Windows 7 and Wonderland Games

Post by **Midnight Synergy** » Sun Dec 06, 2009 10:54 pm

Hi all,

with Windows 7 now out for about a month, we've had a trickle of reports of several users (three, as of now) having trouble with one or more of the Wonderland games on this operating system.

The common factor so far seems to be an nVidia graphics card. Now, we've seen this behaviour with nVidia cards before, notably after the release of Windows Vista. An new driver update from nVidia - some time after the initial release of Vista - solved the problem.

I assume the same will be the case here. I'm not sure we can change much about the issue from our end, but I'm still looking into it.

In the meantime, if you do have trouble running a game on Windows 7, please e-mail us a quick note with your dxdiag.txt file attached. This will help us collect information on how to best deal with the issue.

(To send us a dxdiag.txt file open the Windows Start menu, select "Run...", then type in DXDIAG. A new window will open. Press "Save All Information". This saves a dxdiag.txt file with system information - the file contains no personal information).

Qloof234 · Post by **Qloof234** » Thu Dec 10, 2009 1:56 am

I'm assuming it's okay to post this here, since this is a major problem when running Return To Wonderland on my laptop which is now running Windows 7.

The game itself works fine, but the moment a wooden box is destroyed, the game crashes with a Memory Access Violation. All of the game's data is there, and I never encountered this before installing Windows 7.

I checked to make sure, every single one of my files survived the upgrade from Vista to Windows 7, and the game only started crashing now. Wonderland and Wonderland Secret Worlds work fine.

Post by **Midnight Synergy** » Fri Dec 11, 2009 4:39 am

That's an odd one - can you send me your dxdiag file?

Muzozavr · Post by **Muzozavr** » Fri Dec 11, 2009 10:06 am

The game itself works fine, but the moment a wooden box is destroyed, the game crashes with a Memory Access Violation. All of the game's data is there, and I never encountered this before installing Windows 7.

Hmm. That's strange, especially considering that TOW and WSW work fine.

That's an odd one - can you send me your dxdiag file?

This. DirectX is pretty much THE most common screw-up of your games. If DirectX gets screwed up, then games can and WILL malfunction.

Qloof234 · Post by **Qloof234** » Fri Dec 11, 2009 7:58 pm

Midnight Synergy wrote:That's an odd one - can you send me your dxdiag file?

PM Sent.

Muzozavr wrote:
That's an odd one - can you send me your dxdiag file?
This. DirectX is pretty much THE most common screw-up of your games. If DirectX gets screwed up, then games can and WILL malfunction.

Hmm. I'm going to guess that DirectX lies at the center of all of this, in that case.

On that matter, would installing something like the DirectX SDK screw things up? I installed it recently to have a go at a different program I downloaded, so... Yeah...

tyteen4a03 · Post by **tyteen4a03** » Sat Dec 12, 2009 5:16 am

I don't think so.

(DirectX 11 causing this problem? No idea)

felix1014 · Post by **felix1014** » Sat Dec 26, 2009 4:39 pm

When I play Wonderland Secret Worlds, the game hang at menu. I am using nvidia GTX 260 and I will send a dxdiag.txt. to you.

tyteen4a03 · Post by **tyteen4a03** » Sat Dec 26, 2009 4:56 pm

Can everyone try this before posting a reply? This would help if it is Win7's problem or other thing's problem.

1. Right click on main executable (and launcher, optional) of your game
TOW: Main: wdlgame.exe Launcher: Wonderland.exe
WSW: Main: wawgame.exe Launcher: SecretWorlds.exe
RTW Universial Launcher: Wonderland.exe
RTWD: Main: wdlgame.exe Editor: wdledit.exe
RTWP: Main: wdlgamep.exe Editor: wdleditp.exe
WA(MOFI): Main: Wonderland.exe Launcher: Options.exe
2. Compatibility Options tab
3. Select Windows XP SP3

Qloof234 · Post by **Qloof234** » Sat Dec 26, 2009 7:49 pm

felix1014 wrote:When I play Wonderland Secret Worlds, the game hang at menu. I am using nvidia GTX 260 and I will send a dxdiag.txt. to you.

Well, I went and started WSW again. I get this problem too. I haven't done anything to the game's files, and it just MAV's the moment I switch to it.

I've tried what tyteen suggested, but it still crashes. Halp plz?

felix1014 · Post by **felix1014** » Sun Dec 27, 2009 3:50 am

Do ATI display cards solve the problems?
I am using Nvidia display card.

felix1014 · Post by **felix1014** » Mon Dec 28, 2009 10:51 am

I bought a display card "ATI Radeon 4350".
I can play Wonderland Secret Worlds in Windows7 now!

Post by **Midnight Synergy** » Thu Dec 31, 2009 3:44 pm

Just an update on this. The issue is specific to Windows 7 with certain nvidia (GeForce) graphics cards. Likely it will be resolved on its own with the next nvidia driver update (the same happened with Windows Vista after release).

I am also trying to get some test hardware to fix the problem on our side, but 'thanks' to Dell, my order is several weeks late and still has not arrived. So it'll be a bit longer, I'm afraid.

Qloof234 · Post by **Qloof234** » Thu Dec 31, 2009 6:16 pm

Midnight Synergy wrote:I am also trying to get some test hardware to fix the problem on our side, but 'thanks' to Dell, my order is several weeks late and still has not arrived.

So HP isn't the only company taking forever to get out their Windows 7 updates?

Post by **Midnight Synergy** » Thu Jan 14, 2010 8:10 pm

So, I have finally received my test system and have been able to reproduce all of the above issues on a Windows 7 system with a GeForce 220 video card.

