cant open game - error 1241 - "cant open directx device"

[GrumpyBallFrog]

went through every relevant thread i could find and still getitng this error. installed the directsx 9.0c or whatever it was, updated drivers, reinstalled game, created settings.txt, ran game as admin, steam as admin, tried compatbility mode, did the -diag argument, etc. nothing has helped at all.

here's the aklog.txt:

DI interface opened
Start Window opened(c) Conitec - www.3dgamestudio.com
A8 Engine - Pro Edition V8.47.1 - Mar  9 2016
Linking C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Pogostuck\Pogostuck.exe...

Mouse found
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 pure T&L device 1ff9 detected
D3D device NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 1ff9 selected.
pogoMain.dll opened
pogoSound.dll opened
pogoXinput.dll opened
data.wrs opened
loca.wrs opened
tex.wrs opened
EVDF: function not found
OriginalHandler: function not found
ackSuperIsConnectedToFriendLobby: function not found
ackSuperkuDownloadHighscores: function not found
ackSuperkuDrawLeaderboardToEntity: function not found
ackSuperkuFillTextWithHighscores: function not found
ackSuperkuFillTextWithHighscores_SubModule: function not found
button_display_want2: function not found
button_display_want3: function not found
button_display_want4: function not found
cube_rotate: function not found
cutscene_bar_display_dialog: function not found
dialog_draw_gmap_button_helper_steam: function not found
draw_slider: function not found
entDynamicFnc_dummy: function not found
hpf_on_ent_remove_old: function not found
hpf_on_level_load_old: function not found
inputUpdate: function not found
kuLevelProgressGet: function not found
kuLoadFileToMemory: function not found
kuSoundCreateDSB8FromFile: function not found
kuiFncPrototype: function not found
kuntainerNotifyPrototype: function not found
language_init: function not found
lypsincEditorDo: function not found
menuAddInvite: function not found
menuJoinGameFromSteamUI: function not found
menu_item_function_pointer: function not found
networkUpdate: function not found
playExtraLevel: function not found
pogoEditorLoad: function not found
spDraw: function not found
storeAndUploadSaveGame: function not found...................................................................................................
Running POGOSTUCK.EXE
Main started at 1.564
lobbyWantedPos(0)
materialArrayInit_startup started
skHatFiles_startup started
pogostickFileInit_startup started
boostFileInit_startup started
clothFileInit_startup started
cached_startup started
particles2_startup started
dummy_startup started
planetAreaPos_startup started
D3D_Init Window: 1024x600 -> 1024x598 failed
D3D_Init Window: 1024x768 -> 1024x766 failed
D3D_Init Window: 720x480 -> 720x478 failed
D3D_Init Window: 640x352 -> 640x350 failed
D3D_Init Window: 1280x720 -> 1280x718 failed
Error E1241: Can't open DirectX device
Program aborted
Main loop at 4.150
inputInit() at frame 1: ackSuperkuSteamControllerInit: -1024
enc_init() at frame 1
 menuProfileActiveGet at frame 1, localUser(76561198004269125)
str_getFilepath(\settings.txt) at frame 1: result(C:\Users\derp\AppData\Roaming\Pogostuck\settings.txt)
 >> ackSuperkuDLLUpdateReceive at frame 1: ackSuperkuLoadFile(): !ifs: error(No such file or directory) good(0) eof(0) fail(1) bad(0)  SETTINGS(0): bufferMaxSize(-4) - settings.txt does not exist! -> menuProfileActive(0) (-4)
settingsDefault() executed.
load settings(0).txt at frame 1
str_getFilepath(\settings.txt) at frame 1: result(C:\Users\derp\AppData\Roaming\Pogostuck\settings.txt)
 >> ackSuperkuDLLUpdateReceive at frame 1: ackSuperkuLoadFile(): !ifs: error(No such file or directory) good(0) eof(0) fail(1) bad(0)  bufferMaxSize(-4)
steamLanguageToID at frame 1: cSteamLanguage(english) => ID(0) - settings.txt does not exist!
0 settings loaded from ini file, 0 skipped/ not found
kuWRSOpen(loca.wrs): byteOffsetBehindDataChunk(53554) registrySizeCompressed(203) registrySizeUncompressed(480) numFiles(12)
readResult(1) ferror(0) feof(0) decodedSize(480)
kuWRSOpen(loca.wrs): END
kuWRSOpen(data.wrs): byteOffsetBehindDataChunk(69406254) registrySizeCompressed(11308) registrySizeUncompressed(30960) numFiles(774)
readResult(1) ferror(0) feof(0) decodedSize(30960)
kuWRSOpen(data.wrs): END
kuWRSOpen(tex.wrs): byteOffsetBehindDataChunk(34464345) registrySizeCompressed(3754) registrySizeUncompressed(11400) numFiles(285)
readResult(1) ferror(0) feof(0) decodedSize(11400)
kuWRSOpen(tex.wrs): END
language_init(1) START
language_init(-1024): loading text from file: english.txt ...
txt_loadwFromFile(english.txt) at frame 1, kuWRSFileLoad size(13638) DONE - 257 strings loaded!Now sorting data...DONE
menu_pages_destroy() at frame 1...COMPLETE
menu_pages_init START
menu_pages_init FIRST LOOP OK
 equipStringsLanguageSetup
menu_pages_init options page now
menu_pages_init in game options page now
menu_pages_init main menu now
menu_pages_init video options page now
menu_pages_init audio options page now
menu_pages_init control options page now
menu_pages_init misc options page now
menu_pages_init friends page now
menu_pages_init wardrobe options page now
menu_pages_init leaderboards page now
menu_pages_init replay page now
menu_pages_init ugc page A now
menu_pages_init additional content page now
menu_pages_init extra levels page now
menu_pages_init: finished....
Close level,DLL,objects
Free input,funcs,panels,defs,syns,views,strings,vars..ok
Free sounds,bmaps,fonts,hash,defs1,script..ok
Close dx,multimedia,D3D,engine,nexus..ok
A8 Engine - Pro Edition V8.47.1 - Mar  9 2016
(c) Conitec - www.3dgamestudio.com
Close window at 4.179

