I have the same problem, but it started after exiting once and restarting. Played fine from installation through 2 scenes, but now will not re-open.

I found a solution to the problem where trying to start the game does nothing at all. I'm not sure if its the best solution or that it will work for anyone else at all, but it got the game up and running on my end.

During the sale period I had also bought the game Anachronox, which unfortunately didn't run for me either. The issue with that game turned out to be due to the OpenGL graphics library. Anachronox is an OpenGL game and I have an AMD graphics card. AMD cards have GARBAGE OpenGL drivers / support. I figured it out because I was able to use nGlide and get the game running using the obsolete 3Dfx graphics so I knew it wasn't that the game itself couldn't run. So I struggled to find a solution to the OpenGL issue that didn't involve going out and buying an nvidia card.

I came across this...

Mesa 3D - (GOG forums won't let me actually post the link but its fdossena.com/?p=mesa/index.frag )
It was mentioned somewhat offhandedly in a Anachronox graphics modification guide on Steam.
Mesa is an emulated form of OpenGL to allow the running of OpenGL games on systems / hardware that doesn't otherwise have support for OpenGL.

I took a risk and tried it out. Amazingly, it allowed me to run Anchronox and even widescreen. Having never played Anachronox prior to this, and having only tested the initial area upon starting a new game, I can't say if its a "perfect" solution but it allowed the game to run.

On a whim I decided to also try this same solution for Full Throttle Remastered in the off chance that it was also an OpenGL based game and that that was the reason it didn't work.

It worked like a charm! Game fired right up and seemed to be working fine. I didn't have time to test it further than the opening segment so I can't say for sure that its functional for the entire game, but at least it gets the game up and going.


So if you have an AMD graphics card Mesa 3D's emulated OpenGL might work for you. Use at your own risk! Also, keep in mind that with it being emulated you'll be putting a larger workload on your computer so performance may suffer.

It was suprisingly easy to use the Mesa 3D drivers. I just went to the page and downloaded the latest version - MesaForWindows-18.3.1 . It came as a 7-Zip archive so if you're not already using the fantastic archival program 7-Zip be sure to grab it first!

The zip file contained a readme with usage instructions and the modified "OpenGL.dll" file. All that was necessary was to copy the OpenGL.dll file into the same folder that contained the games actual exe file. So in this case, the folder containing the "Throttle.exe" file.

That's it. Then just launch the game as normal and the OpenGl.dll file in the folder will take precedence over any other versions of OpenGL drivers installed on your system for that particular application.

Be sure to only place that dll file in the games folder though! *DO NOT REPLACE ANY OTHER EXISTING OPENGL.DLL FILES IN ANY OTHER FOLDERS ELSEWHERE ON YOUR COMPUTER AS THAT WILL BORK YOUR GRAPHICS DRIVERS UP!*


Hopefully this is helpful to anyone else suffering this exact same issue. Its a shame that AMD won't just put in the effort to make their actual OpenGL drivers actually work. GOG should consider leaning on AMD a bit to get them working on it... I imagine GOG has a lot of refunds from AMD owners over these OpenGL issues on older games.

Once I get around to doing a full playthrough of the game I'll try to remember to update this to let everyone know if I encountered any issues with the game when using Mesa 3D.

Good luck to anyone that tries and I hope it helps!

I am having the same problem as the original poster, the program has stopped working and windows is looking for a solution to the problem. I am running an Alienware 17 laptop with an Invidia GeForce 9400, Windows 7. I have tried everything I can find on the GOG / Full Throttle sites. Nothing has fixed the problem. I have 20 Games from GOG and the only other games I have problems with are Decent 1 and 2. This is very frustrating. I have the original game but of course can't play the CD on any new stuff. I really hope that someone finds a fix for this. I was really excited to show my grandson a classic retro game he might enjoy.

If you have an AMD graphics card consider trying Mesa 3D mentioned in my post above yours.

Edit - Nevermind. I'm an idiot. I see you said you have a nvidia GeForce 9400. Although with the age of that card it might still be worth a shot. Can't really hurt to try.

I went ahead and tried Mesa 3D. The game started but ran so slooooooooolwwwllllllyyyy. Took more than 10 minutes to get to the help and settings. I turned down the video quality, and turned off full screen. Nothing helped. To be running on my Alienware computer this is just amazing. It can't take that many resources yet acts like it is taking everything just to change from the first scene to where I can select help and settings. Now, instead of a game it has become a puzzle to be solved.

It also won't start in GOG Galaxy, only in Mesa.

If it actually worked when using Mesa 3D then that seems to point to your graphics drivers being the problem.

The reason for the terrible performance with Mesa 3D is that it emulates OpenGL so its going to be extremely resource intensive. Kinda like using any other form of emulation. My computer can run modern stuff like Battlefield 5, Doom, etc without issues, but running certain old PS2, PSP, or even Wii games via an emulator will bring it to its knees.

I'm sure you've already tried this, but you might want to update your nvidia drivers to the latest you're able to use and maybe even look into optional beta drivers.

Be sure to remove / delete that Mesa 3d OpenGL.dll file that you put in your folder before trying new drivers. Otherwise the Mesa driver will just override it whenever you run the game.

Thats about the best I can offer to help ya there. I haven't used an nvidia card for ages so unsure what alternative solutions may be available to ya.

Thanks. I'm sure that a lot of it is the age of my computeer. I'll keep trying.

I had a similar problem with the Steam version, but I found out that a key system environment variable was missing for my sound/audio settings. In System Properties, click the button near the bottom labeled Environment Variables. In the bottom section, choose New and add the following audio variable: Variable Name is: SDL_AUDIODRIVER and the Value is: directsound .

Once this new environment variable was added the game functioned properly and stopped crashing when I selected Settings under the Help and Options menu.

As I read elsewhere in this thread, I crash when launching thru GoG Galaxy, but can get into the game just fine when running the application manually. Check your Program Files (x86) folder\GOG Galaxy\Games\Full Throttle Remastered and launch the "Throttle" application.

Installing games into "Program Files" or other system protected directories is not generally advisable and should be avoided whenever possible because it may cause permissions issues.
Note that this is only a general advice and might not be related to the fact that the game crashes whenever launched through Galaxy.