Hi, all! While I'm waiting for Big Fish Games online chat to be available this morning, it occurred to me that someone here might have the answer to my question.

I think I need to uninstall and reinstall Ranch Rush, which I purchased a day or two ago from Big Fish Games. This in itself isn't a problem, but I'd like to save my progress in the game if that's possible.

What happens is this:

The game loads, the opening screen loads, I click "Continue Game" and then the game crashes and I get the following error message:

void cRenderBear::process()

I've restarted my computer, but the problem is not resolved. In addition, I can play other games I've purchased with BFG but not this one. I've also tried launching the game from the desktop icon as opposed to using the game manager, but I still get the same result.

I played the game for quite awhile without having any problems, and I think it happened because I had an incompatible program running at the same time, so I think just uninstalling the game and reinstalling it will rectify it.

But I'd almost finished the game, doggone it, and I don't particularly want to start over if I can help it!

Does anyone know if one loses one's progress if you uninstall and reinstall the game program? (I've been afraid to try.)

Many thanks to all you teckkie genuises out there!

GPM, I don't know. I know when you switch computers you can't just move a game save file, but I don't know what will happen if you uninstall and reinstall on the same computer.

Let us know what you find out and

I really loved my little farm ...

When I last played the game, I actually just sat there surveying it while I deliberately let the time run out.

It was just incredibly satisfying to see all the little plants all watered and blooming, no weeds or dead ground, and the stockpiles of wool and eggs and honey and milk ... LOL

Life seems a little out of control at times, but that little farm was rockin'!

Somebody, please help me save the farm!!

Have you tried downloading OVER the file and not deleting? If you are missing a file it may just correct it. I do know that most the BF games will lose their progress if you delete and redownload.

Ana

Hey GPM, I had the same exact problem that you had.

I'm waiting for the Live Chat at BFG to open to see if they can solve the issue. I downloaded the latest drivers for my video card and I even updated to a version of DirectX that came out a few weeks ago.Installed, unintstalled etc.

I was trying to finish the tips and tricks for the game and like you, I was close to the end. I will let you know what they say as soon as I hear something. Or if you hear something sooner let me know.

BTW, I had a version straight from the developer that did the same thing, that's why I downloaded it from BFG hoping their version was different.

Will keep you posted

Margie B

Thanks, Margie! I was sure it was something I had done, and I feel a lot better knowing maybe that was not the case. Rather than bother BFG chat with the same question, I think I'll wait to hear what you hear from BFG.

I just chatted with Big Fish and here's what they had to say

"I'm sorry to hear that you are having so much trouble with this game. We have been seeing this error with a few customers. If you have already upgraded your video card drivers, what I will need to do is contact our technical specialist, as he has been looking into this error for us."

They said it would be an hour or two for me to get a response. I'll let you know what happens.

Margie B

Thanks Margie!

Ana

Hi GPM,

Here's what BFG sent me, you will probably have to contact them anyway since your driver may be different than mine.

"I actually ended up speaking with our Senior Tech, and he explained that this game has some components that are not supported by certain video cards. When this happens, that's when you get the error message that you are receiving".

They also sent me a link to test my driver but the link will not do you any good since you have to send it in to them through an e-mail that has the incident number.

I sent the test back to them so I will let you know what they said. In the meantime, I'm going to try it on a different computer.

Good Luck,
Margie B

Thanks Margie. I hope there will be a patch for it.

Ana

Here's an update on my status:

I chatted with BFG customer support on Thursday. I told the young man I was getting a certain error code, and he said that several people had reported it and he immediately offered either a coupon for a replacement game or indicated that they'd email me when the problem was resolved. Because I liked the game, I elected the email, but I've not yet heard anything from them.

One of the things that I noticed about my situation is that if I launch the game immediately after I boot the computer, there's no sound for the game (even though the game Options indicate the music, etc., should be on). I have to play a file or something on RealPlayer or Windows Media Player - anything seems to work - and then re-launch the game for the music to play.

I started playing again in Casual mode, and the game crashed again - same error message - but this time it crashed earlier, Week 6, I believe.

I also noticed that, while the first time it crashed after being shut down (I had closed the game and was re-launching it later), the second time I was in the middle of a game session.

And I also noticed that it will still crash if I try to play with no sound.

Lastly, the game will allow me to play my in-progress Expert mode game (presumably up to a point I have yet to reach before crashing) but will immediately crash if I select Casual mode.

I can, however, start a new Casual game (which will presumably crash - sometime).

I uninstalled and reinstalled the game and, interestingly, didn't lose my game in progress - but the program still crashed when I selected Casual mode.

I uninstalled a second time, cleaned the registry, rebooted, reinstalled, and rebooted again and it still crashed.

I do believe that there was a Java update just a couple of days ago, but I'm not sure if this is important or not. I'm also not quite sure what to make of the whole sound thing, but I can't help but think it might be significant.

Have you made any progress, Margie? Has anyone else experienced this? I have another computer, but it's entirely devoted to business and I don't really want to start playing games on it. (Then I'd never get any work done!)

GPM, I hope they get back to you with a solution. I know occassionally a specific game just won't play on some configurations. I hope this isn't one of those time

According to "******* (in Seattle),"

"A small percentage of users with certain graphics cards are unable to play Ranch Rush due to the requirements that are needed to play this game...

We are in contact with the developer of Ranch Rush since Big Fish Games is unsatisfied at the quality of this particular title and since it was not compatible with a noticeable percentage of our customers."

