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Running Windows Vista and Penumbra: Overture won't launch or crashes.

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Posted: 04 Apr, 2007
by: Nilsson J.

Updated: 04 Apr, 2007
by: Nilsson J.

Penumbra has been through quality assurance and cleared to be Windows Vista compatible. However, we in Frictional Games do not run Vista ourselves so the game might not be as stable as in WindowsXP/2000.

If the game crashes on launch
1. Make sure you have the absolute latest drivers available for your video and audio card.
2. Make sure you have the latest version of Windows Vista installed.
3. Mare sure you have the latest version of Penumbra: Overture installed.
4. Visit OpenAL website and see if there is any newer version released since the one bundled with Penumbra: Overture (Winter 2006).

If it still crashes
Look through the rest of the articles on crashes for general troubleshooting and help.

I bought the game from Gamer's Gate and nothing happens as I click the icon
-We are not 100% sure of the solution for this, most issues points towards a problem with the serial/activation program used by Gamer's Gate. This seems to be a particular problem if running Vista 64-bit.
-You can try and run the game as an administrator or running it in XP compatible mode. We do not know how to do this.
-If possible try and activate the game in Windows XP and then play it in Vista, or switch to Windows XP when you want to play Penumbra.

At this moment we do not have much experience(none!) with Vista, therefore we are sorry that we can not provide any more specific help.

Also read

	Will Penumbra: Overture run on Windows Vista?

Others in this Category

	Penumbra: Overture crashes and I'm sure I have the latest version, latest drivers and/or I have played the game before but now it does not work any more.
	Penumbra: Overture crashes/returns to the desktop after the intro ends?
	Penumbra: Overture Demo crashes as I enter the Snow/Blizzard/Outside/Canyon level.
	» More articles

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Current News
Before looking at this support site please review the following information, it will save you some time!

PENUMBRA: REQUIEM

Requiem 1.0.1 Update
A small update to Requiem has been released, it will mainly improve performance in levels 03, 06 and 09. Get it here.

Requiem Hotfix - Sewer
If the game crashes when loading Level 4 - Sewer, use this hotfix. It will not fix anything else nor include the 1.0.1 update. Get it here.

General Info
If you are having a problem, check the Penumbra: Black Plague articles as Requiem is an expansion for that game, if you do not find the answers you seek look at the Penumbra: Overture articles as that is the first part in the Penumbra series and has most articles with solutions.

PENUMBRA: BLACK PLAGUE
Rare crash bugs - Full version & Demo
In the original US & EU retail CD release there is a rare crash problem in Level 4, Level 13 & Level 16. On picking an object it could also crash with certain configurations & some users with ATI cards had severe graphical glitches. Please download this update to correct the problems.

Finding the right answer to a problem
As Penumbra: Black Plague is the sequel to Penumbra: Overture and also using the same engine, most of the technical problems you might have are covered in the Penumbra: Overture topics.

COMMON PROBLEMS
Question: The game is crashing when I try to run the game or shortly after the intro movie.
Answer: Make sure you meet the minimum requirements and that you have properly updated the drivers for your graphics card. Take note that the game requires ATI or NVIDIA graphics cards, any other graphics card might or might not work and it is not something we are trying to add support for.

Minimum Requirements(Overture)
OS: Windows 2000/XP
Processor: 1Ghz
Memory: 256MB
Video Card: Radeon 8500/GeForce 3(GeForce4MX not supported)

Question: The game crashes and displays a message about my graphics card not supporting shaders.
Answer: Same as above, make sure you meet the minimum requirements and that you have updated your drivers properly.

Question: The game crashes, I have latest drivers & meet minimum req.
Answer: Make sure you uninstall the driver first, then reboot and then install the new drivers. It could also be that the new drivers are causing problems, try downgrading to an older more reliable driver.

Question: This support site isn't helping me, what do I do?
Answer: Contact the publisher according to the instructions that came with the game. If you bought a digital download, contact the site where you purchased the game.

Last Updated: 24th November 2008.