[EM 2.878] Steam Version - 'Evochron Mercenary has stopped working' *FIXED*

[TwUnix]

Just bought this today and it has not worked. Game attempts to load. Gets second loading screen then "Evochron Mercenary has stopped working". No error txt created that I saw. Just crashes to desktop. No other error messages.

Windows 7 Ultimate 64
AMD FX 4300 Quad Core
AMD Radeon R7 200 series
8G Ram

Tried several things listed in other "similar" threads.
Downloaded and redownloaded 3 times.
Restarted computer.
Verified game integrity.
Turned off all security programs.
Launched as Admin.
No mods (Brand new game).
Not using anything HP.

Not sure if I want it to work at this point or if I just want my money back.

[Vice]

That might be associated with the display system/driver if the other steps don't work. Are you using D3DOverrider or any other 3rd party/secondary display software? If so, try disabling it/them, restart your system, verify the program(s) did not restart, then relaunch the game to test for changes.

Might also be running out of resources, since it's happening during the second loading phase (do you recall about what percentage it happens?), but it's tough to say for sure. If you complete the steps outlined at this link, I can evaluate your system for possible causes:

http://www.starwraith.com/evochronmercenary/faq.htm#8

You don't need to send the save game, just the msinfo report.

[TwUnix]

No Third party display software.

I just sent you the zip file via email with system specs.

Edit: I even tried the solution listed below and it didn't work. (The box was already checked)

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/s ... ostcount=9

[Edited on 11-28-2014 by TwUnix]

[Vice]

Ok, thanks for sending the report. Initially, it looks like your system is failing to load and play the intro video. The game is stopping at the vsfilter.dll and indicates your system lacks the required default Windows codec support to play back a standard Windows media video file.

So until you are able to sort out what altered or damaged your system to create this condition and then repair it, you can place the attached file in the game's install folder (default location for Steam is Program Files (x86)\\Steam\\SteamApps\\common\\Evochron Mercenary) and the game will bypass the intro video for you and move on to the main menu immediately. Then if/when you are able to repair/restore support for playing the intro, simply remove the file and the game will attempt to play the intro again.

[TwUnix]

Wait... so my system is having issues playing a windows video file? I suppose updating my codecs would solve this?

Thats really weird...

Also, any insight into why this would happen with this game in particular but not others?

[Vice]

Other games probably use different video formats or methods for playing back video, some may not play video at all. However, there are a number of crashes in the error log associated with other games, such as Kerbal Space Program and League of Legends, along with others not game related, some tied to core system files (ntdll.dll for example). So it's possible your system may have been exposed to past virus or malware damage somewhere along the line (likely prior to July/August of this year when a lot of the errors were logged).

This problem in particular might surface if you actually installed a 3rd party codec 'pack' or software program of some kind that altered the way your system could handle certain default Windows audio/video formats. But with all of the listed errors indicating core Windows modules, it's also possible there was system alteration by something else. Could be either or both, but for whatever reason, your system is denying the game's request to play back the intro video, which is just a Windows video file (WMV).

Someone recently posted a handy utility somewhere on the forum that helps restore standard Windows codecs after past system damage/alteration. If you have trouble getting things back to the way they need to be, I can try to hunt down the link for you.

[TwUnix]

Ah, gotcha. I appreciate all the help with this. I tried updating my codec files, but no dice. Your text file did it's job though and I was able to get in game and play around for a bit. So there's that.

I'm sure I should be able to find the utility you're talking about with a quick search. I'll give that a try and get back to you should I have any issues. Again, thanks for helping.

[Vice]

No problem, welcome to the game/community.

[carch]

this fixed my problem as well!

I'm also noticing I'm also running windows 7 ultimate x64, with a radeon r7 200 series card.

[Vice]

Glad you got it working. Since it was working fine before on your system, then later stopped working, something has likely altered the codecs and/or associated dependencies (ie registry) so that your system is no longer able to play the standard Windows Media File used for the intro. Once you can sort out the issue and restore default Windows functionality, you can remove the bypass file to restore the intro video (if you want to).