Launcher problem

edited August 2011 in Game Support
when I double click on the icon and the launcher comes up all i can see is the background picture with marty and the deloran...no episode names or button to start the game.
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Comments

  • edited March 2011
    silence42 wrote: »
    when I double click on the icon and the launcher comes up all i can see is the background picture with marty and the deloran...no episode names or button to start the game.

    Are you on a closed network? This exact problem happened to me when I was on my school's network last month. Unfortunately, the first time you log in it cannot be on a protected network like a school server.
  • edited March 2011
    nope at home on my own wireless network
  • edited March 2011
    silence42 wrote: »
    nope at home on my own wireless network

    Then I'm moving this to Support to get the attention it needs.
  • edited March 2011
    I had this problem for both episodes 2 and 3. I've just launched it after loading up the menu using the episode 1 .exe after installation of the newer episode and it's worked both times (I apologise if that's really jumbled--I'm tired and my brain no werk so gud).
  • edited March 2011
    Can you try right clicking on the game icon and selecting run as admin?
  • edited March 2011
    I'm now experiencing this problem - and Running as Administrator didn't help.

    The first two episodes of BTTF worked fine when I first played them over the last few months. However, on the weekend I changed my TTG password at the website - so I'm thinking that might have something to do with it.

    NOTE: I did try this with just Ep 2 installed - but the same problem persists with Ep 3 now installed.

    The weird thing is, Poker Night at the Inventory (the other TTG game currently installed) worked fine and remembered I'd previously unlocked the game - no need to enter my new password.
  • edited March 2011
    OK, managed to solve my issue! Not for the faint-hearted, though:

    1. Run regedit.exe
    - If you've never ever done this before - STOP NOW. For advanced users only :p

    2. Find HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Telltale Games\Launcher

    3. Delete the entries "id", "login", and "password"

    4. Close regedit

    5. Run the BTTF Launcher again, and enter your user name and password again

    Bingo!
  • edited March 2011
    Molokov wrote: »
    OK, managed to solve my issue! Not for the faint-hearted, though:

    1. Run regedit.exe
    - If you've never ever done this before - STOP NOW. For advanced users only :p

    2. Find HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Telltale Games\Launcher

    3. Delete the entries "id", "login", and "password"

    4. Close regedit

    5. Run the BTTF Launcher again, and enter your user name and password again

    Bingo!
    '

    There's a way to do this for users of all levels:

    At the login screen (where you enter your username and password after installing the game)

    Type Ctrl Shift - (yes the actual -), press yes, then Ctrl Shift+. Then log back in.

    At least I think it does the same thing. I don't have a PC running windows to try both on right now.

    But good job figuring that out! I was here for six months before someone told me about that trick.
  • edited March 2011
    Amy Lukima wrote: »
    '

    There's a way to do this for users of all levels:

    At the login screen (where you enter your username and password after installing the game)

    Type Ctrl Shift - (yes the actual -), press yes, then Ctrl Shift+. Then log back in.

    At least I think it does the same thing. I don't have a PC running windows to try both on right now.

    But good job figuring that out! I was here for six months before someone told me about that trick.

    Amy, and everyone else- the only problem with this fix is it actually resents the password on any and all TT games you own. So if you're on a closed network, like at school, and you try this method, you'll need new manual unlock codes for every single TT game purchased prior.

    I know- it happened to me with the release of BttF 2.
  • edited March 2011
    Amy, and everyone else- the only problem with this fix is it actually resents the password on any and all TT games you own. So if you're on a closed network, like at school, and you try this method, you'll need new manual unlock codes for every single TT game purchased prior.

    I know- it happened to me with the release of BttF 2.

    Ah. Good point. I'll make sure to let everyone know that from now on.
  • edited March 2011
    Is there a similar solution for those running on a Mac? I'm having the same problem; launcher shows up with just the picture of Marty, no episode name or button. Running on a home network.
  • edited March 2011
    stupei wrote: »
    Is there a similar solution for those running on a Mac? I'm having the same problem; launcher shows up with just the picture of Marty, no episode name or button. Running on a home network.

    Does your home network have a firewall?

    (On a different note, awesome username. Persona 3 FTW)
  • edited March 2011
    That's the weirdness. No firewall up, yet my MBP has absolutely no problem verifying the DRM using the same network as my iMac, which can't get past the launcher. I've tried over my wireless and over ethernet on the iMac, and both are no go.

    It seems like something in the launcher disagrees with something specific to my iMac, but I have no idea what it is. Both are running 10.6.6. As I said, both are on the same network and I don't have a firewall up.

