# Thief: The Metal Age not launching anymore **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [November 20, 2008, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thief-the-metal-age-not-launching-anymore/473699 "2008-11-20T19:53:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thief-the-metal-age-not-launching-anymore/473699/1 "2008-11-20T19:53:46Z")
When my gamer friend tries to launch her Thief: The Metal Age, after playing it often on her computer, it just comes up with a blank screen and a “dink” sound. She’s tried uninstalling & reinstalling, with no success. Any ideas on what she can do or what could be wrong? ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thief-the-metal-age-not-launching-anymore/473699/2 "2008-11-20T20:14:55Z")
Has she tried updating her video drivers? Did she encounter any problems while installing? Has she changed her OS or installed any software since the last time she was able to play? ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thief-the-metal-age-not-launching-anymore/473699/3 "2008-11-20T21:16:05Z")
She just updated the video drivers & then it stopped working. So she’s tried unistalling & reinstalling the game & it’s still not working. She’s losing her mind & has told me that if she can’t play her game, her life has to end. (Tho I think she also means mine. Help me… please.) ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thief-the-metal-age-not-launching-anymore/473699/4 "2008-11-20T21:29:50Z")
Your only recourse may be to fill a sock with pennies & smack her on the back of the head. ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thief-the-metal-age-not-launching-anymore/473699/5 "2008-11-20T21:30:59Z")
Well, if she just updated video drivers and all of a sudden the game no longer works, it seems pretty obvious that it would be a problem related to the video drivers. See if she can find an older driver on the 'net and use that instead of the new driver. Other than that, I would just use Google-fu to find a reference to a similar problem and see if anyone has found a solution. ETA: The penny-filled sock to the back of the head may work; just make sure she doesn’t see or hear you. Use moss arrows and water arrows if necessary to provide cover. And remember to dump her body in a dark corner someplace. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thief-the-metal-age-not-launching-anymore/473699/6 "2008-11-20T21:31:21Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Your only recourse may be to fill a sock with pennies & smack her on the back of the head. Like I’d dare. She’d get that sock away from me so fast & beat me to death. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thief-the-metal-age-not-launching-anymore/473699/7 "2008-11-20T21:59:31Z")
Nvidia and ATI both have archived drivers, but you can also tell her to try [guruof3d.com](http://guruof3d.com) I believe they have archived drivers as well. If she has vista she can also try to restore the system to just before she updated the video drivers. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thief-the-metal-age-not-launching-anymore/473699/8 "2008-11-20T23:07:40Z")
As I recall the Thief engine is fairly finicky when it comes to modern video drivers. I _think_ there’s a command line to disable hardware acceleration which may help. The Through the Looking Glass site helped me get drivers configured when I last tried to play under Windows XP. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thief-the-metal-age-not-launching-anymore/473699/9 "2008-11-22T01:47:38Z")
> [@Cuckoorex](#): > > Well, if she just updated video drivers and all of a sudden the game no longer works, it seems pretty obvious that it would be a problem related to the video drivers. See if she can find an older driver on the 'net and use that instead of the new driver. Other than that, I would just use Google-fu to find a reference to a similar problem and see if anyone has found a solution. > > ETA: The penny-filled sock to the back of the head may work; just make sure she doesn’t see or hear you. Use moss arrows and water arrows if necessary to provide cover. And remember to dump her body in a dark corner someplace. How do you use old drivers instead of new ones? You would have to uninstall the new ones for that, wouldn’t you? ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thief-the-metal-age-not-launching-anymore/473699/10 "2008-11-22T01:53:11Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > How do you use old drivers instead of new ones? You would have to uninstall the new ones for that, wouldn’t you? Usually, yes. ---
**Author:** ![motomoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a9adbd/32.png) [@motomoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/motomoon)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thief-the-metal-age-not-launching-anymore/473699/11 "2008-11-22T10:42:35Z")
IIRC the thief engine is built from the Quake engine, which again IIRC is OpenGL. I have an ATI Radeon 9600 in a Windows XP laptop that won’t play OpenGL games well or at all with the most recent drivers. I had to roll-back to the the pre-Catalyst 7.x drivers. Also, in Windows XP there is an automatic driver roll-back function, so that the system can easily go back to the previous driver. It’s found in the Start \> Control Panel \> Display \> Settings \> Advanced \> Adapter \> Properties \> Driver \> Roll Back Driver The link in Just Some Guy’s post is very good, here’s a FAQ/troubleshooting page: > **[Thief Series FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (Technical / Purchasing / Etc.) - 2012](https://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=133946)** > > TTLG Forums ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thief-the-metal-age-not-launching-anymore/473699/12 "2008-11-22T14:15:01Z")
> [@motomoon](#): > > IIRC the thief engine is built from the Quake engine, which again IIRC is OpenGL. The Dark Engine which was the basis of Thief, Thief 2, and System Shock 2 was built from the ground up by Looking Glass which is why it had some very interesting lighting and ambient sound mapping for its time. You’ll note that the geometry and especially the models are less refined than those in the Quake based games that came out at the same point; it was part of the trade off. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thief-the-metal-age-not-launching-anymore/473699/13 "2008-11-25T08:18:16Z")
> [@motomoon](#): > > Also, in Windows XP there is an automatic driver roll-back function, so that the system can easily go back to the previous driver. > It’s found in the Start \> Control Panel \> Display \> Settings \> Advanced \> Adapter \> Properties \> Driver \> Roll Back Driver Once you roll back the driver, can you also return to the updated driver in case you need that for something else? She’s not online and can’t re-download the drivers. Can you set the computer so that a game will play using the original drivers, while the rest of the computer functions on the new ones, or do you have to manually switch them? ---
**Author:** ![Gukumatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/74df32/32.png) [@Gukumatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gukumatz)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thief-the-metal-age-not-launching-anymore/473699/14 "2008-11-26T14:54:53Z")
To get a clean driver uninstall, I’d recommend running it through Driver Cleaner. [[Found here]](http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=745) ---
**Author:** ![dbuzman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de0a6/32.png) [@dbuzman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dbuzman)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thief-the-metal-age-not-launching-anymore/473699/15 "2008-11-28T09:59:02Z")
> [@Gukumatz](#): > > To get a clean driver uninstall, I’d recommend running it through Driver Cleaner. [[Found here]](http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=745) Your link says that was removed at the request of the publisher. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thief-the-metal-age-not-launching-anymore/473699/16 "2008-11-28T19:42:39Z")
Try the things [here.](http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=75031) If she has a dual core CPU, do [this.](http://www.thief-thecircle.com/guides/hyperthreading/) ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thief-the-metal-age-not-launching-anymore/473699/17 "2008-12-17T22:04:52Z")
Once you roll back the driver, can you also return to the updated driver in case you need that for something else? She’s not online and can’t re-download the drivers. Can you set the computer so that a game will play using the original drivers, while the rest of the computer functions on the new ones, or do you have to manually switch them? Hey- the thread died out before anyone answered this, so I’m bumping it. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thief-the-metal-age-not-launching-anymore/473699/18 "2009-01-27T21:01:45Z")
A bump from the past- She is getting the game to launch, but it’s skipping the intro video & either skipping or not fully playing the other videos. So some advice here please. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Bogeyman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3e96dc/32.png) [@Bogeyman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bogeyman)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2009, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thief-the-metal-age-not-launching-anymore/473699/19 "2009-02-01T21:01:53Z")
That’s the infamous indeo video codec problem, I’ll wager. Have her try this [tip](http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=75031#movies) from the link already posted by **control-z**.