Telltale Games

Mustrum Ridcully · 06/27/2009, 10:53 pm

Hello Guys!

A couple of months ago, there was an offer to get a free episode just for signing up to the newsletter. I did and chose Sam & Max Episode 201 (Ice Station Santa). Unfortunately I just can't start the game more than once. I wrote an email to the support [issue-15889], but the answer must have been lost in the mail... I didn't care too much then, since the boxed version of season 2 was to be released just weeks later. It has since been delayed twice and I just don't want to wait any longer. Maybe you guys have an idea.

The first time I start the game after installing, it works just fine: No crashes here, the game seems to be fully playable.

Unfortunately, I can't get it to start a second time. It crashes right after starting, doesn't even get to the main menu. Only a Windows message appears, telling me the program doesn't react anymore...
De- and reinstalling enables me to start it once more, but again: just once.
This happens in the demo, as well as in the unlocked full version...

Curiously enough, every other episode of season two (at least the demos) and season one (JoWood's DVD-Version) work fine without any problems.

I use a

Intel Core2 Q6700
nvidia GeForce 9800 GTX
8 GB RAM
Windows Vista 64bit

I hope you can give me some hints on how to solve that issue, can't wait to kick Santa's butt!

Will · 06/29/2009, 10:37 am

Hey Ridicully, here is Emily's response from way-back when that likely got lost in the mail: "Hi Ridicully,

One main difference between the first launch and subsequent launches is that the first time you launch, you don't have any save games. On later launches, you do. I'm wondering if something about the saved games (even just the auto save) for Ice Station Santa is causing problems.

The fact that you're using Vista 64 makes me wonder if this is a user account issue - we've noticed some weirdness with Vista 64 administrator and limited user accounts not behaving the same way they do in other versions of Vista and XP.

A few things to try:

Go to My Documents / Telltale Games / Sam & Max - Ice Station Santa. In this folder, you should see files ending in .save, one of which is the auto save. Try moving this to a different directory and see if the game will start now.

Try disabling UAC in your control panel. I'm not a Vista user so I'm not exactly sure how to do this, but these instructions might help: http://www.vista4beginners.com/How-to-disable-UAC

Let me know if you have any success after trying these things..."

Mustrum Ridcully · 06/30/2009, 08:42 am

Strange, the email must have been declared spam and deleted without notice...

Anyway, I tried deleting the savegame, but that didn't resolve the problem. But deactivating the UAC actually did! The game runs without an error, no matter how often I start it.

Which makes me wonder: Why does it start the first time - it obviously does not care about the savegames (or the configuration file, I've tried). Why aren't the other episodes affected? And why does my email provider not want me to know about this?

Well, anyway: Thanks for the quick answer and for your help!

Will · 06/30/2009, 10:37 am

Only Microsoft knows the answer to these questions...

But great you got it working! Happy gaming

optrirominiluikus · 07/19/2009, 08:06 am

Hate to bump this, but I have the same problem, only this time it's Abe Lincoln Must Die that causes the problems.
I run Vista 32-bit and have turned off UAC long ago. I get past the Gametap and Telltale splashes, but then it just crashes immediately when the third splash screen comes up. The Windows error message just says "SamMax104.exe has stopped working".

I tried moving the save files out of the way, but still couldn't start the game. Deactivating Daemon Tools gets the game started, but only if the save files are gone. Can't be arsed to play the game from start to finish in one sitting.

Any ideas?

quick specs: intel core2 quad q6600 @ 2,4 GHz / 3 GB ram / nvidia geforce 8800 GTX. All drivers updated yesterday (July 18th) and I reinstalled Windows last week, so it can't be OS clutter.

*DjNDB* · 07/19/2009, 09:39 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by optrirominiluikus

I tried moving the save files out of the way, but still couldn't start the game. Deactivating Daemon Tools gets the game started, but only if the save files are gone. Can't be arsed to play the game from start to finish in one sitting.

Any ideas?

quick specs: intel core2 quad q6600 @ 2,4 GHz / 3 GB ram / nvidia geforce 8800 GTX. All drivers updated yesterday (July 18th) and I reinstalled Windows last week, so it can't be OS clutter.

I think daemon tools is considered harmful by securom. However I would have expected a warning message like this and a graceful end of the program.

