Bloodlines Won't Run!
Sean Black
Having trouble getting Bloodlines to run, when I try to start it I keep
getting a Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime error.
P4 2.8, 1gb ram, Geforce 6800gt, Win XP.
The support on the web site just has the usual crap about making sure
you've got the latest drivers and lower the sound acceleration, all of
which I've tried, but no go.
Any ideas?
--
Sean Black
Alan
There are some discussions about this problem at http://bloodlines.dilapidation.com/. I
haven't had this problem so I don't know if there's a solution.
Nostromo
-0000, Anno Domini:
So, did all the QA/QC staff stay at Black Isle while the rest moved to
Troika? This sounds like the 3rd abysmal effort (quality-wise) from them,
for what should've all been excellent games otherwise. They may not learn,
but most ppl do...unless you're a sheep I guess...
--
Replace 'spamfree' with ('k__umcgl_' + ascii 123456789) to reply via email.
shadows
Take it back. Wait for patch. Buy the game again. My machine is
even beefier than yours. 2 gigs and the game runs like crap. No
other game has given me this much trouble. None.
It's a horrible implementation. Never buy a Troika game at
release. Wait for patches.
Sean Black
<anon...@notrealaddy.com> writes
Thanks, found the solution to the problem, it seems if you run a program
called RegSeeker it sorts it out.
I can now get as far as the Troika logo and then it crashes back to the
desktop with no error :-(
Looks like it's going back. May look at again when it's been patched.
--
Sean Black
shadows
> I can now get as far as the Troika logo and then it crashes back to the
> desktop with no error :-(
>
> Looks like it's going back. May look at again when it's been patched.
Had this happen. Reinstall if you want. Solved the issue for
me. The game is a *garbage* implementation and Troika needs to be
emailed and told about this.
Sean Black
<sha...@whitefang.com> writes
--
Sean Black
Lynley James
wrote:
Remember having the same problems with Arcanum, is this just a bug
specific to Troika?
Lynley
shadows
> Remember having the same problems with Arcanum, is this just a bug
> specific to Troika?
Every game Troika released so far has major bugs. Takes them a
while to patch up. With Bloodlines the team lead on the project
is trying to lay the blame on Activision. He claims he can't
release a patch until they say so.
It's aggrevating when you have a great game underneath so much
rubble.
John Lewis
wrote:
>
That's funny......
Install and runs just fine on my P4/3.2/Prescott, 875 chipset,
1 gig RAM, Win XP with ALL updates ( except no SP2 ! ) with
nVidia FX5900, 61.77 driver and Audigy 2 ( with latest drivers ).
Works great even with Mcafee V7 running in background....
John Lewis
shadows
> That's funny......
>
> Install and runs just fine on my P4/3.2/Prescott, 875 chipset,
> 1 gig RAM, Win XP with ALL updates ( except no SP2 ! ) with
> nVidia FX5900, 61.77 driver and Audigy 2 ( with latest drivers ).
>
> Works great even with Mcafee V7 running in background....
It's hit and miss. No one seems to know what's causing the
problems.
Arcana Dragon
news:WU9fgjAT...@aopv28.pipex.net:
> P4 2.8, 1gb ram, Geforce 6800gt, Win XP.
...
> Any ideas?
Get rid of XP, and upgrade to Windows 2000 Professional. :-)
--
Arcana Dragon -==(UDIC)==-
d++e++N++T+++Om-KAWML!34567'!S'!8!9!u+uC+uF+++uG-u
LB®----uAnC+nH++nP+nI----nPT-nS+++nT----o---oE---xz
http://www.phyton.dk/games.htm
Anthony Boyd
> Every game Troika released so far has major bugs. Takes them a
> while to patch up. With Bloodlines the team lead on the project
> is trying to lay the blame on Activision. He claims he can't
> release a patch until they say so.
Which would be believable, except that they said the same thing about
ToEE. Even if it's the truth at this point, they sound like the boy who
cried wolf. And if it is true, they need to solve the problem. Not
Activision. Troika.
KC Wong
ToEE is published by Atari... and VTM:B by Activision.
Troika can't release patch for ToEE and VTM:B without the publisher's
permission - that's part of the deal. Sacred, a Diablo clone developed by
Ascaron and released by various publishers across the world, has the same
limitation.
