Lego Star Wars FAQ

[jaycw2309]

1- Question: When I Start the game I get an error like `Could not authenticate disc in time, or Emulation detected`.
1- Answer: Make sure you are using the original disc in the drive, not an emulated disc image. If you are sure you are doing this following the steps below.

# Firstly download the following `protection` updated exe (not a game code update at all) Updated protection exe. Uncompress the file and copy the exe within on top of current installation and try to run game as normal. If problem persists do the following below.
# Right click on the desktop icon (if not got desktop icon, go to install folder and right click on the Legostarwars.exe file)
# Select `Launch Analysis`
# A self diagnostic system will now run. Follow on screen prompts
# A file is created in the root of your C drive (analysislog.sr0). Zip this file up (need to keep integrity of file). If dont have zip program can download for Free from the web, or if got XP can use `send to` command under right mouse menu to send to `compressed folder (zipped)`. I cannot accept files that are not zipped.
# Email said zip file (its tiny) to discanalysis@eidos.co.uk - State which version of the game you are running (game name, country of purchase etc)
# Wait for a response from us (we will be as quick as we can analyse the problems)

2- Question: Does the game support Windows 98/ME
2- Answer: Unfortunately the game doesn't support Windows 98/ME

3- Question: I have a GeForce 4MX, will the game run as the Spec says GeForce 3+
3- Answer: nVidia's GeForce 4Mx is regrettably not a supported card. It does not support Pixel Shaders, its very badly named by the Marketing people at nVidia.

4- Question: I have an Integrated chipset and I get an error on start up saying i cannot run the game.
4- Answer: Your graphics chipset is most likely an Intel integrated chipset which is lacking a required feature of Lego Star Wars. However there is a software fix that will `fake` this feature and enable you to start the game Read this thread for details

[upphins]

Then someone should tell the folks at LEGO, that GeForce 4 will not work because in a letter from LEGO, to me, they claim GeForce 3+ will work.

Personally I think LEGO and the software designers messed up on this one. A computer a year and a half old should be able to play games off the shelf! Hope they get a lot of grief.

Originally Posted by upphins

Personally I think LEGO and the software designers messed up on this one. A computer a year and a half old should be able to play games off the shelf! Hope they get a lot of grief.

Computers are much like cars. When you purchase a computer there are several options that you can choose from. One of those options is video cards. This is one of the more expensive options, but in my experience this is the first thing to be outdated really fast. If you invest in the begining you can get a couple years of use in it. The trouble with the gaming world is the technology is constantly upgrading giving the developers a chance to use a bigger playground.

I agree with Jay, it was a bad decision to name the MX Geforce4, unfortunatly it means we as consumers must pay closer attention to the hardware in our machines and the latest hardware on the market. I would suggest checking out CNet for some great side by side comparisons of video cards.

[jaycw2309]

Originally Posted by upphins

Then someone should tell the folks at LEGO, that GeForce 4 will not work because in a letter from LEGO, to me, they claim GeForce 3+ will work.

Personally I think LEGO and the software designers messed up on this one. A computer a year and a half old should be able to play games off the shelf! Hope they get a lot of grief.

The GF4 MX card is a living nightmare, the GF3Ti IS more powerful then it, we dont control nVidia's naming conventions, and believe me this argument will go on until the card finally disappears from sight. There is nothing we can do except be as clear as we can about the games requirements, which we do clearly list as needing Pixel Shader etc.

[upphins]

Ok, let's cut to the chase.

If I decide to buy a new graphics card ($70-$80 range), what might I buy?

Also, can someone who never opened the back end of a computer install one? I'm pretty savvy about figuring these things out and wonder if there is an installation manual included or a "how to" site that would explain the process.

BTW, I did call Lego and they will refund the full cost if I choose to return it.

Thanks

[jaycw2309]

Originally Posted by upphins

Ok, let's cut to the chase.

If I decide to buy a new graphics card ($70-$80 range), what might I buy?

Also, can someone who never opened the back end of a computer install one? I'm pretty savvy about figuring these things out and wonder if there is an installation manual included or a "how to" site that would explain the process.

BTW, I did call Lego and they will refund the full cost if I choose to return it.

