Updates and Support

If you are using 64-bit Windows 7, it is very important to make sure that you have the latest graphics drivers for your video card. Many video cards are having problems with the new operating system. If the game is crashing or the graphics occasionally look wrong, go and get and install the newest graphics drivers for your card. If this doesn't help, watch for new drivers to be released for your card.

If the DirectX version of Geneforge 5 fails to launch and reports that the file " d3dx9_32.dll" can't be found, you only have DirectX 10 on your machine. Microsoft inexplicably made DirectX 10 unable to support earlier versions.

You can fix this problem (and problems with a number of other games) by going here and getting the necessary DirectX 9 files.

If, in Settings, Graphics Extras are set to Don't Draw, then characters won't be drawn with shifted colors. Your main character will look the same no matter what your color setting, cryoas will look red, etc.

If you selected Run In Fast Graphics mode when you started the game, Graphics Extras will be set to Don't Draw. If the game is running slowly but you want the character colors to change, leave Graphics Extras set to Draw All and set the Resolution to Run In 16 Bit Color.

Also, the DirectX version of the application doesn't support color changing. We hope to figure out how to get this working in DirectX in future games.

Geneforge 5; Overthrow is, graphically, not a very demanding game. However, some systems, due to hardware or video driver problems, have been having trouble running it at an acceptable speed. Other systems have displayed odd or corrupted graphics. Should the game not run correct;y for you, follow the steps below:

• If you are using Geneforge 5 v1.0 or v1.0.1, uninstall it and download and install the newest version. When you run the game, on the Resolution window, select the Play In Fast Graphics Mode check box. Many users have had dramatic performance improvements when using this setting.
• If you are using the newest version of Geneforge 5, you might have a corrupted game file. Uninstall the game, redownload the installer, and reinstall. Don't skip uninstalling!
• If these steps don't help, try running the DirectX version of Geneforge 5. (Included in v1.0.2 and later.) This can be launched from the Start menu. Go to Start Menu > My Programs > Spiderweb Software > Geneforge 5.
• Download the newest versions of your video card drivers and install them. Do this even if you think you have the newest version. Driver files and settings can sometimes become damaged or corrupted.
• Don't run any other applications at the same times as Geneforge 5.
• If your system is fairly old (particularly if it has 256 MB RAM or less, an Intel GMA graphics processor instead of a video card, or a video card over six years old), the game will probably always run slowly. Using Fast Graphics Mode will help.

Very rarely, the game will freeze during two cutscenes: The cutscene when encountering Rawal for the first time at the end of the first zone, and the cutscene when entering the Presence chamber in Foundry Core west. Should you have a problem here, load a saved game and try the event again. it should function correctly.

If you still have problems, update to Windows Geneforge 5 1.0.1 or later. We have altered the scripts in ways that will hopefully prevent these problems. If you still get a freeze here with a recent version, please let us know so we can get back to work tracking it down.

We have found that Geneforge 5: Overthrow frequently runs poorly (or not at all) on graphics processors made by S3 Graphics. This includes the ProSavage, UniChrome, and Chrome9. These are low power graphics processors (chips, not cards) that lack the power to run most games. Including, sadly, ours. At this point, we see no path to getting Geneforge 5 working on these systems. We apologize for the trouble.

Geneforge 5: Overthrow stores all saved games in the My Documents folder. Should it be unable to access this folder, it should be trying to save games inside the Geneforge 5 program folder. Unfortunately, this second step was buggy in v1.0 and v1.0.1.

To try to fix the problem, got to the main Geneforge 5 web page, download the newest version (v1.0.2 or later), and install it. If the My Documents folder is unavailable, Geneforge 5 will put your saved games in the Geneforge 5 folder.

If the game is still having trouble saving, make sure your local machine has a My Documents folders and that you are able to access it. Then go into My Documents, enter the folder "Spiderweb Software", and drag the folder "Geneforge 5 Saved Games" to the Recycle Bin. (If you can't find that folder, this means that your system is not letting Geneforge 5 access the My Documents folder.)

If these steps don't help, uninstall the game, redownload the demo, and reinstall. If this still doesn't help, go back to your My Documents folder. Something is preventing Geneforge 5 from writing your saved games there.

Also, some users have had success getting around this problem by making a new user account on their machine and playing the game from there. If your problem is corrupted settings in the User files, this will help you to work around it.

If you are having problems downloading or installing a game, we have some tips to help you out.

Some of our older games run into trouble with the new security features of the Macintosh OS. Fortunately, there is a very easy workaround:

1. In the Finder, locate the game application in the Applications folder.
2. Press the Control-key, then click the app icon.
3. Choose Open from the shortcut menu.
4. Click Open.

More detailed information can be found here.

