Game wont run on xp

I bought and installed pool shark 2 (i know it's a random game but I wanted it)
Install went fine, tried to play it and got the following errors, just wondered if someone knows how I can get the game working.

AppName: poolshark2.exe AppVer: 0.0.1.0 ModName: wmv8dmod.dll
ModVer: 8.0.0.4000 Offset: 00032088

C:\DOCUME~1\mike\LOCALS~1\Temp\ff89_appcompat.txt

Thank you for your time.
SB

Forgot to mention I'm running XP

 

Do you have the latest version of Directx installed for XP & the latest version of your graphics drivers updated?

If you aren't sure about drivers, do you have a laptop or desktop? What graphics card are you using?

When exactly are you seeing the error message, and is that the precise wording?

 

Yea that was copy and pasted
I have a inspiron 530s desktop, Latest version of directx I'm pretty sure of as I can play cod mw.
gfx card is a asus EAH4650 512mb.

Again I dont think it's drivers and things as I'm playing COD, CSS and games like that and the system requirements are a lot higher for those games...well COD.

I tried uninstalling and installing (again) and still got no luck.

Again any help would be thoroughly appreciated.

When am I seeing the error...it starts up, and as you go through the image things before a game (no idea what they are called but hope it makes sense) like trailors in a movie, that's when it crashes I can't even start the game get into options and things.

 

Have you checked for patches to the game? Also, what service pack does your XP have?

 

I can't find any patches for the game and I'm running service pack 3.

 

First thing to do would be to reinstall it.

Sounds to me like something got corrupted durin install.
A fresh reinstall is best meaning removing all files and folders to do with the game.

See what happens then, if it's still doing it then I'd take it back since your machine can run it as it runs much heavier games and you followed instructions and there's nothing weird about yor machine but game doesn't work.........would sond like faulty game/disc.

 

wmv8dmod.dll is a decoder component of windows media player 8. The error message references the application (pool shark) with the .dll and directs to a .txt in your temp folder - C:\DOCUME~1\mike\LOCALS~1\Temp\ff89_appcompat.txt - that looks a lot like an abbreviation for application compatibility.

Have you tried looking in your temp folder for the .txt doc to see what it says?

Does your windows media player work ok? It would certainly be odd from my experience for a game to be dependent on media player, but it might be worthwhile to upgrade your WMP and see if that makes any difference at all.

 

Ohh thats an great point!

Many moons ago I had to update WMP from 9 - 10 because a game needed 10 and didn't support 9, can't remember for the life of me what game it was though.

 

Ok I spoke to a computer friend and he again brought up the windows media player 8 thing.

He did come up with a simple fix though,
right click on game > properties > compatibility and then choose to run on windows 98...it got past all the loading screens and things and seems to be working, so I think at the moment that is the fix.

On the side note, I don't use WMP, I use itunes for music and vlc for video files.

Thank you all for your help and i'm pretty sure this thread can be closed now

 

lol I feel a bit silly really, I could have told you about running in compatability mode, but to be honest I didn't think Pool Shark was that old.
Oh well, live and learn

Glad you got it working