Posted May 02, 2016
I made this topic in the hopes of us as a community getting behind those who may be experiencing some issues and helping them develop some pre-emptive metaphorical tools in their toolbox to allow them to overcome problems with the game.
lets use a Hypothetical.
'The game doesn't start'
Things you should check off before hitting the forums.
Is it a traditional installation; as in are you using the program and all the files from the one installment in the installed location (if it's been a while you might want to uninstall and reinstall using the preconfigured settings of the installer [usually c:\<whatever the game calls itself in the location>]
~If it's an amalgamation (parts copied over, and i would include updates in this) were the correct files sent to the right place and all the files that were needed; you may have to check the game integrity or download the latest versions of the installer & update, read the instruction if there are any in order to install it all together correctly.
Have you switched drives or made changes such as to the drive letter?
If on an external drive that you are using a shortcut to reference, have you tried accessing the file from on the drive itself and then done an integrity check, as it may be corrupted needing a quick reinstall.
Have you changed monitors or other items to your system recently? If you can put those items back the way they were connected & in use does it solve the problem (a resolution like 4k that cannot be presented by a fullHD monitor can be fixed by simply locating a settings.cfg or like file).
Have you made changes to the way the program is meant to be started (such as adding a forced window mode of -w on it's shortcut)? If so try running without these changes and preferably with a fresh install to ensure things are set to default (remembering to delete any settings.cfg files most uninstallers prompt for this as 'user files').
is your version up to date? GOG Galaxy can be touchy with an out of date version not allowing the play button (i believe because it is in the 'process' of updating). if this is the case you may need to check if the updating has finished, if it was successful and check install integrity to ensure it's all there as it should be; then set your computer to restart.
Is the system hiding a screen needing your response such as a UAC screen requiring the program to be 'allowed' to run? Go back to a nice clear desktop and click through the active programs to bring them up one by one to check none are requiring you to give the all clear.
Have you allowed enough time for it to actually load? If a lot of tasks are being run by the CPU (can be fairly unavoidable right after startup or on slower older bloated run down machines) then the loading screen may take 5 minutes to load, when all other things have been checked I'd try running the program after the computer has been on for half an hour and give it 10 minutes just to make sure.
Is there something like a virus using up your system resource? Don't do a scan just run a program your familiar with that you know works and is a moderate load to your system, if even it is having problems it may be prudent to do an intensive scrub with a virus scanner.
Lastly think of your problem from the perspective of someone who cannot see or interact with your computer and come up with a list of things and a description about the issue you are having including such information as your Operating System, that you have the minimum requirements to run (or better), that you've done some basic problem solving, if you reinstalled (you did didn't you because you know what the reply will be if you didn't), how complex is your setup (what people want to hear is that you have installed as it wanted to be installed), that the installer was the correct version for your OS (32bit or 64bit), a description of the event with a before the problem, any observations during the problem, and what the end described state of the problem was.
Present this to an applicable help forum or preferably utilize a support ticket in a mature 'the problem is the problem' non-emotional 'i would appreciate the help' style.
If you are feeling frustrated or angry. take a break, get a cup of tea or just something that's not an energy drink, take some deep breaths and stare out the window until you feel in control again; then write about the issue.
Feel free to add comments or further suggestions.
For example someone more skilled at networking may like to cover some things that might impact on things running over a LAN.
lets use a Hypothetical.
'The game doesn't start'
Things you should check off before hitting the forums.
Is it a traditional installation; as in are you using the program and all the files from the one installment in the installed location (if it's been a while you might want to uninstall and reinstall using the preconfigured settings of the installer [usually c:\<whatever the game calls itself in the location>]
~If it's an amalgamation (parts copied over, and i would include updates in this) were the correct files sent to the right place and all the files that were needed; you may have to check the game integrity or download the latest versions of the installer & update, read the instruction if there are any in order to install it all together correctly.
Have you switched drives or made changes such as to the drive letter?
If on an external drive that you are using a shortcut to reference, have you tried accessing the file from on the drive itself and then done an integrity check, as it may be corrupted needing a quick reinstall.
Have you changed monitors or other items to your system recently? If you can put those items back the way they were connected & in use does it solve the problem (a resolution like 4k that cannot be presented by a fullHD monitor can be fixed by simply locating a settings.cfg or like file).
Have you made changes to the way the program is meant to be started (such as adding a forced window mode of -w on it's shortcut)? If so try running without these changes and preferably with a fresh install to ensure things are set to default (remembering to delete any settings.cfg files most uninstallers prompt for this as 'user files').
is your version up to date? GOG Galaxy can be touchy with an out of date version not allowing the play button (i believe because it is in the 'process' of updating). if this is the case you may need to check if the updating has finished, if it was successful and check install integrity to ensure it's all there as it should be; then set your computer to restart.
Is the system hiding a screen needing your response such as a UAC screen requiring the program to be 'allowed' to run? Go back to a nice clear desktop and click through the active programs to bring them up one by one to check none are requiring you to give the all clear.
Have you allowed enough time for it to actually load? If a lot of tasks are being run by the CPU (can be fairly unavoidable right after startup or on slower older bloated run down machines) then the loading screen may take 5 minutes to load, when all other things have been checked I'd try running the program after the computer has been on for half an hour and give it 10 minutes just to make sure.
Is there something like a virus using up your system resource? Don't do a scan just run a program your familiar with that you know works and is a moderate load to your system, if even it is having problems it may be prudent to do an intensive scrub with a virus scanner.
Lastly think of your problem from the perspective of someone who cannot see or interact with your computer and come up with a list of things and a description about the issue you are having including such information as your Operating System, that you have the minimum requirements to run (or better), that you've done some basic problem solving, if you reinstalled (you did didn't you because you know what the reply will be if you didn't), how complex is your setup (what people want to hear is that you have installed as it wanted to be installed), that the installer was the correct version for your OS (32bit or 64bit), a description of the event with a before the problem, any observations during the problem, and what the end described state of the problem was.
Present this to an applicable help forum or preferably utilize a support ticket in a mature 'the problem is the problem' non-emotional 'i would appreciate the help' style.
If you are feeling frustrated or angry. take a break, get a cup of tea or just something that's not an energy drink, take some deep breaths and stare out the window until you feel in control again; then write about the issue.
Feel free to add comments or further suggestions.
For example someone more skilled at networking may like to cover some things that might impact on things running over a LAN.