# Empire Earth 1 Display Problem



## Matress_of_evil

Hi, i'm new to these forums; I found them whilst Googling for help with a graphical problem i've got with Empire Earth 1. I've had the game since it came out in 2001. I admit I haven't played it in a while, but its a game I love playing, and it worked fine the last time I played it, but my computer has gone through several reformats and a graphics card upgrade since then.

To start with, my computer stats are as follows:

Advent T9003
Windows XP Home SP3
Pentium 4 540 Processor @ 3.2Ghz
1Gb RAM
Sapphire Radeon HD 3850 512mb AGP Graphics Card (Catalyst 9.6 AGP Hotfix drivers)
DirectX 9.0C
Empire Earth 1 version 2.0.

Now, when I load the game, the intro videos work fine. But as soon as I reach the menu screen, I encounter problems. All of the menu buttons lack any text, and when I move the mouse, I trail of mouse pointers is left behind on the screen.

I've made a screenie of this problem:



After a bit of trial and error, I managed to access the options screen to try changing the graphical options. First off, i set all of the graphics options to minimum. This made no difference, but I doubted they would since the options relate the ingame graphics.

I then tried changing the display options. There were two different Video Cards shown, each of which have two different 3D acceleration options. The default one is "Primary Display Driver" with "Direct3D acceleration", so I changed it to "Primary Display Driver" with "Direct3D Hardware TnL" acceleration. Doing this solved the problem with my mouse, but caused a new problem - the image was extremely flickery, and text was now present on the buttons, but the flickering made it difficult to read. The flickering continued even when I actually tried to play the game - all of the text continued to flicker.

I then tried changing the Video Card from "Primary Display Driver" to "Radeon 3800 HD Series" and set it to "Direct3D acceleration". The original problem with the glitchy mouse and missing text then came back.

So then I set it to "Radeon 3800 HD Series" and "Direct3D Hardware TnL" - and the game then crashed. A window called "Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime Library" appeared with the following error message:



> Runtime Error!
> 
> Program C:\Sierra\Empire Earth\Empire Earth.exe
> 
> This application has requested the Runtime to terminate in an unusual way. Please contact the application's support team for more information.


When I closed it, a second error Window appeared called Empire Earth: Empire Earth.exe - Application Error:



> The instruction at "0x211119d6" referenced memory at "0x0bcd57f0". The memory could not be "read".
> 
> Click OK to terminate the program.


I've had problems with games before, so I know a few tricks for getting them to work;


I checked for problems with DirectX, but there weren't any. (I also made sure it was up-to-date. It is)
I checked my drivers were up-to-date. (They are)
I lowered the graphics settings in the Catalyst Control Center to minimum. (It made no difference)
I tried lowering the acceleration settings in the advanced display properties tab in Windows. This made no difference, other than causing the game to crash during game load if I set it to the disable all Direct3D setting or on any settings lower than that.
I forced the screen refresh rate to 60hz in both Windows and in the Catalyst Control Center. (This did not help either)

I ran out of ideas at that point, so any help and ideas that people have would be greatly appreciated. :smile:


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## Lord Sirian

Hi and welcome to the forums.

Empire Earth is an old game yes? Do you know what OS it was designed for?


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## McNinja

It was designed for 98/2000/ME



> System Requirements:
> Windows 98, Me, or 2000 CD ROM
> Pentium® II - 350 MHz or higher processor
> 64 MB of RAM
> 450 MB of hard disk space; additional 100 MB of hard drive space for swap file
> Super VGA monitor supporting 1024 x 768 resolution
> AGP (4 MB) or PCI (8 MB) 3D video card that supports 1024 x 768, 16 bit color resolution
> CD-ROM drive
> Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device
> 28.8 Kbps modem (or higher recommended) for Internet or head-to-head play
> DirectX compatible sound card with speakers or headphones recommended


http://www.gamesurge.com/pc/reviews/empire.shtml


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## Lord Sirian

Try running the game in compatibility mode with 98 or 2000.

Right click on the "Empire Earth" launch icon -> Properties -> Click the "Compatibility" tab -> Tick "Run in compatibility mode" -> 2000 or 98


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## RockmasteR

the game will work fine on XP
the problem is your video card
it's so new to the game
do you have an integrated card in your motherboard?
if you do restart your PC and press "DEL" or "F2" (depends on your motherboard)
to enter BIOS
now try looking for an option to change your primary graphic card to integrated card, be sure to switch the Monitor's cable to the integrated card and then exit BIOS and when windows Starts just install your card's driver (the built-in) it should be in the Motherboard CD
the game should work well now


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## Matress_of_evil

I tried changing the compatibility settings. I can't believe I didn't think of doing that, but it wasn't any help:


