I purchased the game in 2010 and successfully launched it on my Windows 7 64 bit Asus gaming laptop. I never really got around to playing the game, but now that I'm retired, I decided to play it. Guess what? I am now getting the wonderful error message where "Alter Ego has stopped working...windows is checking for a solution." Then it goes back to the desktop. I have the only drivers available from Asus installed on the laptop. The only updates to the laptop have been Windows updates. I am now using Webroot security and after reading through some of the back threads on this, I deactivated it, uninstalled and reinstalled the game, but it won't run. (Administrator, compatibility mode...Nada...) I just shot off an email to Viva Media. Why does something suddenly quit working when it worked fine before?

I found this page. I'm not sure if it will help. Alter Ego

Viva Media was bought out by Encore.

If I remember correctly, this game does not play well with some video cards. Which one do you have?

Cathy 1...Thank you for the link, but I had found that page earlier. The suggestion they provided has to do with character display. I can't even get the game to launch.

Hi Drac! If you recall this game played perfectly when I installed it in Sept 2010. I have the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870 graphics card. You even posted in the Windows 7 compatibility thread. Don't know why it no longer wishes to even launch.

I did get a response from Encore. They referenced the solution cited on the page Cathy1 provided. Seriously???? I asked them if they would review my initial email and see if there is another possible solution...but I doubt it. If they didn't develop the game, I don't think they'll be able to pose solutions. The best customer support I ever got was from Kheopps. The tech guy worked with me on a couple of suggestions in order to get the game (I think it was Secret of Da Vinci) to play on my XP laptop.

I was able to get the game to play on my HP XP laptop, so I'm playing it on that machine. The mouse cursor is a little logy, but other than that, it's playing fine. Turning off Vsync helped the mouse issue a bit.

BTW...supposedly the manual for this game is on the DVD. I can't find it if it's there.

After you uninstalled the game did you run ccleaner on the registry ?

No I didn't, Cathy1.

I just went ahead and did that...then reinstalled as Administrator after deactivating my antivirus. Still the same error. I have no clue why this game worked back in 2010.

JKEerie, you're asking my remember to work past 3 days ago???!!!

Actually, Cathy1's suggestion is a good one. Maybe Jenny will remember more about the issues with this game.

Hi Drac...I did try Cathy1's suggestion. Still the same.

I got another response from Encore support. They had me try compatibility (with Windows 7 believe it or not)and running as administrator, making both changes through the game properties vs the compatibility troubleshooter. The only difference is now I get a momentary black screen instead of white before getting kicked to the desktop. This also happens with XP and Vista compatibility. Also disabled the antivirus program. I just emailed them and I'll keep you apprised of their responses.

As I recall, Jenny100 believes it's an issue with the copy protection on the disc. That could be feasible when you think of it. Perhaps some Windows updates or another program I installed since 2010 makes my laptop no longer compatible with the game.

The SecuROM v7 prevented me from playing the game. I ended up giving away the game and watching a ***playthrough on YouTube***.

To my knowledge, there has never been an English NoCD. You can try the German NoCD, but it might not be compatible.


SecuROM has not only been reported to conflict with the type of copy "protection" other games use, it blacklists the Sysinternals utilities from Microsoft that IT's use for maintenance. After Sony bought the SecuROM company, they decided they own your computer and can dictate what you can put on it.

There could also be a problem with your DVD drive getting older. The first thing to go with a CD or DVD drive is its ability to pass copy "protection" tests.

Hi Jenny100...

Thank you for your comments. I think the copy protection may be the ultimate culprit. I have been working with tech support at Encore. The latest had me redownload and install Direct X 9.0c, NetFramework 3.5 and visual C++. Still no luck. It will be interesting if the tech suggests the copy protection as the culprit. The SecuRom website has a diagnostic tool and some fixes for games that have issues. Alter Ego isn't one of them listed, though. I'll continue to work with the tech at Encore and see where this goes...as well as continue the game in XP. If I hit a wall with Encore, I may contact tech support at SecuRom just to see if they are even interested in following up.

Update. The folks at Encore had me uninstall and reinstall the game. (Which I had already tried.) That was their last suggestion. They simply apologized for the inconvenience.

I did email tech support at SecuRom and sent an analysis file. Outside of the auto-response and the suggestion to visit their website, I believe I am now on "Ignore."

I was able to play the game on my Windows XP HP laptop. The only glitches I experienced were totally invisible characters in the prison location and partially invisible ones in two other locations. I was still able to complete the game, and I must admit the ending was a real stunner.

