Thief 3: Please help!

[Echer123]

So I recently purchased Deadly Shadows from Steam. The first time I ran it I was able to get to the end of the tutorial, when it crashed. But the second time I tried playing I got the following error message:



I must've reinstalled it at least three times by now, not to mention trying every fix I found in the Steam forums. I also verified the game cache, but nothing works. NOTHING. AT ALL.

I spent $20 on this damn game, and I really want to play it.

My GPU is an ATI Radeon 5870 with an i7 processor.

EDIT: OS is Windows7 64 bit

[Peter Smith]

I know nothing about Steam. They have been known to create compatibility problems with Thief. And, as a minimum, if I am not mistaken, I think they have this on-line licensing thing where you have to go to them across the internet every time you run the program. My first reaction would be to get your money back and buy the program from someone else. The original version might be better. At least there is a base of some experience with people figuring out how to make it run. Not me, because I don't have Windows 7 at home.

That said, your error message indicates that you may have a problem with the Visual C++ runtime libraries. Maybe the steam app is only for 32 bit, and maybe you only have a 64 bit version of the runtime libraries installed. If that is the case, maybe you could find out what set of libraries is needed and install it externally.

As a sometime code developer, I can tell you that compatibility with runtime libraries is a problem, especially with Visual C++ 2008. Not only to you need to have them installed, but you need the correct build of the libraries, as written in something called a Manifest file. I can't fix this for you, but I can suggest another way to get information. Open a CMD prompt (DOS) window. CD to the directory that has T3Main.exe. Run T3Main.exe and see if you get an error message right there, printed in the CMD window. If it runs from there the libraries are OK. If not, if it goes on for little bit and then you get the Windows error above, then it is probably an error in Steam's implementation and the runtime library is only reporting the error.

Oh -- try running as Administrator. That may solve some Windows 7 UAC problem.

[Echer123]

Thank you for the reply, there was no error message in the window. I guess that means it's Steam's fault, right? Should I start searching for the runtime libraries, or try to get my money back?

[Peter Smith]

What happened when you ran it via the command window? Did you get the same error message? Mine just runs normally (under XP). Exactly where does this runtime error occur? Where are you, and what happens up to that point?

If it runs under the CMD window, then I think you must have any libraries or DLLs you need for any Steam additions. If then the program does not play nicely with Windows 7, I guess you have two choices:

1. Get your money back

2. Go through all the forum searches and possibly further tweaks necessary to make it tun under Windows 7 x64.

You may have to do #2 anyway if you plan to buy the game from another source. None of the Thief series was designed for Win 7 or 64 bit.
I am not sure it is Steam's fault. Does Steam say it is supported under Win 7? 64 bit?