Need help activating downloaded Back to the Future episode 1 game

[Rodimus_2316]

I downloaded the game, installed it, activated it, tried pressing the "PLAY" button shown, then get this error message:

Error

Could not initialize Direct3D.
Make sure you have current video drivers and
close any other applications that might be running.
You will need a video card that supports at least pixel shader version 1.4.



I then click "ok", and get another one:

Error

Unfortunately, this error cannon be recovered.



What do I do? I think all my programs were closed. I use a Windowx XP PC. Please help.

Thanks.

[DjNDB]

Please check these solutions in the Support FAQ.

[Rodimus_2316]

"Color Quality" already set to "Highest (32 bit)".

What does "multiple displays" mean?

How do I check my graphics card?

Thanks again.

[DjNDB]

Multiple displays, as in two or more monitors.

The easiest way to check these things is if you post a dxdiag log as described below.

dxdiag
Windows XP: Go to your start menu and click on run. Type in "dxdiag" and hit enter
Windows Vista / 7: Press the windows key on your keyboard or click on the start menu. Type in "dxdiag" and hit enter.

Now click on the button that says "save all information".
It will prompt you to save a file. Save it where you can find it.

Then zip the file and attach it to a reply in this Thread.

[Rodimus_2316]

Originally Posted by DjNDB

Multiple displays, as in two or more monitors.

No, just have one.

The easiest way to check these things is if you post a dxdiag log as described below.

dxdiag
Windows XP: Go to your start menu and click on run. Type in "dxdiag" and hit enter

Did that, got this message:

DirectX Diagnostic Tool

Do you want to allow DxDiag to check if your drivers are digitally signed as logo'd by Microsoft's Windows Hardware Qualtiy Labs (WHQL)? This may cause Windows to connect to the internet to download new WHQL certificates. No information is retrieved from your system. We recommend answering "Yes" so that DxDiag has more complete information about your system.



"Yes" and "No" buttons appear below that.

Do I just hit "Yes", and do the rest talked about below?

Now click on the button that says "save all information".
It will prompt you to save a file. Save it where you can find it.

Then zip the file and attach it to a reply in this Thread.

[DjNDB]

Originally Posted by Rodimus_2316

"Yes" and "No" buttons appear below that.

Do I just hit "Yes", and do the rest talked about below?

Yes, that should work.

[Rodimus_2316]

Here's the zip file with the txt file inside. I asterixed out the Machine Name near the top, under System Information, but the rest is there. I hope that's ok.

[DjNDB]

Originally Posted by Rodimus_2316

I asterixed out the Machine Name near the top, under System Information, but the rest is there. I hope that's ok.

Sure, that's fine.

Your system is using a generic graphics driver that doesn't support Direct 3D.
We need to find out what graphics card you have installed.

According to your Mainboards specification it does have an integrated intel graphics chip, but there could be an actual graphics card used instead, so i can't know that for sure. Since they are mutually exclusive, we can just try if installing the integrated driver works, unless you know more about the installed graphics card.


Please try installing the intel graphics driver, and while you are at it, you should update the sound driver as well.

Then try if the game works.

Since your system is rather old, and intel graphics are not very powerful, it is still possible that it might not run, and if it does, you'll probably have to reduce the graphics quality settings in the game a lot.

[Rodimus_2316]

For the "intel graphics driver" link-download, I downloaded it, activated the Setup.exe file, but got this message:

Error

This computer does not meet the minimum requirements for installing the software.

Setup will exit.



For the "sound driver" link-download, I downloaded it, activated the AUD_allOS_D20001.0x_PV_IDTGUI_v105_Legacy.exe file, and it started to install, and I eventually came into a window that said:

InstallShield Wizard Complete

The InstallShield Wizard has successfully installed IDT Audio. Before you can use the program, you must restart your computer.

() Yes, I want to restart my computer now.

() No, I will restart my computer later.

Remove any disks from their drives, and then click Finish to complete setup.



However, a small window came up also, saying:

IDTSG

IDT Audio driver is inaccessable.
Please make sure it is installed and enabled.



And what am I supposed to get from "your Mainboards specification", or is that just a description of my computer-type's specs?