Unfortunately, the issue is definitely with the current driver. I have investigated the code and the errors occur during perfectly "legal" operations. I was able to remove a few of them by making very strange code subsitutions, but many of the random in-game crashes cannot be found... the actual crash occurs within the engine's main rendering command, the structure of which I cannot access.

So, unfortunately, for the time being the games will not run on Windows 7 with selected nvidia (GeForce) cards. I see that nvdia has a new driver in beta right now, and I have contacted them to report the issue. Further updates as they develop.

pcr · Post by **pcr** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 5:03 am

Hi - I have been having the same problem with Vista - I have changed all the compatability states to XP(SP2) as XP(SP3) is not available n my PC. No joy. I actually can play Wonderland and the tutorials in RTW, but no other levels in RTW and nothing in WSW. any ideas? (I have the Games Collection CD)

Muzozavr · Post by **Muzozavr** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 9:49 am

I actually can play Wonderland and the tutorials in RTW, but no other levels in RTW and nothing in WSW.

That... is weird.

When non-tutorial levels or WSW levels fail you, what happens? Does it just kinda "exit" the game without saying anything? Or does an error pop up? If an error pops up, what does it say?

pcr · Post by **pcr** » Sat Jan 23, 2010 5:15 am

Same error message the perople with Win7 are getting - Memory Access Violation - and it just closes. depressing!

shad1027 · Post by **shad1027** » Sun Jan 24, 2010 2:01 am

I just noticed that Nvidia has posted a new driver for the 9000GT series, dated 1/11/10. I installed it and RTW Platinum seems to be working fine now. I'm not sure about drivers for any other graphic cards. I missed the game very very much and am so happy to be back...Hope this will help others. Now off to get the gold.

Update: Sorry spoke to soon...same problem came back. Memory access violation.

Blink · Post by **Blink** » Sat Mar 06, 2010 9:28 pm

Technical terms giving me a headache...

Unfortunately, I have Windows 7. But, FORTUNATELY, I have Windows XP as a backup.

And no, "XP" was not an emoticon. Seemed like it, right?

Blink · Post by **Blink** » Thu Mar 11, 2010 9:33 pm

Fixed it with some graphics card I found in the attic. It's all good now.

Oh wait, gotta edit my signature. Too long. *facepalm*

shad1027 · Post by **shad1027** » Tue Mar 30, 2010 12:24 pm

Well, it finally happened. My graphics card blew up because of overheating and now I am using an unboard graphics driver which seems to work fine with RTW. So even tho I am losing my graphics quality I am back playing the best game ever devised, so there is an upside. Now after reading the following article I wonder whether my old Nvidia driver cause my fan to lock up. I'm including this link so that maybe it will help others before they run into this problem and they can try the new driver. Hope it helps

http://www.sevenforums.com/graphic-card ... s-7-a.html

P.S. I am going to avoid buying anymore Nvidia cards after this debacle

Blink · Post by **Blink** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 11:01 pm

The poster on those forums (top of the page) is named Brink!

pcr · Post by **pcr** » Fri May 28, 2010 3:58 am

Well, nVidia came out with a new driver lat week (or at least that's when my PC told me about it) and now Wonderland series all works!! I had to change the refresh rate as the default was 60hz.

Now, however, I do get a stuttering screen - maybe the refresh rate still an issue? But at least I can play again

!!

jdl · Post by **jdl** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 9:06 pm

Sorry for bumping this, but I have a little issue here.. I've installed all the WDL games on my new laptop running Windows 7 by using the MS Game's Collection CD, and they all play fine. The only problem is that I can't locate the save files for any of the games! WA, the editor, and MOFI (localsaveoff) show up though. I've tried looking everywhere I can, and I've even used the search function in windows, but nothing is showing up. Can someone tell me where they're at?

EDIT: Nevermind, I figured it out. They're located at "C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\Midnight Synergy". This goes for MOFI too if you have localsaveon activated, only it may be located in Program Files (x86) instead.

Post by **Midnight Synergy** » Mon Apr 02, 2012 1:18 pm

Yes, newer Windows versions don't like anything saved in the "Program Files" directories. You can either install the game in a different directory (e.g. make a "C:\Games") or hunt down the location that jdl mentioned, where Windows mirrors the Program Files alterations.

|Cookie| · Post by **|Cookie|** » Mon Apr 02, 2012 1:44 pm

Midnight Synergy wrote:Yes, newer Windows versions don't like anything saved in the "Program Files" directories. You can either install the game in a different directory (e.g. make a "C:\Games") or hunt down the location that jdl mentioned, where Windows mirrors the Program Files alterations.

Yay!
MS posted again!

Sammy_P · Post by **Sammy_P** » Mon Apr 02, 2012 2:20 pm

Hey guys, I have a Windows 7, and there's no issue with all the Wonderland (even Adventures) games on it.

hoomdoom · Post by **hoomdoom** » Mon Apr 02, 2012 9:14 pm

I have one issue.

With my To The Palace series, it has been put on hold because random boxes are appearing out of nowhere and making the level impossible.

Also, in the WA editor, I keep getting random MAVs every so often.

I really want to finish my To The Palace series, and I know people have been waiting, so what should I do?

tyteen4a03 · Post by **tyteen4a03** » Tue Apr 03, 2012 9:35 am

Which graphics card do you use?

hoomdoom · Post by **hoomdoom** » Tue Apr 03, 2012 11:43 pm

tyteen4a03 wrote:Which graphics card do you use?

I have no idea...?

Windows 7 and Wonderland Games

Windows 7 and Wonderland Games

Same problem with Vista

Fixed!! Pretty much