Windows 11 fix? Won't start

[Elkraddai]

I just got the game and it won't start! I also upgraded to Windows so that is probably the reason. I don't think that Windows 10 fixes will be compatible.

[lohe001]

Originally posted by Acido:

Had the same problem (Windows 11): game would load for 20-30% and then just exit.
This fixed the problem for me:
https://github.com/riverar/IndirectInput/releases/tag/0.1
"A simple DirectInput wrapper to work around a Windows 10 device enumeration bug."

Download the dinput_0.1_win10_x86.zip file and place the dinput.dll file it contains in your
...\Steam\steamapps\common\Star Wars Episode I Racer
folder. As simple as that :-)

Unfortunately, the game refuses to detect my joystick (Logitech Wingman Extreme), whatever I try. Tried to play with keyboard or mouse but that doesn't work for me, I really need my joystick for this one :-(

That worked for me as well.

[Mavark²]

Might be a bit late. But the DirectInput wrapper fix stops most controllers/joysticks/wheels from working. It's most likely an HID input error that's stopping the game from launching.

I've managed to get the game to load by unplugging my USB hub. The game doesn't seem to like anything wireless either, but that could just be me.

I've plugged my wireless XBone controller in using a spare micro USB cable and have been playing with no issues. Even 1440p was supported.
However, this morning, when booting, I can only boot into 1920/1200. No idea why I've lost the ability to use 1440p. But I still get to play the game so I'm content.

[Swirling mist]

HERE's the Fix easy.
Go to the game in your library, on the same row as the green "play" button is a cog wheel icon for "manage", then select "properties", then in the "launch options" area, click where it says "Play STAR WARS Episode 1 Racer" and select "Launch Display Settings", choose resolution, (I chose 1920x1080 which fills the whole screen of my 4k monitor. 1440p option did not scale full screen for me.)

Then repeat the steps but on final step select "Play STAR WARS Episode 1 Racer"
then you can click the normal Play button and it the game will run on your windows 11 :)

The opening cut sceens are small because the video saved in the original game is 640x480 but the gameplay runs full screen after the opening cut scenes. If you want game options for video and sound, try navigating "back" from the login screen to find the main menu with multiplayer, settings, etc. Some audio/video options are turned off by default which you might enjoy enabling like 3D spatial audio. My game doesn't detect any hardware acceleration options (my system is all AMD), there may be a work around for even better performance with some hardware acceleration or it may just be so automatic as to already be maxed by modern default behavior.

[Juan Guillermo]

Originally posted by Acido:

Had the same problem (Windows 11): game would load for 20-30% and then just exit.
This fixed the problem for me:
https://github.com/riverar/IndirectInput/releases/tag/0.1
"A simple DirectInput wrapper to work around a Windows 10 device enumeration bug."

Download the dinput_0.1_win10_x86.zip file and place the dinput.dll file it contains in your
...\Steam\steamapps\common\Star Wars Episode I Racer
folder. As simple as that :-)

Unfortunately, the game refuses to detect my joystick (Logitech Wingman Extreme), whatever I try. Tried to play with keyboard or mouse but that doesn't work for me, I really need my joystick for this one :-(

The problem when starting the game was solved, thanks for your solution.

I am using windows 11 pro x64

[Cooper]

The .dll worked for me, but no controller support wasn't an option. I tried unplugging my USB-devises one after another and figured out that my wireless USB headset crashes the game, no matter what other devies are connected. The USB hub also crashes the game, depending if there are other devices connected. Wireless Keyboards and Mouse are working fine.

[Big Play Ben]

I tried several solutions. In the end what fixed it for me was messing with the display settings.
I tried the input dll solution and it did nothing.
I tried the solution involving changing the permission on your user account. That did nothing.
Finally I tried launching the display settings and changing it to my computers resolution. That worked.

After I got it to launch I deleted the dll and changed my input settings back. It still works. So it was almost definitely the display settings change that caused it to work.

Different solutions will work for different computers. But that was the one that worked for me.