Likewise, fans that release unofficial mod or patches on the games could be
sued - technically - I think. Fortunately the companies know this will piss
their customers off (as if they aren't doing so already) - so they don't.
Xocyll
the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs say:
>On 2004-11-21, Lynley James <lynley...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Remember having the same problems with Arcanum, is this just a bug
>> specific to Troika?
>
>Every game Troika released so far has major bugs. Takes them a
>while to patch up. With Bloodlines the team lead on the project
>is trying to lay the blame on Activision. He claims he can't
>release a patch until they say so.
Why is it you think he's "trying to lay the blame on Activision?"
Depending on the contract for the game Activision quite probably OWNS
Bloodlines not Troika.
That's what the old nonsense was with Halflife, Valve pulling crap to
get the ownership back from Sierra. Since the _usual_ financing
agreement gives the moneyman the ownership.
The potential bad news: Activision doesn't care once they've got your
money and HAS refused to allow games to be patched in the past.
[Wizards and Warriors had an "unofficial Patch" released by the
developers after Activision Refused to allow an official patch.]
Hopefully Activision won't be assholes again, but i'm still going to put
off getting Bloodlines until the matter is resolved.
Xocyll
--
I don't particularly want you to FOAD, myself. You'll be more of
a cautionary example if you'll FO And Get Chronically, Incurably,
Painfully, Progressively, Expensively, Debilitatingly Ill. So
FOAGCIPPEDI. -- Mike Andrews responding to an idiot in asr
Clogar
>
[snip]
> emailed and told about this.
I love this game - the haunted ocean hotel was AWESOME. But, you're
right, the game runs like crap and is buggy. Troika needs to get some
really good programmers to go along with its concept/story folks.
Clogar
>
[snip]
> That's funny......
Why? The system you list has a faster processor. Side note: Increasing
virtual memory size helps a lot if you're the type of person that
sets it to a specific level (mine is currently set at 1.5 gig).
Chuck
news:slrncq1u6g....@helena.whitefang.com...
I had the same problem, but it went away after I ran a registry cleaner and
it removed references to Nero, which I no longer had installed. Seems like
the copy protection is very fussy.
chuck
chainbreaker
> The potential bad news: Activision doesn't care once they've got your
> money and HAS refused to allow games to be patched in the past.
> [Wizards and Warriors had an "unofficial Patch" released by the
> developers after Activision Refused to allow an official patch.]
>
> Hopefully Activision won't be assholes again, but i'm still going to
> put off getting Bloodlines until the matter is resolved.
>
> Xocyll
They released//allowed the release of a patch for Rome:TW fairly quickly, so
perhaps they've become a bit more "user friendly".
But because of the W&W problems I avoided Activision stuff for a pretty good
while.
Heh, for a long time it always seemed to me like I was "always" in that
group that "some may experience 'problem x'"--if anybody had it, I'd be
*sure* to have it.
Especially if it was an Ultima game.
--
chainbreaker
Anthony Boyd
> Troika can't release patch for ToEE and VTM:B without the publisher's
> permission - that's part of the deal.
After getting terrible fan response to the bugs in ToEE, Troika should
not have entered into a similar deal with Activision. And if they
already had the contract finalized, they should have renegotiated. At
this point, contracts and other companies are not blame-able in my
opinion. This is repeated poor handling of their relationships with
other companies and with the fans. Troika needs to fix it.
KC Wong
Activition paid Troika to develop the game. And thus Activition owns VTM:B.
Therefore Troika cannot release any program that modifies VTM:B without
Activition's permission.
I don't think any negotiation could be done... except Troika publish the
software itself, which will involve a lot more staff and a lot more money
for marketting/packaging which Trokia can't afford (or don't want to pay).
Anthony Boyd
> Activition paid Troika to develop the game. And thus Activition owns VTM:B.
> Therefore Troika cannot release any program that modifies VTM:B without
> Activition's permission.
I don't care. Troika needs to GET Activision's permission, or release
something unoffical, or renegotiate the contract so that they are in
control of updates and patches, or find a fourth or fifth solution.