So...on to the next game.

I just happened to have the game sitting on my desk, so I installed it to take a look. So far, it's running just fine. I purchased the game from Amazon and the version is stated as 1.0.10 US. There does not appear to be any copyright protection on the disc.

How far do you get into the game before it crashes?

One thing you may want to try is starting the game directly from the install folder - my location is: C:\users\User Name\Viva Media\Alter Ego US. In this folder you will find AlterEgo.exe, starting the game from there you will see an options menu (which isn't presented in the normal startup). Click on Setup and then reset the options to their defaults. The out of the Box settings are - Resolution: AutoDetect, Shader Level: 2, AA Level: 4, Fullscreen: checked, Vsync: unchecked.

If you think the issue may be related to your Graphics card, change the Shader Level to 0 (zero). You may also want to disable Fullscreen.

I'm running Windows 7 x64 Pro.

Edit -

While the disc does not appear to have any copyright protection, it does indeed use SecuRom. As Jenny stated, there are no patches to remove it from the US version.

Hi Inland...

I'm also running Windows 7 x64 pro. I can't even get the game to launch. I get a black screen and then the message "Alter Ego has stopped running." Then I'm kicked back to the desktop.

The game installs in the Program Files x86 location in a Viva Media folder. There is no option to install it anywhere else. The funny thing is that this game ran perfectly in 2010 with this same graphics card. But now it doesn't want to run. I've always launched the game from the file location. I've tried running as Administrator, compatibility mode, shaders and antialiasing at 0 as well as the defaults. I've uninstalled and reinstalled with antivirus turned off. Tech support from Encore/Viva Media had me reinstall Direct X 9, NetFramework, Visual C++ all to no avail. They've given up.

I just can't figure out what happened that it will no longer launch. Forgive my ignorance but isn't SecuRom a copy protection program?

BTW, I can't see a version on the disk, but if I right click properties, I get 1.0.8US

About the only other thing I can suggest is removing Securom from your PC and running through the uninstall/re-install process again. You can find their removal tool below - and yes, it is copy protection.

SecuROM™ Removal Tool

I see 1.0.8 as a version for the installer, but the game itself 1.0.10 US.

I used the removal tool, shutdown protection, uninstalled, ran CCleaner, reinstalled as administrator, ran as administrator. Still the same. I suspect there is another program that is incompatible with the game now that was not present in 2010, and the game will not launch. Oh, well...

The mule in me wants the game to work, but I've played it on XP and no how it comes out. At least I had that privilege.

Thanks, Inland, for your kind assistance.

Well rats, that's no good - I suspect you're on the right track though, you've got something that's not playing well with the game. It could be almost be anything, which makes it difficult to pinpoint. If you're running any CD\DVD type software (like Nero InCD) it's known to cause problems with things like Securom.

It might be a long process, but it could be worth going through the list of startup items (MSCONFIG) and disabling them one by one and see if it corrects the problem.

Thanks, Inland.

I visited the SecuRom website and downloaded their diagnostic tool and reran the tool on the RunDev file. I zipped it per their instructions and just sent it off to their Tech support along with a screen shot of the error message. Maybe they'll respond.

Failing that, would I just have to try the startup items or services as well in Msconfig?

That would be my approach.

Just to update regarding the analysis from SecuRom. I sent them the diagnostic analysis file. They responded that I needed to update my SecuRom patch to the latest version(v 8.03.0012) as well as run as Administrator. Well, apparently that is not readily doable by the consumer. So I emailed my tech support at Encore and she basically responded that they do not intend to provide updates to the game.

I decided that the mule in me is not stubborn enough to pursue the Msconfig route (part of me suspects it's a windows update anyway), so I need to be content with having played it on the old XP despite the occasional graphics issue. Since I know how it comes out, likely I will not be playing this game again anyway.

I just wanted to see if any support from the outside world existed. Sadly, I got my answer.

Hey everyone!

My name is Jason Carver and I work in the Community Support department at Encore Software and Viva Media. I've been monitoring this thread and I would like to aplogize for any problems people have been having due to the copy protection of the game. As an alternative work around for this problem I would like to offer those people who are affected by this bug a complementary product key for Steam where our customers can install the game from and not have to worry abou CD Checks at the beginning of the game.

Please private message me for my email address and I will give you the information you need to claim a complementary key of this game.

to GameBoomers, Jason_Encore. Thanks for stopping by and for the offer; it's much appreciated.