***** (in Seattle)
Customer Service Supervisor
www.bigifishgames.com

If it's an incompatibility with my graphic card, it doesn't look good for me, does it?

I kind of hate it, though, that Big Fish Games is "unsatisfied at the quality of the title," because it's really a good game, it appears to be popular, and I think it's nicely done quality-wise. I've bought worse!

Just in case anyone else is having this problem, though, and is following this thread, the information I got from **** may not be entirely accurate. His misspelling of Big Fish Games' website in his signature (bigifish? LOL) was a bit of a tipoff to look at the reply email address, which was ******** As a result, I'm not sure this information came directly from BFG and, therefore, it may not be entirely accurate from a technical standpoint.

I think I'll contact Aliasworlds or Fresh Games and see if they have any info.

Hi Gpm,

I meant to get back to you once I received my last e-mail from BFG. Apparently it was something that was lacking in my video card that was not allowing me to play. I had to finish the game because I was writing tips and tricks for Gamezebo.

Luckily, I have a PC and I was finally able to play the complete game on there. My PC has an NVidia graphics card that apparently had what I needed in it. My laptop has an Intel Graphics card and that was not allowing me to get past a certain point in the game.

I hope you are able to finish this game one day soon. In my opinion it is one of the best Time Management games out there.

Here's what BFG said.

"Thank you for getting this back to me. If your video card is already updated, then you are most likely receiving this error because your video card is not built to support certain components in this game.

This game uses what is called OpenGL2. As you can see from the report I had you run, your video card is only built to run versions of OpenGL that are lower than OpenGL2."

Margie

Doggone it! It's Intel and, I assume, built to run versions of OpenGL that are lower than OpenGL2. How disappointing!

Thanks for the update, Margie!

Well Gpm, it depends on your model, we may not have the same one. Do you want me to send you the link they sent me to test my card to see if yours may be compatible? If you decide to take the test you should update your card first. For me there was an update available on June 2008. I can also send you the link to update your video card. But you should consider going through BFG first.Let me know what you think.

Thanks, Margie

Thank you, Margie, I'd love the links, just in case.

I tried going through BFG. I chatted with Customer Service on Thursday and gave the guy the error code. He didn't ask any questions about my graphic card, updated drivers or anything else.

He just said something like, "Several other people have reported this problem. Would you like a game coupon for a replacement game or would you like for me to email you and update you regarding the status of any fix?"

I liked the game, so I said I wanted the email.

They never emailed the response, but they did email a customer survey a couple of days later. I indicated that my problem wasn't resolved, and in response I got the email from ******(of "bigifish") above saying "A small percentage of users with certain graphics cards are unable to play Ranch Rush due to the requirements that are needed to play this game."

It sounds like whoever you worked with was a lot more helpful so, if you'd like to pass on the link, I'd definitely appreciate it!

I emailed Aliasworld this afternoon and have yet to receive a response. I also submitted my question to the forum at Fresh Games, but my post has yet to be approved so it doesn't appear there yet.

I'm starting to feel a bit like a second-class citizen - except here, where everybody's helpful or at least sympathetic! Thanks to all!

Hi GPM,

It's funny because I always get the same lady when I go to BFG Chat. I asked her did they have other people there with that name or do I just get lucky all the time and she said she said that I was lucky :-) Really nice lady and as you can see very helpful.

First, look for the update for your video card before you do the test. here's the link for Intel~ http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/sb/CS-020667.htm
Look for your graphics card and download an update if it's available, it took me a few tries to get mine but I was finaly able to do it.

Here's the link for the software BFG talked about. http://www.bisque.com/CompatTest/Seeker.asp that will test your graphics card. If you get a message that says your system is compatible then you should be able to play. If it tells you that you do not meet the requirements you are probably out of luck. I hope that it says that it is compatible :-)

Let me know if this helps any.

Margie B

EDIT:

Hi GPM,One of the developers from Fresh Games posted this on Playfirst

Hello all!

If you have purchased Ranch Rush from BigFish and are experiencing crashes, please re-download and install from BigFish. They posted a new version to fix the crashing issue last night.

If you purchased the game from other sites, you should be okay.

Thanks!
Pat

OOPS Ana or L4L, Sorry I thought I was editing, I didn't realize that I started a new post. Please blame it on fatigue! Here I'm giving you all extra work.

YOu're okay Margie....it was an important update! Thanks for the news, much appreciated.

Oh, Margie, thank you so much for the update!!!!!!

And thanks to Fresh Games and thanks to Big Fish and thanks to everybody else. I think it's really fantastic that they worked so hard on a fix for something that apparently impacted only a relatively few people.

I tried the links you posted, Margie (thank you for those as well) and, as anticipated, the result was the dreaded FAILED. I had truly given up hope and expected that I would play the game over and over but never reach the end! LOL

And according to the Big Fish website, Ranch Rush is now the #2 download!

Thank you again, then, for all the great info - I really appreciate your help!

Hey GPM I'm probably too late but here's the last update from FreshGames. Of course, I didn't see this in time, Sorry. If you download now you will lose all progress.

Another Update!

We've worked with BigFish to create a new build to avoid losing your data! This new version should be up by tomorrow morning. I will post a message to let you know when it is available.

Again, sorry for the inconvenience!

GPM, sorry you got the dreaded Failed, but at least now you know and won't be beating your head against a wall.

I hope a great game comes out soon that you can play though

Thanks Margie, that will be good news for some