It's understandable that it happened once. It's inexcusable that it
happened twice (and in fact, I don't believe that it did -- I think
someone is lying or has terribly mishandled things). This is 100%
Troika's fault now. They had it happen once before. They should have
known better by now.
Lynley James
wrote:
Quite possibley Troika had no choice in the matter. Contrary to
popular belief, contract negotiations are almost never between equals.
One party will always be the more powerful. Quite possibly Activision
gave them a standard set of terms and said, "sign or we go elsewhere".
I used to negotiate CapEx contracts for a big company and this is what
we did. They needed us more then we needed them.
By all accounts Troika is a small independent studio and as such
wouldn't have much influence over Activision or power.
Quite possibly, and we cannot know without reading the contract,
Troika would be in breach if they released something unofficial to
patch the game and it would moct likely be nearly impossible to even
attempt to renegotiate the terms to allow them to patch.
One thing I do believe is that Troika had to wait a year to release
the game due to Valve "losing" the source code and also ironing out
Steam problems and as such could've devoted some of that time to QA
and bug fixing.
Lynley
shadows
Sadly Troika went through three publishers in their three
games. I don't see them learning anything. If you look at a
company like Firaxis they stick with Atari and release mostly
bug free games with a couple of patches later to fix some of the
more mundane glitches and game balance issues.
Troika has no excuse. Next release I'm buying it from the bargain
bin.
shadows
> By all accounts Troika is a small independent studio and as such
> wouldn't have much influence over Activision or power.
Troika is incompetent when it comes to the implementation of a
game. They have proved this over and over again. Defending them
is just encouraging them to keep being incompetent.
> Quite possibly, and we cannot know without reading the contract,
> Troika would be in breach if they released something unofficial to
> patch the game and it would moct likely be nearly impossible to even
> attempt to renegotiate the terms to allow them to patch.
I don't *CARE*. I'm the customer. Do you see me worrying about
the contract between Pepsi and Britney Spears? If anything there
should be a class action suit brought against Troika for
repeatedly screwing over the customer. False advertising. THE
GAMES BARELY RUNS out of the box.
I have to start Bloodlines 3 times with 3 crashes before it gets
past the loading screen. Utter garbage!
> One thing I do believe is that Troika had to wait a year to release
> the game due to Valve "losing" the source code and also ironing out
> Steam problems and as such could've devoted some of that time to QA
> and bug fixing.
Cry me a river. I *dont* *CARE* I paid my 60 CAD. It should
run. Look at Blizzard. They're not exactly a huge corporation and
they manage in making ends meet and releasing WoW in a working
state.
JWB
news:30g7oaF...@uni-berlin.de...
>> > Troika can't release patch for ToEE and VTM:B without the publisher's
>> > permission - that's part of the deal.
>>
>> After getting terrible fan response to the bugs in ToEE, Troika should
>> not have entered into a similar deal with Activision. And if they
>> already had the contract finalized, they should have renegotiated. At
>> this point, contracts and other companies are not blame-able in my
>> opinion. This is repeated poor handling of their relationships with
>> other companies and with the fans. Troika needs to fix it.
>
> Activition paid Troika to develop the game. And thus Activition owns
> VTM:B.
> Therefore Troika cannot release any program that modifies VTM:B without
> Activition's permission.
>
It's not a stretch to think Troika could have said "in addition to the game,
we'd like to be able to release at least one patch. That has to be included
in the contract". If they don't want to do this, maybe they need to look at
how they are doing business. They are hurting themselves by releasing buggy
games and then saying "*shrug*... blame the publisher".
Maybe they should just become a smaller studio and release games via the
web.
Lynley James
wrote:
>On 2004-11-23, Lynley James <lynley...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> By all accounts Troika is a small independent studio and as such
>> wouldn't have much influence over Activision or power.
>
>Troika is incompetent when it comes to the implementation of a
>game. They have proved this over and over again. Defending them
>is just encouraging them to keep being incompetent.
>
I wasn't defending their poor implementation, just responding to the
suggestion that they could renegotiate or could've negotiated a better
contract right at the beginning.
I couldn't agree more that you should strive to do things right the
first time.
>> Quite possibly, and we cannot know without reading the contract,
>> Troika would be in breach if they released something unofficial to
>> patch the game and it would moct likely be nearly impossible to even
>> attempt to renegotiate the terms to allow them to patch.