Your quite welcome, and if any of our customers of Encore / Viva Media products post here and need help I am your first line of help for these errors and I can also get direct answers from the source and resolve problems much more quickly We had acquired Viva Media back in 2013 and now support for all Viva Media products is done through Encore.

Thank you Jason and

Ana

Jason_Encore...

Thank you so much for your posts and your kind offer, I will definitely be messaging you privately to take you up on it, as I'd love to play the game on my Asus gaming laptop that has a much better graphics card.

As to your support, I will say that the tech support I had received through contacting Encore was highly professional and was much appreciated. Even though the tech who followed my case could not ultimately resolve the issue (which I do suspect is SecuRom) she followed up on each of my email responses...even the final one after I received the analysis report from SecuRom.

With operating systems becoming obsolete, we gamers are forced to upgrade. Games that weren't designed for the newer operating systems have to either be repurchased as downloads which are tweaked to work, or they go unplayed. Add to that frequent windows updates can complicate the compatibility issue.

I don't know what the ultimate solution is for us gamers, but it is nice to know that folks like you follow our forums and care about these issues. Thank you so much!

JKEerie

I have sent you a key per the email you have sent me , please check your private messages and let me know if you run into any problems.

Downloading as we speak, Jason. Thank you again very much!!!

Well, now, I am truly embarrassed and apologetic to you, Jason. After downloading the game and trying to launch it through Steam, I get the exact same error!

It occurred to me to look in the Windows Event Viewer and I discovered the following error in each and every instance where I'd attempted to launch the game:

Log Name: Application
Source: Application Error
Date: 8/15/2014 2:48:14 PM
Event ID: 1000
Task Category: (100)
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: Jacky-Asus
Description:
Faulting application name: RunDev.exe, version: 1.9.4.9, time stamp: 0x4c1a31a5
Faulting module name: atioglxx.dll, version: 6.14.10.9236, time stamp: 0x4b2aa66c
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x0000b212
Faulting process id: 0x127c
Faulting application start time: 0x01cfb8b976d14cca
Faulting application path: C:\Users\owner\Documents\Steam\steamapps\common\Alter Ego\RunDev.exe
Faulting module path: C:\Windows\system32\atioglxx.dll
Report Id: b5cfdb11-24ac-11e4-a702-e0cb4e9794b2
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="Application Error" />
<EventID Qualifiers="0">1000</EventID>
<Level>2</Level>
<Task>100</Task>
<Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2014-08-15T18:48:14.000000000Z" />
<EventRecordID>69888</EventRecordID>
<Channel>Application</Channel>
<Computer>Jacky-Asus</Computer>
<Security />
</System>
<EventData>
<Data>RunDev.exe</Data>
<Data>1.9.4.9</Data>
<Data>4c1a31a5</Data>
<Data>atioglxx.dll</Data>
<Data>6.14.10.9236</Data>
<Data>4b2aa66c</Data>
<Data>c0000005</Data>
<Data>0000b212</Data>
<Data>127c</Data>
<Data>01cfb8b976d14cca</Data>
<Data>C:\Users\owner\Documents\Steam\steamapps\common\Alter Ego\RunDev.exe</Data>
<Data>C:\Windows\system32\atioglxx.dll</Data>
<Data>b5cfdb11-24ac-11e4-a702-e0cb4e9794b2</Data>
</EventData>
</Event>

The only difference in the other reports was that the file path was different since it was a direct install from the disk.

I had presumed that since the drivers had not changed on the laptop since partially playing the game in 2010, it had to be a copy protection issue, since all the other trouble shooting failed to fix the issue. This game did work on this same laptop in 2010!

I did uninstall and reinstall the driver from the laptop manufacturer's website (presuming perhaps a corrupt dll file.) The issue recurs.

I now have emails into Asus and ATI to see if they can provide a fix.

In the meantime, my mea culpa to you, Jason. I just don't understand computers.

On Windows 7 and 8 / 8.1 we had customers fix most crashes by manually installing the Direct X Runtime on the web.. Just a thought.

Thank you for the suggestion, Jason. I did just download and install Direct X 9.0 (full package so it wouldn't just tell me it didn't need to update). I still get the same, a black screen (GLFW window) and then the error message and I am prompted to close. From looking on the web, this appears to be an Open GL error. This error did not occur in 2010 with the exact same ATI driver installed. I just don't get it. Perhaps Asus or ATI has the answer.

I never presumed a driver error since it worked before. Obviously something has changed.

Thank you so much, Jason, for your continued support.

