Suddenly can't launch game

[completecanine]

I have been playing Planet Zoo for months now without any issue. Within the last couple of days it is suddenly saying:

No Suitable 3D graphics adapter is available
Please check that you have a DirectX11 compatible graphics card with suitable drivers installed.

Here's what I've done to try and fix the issue:
- Updated computer and drivers
- Uninstalled the one app that I added between when the game worked and when it didn't.
-Updated Steam and Planet Zoo
- checked DirectX for updates.

I don't think it matters, but I did play the game once in sandbox mode offline, and that was the last time the game worked.

Laptop Specs:
Lenovo Gaming Laptop
DirectX 12
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-9300HF CPU @ 2.40GHz (8 CPUs) ~ 2.4GHz
GPU/Feature Level: 12_1
Driver Model: WDDM 2.7

I hope I'm just missing something easy, to fix this problem.

Many thanks to anyone who might be able to help :)

[Kajsa_Kavat]

Other games still work fine?
Could you add this?
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2008660257

[grampers62]

This is occurring at game start rather than loading a zoo, correct?
Have you went to steam library and verified game files?
Do you use non DLC mods?
First question is like above could you post the system info? There is a lot to learned from that.
Second question is how old is the laptop? Third is does the laptop get hot frequently? Fourth is do other games still run as expected?
The last three questions are aimed at determining the chance that the graphics card has failed.

[completecanine]

1. Yes it is when I'm trying to launch the game itself.
2. How do I verify the game files? That's something I don't think I've done yet.
3. No, I do not use Mods.
4. Laptop is less than a year old
5. The laptop has always gotten warm, but never overly hot.
6. Planet Zoo is by far the most challenging game as far as system requirements, but yes, all other games, even off of Steam are working just fine.

System Info:
Computer Information:
Manufacturer: LENOVO
Model: 81LK
Form Factor: Laptop
No Touch Input Detected

Processor Information:
CPU Vendor: GenuineIntel
CPU Brand: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-9300HF CPU @ 2.40GHz
CPU Family: 0x6
CPU Model: 0x9e
CPU Stepping: 0xd
CPU Type: 0x0
Speed: 2400 Mhz
8 logical processors
4 physical processors
HyperThreading: Supported
FCMOV: Supported
SSE2: Supported
SSE3: Supported
SSSE3: Supported
SSE4a: Unsupported
SSE41: Supported
SSE42: Supported
AES: Supported
AVX: Supported
AVX2: Supported
AVX512F: Unsupported
AVX512PF: Unsupported
AVX512ER: Unsupported
AVX512CD: Unsupported
AVX512VNNI: Unsupported
SHA: Unsupported
CMPXCHG16B: Supported
LAHF/SAHF: Supported
PrefetchW: Unsupported

Operating System Version:
Windows 10 (64 bit)
NTFS: Supported
Crypto Provider Codes: Supported 311 0x0 0x0 0x0

Video Card:
Driver: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650
DirectX Driver Name: nvldumd.dll
Driver Version: 27.21.14.5749
DirectX Driver Version: 27.21.14.5749
Driver Date: 11 20 2020
OpenGL Version: 4.6
Desktop Color Depth: 32 bits per pixel
Monitor Refresh Rate: 60 Hz
DirectX Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650
VendorID: 0x10de
DeviceID: 0x1f91
Revision: 0xa1
Number of Monitors: 1
Number of Logical Video Cards: 1
No SLI or Crossfire Detected
Primary Display Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Desktop Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Primary Display Size: 13.54" x 7.60" (15.51" diag)
34.4cm x 19.3cm (39.4cm diag)
Primary Bus: PCI Express 16x
Primary VRAM: 4095 MB
Supported MSAA Modes: 2x 4x 8x

Sound card:
Audio device: Speakers (Realtek(R) Audio)

Memory:
RAM: 8112 Mb

VR Hardware:
VR Headset: None detected

Miscellaneous:
UI Language: English
Media Type: Undetermined
Total Hard Disk Space Available: 242920 Mb
Largest Free Hard Disk Block: 156084 Mb
OS Install Date: Dec 31 1969
Game Controller: None detected
MAC Address hash: f646d1a5568fa01b5a777c4414ea49a346a5827a

Storage:
Disk serial number hash: 8549105c
Number of SSDs: 1
SSD sizes: 256G
Number of HDDs: 0
HDD sizes: %s1

[Lori37]

Start by updating your graphics card driver... this driver is way too old....

[completecanine]

Okay, I can do that. Sorry, this is all so new to me, how do I go about updating it?

Also does it really happen that fast? Literally 9 days ago the game ran just fine, and then 8 days ago it stopped working?

[grampers62]

In steam library right click on planet zoo and select properties then local files then verify file integrity.
For the graphics driver one can just google the graphics card and nvidia driver updates should be at the top. OR You might have an icon in the right side of your taskbar that says game driver available (or something like that) when you hover over it. if you do just click and it's mostly automatic.
As Planet zoo is constantly getting micro updates the requirements slightly change often to reflect what the current graphics rivers can do.

[Oz Gaming]

As stated, your video card driver is way out of date. Download the newest driver from the link below after filling in the required boxes from the drop down menus.


https://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx#

[completecanine]

Okay, thank you all so much!

