Please Help with Prey

Im having some problems with the game Prey. I just bought it, the limited eddition, with the DVD, everything went as planned, I installed it, and when I want to start the game though, the screen just goes black, then reverts back to my desktop. I checked the processes, and I't doesn't show the game. I have reinstalled it, and everything should work, right? The demo worked for me by the way. This is with the computer in my sig. Any help would be appreciated.

 

Bump, Please any help would be appreciated. I just patched the game, and it still isn't working. I fear that it is my computer, but I don't understand, because my computer can play the demo just fine.

 

Go to Microsoft and make sure to patch Direct X 9.0C up to date:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/directx/default.mspx

Also make sure you have the most up to date video drivers you can get for your card. Your Video card may be a little "light" for Prey. If there is a way to run Prey in safe mode...try running it in a lesser resolution than your screen...

Bob

 

Interesting. Is this on your computer in your sig? If you've tried updating your drivers from laptopvideo2go.com, patched the game, blah blah blah, then try this, this has been a problem for many people and might solve your problem, http://forums.3drealms.com/vb/showthread.php?t=22818 . However, apparently, it was meant to be fixed during September so just use Windows Update first. Here's what you should do.

1. Get all the hotfixes off of Microsoft (or Windows) Update
2. Update your drivers
3. Update the game (my bad, didn't thorougly read your post, sorry!)
4. If all of the above doesn't help, use the link I gave you

(steps 1+2 can be completed in any order.)

Good Luck!

EDIT: I do not think you will appreciate running Prey in Safe Mode, it ain't even close to pretty. I don't know if updating directx 9.0c will help, because you might have already installed it from the disk, and really, the last update to 9.0c would have been way before Prey came out. Cheers!

 

Yeah, alright i'll try that right now. What I don't understand is that Prey ran perfectly, the demo that is, and the full game doesn't run?

 

Well, I update my drivers, and everything seems to be working, fine. I updated them from laptopvideo2go, and it said something about how it might cause a problem with my OS in the future, and that it wasn't verified by microsoft, blah,blah,blah. Well:It still doesnt work, update drivers, updated direct X,updated the game, still doesn't work. Going to try the link you gave me. Should I be worried about the drivers? It even said the version I currently had was newer than the one I was installing, but the one I installed, now allows me to overclock and things like that. SHould I just switch back to old drivers. Please Help, this is getting really annoying. Oh and sorry for the wall of text.

 

That doesnt work either. Nothing works. I'm starting to believe it is my computer. God dam, it, this sucks so bad. Now I can't return it either. Any help from anyone else? Oh, and yes this is with the comp in my sig. WIth the comp in my sig, the demo ran FLAWLESSLY, and the full game doesn't work.

 

Oh and if you can, can you please tell me how to run PREY in safe mode.

 

have you tried going into start menu, go to the prey shortcut and beside it should be something like safe mode below the main shortcut. I'm sorry the link didn't work, as other people have had this exact same problem. Did the splashscreen briefly come up?

http://forums.3drealms.com/vb/archive/index.php/t-20018.html

This guy has the same problem

 

No the splash screen didnt even come up.Nothing

 

Well, this is a doozy, I feel your pain. BF2 acted up the same for me. Try downloading DirectX 9.0c, use a directx uninstaller http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4347.html and then install dx 9.0c after uninstallation.

EDIT: you could even use reforce to fix the refresh rate at something like 60hz. Also, try making Prey run in 640x480 resolution by right clicking in the shortcut and clicking properties. Select compatibility and make it run in 640x480. First try everything without reinstalling directx, then reinstall dx and try it again. This is painful, but if it owrks, all the better!

 

I tried that, doesnt work. Well it looks like I got a step closer. I tried just running the base.pak file, and it gives me an error with a small window with a blue background, with all this mumbo jumbo, and at the very bottom it says Couldn't load default.cfg. So I'm supposing this is the problem. Any thing I can do?

 

it most likely isn't the default.cgf

you should try I'm Confused? suggestion but also clean your registry after you've uninstalled the directx.

a good registry cleaner is CCleaner, which is free. what you need to do is click on the issues tab and click scan for issue and then click fix selected issues.

 

okay, I just unistalled Direct X and installed Direct X 9.0C and............still doesn't work. Im about to try reg cleaner.

 

Just tried CCleaner and surprisingly it didn't work

 

trojans?

If ccleaner isn't working it may be time to reformat

 

Nope, ran AVG, no virus ran adaware, deleted all adaware and spyware. Tried No cd-crack. Nothing. All other game work fine. I think I have installed/unistalled/installed like 10 times now.

