Can't play SEV

[Escaflowne]

I played SEV many moons (and patches) ago, then I stopped. Now I'm trying it again and I can't get it to play correctly.

I've uninstalled and re-installed off the CD with no errors. Then I applied the 1.66 patch, then I added the Balance Mod patch.

I click on the desktop icon and I get the opening menu, where you can setup video options, start the game, various other otions. These buttons work.

As soon as I press "New Game" my screen goes blank. If I run in windowed mode I can close the screen, if I leave it as any resolution at all then I can't close it, Task Manager won't come up, I can't kill the process, and all I can do is reboot the computer.

I've tried so many combinations of video options I've completely forgotten what the default settings are. Also for some reason I've never been asked to input the CD-Key.

I've checked for new drivers but no change in result. I've uninstalled the game again, installed off the CD again and am using the base 1.00 version of the game with the same result. Anyone have an answer?

Thanks!

[Captain Kwok]

In setup, try switching video memory to SAFE.

[Escaflowne]

Tried with all 3 3D options in Safe mode, with Low Graphics and Low Background detail...

Still borked all 3 times. What the heck am I doing wrong? SE4 off the CD works perfectly fine. SE5 starts... it just won't play.

[Suicide Junkie]

Does setting the game rez to "windowed" do anything?

[Ed Kolis]

And speaking of resolution, what is your Windows desktop resolution? 1024x768 is the minimum - 800x600 and 1360x720 are insufficient.

[Escaflowne]

Setting the game window size to "Windowed" allows to to close the SEV window when it crashes.

If I set SEV to use a resolution then the only way I can get back after attempting to open the game is by rebooting the computer.

My desktop resolution is normally 1280x1024.

[capnq]

What OS are you running, and have you installed any Service Packs since the last time SEV worked?

[Escaflowne]

I'm running XP Home SP2.

The only thing that has changed since it last worked is I change my video card since the old one died.

[Romulus68]

drop your resolution way down. Just to see if you can get it to load. like 1024x768

Change the resolution on your machine itself and not just SEV. I have a GeForce 8800gts with a 20" wide screen monitor. I must change my Video resolution before I open SEV even though I tell SEV to use a lower resolution.

[Escaflowne]

Tried dropping the resolution of my monitor, both at the game setup and on my actual monitor. Tried 1024x768, hell I tried 800x600 and it failed.

I'm completely out of ideas. Unless I can find a fix I may just be forced to go back to SE4... not a terrible loss.

[se5a]

hate to ask the obvious question, but have you tried updating or rolling back your video driver?

[capnq]

se5a said: hate to ask the obvious question, but have you tried updating or rolling back your video driver?

He mentioned checking for updates in the OP.

I'd be hesitant to downgrade a driver just to get one game running, for fear of breaking others that already work. Though I suppose it would depend on how badly I wanted to play the game.

[se5a]

rolling back drivers is pretty common, and unless you recently updated a driver to get a game running in the first place, it's not likely to break another game.