Issue with GTR 2 (Steam versions)

[Crimson_764]

So initially these Steam-based installs I have were working, earlier this week. But since Thrusday I had to reinstall Windows 10 via a repair install (which also updated Windows 10 from 21H2 to 22H2), after certain Windows features weren't working properly and corrupt files were found. I also reinstalled my latest graphics card drivers (nVidia 528.49, this was also installed before the repair of Windows 10) with a clean install once Windows was operational again to ensure the drivers were clean. However, the installs will load into the menu but as soon as it loads the car that I last used on that install, the game crashes. Checking the trace I get this error; vidman.cpp 529: CUBE error : Error setting video mode 1176 x 664 x 6 (this resolution is due to my monitor being an old HDTV so it's native resolution is 1280x720 and I wanted a resolution that makes windowed mode easy enough which that is fine) and in the menu I can tell this is not working as looking at the menu the text and graphics are all jagged as I believe it's running in 16-bit colour instead of the 32-bit mode that I defined in the config exe.

My specs are:
CPU: Intel i5-2500k (stock with OEM OC)
GPU: GTX 970 (Zotac)

This does not effect the other installs I have which are from my original disc copy. I also noticed in the config.ini file that the GUID for my graphics card drivers was different from the retail to the steam ones. The retail installs match the GUID from DxDiag (D7B71E3E-5082-11CF-4B71-69330EC2D235) but the Steam installs have a completely different GUID. (94DF1B1C-EEA6-0E6A-73A2-2293ABECD839)

 

[Crimson_764]

So small update: I fixed the GUID by simply configuring the game first (via GTR2Config.exe) and then freshly re-applying CrewChief and DXVK with new files. So now it matches the GUID of my nVidia drivers properly just as the retail installs do, and I'll need to do that for the other digital installs as well to sort that. But the game is still crashing with the same error and I've not been able to fix that yet.

 

[Crimson_764]

Well now a month later, I know what's causing it to crash. But still no solution to fix it. The game for whatever reason is defaulting to 16-bit colour mode. Even when in the config I've set it to 32-bit colour mode, it still defaults back to 16-bit. This is on the installs with CC installed. I've also reinstalled my Steam copy, both in and out of Steam, with nothing else in it including CC. With the compatibility settings applied (Win XP SP3 + Admin on GTR2Config, and just Admin on GTR2/Sudo exes), it instantly throws up a minidump error upon launch. So for that one I can assume that it is trying to load in 32-bit colour mode but for whatever reason it can't.

 

[Jempy]

@The Iron Wolf
Should you have an idea for solving that problem ?

 

[The Iron Wolf]

@The Iron Wolf
Should you have an idea for solving that problem ?

unfortunately no. I tested my plugin on 3 desktops and 4 laptops (win10/win11) and it works flawlessly as long as plugin is present and command line swtiches (not gtr2config) are used for resolution setting.

 

[Jempy]

Thanks for answering @The Iron Wolf
The only idea I might have is that the Steam exe version doesn't accept this special resolution in 32bit ... this should be the reason why it wishes to load in 16bit and this should be the reason for the crash.
@Crimson_764 .... did you try with the native resolution of your TV ?
All other installs are not Steam version ... so this test might already make sure that the problem is not this special resolution you're using with Steam version.

 

[The Iron Wolf]

Thanks for answering @The Iron Wolf
The only idea I might have is that the Steam exe version doesn't accept this special resolution in 32bit ... this should be the reason why it wishes to load in 16bit and this should be the reason for the crash.
@Crimson_764 .... did you try with the native resolution of your TV ?
All other installs are not Steam version ... so this test might already make sure that the problem is not this special resolution you're using with Steam version.

one thing to add is that some things in plugin are hardware dependent. Vulkan does not work on all GPUs and for least trouble, it is best to disable integrated GPU. OpenXR will not work on all HMDs, only on HMDs with 32bit OpenXR runtime. Lastly, some people had to use MACT tool to set some compatibility stuff on GTR2, that's in the manual.

It is quite possible that certain resolution does not work. I would start with:

-ccvm-w:800 -ccvm-h:600

and see if game runs.

 

[Crimson_764]

@Crimson_764 .... did you try with the native resolution of your TV ?
All other installs are not Steam version ... so this test might already make sure that the problem is not this special resolution you're using with Steam version.

Can confirm it is not resolution dependent. My non-Steam installs run at that resolution (1176x664 windowed in 32-bit) just fine. My native resolution is 720p, which I've tried and still does the same thing. And testing TIW's suggestion of 800x600 also gives the same outcome of the game defaulting back to 16-bit. Should note the game does launch in 16-bit and I can get into the menu just fine. But as soon as I load my car in any race mode, or weirdly if I go to the controls screen (any other screen is fine seemingly?) the game throws up a minidump error, which is the Steam version's way of it crashing. And when I check the trace, it shows that video error no matter which resolution it's in.

 

[Jempy]

I just read the same kind of case and the problem was only solved by launching config.exe and GTR2.exe with admin rights.
Try a new install without Crew Chief or/and HQ Patch and try to start both config and game with admin rights.
I guess you might have made a mistake somewhere when installing ( even maybe repeated in your different trials ).
Have first the original Steam version working before installing anything else.

 

[Crimson_764]

I just read the same kind of case and the problem was only solved by launching config.exe and GTR2.exe with admin rights.
Try a new install without Crew Chief or/and HQ Patch and try to start both config and game with admin rights.
I guess you might have made a mistake somewhere when installing ( even maybe repeated in your different trials ).
Have first the original Steam version working before installing anything else.

