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Sonic Adventure DX Doesn't Work on Windows 10?

Discussion in 'General Sonic Discussion' started by DustinVG, Feb 19, 2017.

  1. DustinVG

    DustinVG

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    So, I got a GPD Win (a small Windows-based portable) a few days ago and one of the games I decided to try on it was Sonic Adventure DX, specifically the 2004 port. It didn't end up working, which was disappointing, but not unexpected. However, trying it on another Windows 10 computer produced the same results. Specifically, the game just outright refuses to run. No error message, no crash, just a brief moment of the window appearing and then vanishing just as quickly.

    I tried using the Mod Loader, but it didn't seem to affect much. I also tried installing DirectX 9, which also did nothing.

    Has anybody else had this problem or a similar one?
     
  2. SF94

    SF94

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    I run it on Windows 10 almost daily. Probably a software or hardware compatibility issue.
     
  3. Pigeon

    Pigeon

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    Were you attempting to run it off the CD (i.e. without a no-CD patch/the option in the modloader)? I easily run it on my Windows 10 machine on the modloader, but I'm thinking it might use disc DRM that Win10 dropped compatibility for, like Sonic Heroes did. I actually had to download a no-CD crack for Heroes to get it to work on my laptop, as it wouldn't run off the disc, with a very similar issue to what you described. Obviously I may be wrong, I'm just speaking from my experiences.
     
  4. MainMemory

    MainMemory

    Kate the Wolf Tech Member
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    The European release uses SecuROM, the Japanese release uses Safedisc, and the US release only has a simple file check. Regardless of which version you have, you can replace the sonic.exe file with this cracked US one and it should work.
     
  5. DustinVG

    DustinVG

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    Yeah, I was using the no-CD option in the mod loader. The GPD Win lacks a CD drive, so I suppose you kinda have to.

    To be honest, I actually forgot to make sure the exe I was using was cracked. I guess I just assumed, but you know what they say about that.

    However, using the cracked exe isn't seeming to make a difference, so I'm really perplexed.
     
  6. E-122-Psi

    E-122-Psi

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    I tried it on my newer Win 10 laptop and had a similar problem, though just went back to my older one I kept to be safe.

    I heard something about it having difficulty running at a high screen resolution or something, maybe try reducing it through Control Panel and see if that does anything at all.
     
  7. DustinVG

    DustinVG

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    Yeah, that worked. Ugh, that's really annoying, but I suppose it answered my question.
     
  8. MainMemory

    MainMemory

    Kate the Wolf Tech Member
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    The only resolution-related reason I've seen for the game outright failing to start is if it's in real fullscreen at a resolution your graphics card doesn't support natively (such as when I tried running it at 320x240). As far as I'm aware windowed mode and the mod loader's windowed fullscreen option don't have this problem.
     
  9. SF94

    SF94

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    Right, SecuROM. I don't remember which, but starting with either Windows 8 or 10, SecuROM no longer functions and will just silently fail in most cases. I've been using the US release for so long though, it didn't even cross my mind.
     
  10. DustinVG

    DustinVG

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    Alright, little update on this. Using windowed fullscreen on the regular Windows 10 laptop, I see a brief moment of a white screen (with a border if playing on a lower resolution), but regardless of this or windowed mode, the application still stops nearly immediately if not on a lower resolution.

    However, I may have been mistaken about something about the GPD Win running it. Namely, I don't even get that little flash of window. The game just never runs.

    In addition, when you attempt to use the "save and run" option in the mod loader while using the Win, the program barfs up some kind of error at you. Something about "waiting for input idle" or somesuch (I can get the more detailed error if anybody wants it). The program doesn't outright crash, but it never actually runs SADX that I can tell.
     
  11. MainMemory

    MainMemory

    Kate the Wolf Tech Member
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    The error just indicates that the program never got to the point where it was processing input (keyboard/mouse events), meaning it likely exited very early. I can't say why it's crashing on the regular laptop though, I've gotten SADX to run at resolutions higher than native on my computer under windowed fullscreen. Perhaps Direct3D is getting a response from the graphics card it doesn't like somewhere, which causes SADX to abandon execution.
     
  12. E-122-Psi

    E-122-Psi

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    Is it worth noting that the laptop I have which it refuses to run on also refuses to install Direct X within the same disc?
     
  13. MartiusR

    MartiusR

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    I'm guessing that there is problem on two levels - one with launching this game on Windows 10 at all (with all standard issues due to using "modern" components inside your PC etc.), second one with GPD Win in particular. In this second case I'm guessing that it can have something to do with supported screen resolutions - it's quite common that games which requires some resolution which is not supported by device you're using simply refuses to launch, without any error (I had such issue a couple of years ago on my netbook, which wasn't supporting (by default) screen resolution 1024x768, which for some games was an obstacle to be launched.

    However, basing on my experience, I can tell that GPD Win can be quite picky about even those screen resolutions, which should be in theory supported. My example with Sonic Riders and Sonic Heroes - first one is working absolutely fine on GPD Win in screen resolution 800x600, second one (after choosing 800x600) is launching... but game is displayed on some cutted "stripe" (there is shown desktop on the rest of screen) turned on 90 degrees (fortunately, there is solution on this issue). It partially has something to do, that in theory GPD Win is working (by default) not in 1280x720, but in 720x1280 (I've got no idea how does it even work, because in display settings it's clearly showing 1280x720, screen proportions are also suggesting such resolution).

    Nevertheless - some solution may be using DxWND (application allowing to force games to launch in declared resolution) or DgVoodoo (don't worry about this "voodoo" in name, because it's software very useful for problematic games, both 2D and 3D, it includes also some tools to deal with screen resolution, as well as with some conflicts on "directX/direct3D" field).
    Or maybe even changing screen resolution in game's settings could help (if they're available in some sort of launcher, not "inside" the game).

    Sadly, there is possibility that even if anything of these will work, that you'll get to the point where you're in case of launching this game on "standard" laptop with Windows 10. But I would recommend to try anyway, I'm genuinly surprised that quite a lot games even from windows 95/98 era are working fine under windows 10, even on such unusual device as GPD Win.