Was anybody able to get Aura 2: Sacred Rings run on Windows 7 64-bit? The game installs but it doesn't start. It immediately goes to "Not Responding" mode.

Thanks

Sarahandus got it to run on Windows 7 x64 ***link to thread***
(check Sarahandus' post #569957 and #569412)

As far as I can tell, it worked for Sarahandus without tweaking.
However if you have an antivirus running, there is the possibility that it might be blocking the game.

The game may not work if your computer uses Intel graphics or a video card with shared memory.

You could try running it in compatibility mode or adding the game's .exe to your antivirus' exceptions list to see if it makes a difference.

Hi Jenny,

Thanks for the help, but I wasn't as lucky as Sarahandus :( The game instantly goes to "Not Responding" mode despite all my efforts.

I disabled my antivirus and tried running it on comparability mode. I got the same outcome.

I have an AMD Radeon graphics card.

After seeing that some other people also had problems with it on Win7, I attempted to setup a virtual PC. I created one with Win XP Service Pack 3 and another one with Windows Vista. Even in the virtual machines the same problem happens. Game freezes the moment I launch it (I don't even see an intro movie)

As a last resort I gave up on the version I had and bought another copy from this link (it says compatible with Win7)

http://www.dotemu.com/en/download-game/546/aura-2-the-sacred-rings

No luck with this either, exactly the same problem.

I would appreciate any other suggestions.

It won't work in Virtual PC because Virtual PC emulates a very old video card from the 1990's (S3 Trio 32/64 PCI card with only 8MB of video memory and no 3D acceleration (Sacred Rings requirements list a 3D accelerated video card with 64MB of video memory as a minimum).

You might have better luck with VirtualBox or VMware Player. They're supposed to have optional 3D acceleration and should allow more video memory than Virtual PC.

If your computer's video card meets the requirements (has at least 64MB of discrete video memory - not shared memory), the problem might be with the video drivers. Unfortunately I don't know which version of the video drivers would work. You might check for drivers from around the time of the game's release, though they might not install if your card is "too new" for the drivers.

It's possible there could be a problem with widescreen. The game is fixed full-screen resolution (1024x768 I think). If you're using a widescreen monitor, and have an old full screen monitor you could connect to the computer, try the full screen monitor.

Jenny thanks so much, I installed the game on VMWare player (with XP SP3) and it worked! There is one minor issue, no matter what I do game won't play full screen. I guess that is because I am using a wide screen monitor like you mentioned. Anyways that is not a big deal, game plays perfectly. Thanks so much again!

You might try this
http://www.alivelearn.net/vmware-player-guest-os-not-full-screen/

Jenny thanks for the advice, however I already installed VMWare tools and the desktop is indeed full screen in the virtual machine. I tried various resolution settings, but the game always goes to a fixed resolution when I run it, which has a lot of black borders around the screen.

You're not going to get completely full screen on a widescreen without either stretching the screen horizontally or having bars on the sides.

VMware should be able to make the window close to full screen vertically, though not horizontally.
https://www.vmware.com/support/ws4/doc/running_full_screen_ws.html

If you change resolutions, do it for your host OS and not the OS inside the Virtual Machine. If your Windows 7 desktop allows 1152x768 resolution, try that. Assuming Aura 2 runs at 1024x768, you should end up with a 1024x768 VMware screen on a 1152x768 background, which is most of the screen.

I don't think the problem you're having is related to Windows 7. I have replayed both Aura 1 & 2 several times on my 3 year old Windows 7 64-bit computer. I just loaded Aura 2 up again, and it still plays fine right out of the box, as the old saying goes, with no tweaking required. I have the old original 4 CD version from Dreamcatcher/Adventure Company that came out in 2007.

Jenny you are a true problem solver! Yes I can play the game full screen now by changing the resolution in my host OS. Thanks a lot!

Uncle Reg I think you are right, it is more likely that it is a graphics card/driver issue.

I'm glad to hear you've got the game working the way you want.
Have fun playing it.