BZFlag 2.4.26 on Windows 7 won't open

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nijineko
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BZFlag 2.4.26 on Windows 7 won't open

Post by nijineko »

I am also having a problem wherein the application will not open.

When I launch it normally (via desktop shortcut) it appears briefly in the Task Manager and then disappears without any window or error message. When I tried launching it as admin, it didn't even show up in the task manager.

Windows 7 home premium SP1 on a laptop.
BZFlag v2.4.26
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blast
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Re: BZFlag 2.4.26 on Windows 7 won't open

Post by blast »

Did this work recently? Any idea what might have changed?

In any case, try renaming your configuration file to see if there's some issue with it. Bring up the Run dialog (Windows Key + R) and type in %localappdata%\BZFlag\2.4\ and hit OK. Then rename config.cfg to config2.cfg and try to run the game. If that works, then there's something wrong with the configuration file.

If that fixes it and you'd like to look into the issue further, you could open the broken configuration file in Notepad. I've seen an issue at times where the file will appear blank, and that's just non-recoverable. But if you do see a bunch of text, it's possible that an option in there is causing the issue.
"In addition to knowing the secrets of the Universe, I can assure you that I am also quite potty trained." -Koenma (Yu Yu Hakusho)

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nijineko
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Re: BZFlag 2.4.26 on Windows 7 won't open

Post by nijineko »

blast wrote: Wed Jan 17, 2024 12:04 pm Did this work recently? Any idea what might have changed?

In any case, try renaming your configuration file to see if there's some issue with it. Bring up the Run dialog (Windows Key + R) and type in %localappdata%\BZFlag\2.4\ and hit OK. Then rename config.cfg to config2.cfg and try to run the game. If that works, then there's something wrong with the configuration file.

If that fixes it and you'd like to look into the issue further, you could open the broken configuration file in Notepad. I've seen an issue at times where the file will appear blank, and that's just non-recoverable. But if you do see a bunch of text, it's possible that an option in there is causing the issue.
Thank you for the quick response.

I have been away from bzflag since 2015 (I had to check my old forum posts for the date, hah), so there is no recent in this case - just newly installed the latest version for some nostalgia and fun!

I will check the config file and get back to you in a while. =D
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Re: BZFlag 2.4.26 on Windows 7 won't open

Post by nijineko »

The app manages to create a cache folder in the specified AppData location, but it does not even launch to the point of creating a config file at all.

Is BZFlag really still compatible with Win7?
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Re: BZFlag 2.4.26 on Windows 7 won't open

Post by blast »

Yep, works fine on my Windows 7 system. Do you have Windows updates installed? Updated graphics driver?
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Re: BZFlag 2.4.26 on Windows 7 won't open

Post by nijineko »

Yes and Yes.
Though my laptop is old, so I wouldn't be surprised if it just fell off the end of graphical support.

Tried a different OS machine and it launched there, but it took me a while to figure out the global auth problem - turned out to be a password issue, which is now fixed.

Now the only problem is my lack of skills, but I don't think there is a quick fix for that, hah.
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