    I mean I guess I could just play it on the MBP, but I'd rather enjoy it on the bigger monitor.

    Right now, for me the launcher looks like this: https://img.skitch.com/20110330-pwnqcd6udnb1m2n12eyiayxp1g.jpg

    (And hey, thanks. Always cool when someone knows the reference. Persona 3 is truly one of the best.)
  • edited June 2011
    I tried this one, but no "BINGO" for me ... :(
    I have emailed the support desk and am awaiting a response.
    BTW I didn't find the values mentioned within "Current_User" I found them under "Local_Machine"





    1. Run regedit.exe
    - If you've never ever done this before - STOP NOW. For advanced users only :p

    2. Find HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Telltale Games\Launcher

    3. Delete the entries "id", "login", and "password"

    4. Close regedit

    5. Run the BTTF Launcher again, and enter your user name and password again
  • edited June 2011
    I'm having a similar problem to this. This happened each time I installed a new BttF episode. I'm playing from my own computer at home. When the launcher was non responsive with the background showing, the ctrl shift trick worked.

    But for the last two episodes the launcher didn't show any background picture and the ctrl shift trick didn't work. However, in episode 4 the launcher suddenly worked a day after I installed it (I don't know what happened).

    As I've just installed ep 5 the same could happen here but I was just curious to see what was causing this.
  • edited June 2011
    Well so far I can't launch the game. Anyone have any other tips to get it to work?
  • edited June 2011
    This sounds to me like a network connectivity issue, especially since you say for 104 it didn't work at first, but then a day later it did. If you have any firewalls in place, shutting them off temporarily might help.

    Otherwise, all I can can really recommend is to keep trying. Open the launcher, give it a minute or two, and it nothing appears, close it and try again. On the bright side, if you can just get it to work once so you can log in, you shouldn't have to worry about it ever again.
  • edited June 2011
    I tried turning off the firewall but that didn't work. I guess I'll just keep trying.

    Thanks for the info anyway :)
  • edited June 2011
    Is there any way to actually skip the launcher so I could just play the game?

    I'm guessing the answer is no or all these problems would be much easier to solve... but I thought it'd be worth to ask.
  • edited June 2011
    Sorry, but no. :(
  • edited June 2011
    OK, so the launcher still isn't working and I'm getting bummed. I thought I'd add an image of what the launcher looks like right now because maybe it's not the same problem as what I had last time.

    If it is a connection problem, are there any ports I could open or something I could ask of my ISP to get this thing to work?

    In any case, here's the image of the launcher: http://www.flickr.com/photos/51917418@N07/5874175632/sizes/l/in/photostream/
  • edited June 2011
    Sorry this is giving you so much trouble. Based on your screenshot, I can definitely say that's what the launcher typically looks like when it can't connect to the TTG website on startup. The question is why it's having trouble doing so.

    Are you using multiple network adapters, by any chance? If so, try disabling all but one of them and see if that helps. Is there anything at all unusual about your internet connection?
  • edited June 2011
    Well, I do appear to have a few adapters but I think only one of them is actually in use. I disabled the other ones anyway but it didn't help. I didn't actually uninstall them though, do you think that would make a difference? I'd rather not uninstall something that I don't know enough about ;)

    And about my internet connection, there's nothing unusual about it that I'm aware of. I do have an ISP that's been known to block some ports and has given me problems in the past. I thought the ISP was the problem until recently, but a friend of mine has the same one and he played episode 5 without any problems.
  • DjNDBDjNDB Moderator
    edited June 2011
    Well, I do appear to have a few adapters but I think only one of them is actually in use. I disabled the other ones anyway but it didn't help.

    Can you open http://www.telltalegames.com/ in your browser on the same computer the launcher doesn't work on?

    If everything else fails, you can disable the network adapter which provides your internet connection. Then the launcher should start in offline mode and offer you to activate the game via E-Mail.
    It's not an ideal solution, but it might be the fastest way to get you playing.
  • edited June 2011
    I'll give it a try, DjNDB, thanks.
  • edited June 2011
    Ok, I sent the email so hopefully I'll at least be able to play it offline.

    I would appreciate a solution for playing online as well, however :)

    I tried looking at the configuration options in the properties menu of my functional adapter. There are a lot of options there. Some are disabled, some are enabled and some have other weird settings. I wonder of changing something in there could solve this problem?
  • DjNDBDjNDB Moderator
    edited June 2011
    I tried looking at the configuration options in the properties menu of my functional adapter. There are a lot of options there. Some are disabled, some are enabled and some have other weird settings. I wonder of changing something in there could solve this problem?