Did you install a new version of DirectX as well?

Is there any security software (antivirus/firewall) that could interfere with the game? It doesn't make much sense, but let's not rule it out. You never know.

optrirominiluikus · 07/20/2009, 08:00 am

You know, I'm not really sure I have reinstalled directX correctly. Lemme get back to you.

optrirominiluikus · 07/20/2009, 08:11 am

Gah. Installed directx 10 and then directx 9 on top of that (as per some recommendations I can't find on Google right now, but it improved performance in some other games) and I disabled all antivirus/firewall software, PLUS Winamp agent, windows Sidebar, the OpenOffice launcher, and some other stuff I had running. After reboot, of course.
Still nothing.

gonna try episode 105 and see if that works. Guess I'll have to play 104 all in one go later then ^_^

*DjNDB* · 07/20/2009, 10:33 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by optrirominiluikus

gonna try episode 105 and see if that works. Guess I'll have to play 104 all in one go later then ^_^

That would be interesting. Did the Episodes 1-3 work?

Will · 07/20/2009, 01:00 pm

It's also possible it's just bad data. You might want to try clearing out your browser's temp internet files and redownloading the game.

*DjNDB* · 07/20/2009, 09:40 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Will

It's also possible it's just bad data. You might want to try clearing out your browser's temp internet files and redownloading the game.

I have convenient instructions lying around for that:

Deleting temporary internet files:

Before downloading it again it is generally recommended that you
delete your browsers cache/temporary internet files so that it is not loaded from there:

In recent Firefox and Internet Explorer you can delete the cache/temporary internet files with CTRL-Shift-Del.

In Firefox you would only select "Cache".

In Internet Explorer only select "Temporary Internet Files".
Uncheck all other boxes in each case.

optrirominiluikus · 07/21/2009, 06:39 am

I played episode 1 on my old 700 mhz computer with windows xp, worked perfectly. And I played episodes 2 and 3 on this computer, but that was before I installed vista service pack 1 (and I installed service pack 2 just a couple of days ago).

I'm going to try installing from the DVD when I get home, see if that helps. If not, I'll try the temp file thing.

*DjNDB* · 07/23/2009, 11:27 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by optrirominiluikus

Hate to bump this, but I have the same problem, only this time it's Abe Lincoln Must Die that causes the problems.
I run Vista 32-bit and have turned off UAC long ago. I get past the Gametap and Telltale splashes, but then it just crashes immediately when the third splash screen comes up. The Windows error message just says "SamMax104.exe has stopped working".

Could you try if it works when you are disconnected from the internet?

It might be this bug I found.

optrirominiluikus · 07/23/2009, 02:00 pm

Holy jumping mother o' god in a side-car with chocolate jimmies and a lobster bib!

That seems to have done the trick. Have tried it several times, and it works every time as long as I'm not connected to teh interwebs.

Thanks a million, I never would have thought of that.

06/27/2009, 10:53 pm	#1
Mustrum Ridcully Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 2	Sam & Max 201 starts only once Hello Guys! A couple of months ago, there was an offer to get a free episode just for signing up to the newsletter. I did and chose Sam & Max Episode 201 (Ice Station Santa). Unfortunately I just can't start the game more than once. I wrote an email to the support [issue-15889], but the answer must have been lost in the mail... I didn't care too much then, since the boxed version of season 2 was to be released just weeks later. It has since been delayed twice and I just don't want to wait any longer. Maybe you guys have an idea. The first time I start the game after installing, it works just fine: No crashes here, the game seems to be fully playable. Unfortunately, I can't get it to start a second time. It crashes right after starting, doesn't even get to the main menu. Only a Windows message appears, telling me the program doesn't react anymore... De- and reinstalling enables me to start it once more, but again: just once. This happens in the demo, as well as in the unlocked full version... Curiously enough, every other episode of season two (at least the demos) and season one (JoWood's DVD-Version) work fine without any problems. I use a Intel Core2 Q6700 nvidia GeForce 9800 GTX 8 GB RAM Windows Vista 64bit I hope you can give me some hints on how to solve that issue, can't wait to kick Santa's butt!

