Crash on startup (I do have WMP installed) Thread - Claustrophobia: The Downward Struggle

I'm getting a crash on launching the game, every time. I read through some of the other posts here for some clues but no luck.

I do have Windows Media Player installed.

Faulting application name: Claustrophobia.exe, version: 1.0.0.0, time stamp: 0x517d4f8fFaulting module name: KERNELBASE.dll, version: 6.1.7601.18015, time stamp: 0x50b83c8aException code: 0xe0434352Fault offset: 0x0000c41fFaulting process id: 0xe1cFaulting application start time: 0x01ce4b5af6e346a8
Faulting module path: C:\Windows\syswow64\KERNELBASE.dllReport Id: 357b7d25-b74e-11e2-b4e2-64b9e8d67fb9

I should add that this is under Windows 7.

I am getting this precise error message, but only after the recent upgrade to Alpha 1.1.1.

I've previously had issues with ATI-related black-screens, but now the game won't even run. It crashes at the start menu before I ever have a chance to click anything. I thought this was weird so I tried a MUCH older version and it crashes with the same error.

I've rolled-back my ATi drivers and stopped all startup applications and non-Microsoft services. I've uninstalled any software that I thought might be contributing to the problem. I've uninstalled and reinstalled via Desura, and downloaded the standalone version as well. Nothing has helped. I even deleted the saved games location in the event older saves were contributing to the issue.

Any suggestions? Like the previous poster, this is on Windows 7 (x64).

First of all, apologies to the original poster for no reply before now, this was posted in the middle of my exam season and I must have completely missed it. So sorry about that.

Secondly, I'm not entirely sure what's causing this. Back when we were working on sorting the black screening on ATI cards, I got a couple of friends involved in debugging the game on their ATI machines, and one of them has an almost identical hardware setup to you (from what I remember of your system spec from before). The current version of the game runs fine on his machine, which has the latest ATI drivers installed. Nor have I had any other reports of this issue.

Is The Indie Forge logo displaying before the crash? If so, then this problem is unlikely to do with XNA, as those libraries are loaded before the logo is shown, unless some of those files have been corrupted in some way.

If the crash is happening just as the title screen comes up, then my first suggestion would be the system files in Documents > SavedGames > Claustrophobia. I know you said you deleted this location, but since it is recreated with every launch of the game (new or old versions), there may be some compatibility issues. There are also two folder structures inside that location, one holding save data, and the other system data. The system data file is normally the one which causes problems after patches, as it's the one that changes content most regularly. Could you delete the entire Claustrophobia folder in Documents > SavedGames, then run the last version of the game you have that worked, and see what happens?

~TheIndieForge

As usual, thanks for the response. I appreciate the level of support you've always provided for this game.

Unfortunately, I did remove the entire directory previously. You're right--the splash screen is displayed with your company's logo. The crash occurs the moment the buttons for New Game, Continue Game, Leaderboard, et cetera are displayed.

If I go back to the SavedGames folder after the crash, I have Claustrophobia\Setting Data\Player1 but no files. Just the folder structure.

I'm going to try a couple of other adjustments. If it's not video-related this time, it may be audio. The only significant change I've made to my PC since the last time I played the game was adding my Sirius headset's audio drivers. While I've uninstalled them, perhaps there's more I need to do to wipe the files completely from my system. In the meantime, do you have a dev or debug switch I can add when starting the executable that will let me enter the game with either no sound card or sound auto-disabled?

Much obliged!

After reading that, and running a couple of tests to see exactly where the music actually starts up, I am convinced that this is an audio issue. More specifically, in playing the background music. There's certainly been a few in the past. I don't have a debug switch that can be activated from outside the source code, but I'll private message you a version with the music disabled, and we'll see what happens.

~TheIndieForge

As you surmised, that did the trick. While I'll miss the music, at least I can play now and see the changes in 1.1.1! For this I am eternally grateful.

That said, what can I do to help troubleshoot this problem? What hardware specifications or installed software would help?

I know I thank you a lot, but I really appreciate the personal touch!.

No problem, it's what I'm here for! I would assume that the issue is connected to those audio drivers, but unfortunately, since XNA is a discontinued framework, it is going to be more and more likely that the latest drivers will start to have compatibility issues with it. Since the current music system already has issues, I'll look into different ways of handling the music.

~TheIndieForge

I know it's unrealistic for you to create a non-music version of each new release, but I'd love to be playing 1.1.2 right now and I was wondering if you'd made any progress on this music=crash bug?

I've been playing Dungeonmans since before its Kickstarter began and it's been a fine distraction, but I'm understandably still excited about Claustrophobia and eagerly anticipate its release.

Thanks for the game, and your continued assistance!

I have good and bad news on this. The bad news is, this remains one of 3 bugs which I am struggling to fix (with majority of the others now corrected for next patch). I cannot find a way around without using the audio drivers that are causing you trouble. I will of course keep working on finding a fix.

The good news is, I will have a (hopefully) temporary fix in place for the next patch, which will allow you to play the game without music, without the need for a separate set of files. I'll post here once the fix is in place. The patch should be out in just over a week, since I am away from my main PC at the moment, and compiling XNA titles on Windows 8 (which my laptop happens to be) causes all sorts of font issues. Among other things.

~TheIndieForge

I have a confession to make:

Because of the original poster's parenthetical assurance that he was having this problem despite WMP being installed, it never occurred to me to 1) check to see if WMP was installed on my PC and 2) try installing it if it wasn't. Which I did. Today.

The latest downloadable version now works without a hitch. I'm mystified by this, as previous versions of the game ran fine without WMP installed (which, to be honest, I didn't even realize I'd ever uninstalled--I've been using VLC for so long I hadn't noticed WMP was missing). When the problem began with Alpha 1.1.1, I figured something on my machine had changed. In reality, I'm guessing something in the code was introduced that included a dependency on WMP's presence?

I'm still grateful that you're including the option in the next version to disable music entirely (not that I really want to), but I'll have to evaluate my appreciation for the tunes included with your game versus having a product I'll never use installed on my system. If there's a compromise--say, Claustrophobia requires certain libraries be present in order to function but without a full-fledged WMP installation--I'd gladly consider it.

In the end, I'm deeply embarrassed for not considering the WMP requirement sooner. While this revelation won't help the original poster, I am at least functional now. I apologize for any additional effort that this caused you.

Ah, no worries, as long as everything's working again! I was actually about to come and report the somewhat bad news in regards to WMP. It would seem that the dependency on the WMP libraries is actually unavoidable, and I have found a post similar to this one on almost every major XNA game I have checked. I have also found occurrences where some Windows machines already have the libraries installed without WMP, presumably included with some other Microsoft software. Why they would suddenly stop working however is beyond me. What annoys me, and apparently many other XNA developers, is that there is no mention of this requirement in any of the XNA documentation.

Anyway, the music seems like it will always have this dependency, unfortunately. I'm sorry this couldn't really be resolved. If I find out anymore, I will post it here.

Thanks,
~TheIndieForge