>
>I don't *CARE*. I'm the customer. Do you see me worrying about
>the contract between Pepsi and Britney Spears? If anything there
>should be a class action suit brought against Troika for
>repeatedly screwing over the customer. False advertising. THE
>GAMES BARELY RUNS out of the box.
>
>I have to start Bloodlines 3 times with 3 crashes before it gets
>past the loading screen. Utter garbage!
That's down to poor implementation. My comment was directed at the
original poster requesting an unofficial patch. If this is not
allowed by the original contract and Activision decides to sue for
breach Troika could shut down or at least be tied up in court for
ages.
Breach of contract is pretty serious and the damages could be
substantial. In this case I cannot see any damages that Activision
might suffer, but a creative lawyer can always find something.
If you feel so strongly about Troika's actions consult your lawyer or
your local business complaints department.
>
>> One thing I do believe is that Troika had to wait a year to release
>> the game due to Valve "losing" the source code and also ironing out
>> Steam problems and as such could've devoted some of that time to QA
>> and bug fixing.
>
>Cry me a river. I *dont* *CARE* I paid my 60 CAD. It should
>run. Look at Blizzard. They're not exactly a huge corporation and
>they manage in making ends meet and releasing WoW in a working
>state.
Read my above comment again. I was pointing out that the delay
should've been used to ID and fix bugs.
Lynley
Anthony Boyd
> shadows <sha...@whitefang.com> wrote:
>
> > Troika is incompetent when it comes to the implementation of a
> > game. They have proved this over and over again. Defending them
> > is just encouraging them to keep being incompetent.
>
> I wasn't defending their poor implementation, just responding to the
> suggestion that they could renegotiate or could've negotiated a better
> contract right at the beginning.
I wasn't suggesting that they "could" renegotiate, I was suggesting that
anything short of fixing the broken game (whether by reneotiations, by
an unofficial patch, or ANY other way) would mean that I would not cut
them slack, would not buy the game, and would not buy their excuses.
They have had this problem before, and should not have been fooled
twice. If they want to claim that they are helpless against the big
mean Activision, they can. But I can also call bullshit, close my
wallet, and shrug my shoulders when they go belly up like InterPlay.
(By the way, I'm not sure I agree with shadows' hard-line notion that
Troika is incompetent at game implementation. I think all their games
have merit. But I take issue with their handling of fixes. They did
quite well with Arcanum -- it's now far less buggy and far more
enjoyable that it was on launch day. But since then they've been
stumbling, and it's seems to be a pattern. This I won't accept. If
they abandon their games before they stabilize, so will I.)
> That's down to poor implementation. My comment was directed at the
> original poster requesting an unofficial patch. If this is not
> allowed by the original contract and Activision decides to sue for
> breach Troika could shut down or at least be tied up in court for
> ages.
That point is completely redundant. In other words, someone wrote that
Troika might have legal problems with a patch, I called failing to patch
unacceptable, and your "rebuttal" was to just say that Troika might have
legal problems with a patch. That's no rebuttal, it's just repititious.
To quote shadow, I don't CARE. I don't care if Troika has legal
problems with a patch. Solve the legal problems, or fail as a company.
KC Wong
> anything short of fixing the broken game (whether by reneotiations, by
> an unofficial patch, or ANY other way) would mean that I would not cut
> them slack, would not buy the game, and would not buy their excuses.
> They have had this problem before, and should not have been fooled
> twice. If they want to claim that they are helpless against the big
> mean Activision, they can. But I can also call bullshit, close my
> wallet, and shrug my shoulders when they go belly up like InterPlay.
All the games that are not developed and published by the same entity will
work like that. Are you ready to play only Microsoft and EA games?
Activision bought the software from Troika... depending on the situation and
the details of the contract, Troika either produce a patch (mainly for bug
fixes) for free - as their software isn't working as expected, or Activison
*pays* Troika more to develop a patch (change requests).
The game has bugs / features that should be added. Fans post their requests
all over the newgroups and forums. Activision knows players want a patch.
Are they completely stuck-up a** holes? Do they take pleasure angering their
customers, so they don't get any money for their later games and go
bankrupt?