 

I think I may have the solution! Right-click on your Prey shortcut, click properties and add this text to the end of the "Target:" line:

+set s_forceNoOpenAL 1

Have a go, this helped a guy with the same problem as you.

EDIT: I don't think CCleaner would help with Prey, as well as scanning for viruses, adware, spyware etc. You've done yourself a huge favour though. CCleaner keeps your system nice and fresh. The OpenAL thing might help as OpenAL might be crashing on your system it looks something like this all up. don't copy/paste if your Prey folder is different than this one:

c:\program files\prey\prey.exe" +set s_forceNoOpenAL 1

Also, disable your Firewall (allow Prey to run at least, that is if you don't wish to turn off your firewall), this has been a big issue for many people.

Finally, make sure your game is patched. Wow, that took heaps of edits!

 

It says it is not valid, and doesnt let me apply in the target line

 

I am getting incredibly pissed off by this game. When I pay money for a game, I expect them to be able to let me return it if it doesnt work and they wont let me, just for the same game. Do yo think this is a specific thing, or did I just get a bad DVD copy.

Edit:I am just about ready to take my lappy and fling it across my entire house, with the Prey DVD in it. And the worst part of it all is, when I start on a goal, I won't stop till I finish it. So I can't go to bed either.

Edit:2Well I got the set s_forceNoOpenAL 1 thing to let me apply it, but it still doesn't make the game start. What a piece of ****

Edit:3 I copy and pasted the exact thing you said, it went a little farther, than crashed.

 

It isnt any different than C: blah blah blah, exact same, it just doesnt let me apply. And I think you are right, the Open AL is crashing my system. But why not in the demo, and in the full game?

 

What about disabling your firewall? Have you tried that yet?

EDIT: I don't want to make you sound stupid or anything, but did you actually use the game file, or was it the desktop shortcut (or any shortcut for that matter)?

 

Yep disabled firewall, nothing happened. I used the desktop shortcut, not the game file.

 

Here is the complete error report

Prey 1.0.103 win-x86 Jun 10 2006 00:44:11
1994 MHz Intel CPU with MMX & SSE & SSE2 & SSE3 & HTT & x64
2048 MB System Memory
128 MB Video Memory
Winsock Initialized
Found interface: {B20D80CC-D523-467E-BCDA-C1BA590C2AB7} Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection - Packet Scheduler Miniport - 192.168.2.101/255.255.255.0
Found interface: {1A1A8F0E-77E2-47B5-B12C-B954A1919F89} Intel(R) PRO/100 VE Network Connection - Packet Scheduler Miniport - 192.168.2.104/255.255.255.0
Sys_InitNetworking: adding loopback interface
prey using MMX & SSE & SSE2 & SSE3 for SIMD processing
enabled Flush-To-Zero mode
enabled Denormals-Are-Zero mode
------ Initializing File System ------
Current search path:
C:\Program Files\Prey\base/base
game DLL: 0x0 in pak: 0x0
Addon pk4s:
file system initialized.
--------------------------------------
Unknown command 'vid_restart'
idRenderSystem::Shutdown()
Shutting down OpenGL subsystem
...shutting down QGL
Couldn't load default.cfg

 

Is it patched? Oh yea, if it isn't, (version 1.2) try again with the patch, if you've patched it, then post a thread at http://forums.3drealms.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=42 this is the tech help forum at 3d realms, a developer should be able to help you no problem. Unless anyone else has suggestions, then please share them, this is all I can do for you.

Good Luck!

 

All right, thank you very much for all your help.

 

I just wanted to point out that there is at least one quote mark missing in this command, so this is unlikely to work if copied and pasted to the Target line of the shortcut.

 

Well guys, thanks for all your help, I finally got the game to load and run. I have played for about two hours, fun game. What I did is, unistalled the game, installed it, and did the +set s_forceNoOpenAL 1 thing, i then patched it and it finally worked. It runs quite nicely at 800x600, medium settings, no shadows, every other advanced video option on, except for AA and AF. One or two parts where the frame rate dropped to 15-20 FPS, other than that, compleletly playable. Once again, thank you everybody for you help. Appreciate it.

 

Sorry for the missing quote and thanks to Fred from NYC for pointing it out. Glad it worked for you. Have fun with the game!

 

Almost beat it. LOL. But the left palm wrest ets hot, thinking of getting a keyboard, so it wont bother me.