Todays Giveaway of the Day - 4 Elements Premium - crashes every time I open it. May I please have a copy that doesn't crash on me every time I try to play it.
Todays Giveaway of the Day - 4 Elements Premium
(15 posts) (9 voices)-
mikiem2
Moderator4 Elements uses Direct 3D graphics -- monitoring setup in an XP Mode VM [Virtual Machine] without D3D support it crashed every time. Running in regular Windows with D3D support, it's run fine on one PC with Vista HP 32, & on this PC in win7 64 & XP Pro 32. Unfortunately the log.htm file that 4 Elements writes isn't much help -- it didn't show anything useful after crashing in the VM -- so all I can guess is that you're having similar D3D problems, but that is just a guess.
You could try checking to see if your PC or laptop graphics supports D3D -- the system requirements I found on the Playrix site say DX8 or above -- & maybe make sure DirectX is installed & working [Microsoft's download center has a Direct X web setup that'll check to make sure you're up to date, & update Direct X as needed]. If your graphics hardware shares memory with the motherboard in your system, you might try adjusting that to give the graphics more RAM. If you find your hardware should support DX 8, you might want to check the version of your graphics drivers [try not to run the ones that come from Microsoft, but look for the full versions from the hardware or chip maker], & look at the settings for your graphics card or chip -- ATI for example has their Catalyst Control Center with several D3D related settings or adjustments, though the 3 installs I tried all worked with ATI at default settings.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Whiterabbit-uk
Games GuruThanks mikiem2, not been able to visit the forums all day due to the computer woes, lol. :(
Posted 12 years ago # -
Hi, ben, welcome to the forums.
Sorry to hear that you are one of the users who have got problems with today's Playrix game.
It is impossible, that you got a different build as all the other users, therefore it is not possible to send you another one now.I can't tell you what causes the problems, a lot of users are happy with this game, others not.
I have experienced all the mentioned glitches you can read about in the comments, and even more.
Not only that my system showed me the blue screen of death (can't remember when I last have seen that on this PC) the crash even deleted all restore-points.
I don't know what else is broken or deleted - the game 4 Elements is still there and does start.
Tried to uninstall it with Revo - but Revo can't find it.
Uninstalled it manually.The positive aspect: my brimful C: drive has suddenly more than 68 GB of space left (the game was on my L: drive.)
Sorry, that I couldn't help you, maybe somebody else has any idea, but then we have to know what OS you have (XP,Vista,Win7) and if there was any error message or warning (I didn't get any).
Even though Whiterabbit doesn't like to hear it, this "Premium" Version of the game has some glitches, e.g. when typing certain letters in the player's name, hotkeys are activated. It's incompatible with some system set-ups.
There are too many complaints as if this is just some misfortune for a few users.
I now regret that I "updated" the old version of this nice game; I will reinstall it, but my game stats are of course lost.I only hope, that nothing more important is deleted - those missing 68 GB make me somewhat uneasy...
graylox
Posted 12 years ago # -
After I posted my comment, I saw that Mike has an idea and tried to help. Thanks for that.
I cannot speak for ben, but I don't think that my graphics card or the related drivers are insufficient for this game.
And that would not explain the hotkey bug; e.g. typing "1" for the player's name started immediately the game in the middle of a picture - not from the beginning.graylox
Posted 12 years ago # -
mikiem2
ModeratorTried to uninstall it with Revo - but Revo can't find it.
Uninstalled it manual.4 Elements just adds 2 folders, Playrix Entertainment\4 Elements under Program Files or Program Files (x86), & also under All Users App/Application Data. If you delete those 2 folders & any shortcuts you should be good.
... the crash even deleted all restore-points... those missing 68 GB make me somewhat uneasy...
Hopefully that data loss was just the shadow copies of files that were stored in or for the Restore Points. In XP you can see the restore point data in the "System Volume Information" folder -- in Vista/7 it stays hidden -- & the way you usually see it's taking up a lot of space is when you clear it. Windows Disk Cleanup [Start Menu -> Accessories -> System Tools] lets you delete all but the latest Restore point -- since many Restore Points are set by Windows & are fairly useless I like to set a new Restore point when all is well, then delete all the old ones. TO clear all the Restore Points I just turn it off before a disk/partition image backup & then back on afterwards -- it makes a big difference in the total size of the backup archives.