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06/29/2009, 10:37 am	#2
Will Telltale Team Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Sausalito, CA Posts: 2,331	Hey Ridicully, here is Emily's response from way-back when that likely got lost in the mail: "Hi Ridicully, One main difference between the first launch and subsequent launches is that the first time you launch, you don't have any save games. On later launches, you do. I'm wondering if something about the saved games (even just the auto save) for Ice Station Santa is causing problems. The fact that you're using Vista 64 makes me wonder if this is a user account issue - we've noticed some weirdness with Vista 64 administrator and limited user accounts not behaving the same way they do in other versions of Vista and XP. A few things to try: Go to My Documents / Telltale Games / Sam & Max - Ice Station Santa. In this folder, you should see files ending in .save, one of which is the auto save. Try moving this to a different directory and see if the game will start now. Try disabling UAC in your control panel. I'm not a Vista user so I'm not exactly sure how to do this, but these instructions might help: http://www.vista4beginners.com/How-to-disable-UAC Let me know if you have any success after trying these things..."

06/30/2009, 08:42 am	#3
Mustrum Ridcully Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 2	Strange, the email must have been declared spam and deleted without notice... Anyway, I tried deleting the savegame, but that didn't resolve the problem. But deactivating the UAC actually did! The game runs without an error, no matter how often I start it. Which makes me wonder: Why does it start the first time - it obviously does not care about the savegames (or the configuration file, I've tried). Why aren't the other episodes affected? And why does my email provider not want me to know about this? Well, anyway: Thanks for the quick answer and for your help!

06/30/2009, 10:37 am	#4
Will Telltale Team Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Sausalito, CA Posts: 2,331	Only Microsoft knows the answer to these questions... But great you got it working! Happy gaming

07/19/2009, 08:06 am	#5
optrirominiluikus bitter and then some Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: kiruna, sweden Posts: 12	Hate to bump this, but I have the same problem, only this time it's Abe Lincoln Must Die that causes the problems. I run Vista 32-bit and have turned off UAC long ago. I get past the Gametap and Telltale splashes, but then it just crashes immediately when the third splash screen comes up. The Windows error message just says "SamMax104.exe has stopped working". I tried moving the save files out of the way, but still couldn't start the game. Deactivating Daemon Tools gets the game started, but only if the save files are gone. Can't be arsed to play the game from start to finish in one sitting. Any ideas? quick specs: intel core2 quad q6600 @ 2,4 GHz / 3 GB ram / nvidia geforce 8800 GTX. All drivers updated yesterday (July 18th) and I reinstalled Windows last week, so it can't be OS clutter.

07/20/2009, 08:00 am	#7
optrirominiluikus bitter and then some Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: kiruna, sweden Posts: 12	You know, I'm not really sure I have reinstalled directX correctly. Lemme get back to you.

07/20/2009, 08:11 am	#8
optrirominiluikus bitter and then some Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: kiruna, sweden Posts: 12	Gah. Installed directx 10 and then directx 9 on top of that (as per some recommendations I can't find on Google right now, but it improved performance in some other games) and I disabled all antivirus/firewall software, PLUS Winamp agent, windows Sidebar, the OpenOffice launcher, and some other stuff I had running. After reboot, of course. Still nothing. gonna try episode 105 and see if that works. Guess I'll have to play 104 all in one go later then ^_^

07/20/2009, 01:00 pm	#10
Will Telltale Team Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Sausalito, CA Posts: 2,331	It's also possible it's just bad data. You might want to try clearing out your browser's temp internet files and redownloading the game.

07/21/2009, 06:39 am	#12
optrirominiluikus bitter and then some Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: kiruna, sweden Posts: 12	I played episode 1 on my old 700 mhz computer with windows xp, worked perfectly. And I played episodes 2 and 3 on this computer, but that was before I installed vista service pack 1 (and I installed service pack 2 just a couple of days ago). I'm going to try installing from the DVD when I get home, see if that helps. If not, I'll try the temp file thing.

07/23/2009, 02:00 pm	#14
optrirominiluikus bitter and then some Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: kiruna, sweden Posts: 12	Holy jumping mother o' god in a side-car with chocolate jimmies and a lobster bib! That seems to have done the trick. Have tried it several times, and it works every time as long as I'm not connected to teh interwebs. Thanks a million, I never would have thought of that.