Unknown Exception

[unmerged(98819)]

I found Diplomacy at Fry's for 10 bucks, thought I would give it a try. I installed it, ran it and when I press escape at the welcome screen to skip it, the game stops and I get an 'Unknown exception' error message.
Same thing after upgrading to patch 1.3
Any suggestions?

 

[Nikolai II]

I suppose the same thing happens even if you don't press escape?

Tried using an older compability mode?

 

[unmerged(98819)]

I suppose the same thing happens even if you don't press escape?

Tried using an older compability mode?

Yes, same even if I don't escape. What is an older compatibility mode and how do I use it?

 

[Nikolai II]

You go to the default install directory and find the .exe file there. Right-click it, select "properties". There you should be able to find "compability", either as its own tab, or under some other tab. A drop-down list will allow you to choose things like "Windows 95" or "Windows 98" - selecting Win95 will make many games work that otherwise would not.

 

[unmerged(98819)]

Tried it, still no luck. Any other ideas?

 

[Nikolai II]

The next tip (according to AndrewT) is to see if it is connected to the "Binkplayer" issue that hounds Paradox games.

The usual advice is to rename the directory that the movies and binkplayer are in; in EU2 it's AVI but in EU3 it's MOVIES. So look for a dir under the Diplomacy dir that has the movies and the binkplayer and rename it, see if that helps.
(Renaming that directory makes it so that it isn't addressed in the startup, so the exe bypasses it and moves on straight to the game itself)

 

[unmerged(98819)]

Still no luck. I think that is because the directory that has the binkplayer and movies also has a ton of sub directories that have other important files.

The directory is GFX and it has the files binkplay, avalon.bik, atari.bik, hasbro.bik, paradox.bik, loadingscreen.x, progressanimation.x and a bunch of TGA files.

Then the sub directories in GFX are avatars, interface, FX, map, menues.

When I change the name of GFX I still got the same error message except this time I got it instantly without the initial screens of paradox interactive etc.
_____

There is one other folder called AVI which has only one file called publisher.bik
When I changed the name of this folder I still got the same error message in the same way as in the original post.

 

[Nikolai II]

Hmm.. sounds like an alternate setup..

Right now I get a lot of "Forum busy" while trying to look for old solutions.. could you try renaming only the binkplay file and not the entire folder and see if that is any use?