Thanks

Lego didnt have much to do with this title.. except for license of name.. Please dont use the FAQ for questions.. In a day i will delete all these non FAQ related postings.. use the main forum

[GoranAgar]

Originally Posted by jaycw2309

The GF4 MX card is a living nightmare

That is so true. I don't know what Nvidia was thinking. The GF 4 MX is actually only a GF2 chipset that has been boosted a bit and renamed for the budget market.

The same thing happened back in the days of 286, 386, and 486 processors. If you had a SX version it meant you had a suped up version of the previous processor.

[GoranAgar]

ATI and Nvidia trying something new now.

ATI calls it HyperMemory and NVidia calls it TurboCache. You will recognize those cards by the abbrevation HM and TC in the name.

These cards don't come with their own memory. They use the system memory and that puts them almost down at the bottom right there with the other Intel integrated graphic crap.

Hmmmm on the positive side that would make them pretty inexpensive.

[kazvorpal]

Originally Posted by intrepid_soul

Computers are much like cars. When you purchase a computer there are several options that you can choose from. One of those options is video cards. This is one of the more expensive options, but in my experience this is the first thing to be outdated really fast. If you invest in the begining you can get a couple years of use in it. The trouble with the gaming world is the technology is constantly upgrading giving the developers a chance to use a bigger playground.

I agree with Jay, it was a bad decision to name the MX Geforce4, unfortunatly it means we as consumers must pay closer attention to the hardware in our machines and the latest hardware on the market. I would suggest checking out CNet for some great side by side comparisons of video cards.

There's no way one can blame this on the GeForce people. The problem is the Eidos developers doing something as ridiculous and antiquated as trying to force their customers to have a specific kind of hardware. That went out with DirectX.

I have been playing a lot of state of the art games, of late, and not a single one has claimed I don't have current enough video hardware. That was acceptable ten years ago, but not today. I play EverQuest without the slightest lag...and Legos Star Wars is not one tenth as graphically intensive as that game.

If this were Half Life 3 or Freelancer 2, I could accept the premise that, somehow, there was just no way to deliver the game's basic entertainment potential without some specific video card feature. But Legos Star Wars?

Gimme a break. Sheesh.

Originally Posted by kazvorpal

There's no way one can blame this on the GeForce people. The problem is the Eidos developers doing something as ridiculous and antiquated as trying to force their customers to have a specific kind of hardware. That went out with DirectX.

I have been playing a lot of state of the art games, of late, and not a single one has claimed I don't have current enough video hardware. That was acceptable ten years ago, but not today. I play EverQuest without the slightest lag...and Legos Star Wars is not one tenth as graphically intensive as that game.

If this were Half Life 3 or Freelancer 2, I could accept the premise that, somehow, there was just no way to deliver the game's basic entertainment potential without some specific video card feature. But Legos Star Wars?

Gimme a break. Sheesh.

No one is blaming the Geforce people, they make several products marketed towards different audiences. In the case of the MX, this is a low priced video card that does work with a majority of games out there, but does not have some of the latest technology build into it. If you were looking to upgrade a P2 this would be a great card to through in there. As for Eidos forcing you to buy new hardware, there is a wide range of products that do support the features required to play this game.

I agree DirectX did pave the way for an expanded audience, but DirectX and Driver updates can go only so far, if the card is not designed to support the feature set that is required, no amount of programming can solve that.

I agree in the premise that this is just a Lego game, why can't the requirements be less, but I am a realist as well. I come from the day of 386 and 486 processors, technology moves forward. The reason we use computers to play games is we can upgrade our computers to the latest and greatest video cards, we are not confined to the once every 6 year update the console side. This creates our problem, every company out there is trying to create the latest and greatest technology and each has its marketing department that will try to convince you that its product is the best. As with any purchase a computer requires research and to ask the question what am I going to be doing with this computer?

[jaycw2309]

FAQ updated on 4th June

[Gillord]

Originally Posted by jaycw2309

Lego didnt have much to do with this title.. except for license of name.. Please dont use the FAQ for questions.. In a day i will delete all these non FAQ related postings.. use the main forum

LOL it is a good thing FAQ means Frequently Asked Questions huh

[jaycw2309]

Originally Posted by Gillord

LOL it is a good thing FAQ means Frequently Asked Questions huh

You like my irony then? You use the normal threads to ask the questions, then this becomes just the answers, nothing more

[yarac]

Originally Posted by kazvorpal

There's no way one can blame this on the GeForce people. The problem is the Eidos developers doing something as ridiculous and antiquated as trying to force their customers to have a specific kind of hardware. That went out with DirectX.

