Bay 12 Games Forum

Sorry; you're right in that I didn't mention the host OS.  It is WinXP SP3.  I'm guessing from what I've read that that might be the problem.  It sounds like people are able to get a WinXP guest to use a GeForce, provided the host is NOT windows.  Is that correct?

I'll try to figure out some other 3D app.  So far, I've only tried the dxdiag tools.

Hi, and sorry in advance for the newb question.  I've googled for a while and found no definitive solutions.

The problem:  I'm having no luck at running stonesense yet.  I'm using the DF starter pack, stonesense enabled, for DF version 0.34.11.

When I start it up, I get a few errors that I've seen mentioned and dismissed here (it wants java installed, and there's an error about dfterm3).  From what I've read, they're not the problem.

Then, I try to start up stonesense from the DF Hack console.  I tried the suggestion above regarding the init.ini, and while it does change the behavior slightly, none of the selections work.  In OPENGL, I get a window outline that draws for just the blink of an eye before disappearing and giving the log,

Stonesense launched
Using allegro version 5.0.9 r1
al_create_display failed

If I try the other settings (DIRECTX, ANY, SOFTWARE), they have a similar result, but the window outline lasts for a second or so, flickering quickly, before it vanishes.

I will note the following:  I am attempting to run this in a WinXP virtual machine (VMWare Workstation).  The host has a GeForce 7600.  I've tried to get the VM to use hardware acceleration of the card, but it doesn't seem to recognize it.  There's not even much talk of it on the net so it would seem claims that workstation supports hardware accel are a bit exaggerated.

So the first question is:  Does stonesense even require hardware acceleration?  My guess is no, because it has a SOFTWARE option in init.ini.  But if yes, then we've found the problem; GOTO END.

Which brings up the second question:  if SOFTWARE mode is supported for compatibility, then why doesn't even that start up, any guesses?  Could I need SP3?  (The VM is SP2).  Does it need Java or JDK installed?  .NET?  Anything else?  Could the resolution (currently set to 1152 x 864) be a problem (though I also tried 1280 x 800)?  Is it just not possible in a VM for some unknown reason?

Might it be a memory problem?  With DF running, I still have approx 500mb memory available.  I could increase it, if it would make a difference, but I'm doubting it after all the things I've tried.

Edit:  Oh!  And for the record I'm not using TwbT (I've read that it causes problems for Stonesense).

I'm running out of ideas and I'm hoping someone can shed some light on this.  Stonesense looks really fantastic and I want to give it a go myself.

END: Thanks for reading!