Collectible Card Game Headquarters

I just discovered this amazing forum earlier today and have been trying all day since to get Shandalar up and running on my Windows 7 64-bit PC. I've followed CirothUngol's instructions step by step--these instructions, to be clear (copied directly from CU's post):

1) Download and extract Manalink3_20150325.7z found at one of the links in my signature.

2) Start Manalink_Launcher.cmd to install the default Mods for Manalink. It contains the latest 'Fate Reforged' patch, but with No CardArt. If you'd like CardArt, use Sonic's latest image archives found here.

3) Download Add_Shandalar_LoremastersTower2_preAlpha.7z from the same folder, place it in the '\Manalink3\' folder created by the previous archive, and extract it in place to update the '\Program\' folder with all of the Shandalar goodness. This archive contains the clean files from the Shandalar_2012 install + Korath's updated files for 'LoremastersTower2_preAlpha'.
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However, once I start a new game, I can choose difficulty and wizard color, but then I get an "Assertion Error" and says: File-> D:\NewMagic\sources\sidlib\lib.c, Line-> 315 WM_CREATE CreateDIBSection

Then if I hit OK to close the Assertion Error window, it advances to the character selection screen but it doesn't look right and I can't do anything else but close the game. I'd post a link to a screen cap to show what I'm talking about but being a new user I can't link to an outside page. At this point I've even tried using an older version just to see if I can get the game to work. I got the same Assertion Error when I tried an older Shandalar 2012 version from one of CirothUngol's older posts where somebody asked for help to simply install the game so they could play it (even without all the improvements). I've tried re-booting after each attempt to install the game, but still get the same error. I've also tried making a folder that is NOT 'Read-Only' but every time I try, the read only box is checked again when I open the folder's Properties. I've also tried running Shandalar.exe as administrator with no difference in results.

Please help! I haven't played this game in sooooo long and I'm frankly amazed and over-joyed to see there's a whole community that loves the game as much (or even more so) than I do! I can't wait to be back in Shandalar!!!

Thanks for any/all help!
Trevor

Update! I found that if I push enter after dismissing the Assertion Error window, it loads up the map and begins a game! I can't choose the character appearance or a name, but I've got the game working! Now just to get all the old cards in and the new cards out...I need my old-school mtg fix!

frunch wrote:I've also tried making a folder that is NOT 'Read-Only' but every time I try, the read only box is checked again when I open the folder's Properties.

This makes it sound like you installed it into C:\Program Files or some similarly-crippled directory.

frunch wrote:I've also tried running Shandalar.exe as administrator with no difference in results.

This is the usual solution for this problem. It seems required on some windows installations, but not on others.

The other thing that might trigger that specific error is running without a paging file (rightclick My Computer>Advanced System Settings>Advanced>Performance>Settings>Advanced>Virtual Memory is a typical route to get to it; it gratuitously varies with Windows version). Shandalar's stone-age graphics system requires one at least a couple megabytes large, no matter how much ram you have.

Thanks for your response! I checked the paging file size and it says it's 8,103 MB so I suppose that may not be the issue.

As you suggested, it probably has something to do with the "read-only" status of the folder it's installed in. In fact, it appears that all of my folders on all 3 of my hard drives are "read-only"! I tried many different suggestions to disable the read-only status but can't seem to make the read-only box for any of my folders stay empty/unchecked. I can uncheck the box, and it'll run some status bar showing that it's doing something...but then if I check the properties of the folder again, the box is checked again!

You're sure you're just changing read-only status for the one folder, not recursively changing it for every file and folder under it? It should be pretty much instant.

Another, less likely possibility for the original problem - if something's preventing Facemaker.exe from changing resolution, it'll also produce this error. I suppose more recent Windowses than mine might make changing resolution require admin privileges? Though if you're running Shandalar as an administrator, Facemaker should get its permissions, too.

In any case, this has prompted me to finish figuring out how to safely keep it from doing so. I'd been running with a deliberately broken one so that it just crashes instead of forcing me down to 1024x768, which - as above - produces garbage for my portrait and a long string of gibberish for my default name (though that could be changed by backspacing over it). It's even harder to configure at runtime than my previous adventures with deckdll.dll; long-term, I'll probably make it spawn a different program instead.

Here's what I'm doing to get rid of the read-only status of the game's folder: in order to change the read-only status of the Manalink3 folder--I right clicked the folder, select 'properties', and in the properties dialog box it says in the General tab/Attributes section at bottom: 'read only' (only applies to files in folder)
Under 'read only' is 'Hidden' and to the right of them is the 'Advanced' box. To the left of both 'read only' and 'hidden' are check boxes.

I click the box to the left of Read Only, which empties the box. Then I click Apply and it brings up a window titled "Confirm Attribute Changes" and it says You have chosen to make these attribute changes:

unset read-only

Then it says below that: Do you want to apply this change to this folder only, or do you want to apply it to all subfolders and files as well? Under that is 2 choices with a circle that can be clicked to the left of each one:

Apply changes to this folder only (this option is grayed out)

Apply changes to this folder, subfolder, and files (this is the only selection I can choose, and is already chosen)

If I click ok, it runs a progress bar for 5-10 seconds and finishes. But then if I right click the folder again and click properties, the read-only box is filled in again. I've tried granting the current user full permissions for the folder and that hasn't made any difference either.

Not sure if this makes any difference, but my computer isn't hooked up to a monitor--but instead to a flat-screen tv. It changes resolution when the game starts up, but it displays the graphics ok. I think I'm going to try this on my Windows 8 laptop and see if I get different results.

I also downloaded the facemaker-no-change-resolution file you attached and put it in place of
the facemaker file in the 'program' folder and it didn't make any difference either.

I'll try installing on my laptop and report back.

Well, the game seems to be working perfectly on my Windows 8 laptop! I used the exact same procedure and files as above, and everything is looking good and working properly! Can anyone tell me how to add/remove collections/expansion sets of cards from the card pool? I'd like to just use the old sets for now.

Thanks for your help, Korath! I also can't thank you enough for the work you put into this game! I'm genuinely impressed/delighted to see this game is still being enjoyed and upgraded all these years later!

I am having the same problem on WinXP virtual in Win7. The deck builder and duel mode work perfectly, but Shandalar always crashes at character creation.