[dellyfry]

After updating the dinput.dll and setting it to Windows 7 compatibility mode on the direct executable... it works fine for me now...

[KaTze]

Originally posted by HK:

Originally posted by Andrew 420:

I opened up display settings and setting it to 1080 p and it finally worked i did everything else but changing the display to 1080 p is how it worked for me. so launch the game from steam select display change it to 1080 but you might need to check which one works for you but that should work. then launch the game and you should be able to play it.

Exactly! You need to do this at least once and then launch the game. After that you can even set the resolution to the highest available resolution and it will continue to work.

display settings also doesn't work :D

[Bear]

How i fixed the game not launching on Win11 was to go to into regedit and go to this

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\LucasArts Entertainment Company LLC\Star Wars: Episode I Racer\v1.0

Set Display Height to 1080
Set Display Width to 1920
then restart your PC

Hope this helps.

[nafcom]

For me the first time I started it in Windows 11 23H2, the LucasArts logo didn't appear and the intro videos were muted. Only when the menu appeared, I had music and sound. I had to start the game a 2nd time and then everything worked as expected.

[karoloydi]

If anyone is still struggling with this game, the problem is caused because the game is getting confused by too many HID devices. You can use HID Hide, to hide any additional devices:
https://github.com/nefarius/HidHide/releases

You might need to untick "Gaming Devices Only", to disable all devices that are causing the crashing.

[Berric]

I also couldn't launch the game and tried every fix I could find and the only one that worked was downloading the .dll file mentioned in this thread. However, I couldn't get my PS5 controller to work while using the .dll file. The solution I found was to remove the .dll file (no need for it and i read that it may disable joysticks) and set the game resolution to its native 640x480 resolution. The game is so old that it looks almost the same no matter which resolution you use (in my opinion).

I also modified the properties of 'SWEP1RCR.EXE' in the 'Star Wars Episode I Racer' install folder to run in compatibility mode for Windows XP (Service Pack 3) and ticked 'run this program as an administrator'.

For the PS5 controller to work, make sure you enable Steam input by right clicking the game icon in Steam (or the cog wheel in the game profile screen) and selecting 'Properties'>'Controller'. You may also want to use one of the community preset controller layouts (these are easier to find when running the game via Steam Big Picture mode). My personal controller layout is:
- Accelerate: right trigger
- Brake: left trigger
- Slide: left bumper
- Repair: right bumper (since you can't accelerate and repair at the same time)
- Boost: X
- Taunt: triangle
- Turn/move left/right: left joystick z-axis
- Roll left/right: right joystick z-axis
- Pitch up/down: right joystick y-axis
- Change view: d-pad up
- Look back: d-pad down

Hope this advice is useful to someone else.

[Bleydoka]

Originally posted by Berric:

I also couldn't launch the game and tried every fix I could find and the only one that worked was downloading the .dll file mentioned in this thread. However, I couldn't get my PS5 controller to work while using the .dll file. The solution I found was to remove the .dll file (no need for it and i read that it may disable joysticks) and set the game resolution to its native 640x480 resolution. The game is so old that it looks almost the same no matter which resolution you use (in my opinion).

I also modified the properties of 'SWEP1RCR.EXE' in the 'Star Wars Episode I Racer' install folder to run in compatibility mode for Windows XP (Service Pack 3) and ticked 'run this program as an administrator'.

For the PS5 controller to work, make sure you enable Steam input by right clicking the game icon in Steam (or the cog wheel in the game profile screen) and selecting 'Properties'>'Controller'. You may also want to use one of the community preset controller layouts (these are easier to find when running the game via Steam Big Picture mode). My personal controller layout is:
- Accelerate: right trigger
- Brake: left trigger
- Slide: left bumper
- Repair: right bumper (since you can't accelerate and repair at the same time)
- Boost: X
- Taunt: triangle
- Turn/move left/right: left joystick z-axis
- Roll left/right: right joystick z-axis
- Pitch up/down: right joystick y-axis
- Change view: d-pad up
- Look back: d-pad down

Hope this advice is useful to someone else.

Thx dude this post helped me out.