A small number of people using Snow Leopard have found that, when they try to install the full game from the CD, the installer quits with the error "This installer requires admin privileges to run." This happens even when they have admin privileges. This problem has inflicted a large number of installers and, alas, some of Spiderweb Software's games are affected.

There are two workarounds for this problem. One of them is to install the demo and request a new registration code here:
http://www.spiderwebsoftware.com/support/newkey.html
Getting registration keys is always free.

There is a second, more involved workaround. Insert the game CD and carry out the following steps:

1. Open the Install file. A window will open with the game art and an installer with the game icon. It will have a name like "Install Avernum 6 (Full)". Drag this installer onto your desktop.
2. Hold down the Control key and click on the installer. A menu will come up. Select "Show Package Contents."
3. Open the Contents folder. Open the Resources folder.
4. Open the file "installscript" If it asks you what program to open it with, choose TextEdit.
5. Scroll down until you find these lines:

<key>Require Admin</key>
<string>TRUE</string>

and change them to

<key>Require Admin </key>
<string>FALSE</string>
6. Save and quit TextEdit. The installer should now work.

This is an ugly situation and an ugly workaround, and we apologize for it. We wish this hasn't happened, we will do our best to make sure CDs printed in the future don't have the problem, and we desperately hope that Apple fixes this problem in an upcoming operating system update. The installers are written in a format provided by Apple, and their refusing to run even on an account with proper privileges is a serious problem.

Please let us know if you have any problems, and we will do our best to get you up and running.

There have been a lot of questions over the years about high CPU usage and laptop heat for our games. Hopefully the following will clear up questions on this issue. There isn't much we can do to make things better, I'm afraid, but we might be able to illuminate the issues involved.

Our games, while relatively low-budget, are still games. To maintain a high frame rate, they require a lot of processing power. To fill all of the pixels on a monitor and run the game itself (the combat, the AI, the movement, etc) at a high rate of speed requires a lot of energy, whether the graphics themselves are 3-D or icon based.

That is why, if you look at your activity monitor while playing, you will note that our games take up all of the available CPU power. This doesn't mean that our game keeps anything else from running. Our games just take up all of the processor energy that isn't playing music, checking e-mail, etc. If you switch out of our game and run something, it should work more or less normally.

Alas, many models of Macintosh laptop have, historically, had a problem with heat management. This problem that has shown up in many models running many different applications. This means that, when playing our games, the fans might start to spin. If you are having a problem with this, there might be tips online to solve the problem. Do a Google search for your laptop model and "heat issues" and something useful might come up. Sadly, there is little we can do about how Apple engineers its laptops.

Hopefully this clears up some of these issues. I'm sorry that we can't be of more help.

When playing Geneforge 5 v1.0.3 or earlier on OS X version 10.6 (Snow Leopard) or later, all of the creature graphics will be drawn incorrectly. To solve this problem, upgrade to the newest version (v1.0.4 or later).

Very rarely, the game will freeze during two cutscenes: The cutscene when encountering Rawal for the first time at the end of the first zone, and the cutscene when entering the Presence chamber in Foundry Core west. Should you have a problem here, load a saved game and try the event again. it should function correctly.

If you still have problems, update to Macintosh Geneforge 5 v1.0.3 or later (to be released March, 2009). We have altered the scripts in ways that will hopefully prevent these problems. If you still get a freeze here with a recent version, please let us know so we can get back to work tracking it down.

There is a rare problem where all of the graphics in the game are corrupted. When any icon is drawn, it is replaced by a different graphics, often drawn larger or smaller. This problem seems to come from some sort of software or hardware incompatibility, usually on older machines.

If you have this problem, please let us know. A screenshot is useful. Also, be sure to describe your system. (What model, chip, operating system.) This will help us to identify the problem.

Geneforge 5: Overthrow is not compatible with case-sensitive hard drives or devices. If you launch the game and it shows you a black window and then crashes, try moving Geneforge 5 to a non-case-sensitive location.

This incompatibility is within the engine. We will look for a workaround for this problem, but we don't see a path to a full solution at this time.

If you get the error "Unable to open sound channels" when you launch the game, carry out these steps to fix the problem:

i. Open the Applications folder.
ii. Open the Utilities folder.
iii. In this folder, run "Audio MIDI Setup"
iv. Under Audio Output, change the Format to 44100.0 Hz.

This should correct the problem.

If you are having problems downloading or installing a game, we have some tips to help you out.

Users of Quicken Scheduler for the Macintosh have had problems with this game not recognizing the keyboard on some Macintoshes running OS X. Alas, Quicken Scheduler takes full control of the keyboard it is running and doesn't return control when a new program (like Geneforge 5) tries to run. This program causes problems with the keyboard in a number of applications. Alas, our games number among them.

As the bug is in a different program's software, there is little we can do to remedy the problem. If you rely on the keyboard when playing, we recommend disabling Quicken Scheduler during your play sessions.