If you're getting tight for disk space otherwise, graylox, you might want to check into getting rid of some older, rarely used Windows files. Research tools to get rid of backups from service packs & other such updates, plus you can get rid of many if not all of the folders in Windows named $NtUninstallKBxxxxxx -- I'm in XP Pro right now, & I'm looking at several that have been there for years & years... the odds are Zero that I'll uninstall those hotfixes tomorrow. If you installed & still have One Click Pro from the other day, that had a feature that let you move installed apps/games to another drive/partition, though I'd definitely back up first. It searches for any shortcuts & registry entries that have the old path & changes them to the new path.
Sorry I couldn't be more help on 4 Elements -- I actually wished it would misbehave for me so I might see what's happening, but it ran fine. The only thing I could think of was if those with keyboard problems were using different keyboard character sets or different language versions of Windows -- I have heard of strange glitches in those cases with other apps/games.
Posted 12 years ago # -
NolafromNZ
MemberHi Mike, A little off topic I'm afraid, but I read your post to Graylox with great interest. I am having a problem with System Restore in that it only makes one restore point per month approx and I would be very interested to know how much space it is taking as System Restore is monitoring 4 drives (I have two external drives, as well as 2 internal drives), How exactly do I find the System Volume Information folder. I have done a search on that name and it isn't coming up at all. Any help you can give me will be very much appreciated.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Mike's answer about" System Restore points" will be moved to a new thread:
http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/10380
Please post all related questions and answers to that topic over there.
Otherwise it will get buried here.
Thanks.graylox
Posted 12 years ago # -
mikiem2
ModeratorWhen I closed the game and saved it I was on the 2nd book. When I started the game today it went back to the beginning again. Any ideas why this is happening. Using a netbook with a Windows 7 Starter operating system.
4 Elements saves profile info in a folder under ProgramData in win7 [it's also duplicated under All Users AppData], so the game needs permission to write to that Playrix Entertainment folder. You might try running 4 Elements as administrator -- right-click the .exe file, select properties, then go to the compatibility tab -- or you can try setting the permissions for the ProgramData\ Playrix folder -- right-click the folder, select properties, go to the security tab, then select Users in the top 1/2, & if the bottom 1/2 doesn't show full control, click the Edit button & give Users Full Control.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Oztazdevil
MemberYes I'm having the same problem,everytime I save my game and click save & exit it says your progress will be saved and then when I come back to it I have to start over.I was already up to section 3 in Book 2,I don't want to keep starting over and I couldn't find any of the folders that were mentioned either. It's a good game if it would save the progress!
Posted 12 years ago # -
mikiem2
ModeratorI couldn't find any of the folders that were mentioned either.
In XP the profile should be in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Playrix Entertainment\4 Elements\ & its \Log sub-folder. In Vista/7 that Playrix\4 Elements folder should be in C:\ProgramData\ . You might have to set Windows to show you hidden files/folders by opening Windows Explorer, & going to the Tools menu -> Folder Options -> View tab. In that 4 Elements folder you should find GameInfo.xml -- it can be opened in Notepad, & has info on game profile name, level etc. You should see log.htm in the Log sub-folder. I think 4 Elements needs to be able to read & write to both. In win7 setting the permissions so Users have full control over the 4 Elements folder & everything in it will hopefully take care of that.
Or if it's easier, right-click the shortcut you use to start the game, & the context menu *might* have a Run as Administrator option. If you select Properties from that context menu, you *might* be able to click the Advanced button & get another window where you can check a box for Run as administrator. Having those options isn't consistent -- sometimes I see them, sometimes not. Looking at that same properties window, you should be able to see the path to the game's .exe file -- you can go there in Windows Explorer, or click the Open File Location button which does the same thing... If you right click 4 Elements.exe in that folder, & select Properties, the Compatibility tab lets you check a box for Run as administrator. If Users don't have permission to access those two files [1 xml & 1 htm], running as administrator puts the game into a higher level which hopefully has permission.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Just a little hint that might make it easier to see ProgramData. That's where Vista/7 put the shortcut menus. Just right click on a shortcut (or shortcut folder) in your menu and select "Explore". It will open an Explorer window with ProgramData open (even if it is hidden normally).
Then just click on ProgramData (on the left) and look at the right side to find "Playrix Entertainment".
It's just a way to get to a specific hidden folder (only for ProgramData or Appdata) without having to change the explorer parameters and then having to remember to set them back.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Delilah
MemberSee this post for the "save" problem (aka the "profile" problem):
http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/10376#post-94776
Posted 12 years ago #
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