[completecanine]

Okay, so I've verified the Planet Zoo files and I've used Nvidia to update my drivers,

I'm still having the same issue?

Computer Information:
Manufacturer: LENOVO
Model: 81LK
Form Factor: Laptop
No Touch Input Detected

Processor Information:
CPU Vendor: GenuineIntel
CPU Brand: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-9300HF CPU @ 2.40GHz
CPU Family: 0x6
CPU Model: 0x9e
CPU Stepping: 0xd
CPU Type: 0x0
Speed: 2400 Mhz
8 logical processors
4 physical processors
HyperThreading: Supported
FCMOV: Supported
SSE2: Supported
SSE3: Supported
SSSE3: Supported
SSE4a: Unsupported
SSE41: Supported
SSE42: Supported
AES: Supported
AVX: Supported
AVX2: Supported
AVX512F: Unsupported
AVX512PF: Unsupported
AVX512ER: Unsupported
AVX512CD: Unsupported
AVX512VNNI: Unsupported
SHA: Unsupported
CMPXCHG16B: Supported
LAHF/SAHF: Supported
PrefetchW: Unsupported

Operating System Version:
Windows 10 (64 bit)
NTFS: Supported
Crypto Provider Codes: Supported 311 0x0 0x0 0x0

Video Card:
Driver: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650
DirectX Driver Name: nvldumd.dll
Driver Version: 30.0.14.7196
DirectX Driver Version: 30.0.14.7196
Driver Date: 8 27 2021
OpenGL Version: 4.6
Desktop Color Depth: 32 bits per pixel
Monitor Refresh Rate: 60 Hz
DirectX Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650
VendorID: 0x10de
DeviceID: 0x1f91
Revision: 0xa1
Number of Monitors: 1
Number of Logical Video Cards: 1
No SLI or Crossfire Detected
Primary Display Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Desktop Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Primary Display Size: 13.54" x 7.60" (15.51" diag)
34.4cm x 19.3cm (39.4cm diag)
Primary Bus: PCI Express 16x
Primary VRAM: 4095 MB
Supported MSAA Modes: 2x 4x 8x

Sound card:
Audio device: Speakers (Realtek(R) Audio)

Memory:
RAM: 8112 Mb

VR Hardware:
VR Headset: None detected

Miscellaneous:
UI Language: English
Media Type: Undetermined
Total Hard Disk Space Available: 242920 Mb
Largest Free Hard Disk Block: 151789 Mb
OS Install Date: Dec 31 1969
Game Controller: None detected
MAC Address hash: f646d1a5568fa01b5a777c4414ea49a346a5827a

Storage:
Disk serial number hash: 8549105c
Number of SSDs: 1
SSD sizes: 256G
Number of HDDs: 0
HDD sizes: %s1

[grampers62]

And you are not using any non DLC mods on the game?
My next thought is that you might have reached a point where you have too many saved games and/or workshop items... The game loads all these things at start up which would mean that your graphics and/or ram and/or processor cache might be full and causing the issue.
Need to think on that one.

[completecanine]

Correct, no mods at all.

Oh that's a thought on the workshop items. I'll go into the workshop and try to get rid of some and see if that helps.

Edit: Well, I unsubscribed to over half of my workshop items, and that didn't make a difference. :/

[grampers62]

And you have the latest windows updates?

How long have you allowed it to attempt to load?

What, if any, DLC do you have?
You might try uninstalling them temporarily to see if that helps.

You might research where game saves are stored and move those temporarily.

This next bit might seem a bit too much...
My train of thought is that while your system is slightly better than minimum spec for the game it is still quite below recommended. The issue being that your processor is quite slow compared and has a smaller internal cache. Meaning that this is likely where the issue is. Knowing that you were able to play but suddenly stopped points to having something in the game loading that ties up the processor. Which is why I suggest taking things out, at least temporarily.

MINIMUM:
Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
OS: Windows 7 (SP1+)/8.1/10 64bit
Processor: Intel i5-2500 / AMD FX-6350
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 (2GB) / AMD Radeon R9 270X (2GB)
Storage: 16 GB available space
Additional Notes: Minimum specifications may change during development

Note that last line... As we add DLC the minimum requirements do indeed go up.

RECOMMENDED:
Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
OS: Windows 10 64bit
Processor: Intel i7-4770k / AMD Ryzen 5 1600
Memory: 16 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 (8GB) or AMD Radeon RX 580 (8GB)
Storage: 16 GB available space

[grampers62]

One option,if you are comfortable with using file explorer, would be to uninstall the game then move anything left over from the game's file tree to a temporary folder. When done then do a clean install.

[completecanine]

Yes, windows says I have no updates needed right now.

Almost immediately after trying to launch the game, the little window pops up telling me about the 3D graphics driver.

I have all the DLCs and have since the last one came out a month or whenever ago, and haven't had an issue.

Okay, I will attempt to uninstall the DLCs and give it a try,

I can try to find where the games save and maybe erase some of the saved games that I don't need/want.

I'm not at all familiar with file explorer or what to do, but I can give it a try.

Thank you!

[grampers62]

Okay, I think you should do a ticket with frontier. The instructions are pinned at the top of the forum.