Mac: black screen, then crash

[drpuppet]

Good morning! I just purchased Tidalis through Green Man Gaming. Installed it via Steam on my mid-2011 iMac running OS 10.10.3. Tried to launch it last night (for the first time): it launched, a windowed black screen came up, automatically went to full screen (still all black), paused, and crashed. Tried about 3 times, all with the same result. The error report attached (too large to paste in) was generated. Any suggestions? Thank you!

[drpuppet]

Tried again last night and got a bit further in, but not much, lulz. My face was pretty much matching that of the parrot.

[Castruccio]

Bump.  Someone should really help this fellow out.  He is missing out on an excellent game.

[Dominus Arbitrationis]

Disclaimer: I haven't worked on Tidalis, only played it, so I know about as much as any user.

You had the exception of EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGABRT), which sounds like you don't have a file, or its corrupted. So try reinstalling it first. If that doesn't fix it, try making sure that the file permissions are set to allow the game to do whatever they need to with them (Try 755 then 777).

[drpuppet]

Thank you, Castruccio. That was a very thoughtful comment.

Dominus: Ok, I will try to reinstall, and "repair permissions," a typical Mac troubleshooting step, which I have neglected to do thus far. But if that doesn't work, how (and what?) do I change to 755 or 777?

[drpuppet]

Update: I tried reinstalling, and it crashed. Then I repaired permissions, restarted, and it didn't outright crash, but I got a black screen and an "Application Not Responding" notification, so I had to force quit.

So could someone please let me know how to change permissions to 755 or 777? I don't really know what that means!

[Dominus Arbitrationis]

http://osxdaily.com/2011/02/21/change-file-permissions-mac/ will probably help.

Set it to Read/Write for all the users, and see if that fixes it. If you're comfortable with the command line, you would chmod all of the files and stuff. I'm not sure if Mac lets you do this for every file at once, or if it makes you do it for each file, though.

[drpuppet]

Ok, I've used the "Get Info" pop-up to change permissions like that before, so I was able to do that for Tidalis application file and the first level of folders. Unfortunately, it seems like changes applied to folders don't automatically apply to all the files and subfolders inside. So I have to change EVERY file to "Read and Write"? That is a real pain, and it may not even work! I guess I'll try though.

But what about those numbers you mentioned? 755/777? Where are those inputted? I am just changing permissions to allow reading and writing.

By the way, I got a new error report last night (when it timed out instead of outright crashing), after I repaired permissions and started changing the Get Info settings to Read + Write. I am attaching here, in case it points to a different problem. (Is there any way someone who worked on this particular title could be brought into this discussion?) Thanks!

[drpuppet]

Thoughts: I had similar crashes at launch with Rochard last year (also a Unity title), and I believe deleting the Preferences and Application Saved State files helped, at least for a while. I can't find the Saved State file for Tidalis. I am assuming it also has one, in the Library folder somewhere?

I also read in some other Tidalis support thread that holding down the OPTION key whilst launching the game allows you to set some of the display preferences. I am wondering if going to fullscreen automatically is causing the problem (I think it did with Rochard too). But that didn't work with the Steam version, as in holding Option didn't do anything at all. Is there a way to do this with the Steam version? Might I have better luck with a standalone version? If so, could I get it somehow?

[drpuppet]

Oooook, I am also getting nearly the same problem with Valley Without Wind, which I purchased at the same time. Music plays, a few blinking dots and a cursor, and that's it. So there's something up here. Are there issues with these games and Yosemite? I am getting concerned that NO Arcen games are going to work, which would mean wasted money and time.

[drpuppet]

I tried downloading the demo version of Tidalis from your site. WORKS PERFECTLY. Unfortunately, a Steam key doesn't unlock it. Is there some way I can translate the Steam keys I have for Tidalis, and Valley Without Wind 1 & 2, into keys that can unlock the standalone versions of these games? Steam achievements etc. are fun, but I just want the darn things to work.

[Dominus Arbitrationis]

But what about those numbers you mentioned? 755/777? Where are those inputted? I am just changing permissions to allow reading and writing.

The numbers are just how the command line views it. Each number stands for a certain permissions. Basically, 777 means everyone can read/write/run the things, 755 means the owner of the files can do anything, but the others are limited.

Might I have better luck with a standalone version? If so, could I get it somehow?

I'm not sure if it would help, but the standalone version is basically what you get when you move everything out of the SteamApps folder. There is no DRM on any of our games, so that would work just fine.

Oooook, I am also getting nearly the same problem with Valley Without Wind, which I purchased at the same time. Music plays, a few blinking dots and a cursor, and that's it. So there's something up here. Are there issues with these games and Yosemite? I am getting concerned that NO Arcen games are going to work, which would mean wasted money and time.

That is very troublesome. I've sent an email to Chris and Keith, so they may be able to help out more.

I tried downloading the demo version of Tidalis from your site. WORKS PERFECTLY. Unfortunately, a Steam key doesn't unlock it. Is there some way I can translate the Steam keys I have for Tidalis, and Valley Without Wind 1 & 2, into keys that can unlock the standalone versions of these games? Steam achievements etc. are fun, but I just want the darn things to work.

You might be missing files. Have you tried verifying the game cache via Steam?

[drpuppet]

Yes, I tried verifying the file cache earlier. Thanks for explaining the command line numbers. I didn't realize it was just the same thing as altering the permissions the other way.

I also got Shattered Haven, but I haven't tried it yet. But I expect it will be the same thing, if it's built using Unity as well. As I said, the Tidalis demo worked fine, but the Steam key doesn't work with it, for some reason. If I don't hear back from you sooner, I'll try moving them out of the SteamApps folder, to see if that helps.

Oh, and I came across another support thread that suggested that disabling the Steam Overlay would help with similar problems. It didn't, in this case, at least with Tidalis. Haven't had a chance to try it yet with the others.

[drpuppet]

Ok, tried moving Tidalis out of the SteamApps folder. It launched, the music started, but it was a buggy frozen mess, just like the screenshot I posted earlier. Steam didn't launch though, so I am assuming it "worked" in that respect. But the game itself still doesn't work. As I said, demo I downloaded directly from this site seems to work just fine, but my Steam keys seem to be useless in that regard.

[Dominus Arbitrationis]

If you are able to redownload it, try right clicking on Tidalis, go to Properties, then Betas, then select the "beta" oldsystemreqs -.

I'd recommend shooting Chris an email at [email protected], and maybe he'll be able to help. Unfortunately, he is traveling, so may not be able to respond to either of our emails.

Have you made sure that your computer meets all of the requirements for it?