Wallace & Gromit's Demo dll error

micki_a

Hi, there. This always encounters a dll error right after the neighbor tells Wallace she is glad that he has emerged from his subterranean lair. I was kind of wanting to purchase the whole set, based on the little peek I got at the demo, but I want to make sure I can run it on my old laptop, which is where I prefer to play games. My DirectX version is 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904), so I do not believe it is that. The video card is old, an SiS M650, but it has the latest driver version: 6.14.0010.3730.

Can you help?

DjNDB

The graphics chip is from 2001 and the latest driver is from 2006. It looks like it doesn't fulfill the games minimum requirements.
Your best option is to play on a computer with a more recent graphics chip.

micki_a

No tweaks then, eh?

Think maybe adding more RAM would help? Should I try that first? I really am quite fond of this old thing.

micki_a

It's just that the card is already a 64.

DjNDB

micki_a wrote: »

No tweaks then, eh?

Think maybe adding more RAM would help? Should I try that first? I really am quite fond of this old thing.

More RAM is unlikely to help for that error.

I am not sure if anything but a different GPU helps, but if you want to try some stuff, here are some random ideas:
- Run the DirectX updater
- Set the graphics quality of the game to the minimum setting
- reduce the games screen resolution
- Try running in windowed mode

micki_a

I do not think I can upgrade the GPU anymore than it is. The laptop is a Dell Inspiron 1000. I think the 64 mb Sis M650 is the best for it. If you know differently, please do tell.

Like I said before, the DirectX is updated to the latest version of 9.0c.

I tried to set the graphics quality of the game to a minimum setting, but I don't think one can do that on the demo--at least, I haven't been able to change any settings on the demo. Perhaps I should try to make sure the demo runs on my TouchSmart. That way, if I bought the full version and tried it on my laptop and it didn't work, I could still play it there. Even with the full version, the game itself only seems to allow one to change screen resolutions--there seem to be no other ways of minimizing graphics quality. If you do know of any, please share.

I already tried running it in window mode (didn't work), but I hadn't done any of the other tweaks first.

Thanks for your help.

DjNDB

micki_a wrote: »

I tried to set the graphics quality of the game to a minimum setting, but I don't think one can do that on the demo--at least, I haven't been able to change any settings on the demo. Perhaps I should try to make sure the demo runs on my TouchSmart. That way, if I bought the full version and tried it on my laptop and it didn't work, I could still play it there.

The "Graphics Quality" setting is right below the "resolution" Setting.

I just remembered something else. The Demo has a bug i ran into 2 years ago, which sometimes made it crash on startup.
Try disabling your internet connection before starting it.

micki_a

When I go to settings/graphic settings, three things seem available to me: Full Screen On/Off, Screen Resolution (with 1024 x 768 and 1280 x 1024 bolded), and Graphics Quality (which reads 1). Clicking on any of the screen resolutions does absolutely nothing, as does trying to increase or decrease (is that possible?) the graphics quality arrows. (Perhaps 1 is at basement-level already?) Anyways, when I do push full screen to the off position, the lower two bolded screen resolutions disappear, and only the grayed out 800 x 600 and 1024 x 768 are left (and, again, neither responds to clicking of any kind). Play from here goes all the way through to the subterranean lair comment, and then it encounters a dll problem.

Verdict is that it's a no-go, I guess. The game already seems to be trying to accommodate my machine's lower-level of performance, and it just doesn't seem to be able to make it beyond first meeting the neighbor.

I also tried it with the internet connection disabled.

Unless you've got a great idea like ripping open the back of the Dell to place pennies in there somewhere to lower the unit's temperature (ran across that somewhere; don't know where), I guess you're off the hook. Thanks for the advice, though. If I do purchase the game, I guess it'll just have to be one I don't play at night in bed. That, or I could forego game purchases for the next fifteen years, or so, and save up for a new laptop. Ha, ha.

Thanks, again.

micki_a

Just FYI, as I was just now trying it on the TouchSmart, I noticed that the Settings/Screen Resolutions also have arrow keys next to them, so that one might move from one resolution to another. On the settings control that appears on my laptop, these keys are not even there, and like I said, it would appear that two different screen resolutions have been highlighted at the same time. Maybe one of them ran during the tutorial, and the second was enacted when the guy came outside his flat (isn't that what Brits call their apartments/dwelling-places?). Who knows? Either way, I guess the old laptop simply can't do the job, and there appear to be no other mechanisms for dropping down the screen resolution to its lowest, outside of the control on which the keys are missing. Hence, I have a no-access problem, I suppose.

Maybe it wouldn't matter anyways, as the quality is already set to a "1."

DjNDB

micki_a wrote: »

Either way, I guess the old laptop simply can't do the job

That's probably the case. Does it work on the TouchSmart?

micki_a

It did work on the TouchSmart, but I had to disable the internet, as you said. Decided against purchasing it, though, as I simply don't have the patience to sit in a chair and play this kind of game. It was cute, though.

Thanks again for your help.