So I have tried that before, and the outcome is slightly different in that it crashes seconds after clicking the exe instead of launching into the game. As I said before, I'm assuming in that situation it "detects" the 32-bit color mode that time around, but again for whatever reason it still can't use it. Unlike the installs with CC in it, it doesn't default back to 16-bit. It just crashes before the game even loads the window. I have a feeling it might be a Windows issue, as I did a repair-install of it in February after certain Windows features weren't working as they should. I was on 21H2 Windows 10 Professional 64-bit before that, and after that it put me on the 22H2 version of Win10 Pro (not to be confused with Windows 11's 22H2 as they are named the same.) But I only noticed these issues happening after that install of Windows, before they all worked fine with no issues.

 

[Apocalypse2112]

Same for me. Bought it on Steam for W11 and when I start it always goes to the graphics card selection menu. No start.

I've given up.

 

[jgf]

Same for me. Bought it on Steam for W11 and when I start it always goes to the graphics card selection menu. No start.

I've given up.

This means the config isn't being set, or isn't being saved. Try moving the entire GTR2 install out of the Steam folder, out of any "Program Files" folder, and just have it in the root drive (C:\GTR2, D:\GTR2, etc.)

Disabling DEP might help also (https://www.thewindowsclub.com/turn-off-data-execution-prevention-dep); it doesn't just monitor memory usage, it also blocks any attempts, valid or not, to edit or modify a registered exe. Many programs predating Win7 are confounded by this, and if they are also in a "Program Files" folder it just gets worse.

 

[Apocalypse2112]

Thanks man. Moved it to root of C:

Edit:

Absolutely no change. Whenever I run GTR2.EXE the config pops up.

Tried running both as an admin and also on all different old Windows compatibility modes. No cigar. It's dead as Queen Elizabeth's bedroom.

Same for all the games of the same series that I bought (GT Legends, etc.)

PS: I wonder if installing this patch over the game would help?

GTR2 16th Anniversary PATCH Part-3

>>> HOTFIX HERE

www.racedepartment.com

Edit: That didn't work, either.

 

[jgf]

The anniversary patch is primarily graphics and some physics updates. It sounds like something on your system is blocking GTR2, check the system events log and see if anything noted there.

 

[Crimson_764]

Same for me. Bought it on Steam for W11 and when I start it always goes to the graphics card selection menu. No start.

I've given up.

I should say my issue is slightly different. I'm not stuck in a config loop like you are, as the config works for me. But it's what the config is doing which is causing my issue, i.e. wrong colour mode being set. So I put it to 32-bit and it defaults to 16-bit. The game runs like this, but the moment I load a car, instant CTD. And if I put it to 16-bit, it doesn't even boot.

 

[dwightyone]

Hi - I know it's long shot but is there any chance you have CC config set to VR on and then you attempt to start GTR2 by the normal GTR.exe which WILL default you GTR2 video config to 16 bit and resolutions like 800x600 and will crash every time. Worth a check as I noticed if CC is set to VR on and you don't use the VR CMD to start GTR2 in its root folder you WILL crash every time - this is something I discovered with more recent builds of CC since summer (ish) which now require to start via the VR CMD. My crashes may be unique to my build

 

[Crimson_764]

No, my settings for VR are as default (aka; turned off). And I am also using the non-VR cmd script to run the game. So I don't think VR is the issue either.

 

[Durge Driven]

Have a 16th Anni archive I have not got around to doing update to my Essentials mod

Copied over my archived Steam version ( not touched )
Extracted 16.0 and the patches you see

dumped it all in, never ran options
GTRconfig ( admin mode ) set (2560x1440 ) windowed mode + vsync
GTR ( admin mode )
No compatibility mode
Booted fine and loaded session


AMD 3400G - Vega11
Fresh W10 Home 22H2 with manual updates
Latest AMD driver with profile same as I used in thread " GTR2 on budget tower"
DirectX June 2010 ( the big one )
Latest Runtimes all-in-one pack

So I doubt 22H2 is the issue.

 

[Crimson_764]

Have a 16th Anni archive I have not got around to doing update to my Essentials mod

Copied over my archived Steam version ( not touched )
Extracted 16.0 and the patches you see
View attachment 706085

dumped it all in, never ran options
GTRconfig ( admin mode ) set (2560x1440 ) windowed mode + vsync
GTR ( admin mode )
No compatibility mode
Booted fine and loaded session


AMD 3400G - Vega11
Fresh W10 Home 22H2 with manual updates
Latest AMD driver with profile same as I used in thread " GTR2 on budget tower"
DirectX June 2010 ( the big one )
Latest Runtimes all-in-one pack

So I doubt 22H2 is the issue.

Yeah 22H2 is not the problem, because I highly doubt Windows itself would cause this problem. However, it's been a problem since I upgraded to 22H2 back in February. And even going to the Windows 11 version of 22H2, doesn't fix it either. Again, it's not Windows that's the problem here, it's something I've done in-between updating to 22H2 and launching the game for the first time after that update, because for whatever reason that I still have no idea why something has corrupted my Steam GTR2 exes and it reads the config incorrectly. It reads the resolution (in my case; 1176x664) and the refresh rate (60Hz) but not the colour mode. (I set it to 32-bit, and it defaults to 16-bit, should say it still says 32-bit mode in the config but I can clearly see the textures in the menu and in the intro video is in reduced quality so it must be 16-bit as 32-bit does not look like that.)

 

[s0cks]

I assume you've tried renaming/moving the config file and having GTR2config generate a fresh one? Apologies as I don't know how it works exactly, but in any case i would be trying to get a fresh config file if you haven't already.