[GrumpyBallFrog]

oh and here's what happens when i launch it

http://prntscr.com/oobbzz

[Superku]

Thank you for extensive debugging!
I've created a test build on the beta branch for you, please select it in the Pogostuck properties: https://i.gyazo.com/dd516e1745c5def7d646e1feb1085452.png
Change the launch options to

-diag -full

Currently the game starts in 1024x600 window(ed) mode always as I found that to be the most stable with this engine. Only a few frames after the DirectX9 device has been opened I load your settings file and then change the video window to whatever settings you have picked (generally speaking).
That initial engine native device initialization fails in your case:

D3D_Init Window: 1024x600 -> 1024x598 failed
D3D_Init Window: 1024x768 -> 1024x766 failed
[...]
Error E1241: Can't open DirectX device

With the beta version and -full set as a launch parameter the game starts in true/ pure fullscreen mode, skipping the initial window mode. Maybe that helps in your case, I certainly hope so.
The acklog should list the following then:

[...]
Running POGOSTUCK.EXE
Main started at 1.514 (-diag -> set consolePrintTrue to 1)
command line: -diag -full -nx 100 -ns (-full -> start fullscreen (1920 x 1080)
lobbyWantedPos(0)
D3D_Init Screen: 1920x1080 -> Screen: 1x1920x1080x32
Video memory found: 4056 MB

(In case it works: Exiting the game takes a few seconds when running in fullscreen mode, it's not a bad sign.)

Please let me know if that windowed launch was the problem.

[GrumpyBallFrog]

this did allow me to play the game, but if i changed any video settings or tabbed out of the game at all i would get several errors and it crashes. but at least it plays so ill take it!

[Superku]

Too bad. :(
So you cannot let's say switch to borderless without changing the resolution?
Alt+tabbing in fullscreen mode has always been risky with this engine (which is why I recommend borderless in-game) and can lead to crashes for some people but that should be about it. I'm running Win10 with a 1080 as well and it's working fine for me. No idea what could be the issue on your end.
Sadly the video switch function(s) are encapsulated in the closed source engine and there's not a lot I can do.

Hope you're having some fun still, and sorry for the inconveniences!