @ 8:22pm
Shadw, unfortunately the CD copy of RTW will fail to work on Windows 8.1 and 10 due to a removed copy protection that has security issues and the original developer does not supply further updates. So Microsoft ceased as trustworthy device driver.

However you can enter you RTW or Medival 2 legacy key in Steam to get a free Steam copy of the products (as Gold editions). Please let me know if this helped you or if you need further assistance

Thanks, that helped even one year later :D