JK

Well...the response from Asus was to re-install my operating system and restore the laptop to its out-of-the-box condition. This seems rather drastic considering I am having an issue with a single game only and otherwise the laptop is working fine. (I would really hate to lose all the programs and game downloads I have installed.) Does this seem like a reasonable suggestion to anyone?

I just filed a ticket with AMD and will see if they can suggest a repair to the Open GL files. If they cannot, I may take the laptop to a local computer guy and have him update drivers and BIOS, VBIOS etc, since I have not upgraded any of this since I purchased it in 2010. When I have tried to update the graphics driver myself, it installs but I lose the native 1600x900 screen resolution on the laptop so I always end up rolling back to the Asus driver.

Usually the restore to factory defaults only takes about 10 minutes (assuming you're using a restore partition). But then you'd have all those Windows updates to do afterwards, which would take much longer. It would get rid of damaged files. But it's possible the game still won't work, since we don't really know why it won't work.


I'm not sure I understand. Do you mean the 1600x900 resolution isn't available when you access the Display options? If it isn't, did you check "List All Modes?"
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/255-screen-resolution-display-settings.html

Thank you for your response, Jenny100.

To answer your question, the 1600x900 resolution does not display on the dropdown list of resolutions when I go to Screen Resolution when I right click on the desktop. The top resolution is 1152 (or something like that x ? (can't recall the 2nd number). I have never checked the "list all modes" under the advanced settings.

One more update and I wish to report SUCCESS!

I got a response from the folks at AMD about the graphics driver. They believe that the atioglxx.dll was corrupted during install. Rather than having me uninstall the driver and reinstall using the AMD Install Manager...which is what I did prior...they had me use the Control panel to change the AMD Catalyst Install, and remove all the AMD software including the Install Manager. Then they suggested I use Driver Fusion to clean any remaining files and the registry. Unfortunately, Driver Fusion just hung on my system causing a hard restart. So I used Driver Sweeper instead to perform the task. I then reinstalled the drivers from ASUS (strongly recommended my AMD as their reference drivers are not always compatible with laptop drivers.) The result is now, Alter Ego launches and plays with no difficulties on the ASUS machine.

So...problem solved. Thanks to all who offered support via this thread. The solution sure beat reinstalling the operating system!

Congrats JK.

I'm not going to lie - I never thought you even hear back from AMD! Interesting resolution - I have filed Driver Sweeper for future reference as I've never used it.

Persistence pays off once again!

Thank you for describing the details of what helped you, JKEerie.
It's interesting that they suggest not using the reference drivers.
It used to be that it wasn't even possible to install anything but the laptop drivers from the laptop manufacturer on a laptop -- the install simply stopped if the installer didn't detect the appropriate hardware.

Damaged drivers often require a complete uninstall by something like Driver Cleaner. Simply updating the drivers won't get rid of damaged files if both sets of drivers use the same damaged file.

If you want to know what has to be done to completely remove drivers, someone posted a manual procedure here
http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=379461

As you can see, it's not just a matter of deleting files. There are also many registry entries. This is why people use tools like Driver Sweeper -- quicker to use and less prone to error.

ATI used to have their own driver removal tool that you could download from their website, but they seem to be relying on outside sources now -- maybe because tools like Driver Sweeper worked better than their own tool.

Thank you, Cathy1!

Drac: It took a couple of days for AMD to respond, but they did. Interesting that their response included a disclaimer for Driver Fusion, LOL. Considering it gave my system fits I don't blame them. I'm surprised that ASUS didn't suggest a possible corruption and removal/reinstall of the driver, versus the drastic measure of restoring my computer to "out of the box" condition.
Driver Sweeper was very easy to use, BTW.

Jenny100: ASUS has a Republic of Gaming Website where a moderator has posted links to drivers not on the ASUS support site for the various notebook computers. Hard core gamers require more frequent driver updates, particularly for the graphics. However, ASUS does not officially recommend anything other than their drivers. Considering they market this laptop and others as gaming laptops, you would think they would provide updated drivers, but they don't.

As to ATI, their instructions were very good and acknowledged basically what you said. They mentioned how their reference drivers are tweaked by the laptop manufacturers to optimize the laptop. That's why they don't recommend not using the manufacturer drivers due to compatibility issues. Their driver setup provides an uninstall option prior to reinstall, but as you pointed out, it does not do a thorough job.

This was a learning experience for me, and I always learn so much from the gurus in these threads. I wanted to post to acknowledge that a solution was found and thank those who offered support and encouragement. It is much appreciated.