Windows 7-Worms Armageddon Freezes at the main menu(after applying latest beta update

[haloony]

Hey All,

I have been trying to install worms armageddon on my brother's computer so that we can play each other online. His laptop is newer than mine and is running windows 7. Ages ago I bought the worms triple-pack which includes WA, WWP and W2. I used this WA cd to install WA on his laptop. The install was successful but I didn't try to fire up WA until after I applied the beta update. After running the updater, I tried to run WA for the first time. The intro came and went and when the software settles on the main menu it freezes. I cannot move the cursor and I cannot click anything. The mouse was working perfectly to click through the intro but once the main menu comes up=frozen.

I did some searching through this forum and the troubleshooting guide over at worms2d and that led me to apply the slow frontend registry tweaks. I tried that but still no luck. If anybody has insight into what could be going wrong or if has had similar experiences please let me know. Also, if I could supply any more information, let me know. Cool.

Thanks,
Hal

[Phantom]

Try setting the compatibility to Windows XP.

[CyberShadow]

Try setting the compatibility to Windows XP.Don't do this. It causes other problems.

Please install WormKit (http://worms.thecybershadow.net/wormkit/) and the following WormKit module: 32227

Run the game via WormKit, reproduce the freeze and press Ctrl+Break. W:A should close, and a file named FREEZE.DMP should be created in your W:A folder. Find and post this file here.

[haloony]

Hey Cybershadow!

Thanks for the feedback! Well I did what you said and installed WormKit along with the MiniDump module. I attached the FREEZE.DMP file. When I tried to run WA with Wormkit.exe, I got a black screen with a black rectangle at the top of the screen. You might be wondering how I can see a black rectangle on a black screen. The borders of the rectangle were not black so I was able to see it. Anyway, that is when I pressed Ctrl+Break. Thanks for all the help!

Hal

[CyberShadow]

Have you tried the FrontendPaletteFix_On.reg tweak, or disabling the intro?

[haloony]

I just tried to apply those tweaks but no luck. First, Whenever the game is started with WormKit I get that black screen with the rectangle at the top. If I apply the skipintro tweak, I get the same black screen when I boot WA up normally or with WormKit. When I try the FrontendPaletteFix_On.reg tweak, WormKit still results in the same black screen and when opening WA normally, it still freezes at the main menu. To clarify, whenever the the skipintro tweak is on, I get a black screen. So, when I was trying the FrontendPaletteFix_On.reg tweak, I had the skipintro tweak off.

Thanks,
Hal

[CyberShadow]

Can you describe the freeze you get in the main menu in as much detail as possible? (Does it freeze as soon as you see the main menu? Do you hear any sounds? Do you hear any sounds while moving the mouse around?)

Can you try creating a shortcut to WormKit.exe, modifying it to add WA.exe at the end, then running it?

[franpa]

To me it sounds like security software originally configured for the game before it was updated, doesn't recognize the new version of the game since the game was updated and is presenting some kind of popup/stealing focus as soon as W:A initializes the display or something .

[Tomi92]

Hi! Is there a solution for this problem? I have the same one here :/ My computer freezes in the menu after a while. I can't reset my computer, becouse after the freezing my reset button doesn't work either :o
I know other guys who has the same problem :/ I want to find a solution to tell them ;)

[Pac-Man]

Your reset button MUST work except it's not connected correctly to your motherboard (then it never works). Or your motherboard is highly damaged (lol).

[GreeN]

my reset button doesn't work either

Hold the button for 4-5 seconds

[Tomi92]

My reset button is connected to my motherboard and it is working well, but after the game crashes it doesn't want to work.. But lol guys, this is not an important thing, the question is that, why is there this bug(?)?

[franpa]

Reset button should always reset instantly. I can only see a 4-5 second wait being necessary if you configured Windows to treat the Power Button as a reset button and configured the BIOS to detect the button is pressed for at least 4 seconds before acting upon it.

[GreeN]

The only time your computer will not respond to your "reset" button, is when you are using the same button to turn on/off the pc and to reset it. By default, Windows recognises a single press of this button as a 'soft' shutdown or restart instruction (Thats why it doesn't work when the pc in frozen). Holding the button down for 4-5 seconds is the default time on most motherboards before it will perform a forced shutdown.

[Tomi92]

Ok guys, so you don't believe to me.. I know how my reset button works, becouse I built up my computer. At the weekend I'll make a video to show you that I was right! ^^ But now I'm in a dormitory and my computer is at home.

But this won't solve my and some other people's problem.. (but you will watch what the problem is ^^)

[Obn3g0n]

As long as you don't want to play offline, you can avoid the frontend entirely (I think) by joining games through ProSnooper.

[franpa]

Nope, that takes you to the game lobby which is a part of the front end :)

[pisto]

Have you tried to hit the esc button when it freezes? If it goes back to desktop, then you're having the exact same issue of mine in virtualbox.

I'm really looking forward to a fix for this, because it's the only blocker for me to play worms. I've tried to run a replay and the in-game graphics work.

[Squall86r]

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-gaming/directdraw-applications-freeze-on-windows-7/4e83dac8-8d4d-4dad-9f1d-e08fa2fe1e48

[Vintage]

Can you describe the freeze you get in the main menu in as much detail as possible? (Does it freeze as soon as you see the main menu? Do you hear any sounds? Do you hear any sounds while moving the mouse around?)

Can you try creating a shortcut to WormKit.exe, modifying it to add WA.exe at the end, then running it?

This is my exact problem! It freezes as soon as the menus comes up, but if I move the mouse I hear things, also the background sounds of the game (but the cursor doesn't move). I installed the game, and then 3.6.31 beta update. I have windows 7 ultimate.

Please help, I want to play so badly.

[Obn3g0n]

Can't provide much insight because I don't use Windows 7. I would try it in safe mode to see if some other software is conflicting with worms..

[Pac-Man]

Yeah, and with the missing GPU support it wouldn't run at all in safe-mode...

[adaml1313]

In case anyone else is having trouble, I just got it working on VirtualBox by doing the following (previously it would freeze up on the main menu):

1. Go into regedit (I forget how in Windows 7, I'm on XP)
2. Go into HKEY_CURRENT_USER -> Software -> Team17SoftwareLTD -> WormsArmageddon -> Options
3. Change the value for SlowFrontendWorkaround to 0

It works great for me afterwards, if a little choppy. Haven't played around with those other settings yet, though.