Thanks again.

[DjNDB]

The Mainboard specs link was just for reference. Sorry about the confusion.

It sounds like the sound driver might have installed correctly anyway.
Does your sound still work?


Let's try to find out what's really going on with your graphics card.

Does your computer have any detailed Manufacturer and Model name?

Also please run Unknown Device Identifier, select "File/Save" from the menu, and attach the "DeviceList.txt". You might need to zip it for size reasons.

I might be able to identify your graphics card that way.

[Rodimus_2316]

Ok, but first, for the sound driver part, do I click the "ok" button on the IDTSG message, and for the InstallShield Wizard Complete window (which has the top-title "Configuring IDT Audio Driver and Applications", forgot to say that) select "Yes, I want to restart my computer now", close my open programs, then click "Finish" anyway?

[DjNDB]

Originally Posted by Rodimus_2316

Ok, but first, for the sound driver part, do I click the "ok" button on the IDTSG message, and for the InstallShield Wizard Complete window (which has the top-title "Configuring IDT Audio Driver and Applications", forgot to say that) select "Yes, I want to restart my computer now", close my open programs, then click "Finish" anyway?

Yes, i would do it like that.

[Rodimus_2316]

Ok, computer restarted, and sounds seem to still work ok.

As for a detailed Manufacturer and Model name: There's a small square-area on the front of my hard drive that says "CYBERTRON" on it at the bottom, with a "CYBERTRONPC.COM" link at the top, and a triangle-image in the middle, with blue as the background color. Is that at least part of what you meant? What else do I check for this, and how?

From that site-link, which of the two things near the bottom of page do I download? I'm guessing the first, as it has the full name in it, but I'm not 100% sure.

[DjNDB]

I was hoping it was something easier to identify, such as DELL or HP, but let's skip that and use Unknown Device Identifier.

Please just download the first one.

[Rodimus_2316]

Ok, here's DeviceList.zip. Hope this is what you meant.

Also, when I turned on my computer today, an "IDT Audio Control Panel" window came up, and I could test my left and right speakers with it. Anything I should do with that?

[DjNDB]

Originally Posted by Rodimus_2316

Also, when I turned on my computer today, an "IDT Audio Control Panel" window came up, and I could test my left and right speakers with it. Anything I should do with that?

You can just close it.

The Devicelist did a great job. Here we have your Graphics card:

Chip: Nvidia G73 [GeForce 7300 GT]
VEN_10DE&DEV_0393&SUBSYS_C4453842&REV_A1

Now you can download and install this graphics driver, and try the game again.

[Rodimus_2316]

It works! Sometimes the dialog comes up faster that the characters lips are shown saying it, and once in a while it gets stuck a bit in parts for a second or two, but otherwise just fine! Thank you so much for helping me.

BTW, what upgrades should I get for my computer to play this better? Could you send me a list? Maybe I could get them installed at the Staples in my hometown?

Also, I forgot to asterix out some name-info in my Devicelist.txt file. Could you please remove it for me from this thread? And how do you save and exit the game?

Thanks again!

[DjNDB]

I removed the Devicelist as you requested.
I'm glad we finally got it working.

For a better gaming expierience i would first try reducing the "graphics quality" setting and disabling "Anti-Aliasing" in the games "advanced" graphics settings. You can play around with all graphics settings, until you get the best performance/quality compromise.
You get to the Menu by pressing the ESC Key. There you can change the settings or load/save.


If you want to play with the highest settings a new Graphics card should be enough.
There's a wide range of models and it depends on how much money you want to spend. Judging from your computers initial state i would assume you don't play 3D games a lot, therefore a card in the low or mid price range could be a good choice.

I can't really promise you which is the cheapest card that runs the games perfectly in your screens resolution with all settings set to highest. For that your best option is probably to ask other users in the BTTF Forum about their experiences with different graphics cards.

Just to name some cards at least, I think that the "Nvidia GeForce GTS 450" or "AMD Radeon HD 6670" might work well, probably even cheaper ones.

You might need a new power supply for some graphics cards too, but it's best to let the people who upgrade your computer deal with the details.