Baldur's Gate - Common Problems and Troubleshooting --------------------------------------------------- Supplied from the Baldur's Gate site by Carolyn Brown See her letter in the Letters section Q: I am getting strange video/audio/input problems or getting an error about a missing DLL file. A: The game requires that you have the current version of DirectX installed. You will want to install DirectX from the CD before attempting to play the game. If you did not install it when prompted during the games installation, you may install it by double-clicking on the DXSETUP file found within a DirectX folder on the CDROM. You may also download the newest end-user version of DirectX from the following address: www.microsoft.com/directx ------------------------------------------------------------------ Q: The game is crashing when I attempt to run it. A: This could actually be caused by a few different reasons. You will want to check the following (in the order listed): The game requires that you have the current version of DirectX installed and that your drivers are showing as "certified". You will want to reference our DirectX troubleshooting guide to check DirectX for proper installation. Often drivers that show as certified are still incompatible. If applicable, compare the driver version you are using with another user's posted and working driver information. This is available on our Customer Compatibility page. These are driver sets sent in by customers experiencing no problems. If yours does not match, contact your manufacturer for the specific driver version. Another program runnning in the background can cause a crash. You will want to do the following: Press CTRL+ALT+DEL. This will bring up a "Close Program" box. The only items listed should be Explorer and Systray Highlight any other item listed Click on End Task Continue back with step 1 until Explorer and Systray are the only items listed. Please reference the answer to the question below regarding graphical glitches. Try disabling or enabling Direct3D or DirectDraw. These options are available by running DXTOOL. (Start/Find/Files or Folders/DXTOOL.EXE) Try disabling EAX or Environmental Audio Sound. This option is available on the Sound screen of the games main 'Option' Selection. Verify that your in-game resolution matches your system resolution. (16bit recommended for both.) Verify that you have enough available hard drive space. The games cache requires a minimum of 80 meg available. Please take into account that the Windows swap file will also require its own space. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Q: I am getting an "Assertion Failed..." error A: Depending on the line number that is displayed, this error may mean something different. Line 581 This error will occur if you have installed the game to a root of a drive (such as D:\). You will want to uninstall the game and reinstall the game into a folder (such as D:\BALDURS). All other line numbers We will able to address some of these errors with the update. Please reference the patches page for listing of line numbers fixed by the update. The majority of all other Assertion errors seem to be caused when the game is unable to locate a file that is needed or the file is corrupted. To correct this you will want to try the following: Try deleting the games cache (delete all files within {games folder}\CACHE\DATA\). When you restart, the program will recreate the cache and should repair the missing file. If the previous step doesn't work you will want to try to use an earlier save game as well. There have ben a few reports of a corrupted save game causing this type of error. Perhaps the area was corrupted somehow when you installed, or perhaps your CD isn't reading the area correctly. You will want to find out the area # that is causing the trouble by checking the map. Once you have narrowed down the trouble area, try copying the file manually into the DATA folder. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Q: I deleted the games folder from the hard drive and now it still says PLAY. How do I reinstall? A: To properly remove the game you should go to the Add/Remove applet within the control panel. If you have simply deleted the folder, Windows still thinks the game is installed. To get past this you will need to run SETUP from the CD manually instead of from the Autorun screen. This can be accomplished as follows: Click on START Select RUN Within the "Open" field type D:\SETUP (replace D with the drive letter of your CDROM if different) Click OK ------------------------------------------------------------------ Q: The installer is crashing out before it can finish copying the files to my computer. A: This can happen on some faster CDROM drives that are losing data when they are attempting to cache. To rectify this you will want to do the following: Right click on "My Computer" Select "Properties" Click on the "Performance" tab Click on "File System" Clcik on the "CD-ROM" tab Under "Optimize access pattern for" select "No Read Ahead" Click on "OK" Click on "CLOSE" The system will want to restart for these changes to take effect. Click "YES" to restart. Once Windows is back up to your desktop you should be able to now install the game. If you continue to run into trouble, be sure to check to make sure you have the most current drivers for the CDROM and that you have run a lens cleaner on the drive before attempting to install the game. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Q: I am getting strange graphical glitches. A: Some video cards may experience graphics glitches while playing the game. These problems are caused by DirectX Hardware Calls to your video card that are not functioning. We have written software renders for all of these calls to allow people to play even with drivers that are not 100% compatible with the DirectX standards. You can enable a software render for these calls if you have the most recent drivers for your video card and are still experiencing problems. Using the software render will probably fix the graphic glitches, but WILL result in a performance hit. IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCING PROBLEMS WITH THE GRAPHICAL DISPLAY OF BALDUR'S GATE, PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE LATEST VERSION OF YOUR VIDEO DRIVERS. DRIVER UPDATES ARE AVAILABLE AT MOST (if not all) HARDWARE MANUFACTURERS AND CHIPSET MANUFACTURERS SITES ON THE INTERNET. If you have the most recent drivers for your video card, and you are still experiencing problems, you can enable software renders for these calls. The options are available in the options menu under 'Graphics'. The following list describes the known graphics glitches and which Call should be disabled to fix them. If in doubt, try different combinations and this may help. You can always turn off all software renders to return to the default settings. Glitch - Disable green boxes surrounding any object in the game - Software Transparent BLT box surrounding mouse cursor - Software Transparent BLT animations appearing 'reversed' - Software Mirror BLT glitches with Fog-of-War - Software Mirror BLT vertical lines down the main game screen - Software Standard BLT the game cursor is leaving 'artifacts' of itself on the game screen - Software Standard BLT any other non-resolved graphics problem - Software Standard BLT Specific Video Cards and Fixes Matrox Millenium (1): Enable Software Mirror and Software Transparent BLTs. Permedia: Enable Software Standard BLT. NOTE: We have had reports of mouse trail problems on some video cards even after selecting "Software Standard BLT" as described above. You will want to check with your system or video card manufacturer to make sure that your video card has the minimum system requirements of 2mb. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Q: Doing a custom install the game is only seeing 2047MB. How am I supposed to install everything? A: With FAT32 came the ability to format a hard drive larger than 2048MB. If you have a partition that is formatted larger than 2048MB the game will still unfortunately only think you have 2047MB free. You should still be able to install everything (as long as you are sure you have enough hard disk space). When the warning appears about insufficient space it will ask you if you want to continue. Simply select "YES" and the installer should continue. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Q: I am stuck in Chapter 4 and I cannot enter Baldur's Gate. Did I miss something? A: After slaying the chapter 4 boss, Davaeron, and submerging the mines (thus freeing the slaves), the PC is required to return to the surface world by means of an elevator. Inside the elevator is an invisible switch that triggers the beginning of chapter 5 and thus opens the entrance to Baldur's Gate. Upon further testing, it has been discovered that if a PC has haste cast on him and is ALSO wearing the boots of speed, he can actually trigger the map load switch before he triggers the Chapter load switch. Although this is not consistant, a few people may have accomplished this act. Thus, creating the illusion of a never ending chapter 4 and an unapproachable Baldur's Gate. You will want to restore a save game before the elevator. Be sure to have the character return to the elevator and walk about SLOWLY. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Q: I left Minsc in AR5100 and now he attacks the party even though Dynaheir was saved. A: This will only occur if Minsc is left in this area. You will want to make sure that he does not leave your party in this area (it's the one in the lower left hand corner of the map). ------------------------------------------------------------------ Q: I am attempting to defeat the Wyverns and the game continues to lock. A: This should be addressed with the current patch. You may also simply run from them and the game will continue as normal. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Q: Is there any game-breaking actions within the game? A: There are a couple of parts in the game, if done incorrectly, could stop you from completing the game. They are as follows: Chapter 4- If the cloakwood mine is flooded before the chapter 5 trigger is tripped, you may not continue on to Baldur's Gate (see question above). Chapter 7- If you get arrested and kill Neb in jail, the game trails off, neither ending automatically, nor allowing you to continue. Chapter 7- In the Coronation scene, if Belt and Liia Jannath go hostile before they tell you where Sarevok has fled to. (Stairs to the thief maze won't be active). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q: I am having trouble finding the entrance to Baldur's Gate. A: The PC must travel around the gates of The Friendly Arm Inn and leave the North edge of map AR2300. Once in AR1400, travel North again via the small paved road in the NorthEast corner. Here in AR0900 you will find the drawbridge which will be lowered if your are in Chapter 5. If you are unfamiliar with the area numbers, simply reference the map. @~This is in the screenshots section ... Sue ------------------------------------------------------------------ Q: One of the NPCs keeps trying to rejoin the party after he has already left. A: There are many NPCs who will join your party in exchange for your help in completing a quest. These NPCs all have time limits in which you must finish their quest. If the time limit expires and the quest is incomplete, the NPCs will leave the party. However, prior to the final patch, some NPCs would attempt to rejoin the party as soon as they leave, creating a loop. If you have experienced this error, the current patch should fix it. If you still have difficulties, simply kill the NPC. Your PC will not be penalized in any way and the NPC can not be salvaged as their quest is now forfeit. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Q: How do I navigate through these multiplayer screens? A: Starting or joining a multiplayer game can be quite confusing if you are attempting to do it for the first time. You will want to take a look at our multiplayer walkthrough. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Q: I'm attempting to play a multiplayer game on my LAN and the game keeps crashing (Especially if we have 3+ players). A: At least one computer on the network is not using the correct NETWORK CARD drivers. When Windows 95 or 98 first installs the drivers for the network card, it will most often select the wrong driver for you and copy the wrong driver off the Windows CD. This is more likely if your network card is an off-brand, i.e., not from Intel, 3Com, or another major manufacturer. To resolve this problem you will need to install the correct drivers for your network card. This usually involves finding the disk that came with the network card, and going to the System Devices list, choosing the network adapter, and clicking Update Driver and putting the disk in and selecting the Win95/98 directory from the disk when prompted. Please refer to the manufacturer of the network card for proper driver installation. This seems to occur most often with the Realtek 8029 network card. You can obtain the appropriate drivers from http://www.realtek.com.tw/cn/driver/8029-driver.htm. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Q: I am trying to play the game through a proxy server. Is this possible? A: The game does require that certain TCP & UDP ports be open for you to be able to host or join a game outside of your local network. You will need to contact your system administrator and have them open TCP & UDP ports 47624 and 2300-2399 on the proxy server. - o -