Setting it to Windows 95 caused Windows Explorer to crash during game startup.
Setting it to Windows 98/ME caused Windows Explorer AND AVG Internet Security AND HP Digital Imaging Monitor to crash during game startup.
Setting it to Windows NT 4.0 (Service Pack 5) caused the game to crash during game startup.
Setting it to Windows 2000 resulted in the exact same symptoms I reported previously (Mouse glitches, lack of text, and flickering screens when i change the graphics options)

I have no idea if my computer has built-in graphics. When I bought it 6 years ago, it came with two Radeon 9250 adaptors on a single card. The second adaptor was supposed to be for watching TV or something. This card died four years ago, so I upgraded to a Radeon X1650 card. This card then died last year, so I upgraded to my current Radeon HD 3850 card.

I accessed the BIOS as you asked, but I couldn't see any option to change the graphics. I'm not very familiar with the BIOS though so I might have missed it. I've never had any installation CD's for the Motherboard either. I've just got six CD's that are for reformatting the computer.

Anyone have any other ideas?


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## TATAR

have u tried to download the latest patch ?? When i played this game on my PC.I had the same issue,when i dl the latest patch, it fixed the problem. try :wink:


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## McNinja

Empire Earth Patch from 1.0 to 1.4
http://www.fileplanet.com/88700/download/Empire-Earth-v1000---1040-Patch-(English)

Empire Earth Patch 1.4 - 2.0
http://www.fileplanet.com/118120/download/Empire-Earth-v2.0-Add-On-Patch


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## RockmasteR

if you need to install the latest patches you can find it here:
Patch 1.0.4.0 :
http://dlh.net/cgi-bin/dlp.cgi?lang=eng&sys=pc&file=ee1040en.zip&ref=ps

patch 1.0.4.0 to patch 2.0 :
http://dlh.net/cgi-bin/dlp.cgi?lang=eng&sys=pc&file=eearth20en.zip&ref=ps
EDIT:
MCninja was faster


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## TATAR

or u can try searching for them in u'r original game CD...I don't know if it's the latest one but it has to be there


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## Matress_of_evil

Hi guys, thanks for the ideas but i've already got the 2.0 patch installed. I actually said this in my first post. :1angel:


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## RockmasteR

look at the back of your PC case
if your motherboard has a built-in card then the Blue VGA Connector that you have in your HD3850 should be there in your motherboard
and that means that your motherboard has a built-in card
please check it and report back


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## TATAR

it's not a build-in video.here is he's video card: http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/download/?psn=0006&gid=4&sgid=336&pid=80 Matress of evil this is u'r video right?


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## RockmasteR

I know what VGA he has and no that is not the one in the picture
I'm just showing him the blue connector (where there is a red circle around it)
if the blue connector is found in the Motherboard (the one other than the video card) it means that the motherboard has an integrated card


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## TATAR

no no i'm not arguing with u (handshake) about u'r attached pic  .I know it's not his,but see my link i think this is his video and i think it's not buil-in.(but ufc maybe i'm wrong )


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## Cdx

Maybe its a corruption in the game files? The game isn't showing the menu. It could be a possibility.

Maybe try reinstalling the game. That is all i can think of at the moment.


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## SPARTAN VI

Found a fix today. I'm using a HD4870 on my desktop, and my laptop has a 9500m GS. Works fine on my laptop, but I get the same visual glitches on my desktop.

Solution was to turn off anti-aliasing settings on my ATI Catalyst Control Panel. Specifically, I switched it back to "Use App Settings" and anti-aliasing from Edge-Detect, to Box.


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## RockmasteR

so you fixed the problem?


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## SPARTAN VI

E


RockmasteR said:


> so you fixed the problem?


Yep, just set CCC settings to "use app settings" and/or turn AA off/box.


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## Cdx

Alright awesome Spartan VI,

If your problem has been solved, please scroll to the top of the page and click "Thread Tools", then select "Mark this thread as Problem Solved"

Cheers!


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## Lord Sirian

It isn't his thread Cdx.

I think SPARTAN VI was posting a fix for the OP to use.

Is that right?


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## RockmasteR

glad to hear that
enjoy your game :smile:


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## Cdx

Lord Sirian said:


> It isn't his thread Cdx.
> 
> I think SPARTAN VI was posting a fix for the OP to use.
> 
> Is that right?


OOOOOOOPS!!

Apologies! :4-dontkno


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## SPARTAN VI

Lord Sirian said:


> It isn't his thread Cdx.
> 
> I think SPARTAN VI was posting a fix for the OP to use.
> 
> Is that right?


Precisely. Was Googling this issue over the weekend and stumbled upon this thread. Decided to register here to share my solution.


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