I have been playing a lot of state of the art games, of late, and not a single one has claimed I don't have current enough video hardware. That was acceptable ten years ago, but not today. I play EverQuest without the slightest lag...and Legos Star Wars is not one tenth as graphically intensive as that game.

If this were Half Life 3 or Freelancer 2, I could accept the premise that, somehow, there was just no way to deliver the game's basic entertainment potential without some specific video card feature. But Legos Star Wars?

Gimme a break. Sheesh.

Kazvorpal is 100% dead on here. Nobody in this day and age would restrict their market by making what should obviously be an option that can be turned on in the video control panel into a basic requirement (I'm refering to pixel shading, obviously).

Of course, now that I have no option to return my opened software, I can't help but wonder if Eidos is getting some kind of kickback from Nvidia for all of us that now need to purchase new video cards to play the game. Is this how they intend to recoup the bath they took on Ion Storm?

Originally Posted by yarac

Kazvorpal is 100% dead on here. Nobody in this day and age would restrict their market by making what should obviously be an option that can be turned on in the video control panel into a basic requirement (I'm refering to pixel shading, obviously).

Of course, now that I have no option to return my opened software, I can't help but wonder if Eidos is getting some kind of kickback from Nvidia for all of us that now need to purchase new video cards to play the game. Is this how they intend to recoup the bath they took on Ion Storm?

Actually this is a hardware feature, and not a software feature, so there is no setting in control panel that you can "turn on." For the record if you have an NVIDIA Geforce 2, MX, or GO you have the same problem, so the theory that Nvidia is part of a grand conspiracy although it would make a great Oliver Stone movie, does not apply here. The fact is there are over 1000 video cards on the market. Lack of information from the computer manufacturer's part is partly to blame. Also self service order forms that do not provide enough information to make the consumer aware of the benefits and detractions of choosing one video card over another, cause me some grief. From a fiscal sense if I were buying a computer and saw that I could get one for 500, and then I saw the video card option and clicked the down arrow and saw it would at 90 to my total ofcourse I would say no, but there should be something there asking what they want the computer for.....I think I ranted enough... We don't recommend one video card over another, infact I recommend going for the card that best fits in your budget. If you shopped for the lowest end card that would support it, you would find it for about $25-40. Do I personally recommend that? Not really since the next latest and greatest game that you buy will probably have a little more upped minimum requirements.

Originally Posted by vaderfather

This comapny is complete crap

You are entitled to your own mispelled opinions, but it would be be to explain why you think this? What did Eidos do? What can we do to make it right for you? We can't lower the minimum requirements of the game, but there are other things we may be able to do to make this right, but just saying your opinion of the company doesn't tell me how I can help!

[AFreeman]

I haven't bought a PC game for years but my two kids pestered me for the Star wars lego game. They were very disappointed when it wouldn't work. I think it's the height of cynicism to require such specific hardware dependencies especially for such mild enhancement effects as a light sabre trail. Forgive me but this is a satirical kids game, not a serious simulator programme. As a busy parent I haven't time to shop around for a card, then install and go through the inevitable troubleshooting - or the money to buy an entirely new system to play one game. If Nvidia wanted to leverage off the star wars craze they should have marketed the video card with bundled lego game. Marketing 101 chaps. All you've done is stick a light sabre into Eidos', Lego's and Nvidia's goodwill. As the Scots say, "if a man cheats you once, shame on him, but if he cheats you twice....."

Originally Posted by AFreeman

I haven't bought a PC game for years but my two kids pestered me for the Star wars lego game. They were very disappointed when it wouldn't work. I think it's the height of cynicism to require such specific hardware dependencies especially for such mild enhancement effects as a light sabre trail. Forgive me but this is a satirical kids game, not a serious simulator programme. As a busy parent I haven't time to shop around for a card, then install and go through the inevitable troubleshooting - or the money to buy an entirely new system to play one game. If Nvidia wanted to leverage off the star wars craze they should have marketed the video card with bundled lego game. Marketing 101 chaps. All you've done is stick a light sabre into Eidos', Lego's and Nvidia's goodwill. As the Scots say, "if a man cheats you once, shame on him, but if he cheats you twice....."