    That's unlikely.
    What windows version are you trying to run the game on?
    What about the Browsing question i asked above, or are you on the same computer now as you post here?
  • edited June 2011
    I have windows XP.

    And yeah I play and browse on the same PC, so even when the website isn't down the launcher won't work.
  • DjNDBDjNDB Moderator
    edited June 2011
    I have windows XP.

    And yeah I play and browse on the same PC, so even when the website isn't down the launcher won't work.

    What firewall/security software do you have running?
    What kind of internet connection do you have?

    Please also try running the game during a clean boot.

    Booting clean in Windows XP:
    1. Click Start --> Run --> Type MSCONFIG --> Click OK
    2. On the General tab, choose Selective Startup
    3. Uncheck Process SYSTEM.INI file
    4. Uncheck Process WIN.INI file
    5. Uncheck Load Startup Items
    6. Click on the Services tab
    7. At the bottom, check Hide All Microsoft Services
    8. Uncheck all boxes in the window or click the button labeled Disable All
    6. Click OK
    7. Click Restart
    8. After reboot, run the game to see if it works.

    After performing the necessary steps, restore your system by doing the following:

    1. Click Start --> Run --> Type MSCONFIG--> Click OK
    2. On the General tab, choose Normal Startup
    3. Click OK
    4. Click YES, when asked to restart your computer

    Based on Will's post
  • edited June 2011
    OK, I tried running the game during a clean boot and it still didn't work.

    My firewall is just windows firewall, I guess. Although I do have McAfee as well.
    I have cable for my internet... 2mb. I'm not sure what info is useful :)
  • DjNDBDjNDB Moderator
    edited June 2011
    OK, I tried running the game during a clean boot and it still didn't work.

    My firewall is just windows firewall, I guess. Although I do have McAfee as well.
    I have cable for my internet... 2mb. I'm not sure what info is useful :)

    That's all useful information already, but nothing seems obviously wrong so far.
    What we could do is log the network traffic of the launcher and look if there's anything unusual.
    Have you ever used Wireshark?
  • edited June 2011
    Nope can't say that I have. Unfortunately for me I have to go to work now but I hope we can come up with something later.
  • DjNDBDjNDB Moderator
    edited June 2011
    Nope can't say that I have. Unfortunately for me I have to go to work now but I hope we can come up with something later.

    Don't worry, I'm around a lot. I'll PM you some instructions for Wireshark later. Maybe that will shed some light onto what's going on in your Network.
  • edited June 2011
    Alright now I know God is out to get me :P
    Offline doesn't work either! I put in the code I got from the email but then the launcher has the other problem where the background picture is showing but no episodes or 'play' button. And I can't use ctrl+shift because I'm not online! Going online just makes the launcher all black again.

    This is so depressing.
  • edited June 2011
    I might have a way to help you out with that, although I'm not 100% sure it will work. Try adding this file to your Documents/Back to the Future The Game/Episode 5 folder, then re-open the launcher. Make sure you only have BttF Episode 5 installed on your PC when you do this.
  • edited July 2011
    I got the file but I can't see whether or not it works yet. Hopefully it will.
  • edited July 2011
    I'm having the exact same problem McThreepwood was/is having. No connection issues, I tried both online and offline mode, tried the attached file with only Ep5 installed, but still nothing.

    Has anyone managed to find a solution to this yet?

    Edit: Fixed it by requesting the offline activation code.
  • edited July 2011
    I'm only going to be able to try again next week. Hopefully I'll finally get to play it :P
  • edited July 2011
    Well, that file didn't help either.
    I guess there's nothing anyone can do.

    I'll keep trying to turn it on from time to time, maybe I'll get lucky.

    Thanks a lot for all the help, though. Too bad nothing worked.

    I'm grateful and I know no one can all foresee problems, especially on PC.

    A real bummer for me, though.... I really wanted to find out how it all ends.
  • DjNDBDjNDB Moderator
    edited July 2011
    Well, that file didn't help either.
    I guess there's nothing anyone can do.

    You could post a dxdiag log. Maybe there's something useful to see.

    dxdiag
    Windows XP: Go to your start menu and click on run. Type in "dxdiag" and hit enter
    Windows Vista / 7: Press the windows key on your keyboard or click on the start menu. Type in "dxdiag" and hit enter.

    Now click on the button that says "save all information".
    It will prompt you to save a file. Save it where you can find it.

    Then zip the file and attach it to a reply in this Thread.
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