Gametap Version does not work.

[SeymourBewty]

I've been around and around with Gametap customer support and they cannot seem to figure out why this game will not start up for me, so I figured I would go straight to the developers. Whenever I start the game, Gametap minimizes, and then I get the error message "Penumbra.exe has stopped working" error message and it kicks me back to the Gametap interface. I've deleted and redownloaded the game three times already and it still isn't working. Here are my specs:

Athlon X2 5200+
Nvidia 8800GTX 768MB with 169.01 beta Forceware drivers (I've tried the latest stables from September 18th too with no luck)
2GB DDR2 800Mhz Ram
Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit

Here is the diagnostic report from Vista:

Product
Penumbra.exe

Problem
Stopped working

Date
10/29/2007 9:28 AM

Status
Report Sent

Problem signature
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: Penumbra.exe
Application Version: 0.0.0.0
Application Timestamp: 45eef608
Fault Module Name: ntdll.dll
Fault Module Version: 6.0.6000.16386
Fault Module Timestamp: 4549bdc9
Exception Code: c0000022
Exception Offset: 00008fc7
OS Version: 6.0.6000.2.0.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Information 1: 9d13
Additional Information 2: 1abee00edb3fc1158f9ad6f44f0f6be8
Additional Information 3: 9d13
Additional Information 4: 1abee00edb3fc1158f9ad6f44f0f6be8

Extra information about the problem
Bucket ID: 477771608


I've also included a copy of my most recent dxdiag taken right before I hit the post button. I don't know if you need it or not, but it's good to be thorough. Thanks for taking the time to help, and I look forward to playing this game!

[jens]

Hm, not sure we have 0 experience with GameTap so little idea of how their system works and what they might to do incorporate the game in the system.

In general the reason for a Penumbra crash is the drivers for the graphics and audio card. We usually suggest getting the latest drivers for both and see if that helps. As you have already tried this for the graphics card make sure you do a clean installation of the drivers. Meaning, that you first uninstall the old driver before you install the new one.

If you are sure this is done correctly for both audio and video card, start the game and if it crashes go into My Documents/Penumbra Overture/Episode1/ and take the hpl.log and attach it here on the forum.

[SeymourBewty]

Thanks for the quick reply. For some reason I do not seem to have that folder in the Documents directory. I tried a file search for hpl.log and it doesn't seem to be in my computer at all. I have the latest video and audio drivers, and I did install them correctly, so it seems that Gametap would be the cause of the problems. They're still having some issues with Vista so it doesn't really surprise me.

Anyway, I guess I'll have to quit being cheap and buy your game and see if it works without Gametap messing everything up Thanks for the help.

[jens]

Try and download the demo from penumbra-overture.com and see if it runs on your computer.

[zzaz3]

thats funny, im using the gametap version and I can get to My Documents/Penumbra Overture/Episode1/

[SeymourBewty]

Yeah the demo seems to work just fine. I'll guess I'll just go ahead and get it then. I think the reason I didn't have the folder is the game never actually started, so it didn't create the folder.

[WindexGlow]

It's only made when you start penumbra overture; yes.

Gametap probably messed around with the .exe file, and in doing so likely messed it up.