I haven't bought a PC game in years too, but because I know the limitations of my system I know that today's game simply won't run on it. Even what you consider the simpliest of graphics are requiring higher and higher requirements. In reality the graphics of this game are not that simple. The models are fully functioning 3d models each with physics and movement that all have to be coordinated in the GPU (Graphics processing unit). In the case of Intel graphics cards, they simply don't have a required feature TnL. So when the game tries to load it hits the barrier of not being able to talk to the graphics card.

[Legonowars]

Has anyone ever resolved the graphic card issue? I have tried to run Lego Star Wars for my Seven year old in four different machines now all less than two years old but I get the same Pixel etc message V 1.1 message so it cannot be run. I am amazed that this has been going on for so long as there have been complaints about this game going back some time.
To say people should be checking system specification is a cop out for an off the shelf product especially when its targeted at kids as young as 3.
My seven year old saved for 6 months to get this game and its useless. Shop accept no responsibility, Edios don't seem to care and Lego are not interested. Any chance of someone producing a patch to get around the problems? Spending a few £ 100 pounds on a new graphics cards is not on.

Originally Posted by Legonowars

Has anyone ever resolved the graphic card issue?

You mean the one where people with unsupported video cards try to run the game?

Originally Posted by Legonowars

I have tried to run Lego Star Wars for my Seven year old in four different machines now all less than two years old but I get the same Pixel etc message V 1.1 message so it cannot be run.

Ahh yes you do mean that issue.

Originally Posted by Legonowars

I am amazed that this has been going on for so long as there have been complaints about this game going back some time.
To say people should be checking system specification is a cop out for an off the shelf product especially when its targeted at kids as young as 3.

Actually as long as games have been developed for the PC platform the end user that buys their computer without any knowledge of computer hardware has expected games to just work. In reality, the only computer system that will work on is a video game console. Computes are made to be configurable for individual use. Infact they are made to be upgraded once hardware is obsolete.

Originally Posted by Legonowars

My seven year old saved for 6 months to get this game and its useless. Shop accept no responsibility, Edios don't seem to care and Lego are not interested. Any chance of someone producing a patch to get around the problems? Spending a few £ 100 pounds on a new graphics cards is not on.

First, what are the chances of someone making a patch to make your incompatibly hardware, compatible? Let's look at this analogy, would you go to Toyota, if you bought Rims for your car that said,"Only fits 14 inch rims" because your car has 15 inch rims? In your computer hardware logic you would. The game states it needs a 32 meg pixel shader enabled video card. A card with this little power, could be purchased for 25-40 dollars (I apoligize I am state side so I don't have the conversion rate). The point being though computers upgrade constantly. They have a bigger depreciation rate then autos. For the most part game developers shoot for technology that is about 2 years old. That being said, why doesn't a computer made yesterday work with this game?

Check the hardware. Alot of new machines have Intel based graphics cards, which are great if you are using a computer to read Word documents, or make spreadsheets, for gaming its not. Or they will put in a Geforce MX card and tell you that it has a gaming graphics card. When in reality you have a great graphics card for games that are older then 2 years ago.

[mikkypopz]

the weird thing about this game, that i purchased for my 8 year old, is that i also on the same system have GTA san andreas and it works fine with the video game card, of coarse i have a Geforce 4mx, but i had trouble running other games and the Geforce was the only one that worked with them.

and the other issue is before i purchased the game, i downloaded the demo version first to see if the game would work, and it did work, he has played the demo so much he does it without being hit once, then get the full version and it doesnt even start at all, so go figure ill get a different video card instead..............

[mikkypopz]

you need a program called 3danalyzer
http://files.filefront.com/3danalyze.../fileinfo.html

and then you just need to open it and tick the box to use pixel shader 1.1 emulation and choose the location of the game C:\program files\lucasarts\lego starwars 2\legostarwars <---- not the win2k one. and your away - of coarse sometimes a head on one of the people is missing or faces vanish sometimes but it works none the less