No! Activision haven't said anything about not going to release a patch. All
that is in the discussion is that Troika cannot release a patch without
asking Activision first.
When Activision refuses to release a patch, or Troika charges Activision
heck-of-a-lot to make a patch, then we start blaming them and boycott their
products.
But before that happens, blame only the code quality and QA.
> (By the way, I'm not sure I agree with shadows' hard-line notion that
> Troika is incompetent at game implementation. I think all their games
> have merit. But I take issue with their handling of fixes. They did
> quite well with Arcanum -- it's now far less buggy and far more
> enjoyable that it was on launch day. But since then they've been
> stumbling, and it's seems to be a pattern. This I won't accept. If
> they abandon their games before they stabilize, so will I.)
Game implementation as in the code quality?
I am not in the game industry, and have no experience with the source
engine. Nor have I seen the source code of VTM:B. So I can't say anything
about the code quality.
Anthony Boyd
> When Activision refuses to release a patch, or Troika charges Activision
> heck-of-a-lot to make a patch, then we start blaming them and boycott their
> products.
Of course, Troika reps have ALREADY gone on record, pointing fingers at
Activision when people ask about the patch. So according to your rules,
we are now free to start blaming and boycotting. I blame Troika.
I'm not trying to boycott Troika. I posted here a year ago saying I'd
buy ToEE when patch #3 came out. It's just that patch #3 never arrived.
Similarly, I'll buy Bloodlines if patch #1 ever comes out (and
addresses the major problems). But without fixing the major issues,
Troika won't get my money.
Lynley James
wrote:
>Lynley James wrote:
>> shadows <sha...@whitefang.com> wrote:
> >
>> > Troika is incompetent when it comes to the implementation of a
>> > game. They have proved this over and over again. Defending them
>> > is just encouraging them to keep being incompetent.
>>
>> I wasn't defending their poor implementation, just responding to the
>> suggestion that they could renegotiate or could've negotiated a better
>> contract right at the beginning.
>
>I wasn't suggesting that they "could" renegotiate, I was suggesting that
>anything short of fixing the broken game (whether by reneotiations, by
>an unofficial patch, or ANY other way) would mean that I would not cut
>them slack, would not buy the game, and would not buy their excuses.
>They have had this problem before, and should not have been fooled
>twice. If they want to claim that they are helpless against the big
>mean Activision, they can. But I can also call bullshit, close my
>wallet, and shrug my shoulders when they go belly up like InterPlay.
>
Fair enough. They should be more experienced in dealing with
publishers and should've at least tried to get a clause in there
allowing one patch.
This is one reason why I will wait to buy this game.
>(By the way, I'm not sure I agree with shadows' hard-line notion that
>Troika is incompetent at game implementation. I think all their games
>have merit. But I take issue with their handling of fixes. They did
>quite well with Arcanum -- it's now far less buggy and far more
>enjoyable that it was on launch day. But since then they've been
>stumbling, and it's seems to be a pattern. This I won't accept. If
>they abandon their games before they stabilize, so will I.)
>
I dunno. The implementation of two of their games has let me down.
Arcanum just wouldn't run at first and ToEE was so damn buggy that I
threw it on the shelf and haven't played it since. Troika does need
to get their QA up to standard especially for a game like
VtM:Bloodlines that sat around for around a year in the office waiting
for release.
>> That's down to poor implementation. My comment was directed at the
>> original poster requesting an unofficial patch. If this is not
>> allowed by the original contract and Activision decides to sue for
>> breach Troika could shut down or at least be tied up in court for
>> ages.
>
>That point is completely redundant. In other words, someone wrote that
>Troika might have legal problems with a patch, I called failing to patch
>unacceptable, and your "rebuttal" was to just say that Troika might have
>legal problems with a patch. That's no rebuttal, it's just repititious.
>
>To quote shadow, I don't CARE. I don't care if Troika has legal
>problems with a patch. Solve the legal problems, or fail as a company.
It may repeat my prior post, but it is a valid point. If Troika
cannot legally patch the game that is a valid reason not to patch. It
doesn't excuse a buggy game nor does it excuse sitting on their hands
and waiting for Activision to do something, but it does excuse them
from holding back from releasing something unofficial. They should be
trying to get permission to release a patch at the very least.
Lynley