US2 startup issue

[DaringPear]

I just bought Universe Sandbox 2 (yay!), but when I try to start it, the program runs for an instant, but then it spontaneously ends, and its task on the task manager ends as well. Is there a way to fix this? (I run 64-bit windows 7) I have also attached the contents of the crash folder to this post.

[C7]

Sorry to hear you're having issues. From the log it looks like the graphics device is crashing pretty much immediately, before we even load most of our code.

Just to confirm, what GPU are you currently using in your machine? From the logs it looks like an AMD / ATI card. If you could attach the output of a dxdiag for me, it would be useful to see what hardware you're running.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/run-directx-diagnostic-tool

Also, do you mind running through these startup options to see if they help at all?

http://universesandbox.com/forum/index.php/topic,13207.0.html

[DaringPear]

Ok. I've uploaded the file. So far, running it in admin mode doesn't work, and the "Verify Integrity" didn't work either. Compatibility mode also failed.

[C7]

Checking your logs, seems DXDIAG is reporting errors. Can you run with the command option "dontskip" and post the output?

DxDiag Previously: Crashed in Direct3D (stage 2). Re-running DxDiag with "dontskip" command line parameter or choosing not to bypass information gathering when prompted might result in DxDiag successfully obtaining this information

It's quite likely this a GPU driver problem, if DXDIAG is giving errors, or there may be some issue with the GPU itself. Hopefully it will be able to recover more data for us.

Can you try to do a full driver re-install? You can get the drivers for your GPU at the link below. According to logs your GPU is a AMD RADEON HD6530D

http://support.amd.com/en-us/download/

Instructions for a clean install
http://support.amd.com/en-us/kb-articles/Pages/catalyst-windows-install.aspx

[The Ventifact]

I did a little research on your Radeon HD6530D. The GPU is integrated with your CPU. Or more specifically, its an APU+GPU combination. APU's (Accelerated Processing Units), are generally less powerful than larger, faster CPU's like i5's or i7's, but that's okay.

Your problem looks to be coming from your integrated graphics, and since your HD 6530D is on the low-end side of graphics cards, it may be having a hard time running it, hence the crashing. I would say that US2 doesn't need a REALLY expensive computer to run properly, but most modern games shouldn't be ran on integrated graphics. You can, and people have, so it's possible.

[DaringPear]

Well, when I try to run dxdiag without bypassing anything, it immediately stops responding and shuts down. Unfortunately, the driver installation software freezes halfway through the download, and doesn't continue. Is it now possible to get a refund as none of my options are working?

[DaringPear]

The Ventifact, what do you suggest I do now?

[DaringPear]

Well, I finally managed to re-install my graphics driver, and there is no change.

[C7]

If your DX DIAG is failing, there's something pretty wrong with DirectX on your machine. If we try to access any of the features that are crashing the test, it will crash the game as well. There's no easy way to troubleshoot directX either, since it's an integrated feature with Windows. I was hoping it was the drivers, since that's a lot less of problem to fix.

Luckily, Unity supports OpenGL rendering. So we can test that instead, I was just hoping to be able to get more data from the diagnostic, so we could potentially figure out what exactly is going wrong. Thanks for trying the DXDIAG again.

In your Steam Library, Right click the game, go to properties, and select the "General" tab. In there, there's a option labeled "Set Launch Options". In the text box that comes up, paste this line

-force-opengl

Once you've done that, please post your .log and output file again, and let me know if it works for you.

[The Ventifact]

Do other games you have crash like this? Is it behaving in similar manner? If you've got other games that crash or are receiving DirectX errors, something is wrong with the GPU.

You might be able to fix your DX error by reinstalling DirectX. Microsoft says you can install or reinstall depending on the situation. However, with my immediate search, I didn't see anything specific about DX errors, most of those come from application issues, but your particular problem doesn't look like either. Must be something else.

Here, you can try doing this:

https://support.microsoft.com/kb/179113/

Try one of those links and see where you get. Moreover, don't choose a download/installer that isn't for your operating system. For example, if you have Windows 7, choose DirectX for Windows 7, so on and so forth. If the above doesn't work, do a little bit of research yourself and see if you can find a solution from someone or something. It doesn't even need to be related to US2, DX crashes, errors, and problems can come up for all sorts of games.

Just because it's a fix for say, Battlefield 4, it doesn't mean that it won't fix it for Universe Sandbox. I will provide a secondary resource for you to try.

Try searching for a solution on the Tom's Hardware forums, there is quite a few knowledgeable people on there. Type in the search bar like "DirectX error" or "DirectX crashing." Word it a few different ways, the results show up different sometimes.

Good luck, man. Hope you can get this working, it would be a shame to miss out on a really unique simulator like Universe Sandbox 2.

[DaringPear]

After trying fix after fix, I now firmly believe that the game cannot run on my computer. Is it possible that this issue can be fixed in a later update? Anyway, I request a refund.

[The Ventifact]

After trying fix after fix, I now firmly believe that the game cannot run on my computer. Is it possible that this issue can be fixed in a later update? Anyway, I request a refund.

Giant Army is pretty good at getting updates out. They're slower than say, devs from Ubisoft or EA. There has been at least an update every 1 month or so. And it's possible in the next update it could fix your problem. Last I heard, they're trying to improve performance and compatibility. This game is in alpha, so it's kind of a given that it won't run properly (or in this case, not at all). They'll get it running on more hardware soon enough. Sorry you feel like it's a waste of money. :(

Giant Army will get things straightened out in due time. After all, each update only makes the game better, big or small, it's a step in the right direction. 

[Jar]

After trying fix after fix, I now firmly believe that the game cannot run on my computer. Is it possible that this issue can be fixed in a later update? Anyway, I request a refund.

DaringPear, I just emailed you about a refund.