DirectX to renderer

[Guy de Gisborne]

I have been drooling over this game for months.Now I've taken the plunge I can't get beyond the tutorial stage.

Game crashes with DIRECTX TO RENDERER INVALID CALL (BURST MODE).
There have been threads on this subject but no conclusions: maybe something to do with power-saving/screen savers?

Can anyone help a complete rookie?

My machine is a Packard Bell Imedia 2579.
Intel Core 2CPU 6300@1.86 GHZ.
1022 MB memory (about to update to 2 Gig).32 bit operating system.
ATI Radeon 1650 (512 MB) video. Updated drivers.
OS : Vista Home premium.

Running AACW (1.07e) under Windows XP2 compatability mode.


Frustrated GUY

[Primasprit]

ATI Radeon 1650 (512 MB) video. Updated drivers.

This might be the problem. I updated my own ATI 1650 2 days ago with the newest official drivers and was afterward unable to play any DirectX game. (Same happened to me on another computer with a ATI 9600. The new ATI driver are unbelievably bad.)
Try the excellent Omega drivers, they work fine for me. (Do not forget to remove the ATI driver package via the ATI uninstaller before.)

The Omega drivers: http://www.omegadrivers.net/

Beware: I use Windows XP and had never any problems with the Omega drivers. However I don't know if they work with Vista.
Maybe someone else has experiences with that?

[Pocus]

The ATI Omegadrivers are not Vista-compliant alas. As the dev says, he hate so much Vista he still have not tried to plunge into the O/S. I understand so much the guy.

For your problem Guy, I would advise you (as Primasprit) to use a slightly older driver then.

When do you crash? When you scroll the map, click on a button???

[atari_paladin]

I had this same error occurring too, but turns out in my case its cause I changed screen resolutions while the game was idling in the background. I normally run 800x600 and the game only looks right in 1024x768. I keep forgetting to change resolution before starting it and the moment I do, I get the crash. If I change resolution and THEN start the game, it runs without a hitch. At present I'm running stock ATI drivers for my Radeon9250 (catalyst 6.11 I think), and directx9.0c on XP. I thought about switching to the Omega drivers, but as another post mentioned, there's no point in fixing it til its broke. amen brother.

[Primasprit]

I had this same error occurring too, but turns out in my case its cause I changed screen resolutions while the game was idling in the background.

Hehe... yes that is no surprise. Haven't tried that though.

At present I'm running stock ATI drivers for my Radeon9250 (catalyst 6.11 I think), and directx9.0c on XP. I thought about switching to the Omega drivers, but as another post mentioned, there's no point in fixing it til its broke. amen brother.

Oh... and welcome to the forums btw.

[flotsam]

I get the Directx to Renderer error to pop up as well. It seems this has been an issue with the ageod game engine since at least 2006 according to other blogs I've read. Here are some other ways to get this error to pop up:

1.> Switch users in Windows while the game is up--it won't be when you switch back (but the error will)
2.> Screen saver turns on while you go get a cup of coffee or have a bio break (again the Directx error)

I've been in the software field for over 20 years. This is clearly an outstanding bug and needs to be fixed. While I like the historic aspect of the ageo.d games, issues like this will unfortunately keep me away.

[Gray_Lensman]

deleted

[Pat "Stonewall" Cleburne]

I've played this game a whole lot, and I just got this error for the first time today. It's definitely not prevalent. I don't have any screen savers or power saving features enabled so it wasn't that. I tabbed out during turn resolution as I often do and it happened. I'm doing the same thing right now and it's not happening. It saves your turn even if it does happen. I just booted back up and loaded the game. Maybe a 30 second delay.

[Gray_Lensman]

deleted

[Pat "Stonewall" Cleburne]

Doubt it. I've got 4 gigs and i've never had any memory problems before.

[jennison]

I get this crash to desktop anytime I hit Ctrl-Alt-Delete, or lock my computer. I'm running Windows 7, and remember seeing it on my XP machine as well.

Graphics card issue maybe? I have crappy onboard Intel graphics, but the game still runs great (other than this crash obviously).

[Franciscus]

This elusive error has been around from BoA days up to PoN. I experienced it a lot with PoN, with a good ATI graphics card. It was not an ATI-specific problem, also.
This bug was never wiped out, I am afraid...

[Nikel]

Franciscus, did you read the last post?

http://www.ageod-forum.com/showthread.php?t=21773

[jennison]

Franciscus, did you read the last post?

http://www.ageod-forum.com/showthread.php?t=21773

I tried that as well before coming to this thread. No luck.. The problem with mine isn't about the CPU going to sleep, but Ctrl-Alt-Delete alone crashes it with the DirectX error.

Oh well, it's not a show stopper, just kind of annoying.. It must be a real nasty bug if it has gone this long without resolution.

[Franciscus]

Franciscus, did you read the last post?

http://www.ageod-forum.com/showthread.php?t=21773

Hi Nikel.
In fact I had not read this last post of yours.
I must say that I changed my rig recently - now playing in bootcamp win 7 in a iMac 27' - and only playing AACW, and have not had this CTD - but I also hardly had it in this game before, so...(also, now I have sound in WW1 :thumbsup . The couple of times I tried PoN in this rig I did not get CTD, but it's not enough to be sure.

Regarding berto's sugestion, I am afraid that that can not be the solution. In PoN I sometimes got the directx error seconds after beginning to play the game, just by moving the map. It can not be related to energy or screen saver settings, IMHO...

Regards

[Nikel]

OK