Problem loading AGS games

[Achejay]

Hi all.  I'm just getting started with AGS.  I am playing through a few before I start to make my own, and I am having problems loading most of the games.  The game just comes up as a blank screen.  If I play in a window, the view only changes when I move the window. 

I'm running WinXP professional on this laptop.  Resolution, buffer size, etc, seems to make no difference.  It may be something to do with the refresh rate, or the .cfg files.  I've tried the FAQ, knowledge base, and tutorial, but couldn't find this problem covered

Thanks!

[SilverWizard_OTF]

Maybe it's because your (maybe) low RAM.
How much RAM do you have (AGS editor needs 32MB RAM, but i have seen AGS games that need 128MB RAM, like Quest for Glory 1 1/2.)

Also, check if these games work to a PC. If not, it just means that they are destroyed files.

[Achejay]

I have 256MB of RAM.  My computer is less than 2 years old.  The games all seem to be PC-friendly.  Hmm.  Thanks anyway, Silver

[Barbarian]

You might consider installing the most recent drivers for your graphics card and/or as well as a recent version of DirectX.

And it's always wise to make a System Restore Checkpoint before installing any new software/drivers.

[Edwin Xie]

Do you even have a graphic card? Cause you need one for games. And uh, bah, whatever barbarian said.

[Achejay]

Yes, I have a graphics card.  I have only had this problem with AGS games.  All others seem to be okay.  I will update the driver, though.

[Scorpiorus]

Hmm, and what about music, do you hear anything? I ask because it seems to me like it is the game window that isn't refreshed (until you move a window and thus force refreshing). As Barbarian already said upgrading the DirectX and video card drivers might help. Also try setting your windows desktop a different colour depth, then run a game windowed and see if it makes any difference.

[dave p]

which games are the ones that don't work? i seem to remember something about old ags versions having this sort of bug, does it work in new games like 7 days a skeptic and apprentice 2?

[Achejay]

I was actually trying to play 7 days a skeptic.  Music was fine, graphics- not so much.

I fixed it, though.  This computer was formerly used as a programming machine for surveying software, so all of the graphics settings were set to the lowest possible.  Upping the refresh rate made everything okay!

Thanks again for all of your help!

[SerenaWSU]

I'm having the same problems

I just bought my computer 2 months ago.  It is the top of the line with the newest Direct X.  Some games it plays fine, others like Kings Quest II and a bunch of others (I can't remember all of their names) it will play the music but nothing will happen. 

I've gone into options and tried to fix the problem.  I can play Kings Quest II on this itsy bitsy window and see everything, but it does not like it when I play full screen.

What am I doing wrong.  I've tried to read everyone's solutions for this problem and none have worked so far.

It's also not the ram, I have a gig of ram so no problem there.

[Snarky]

If you haven't already tried it, run winsetup.exe and set the resolution to 640x400. Possibly your graphic card doesn't support 320x200 mode.

You could also play with combinations of this and "force alternate letterbox resolution".

If this doesn't work, at least it will allow you to play the game in a window twice as big!

[SerenaWSU]

Thank you,,
  I've tried the screen 640 X 400, but I am not sure I've tried the other thing.  I'll give it a go. 

Thank you again

[The Cheat]

I had the same problem, but fixed it! I went to my ATI display settings, troubleshoot-tab, and adjusted "hardware acceleration" slider to max.