Black screen and crash when I try to start TWAU and TWD on Windows 8.1
Hello, I purchased TWAU and TWD through Steam but can't get them to run on Windows 8.1. When I try to start the games the screen goes black for a second and then returns back to desktop. A friend of mine has pretty much the same device as me except he's using Windows 7 and he can play TWD without any problems. I've read all the discussions I could find on this issue both here and on the Steam forums and tried the suggestions, but to no avail.
List of what I've tried so far:
1. Updated all drivers to the latest version;
2. Pressed ALT+ENTER while the screen was black;
3. Clicked on "VERIFY INTEGRITY OF GAME CACHE..." in the Steam application;
4. Deleted and downloaded the game again;
5. Ran the games as administrator;
6. Ran the games in compatibility mode (all of them);
7. Disabled Steam Overlay;
8. Made sure that the Steam application is not set to a compatibility mode;
9. Disabled Steam Cloud;
10. Unplugged all speakers and mics;
11. Ran the games while Steam is in offline mode;
12. Ran the games with both the integrated and dedicated graphics processors;
13. Copied a low settings "prefs.prop" file in the games folders in the "Documents\Telltale Games\" folder (the games hadn't created such files);
14. Made sure all folders along the path to the Steam library and Documents are written with ASCII characters A-Z or a-z and not lookalikes;
15. Installed DirectX from the "_CommonRedist" folder.
Support Tool output - https://www.sendspace.com/file/jvhsyf
Please help!
Comments
After looking over your support tool information, I noticed that Steam is installed to your
\ drive, and The Wolf Among Us is installed to your C:\ drive. I recommend either moving Steam to your C:\ drive, or moving the Wolf file directory (including all files inside \Telltale Games\The Wolf Among Us) and then restart the game, and see if you are able to start the game successfully.
Thank you for your suggestion, but unfortunately it didn't work. I tried moving TWAU to Steam on my
\ drive. Then I tried uninstalling them both and doing a clean installation in "C:\Steam\". I also tried running the game with the antivirus and firewall turned off, but the result was the same. Nothing has changed, the game still crashes in the exact same way without giving any further information as to what the problem is.
Could you please run the Support Tool again, now that you have moved your file directories? I will then be able to look at your new set up, and assist you further.
My current setup is Steam in "D:\Games" and TWAU in "Steam\SteamApps\common" on the same drive.
Support Tool output - https://www.sendspace.com/file/ygza7y
If Steam is located on your
\ drive, the save file directory file path will need to be set up in the same drive. Currently it is set up as:
C:\Users\YOURNAME\Documents\Telltale Games\The Wolf Among Us
Please try either setting up that same file structure on your
\ drive, or installing the Steam Client to your C:\ drive.
Hi,
i have the same problem and tried all steves has mentioned. Hope you can help me with the file of the support tool!
https://www.sendspace.com/file/fjq9r8
thx,
ronny
That didn't work either.
First I installed the Steam Client to my C:\ drive and tried running the game - nothing.
Support Tool output - https://www.sendspace.com/file/xa1p8z
Then I changed the value of "SaveGameFolderName" in "TheWolfAmongUsInstallScript.vdf" from "The Wolf Among Us" to "..\\..\\..\\..\\Steam\\SteamApps\\common\\The Wolf Among Us\\Save" - same thing.
Support Tool output - https://www.sendspace.com/file/uls0e4
In both cases it did create the folders "SyncFs", "Data", "Meta" and "Temp", but no files. From what I've read in other posts, I understand that there should be a "prefs.prop" file somewhere in there, but I guess it doesn't get so far.
Please help!
My apologies, if the game is still not creating the proper file directory after installing Steam to your C:\ drive, please uninstall The Wolf Among Us from Steam, and delete any and all files associated with the game from your computer. Then do a fresh install of the game, and see if the proper file directory is then set up. (Please note that the prefs.prop file will not be created until you start a save file within the game.
Please make sure that your graphics card's drivers are updated to the latest version, then start the game again, and see if you are then able to play the game successfully.
Hi Mike, thx for the fast answer!
I installed the latest driver but the game still crashes! Any further ideas?
My apologies, after looking further into your particular system's graphics card, it appears that it is running under the minimum system requirements to run the game successfully. Where we require a minimum of 512mb of dedicated memory from a graphics card, your current card is running at 256mb. Unfortunately if updating your graphics card's drivers to the latest version did not resolve the issue, I would recommend either try playing on a computer above the minimum specs, or contact the retailer you purchased the game from, for a refund.
too bad... But thx a lot for your help!
OK, I uninstalled TWAU from the Steam Client again. Then I deleted the "Telltale Games" folder from "Documents" again. And then I did a fresh install again. Still all I get is about a second of black screen and then nothing.
If a fresh install did not resolve the issue, I recommend running the Support Tool file one more time, so that I can see your file directory after it has installed to the default path with the default install files, and I should be able to assist you further.
Support Tool output - https://www.sendspace.com/file/875ect
My apologies, it may be related to the game attempting to use your computer's Intel(R) HD Graphics 3000 graphics card, instead of your computer's more powerful NVIDIA GeForce GT 525M graphics card. Please make sure that your computer is using your more powerful graphics card to play the game by enabling the more powerful graphics card through Optimus. To do this, please follow the steps in This Article.
It uses the NVIDIA graphics card. As I said in my first post I've tried running the game with both graphics cards. It crashes the same way and creates the same event log entry regardless of which graphics card I choose.
I read in another post that the default install folder for the game is in the "Telltale Games" folder in "Documents". Is this only for the TTG version, because I don't think you can put steam games outside steam library folders?
Is the game really compatible with Windows 8.1?
Any other ideas?
Yes, the default file path for the game's save file directory is Documents\Telltale Games\The Wolf Among Us. This is for both the Steam version, and the TTG version.
If you own the Steam version, the game itself will install into the Steam file directory \Steam\steamapps\common\The Wolf Among Us\ while the file directory will always be created in your Documents folder.
Can you please clarify if your 'TheWolfAmongUsInstallScript.vdf' is set back to the default file path?
Yes "TheWolfAmongUsInstallScript.vdf" is set back to the default file path. I did a backup before messing around with the file. I also did a fresh install after that. However, I got the game working on an older computer. Both TWAU and TWD worked while installed on a drive different from the one where the "Users" folder is, and with both integrated and dedicated graphics processors. Apparently it's a compatibility issue, but now that I have an alternative I'm not going to struggle with it any longer.
Thank you for your time.
I hope you are now able to enjoy the game!