It's not about Win11, it's about Steam ...

[gilesgoat]

Cut and paste from Steam forums ..

I figured it out! Giles, the issue is Steam. There's a problem with the built-in Steam API. Steam itself must have updated its platform to cause the crash.

First, I tried disabling the Steam overlay. This did not solve the issue. It's not enough to simply disable it. Nor, can you simply open the folder and run the exe while Steam is running.

You MUST exit Steam completely. Then, manually go into the folder and launch the game's exe.

When doing so, you get the following warning:
"Steam must be running to play this game (SteamApI_Init() failed). You can play the game but you will not have any Steam features."

Lo and behold, the game works. But only if you bypass Steam COMPLETELY.

I've noticed that this isn't the only game from Llamasoft that has weird issues with the Steam API. This is the first time I've ever had to close out Steam completely though.

So. As it currently is now, you can play the game. But no recorded time, no achievements, no leader boards, etc. A huge bummer, but at least it's playable, and now you know where to look.

Going to go ahead and append my original post with this information so that other folks know too. It doesn't "solve" the problem, but it at least makes the game playable again. I won't mark this as resolved, because it's not really. But it's a temporary workaround if nothing else.

MY REPLY :

Hi,
hmmmm ... I see .. could be because Tempest 4000 it's been quite a while since it's been done uses a really "old" version of Steam API I suppose.

Putting hands on that stuff is going to be a pain in the butt, I mean first of all "dig out all that stuff", make it work again, try to re-compile/test it with the latest Steam SDK .. it's quite some work ..

And also would mean I'll have to get in touch with Atari again to do all this I am not even sure I still have the privileges to access/touch all that thing.

But I tell you what .. AT SOME POINT, in SOME ( possibly not too far ) future, for "Llamasoft reasons and things to be" I will have to do "dive again into latest Steam SDK AND OpenXR/etc. "

I've been trying for "too long time" to convince Atari to "commission" me the work to re-enable VR into Tempest 4000, you say "what do you mean re-enable" and I say "what if I tell you Tempest 4000 was SUPPOSED to be our FIRST VR game and actually WAS a VR game and I've been asked to REMOVE VR from it ?" ..

And it was FRIKING AWESOME in VR .. "something you never seen" !

So if you manage to convince Atari "please tell LS to do a VR version" then I'll be happy to dig again into the Steam SDK and fix all stuff

And I am not saying really "for the money", well it will have to be paid because it's going to be a work requiring some months of work to re-check and re-adjust many things, but I am saying because I know we had "something nobody ever seen" and it's still "something that nobody will ever see" .. unless Atari decides "yes let's do it" ...

I won't consider myself responsible anyway if/when you won't be able to exit from VR ever again because "too much caught in" .. not I know anything about the "effects" that Tempest 4000 VR can do *grin*

[rowan]

If you do end up doing anything with the source,

PLEEEEEAAAAASSSSSSSSEE fix the "stuck on game complete screen with no way to exit" whilst you're there.

It was even acknowledged pre-patch, then the patch dropped and it was the same
http://www.yakyak.org/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=87975

[gilesgoat]

If you do end up doing anything with the source,

PLEEEEEAAAAASSSSSSSSEE fix the "stuck on game complete screen with no way to exit" whilst you're there.

It was even acknowledged pre-patch, then the patch dropped and it was the same
http://www.yakyak.org/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=87975

NOTED : .. checked again "what he's talking about" .. found it again .. not sure at this point where/if/why it's not sorted out on the PC ..

Fundamentally it all boils down the "mapping" of the "START BUTTON" .. actually the code I see goes like this ...

Code: Select all

	// TODO : ABSOLUTELY CHECK WHAT HAPPENS AT END OF GAME !!!

#ifndef _XBOX_ONE
	if (controls.pressedButtons&BUTTON_START)
#else
	if (controls.pressedButtons&BUTTON2)
#endif

So "if it's not xbox one", is the START button ... if it's the Xbox One .. then it's the "B" button ..

It even changes on what it prints at the end of the game ..

BUT .. the problem comes "WHAT IS THE START BUTTON ??" ...

And there lies the shit, now VERY LONG STORY MADE SHORT "there are many different levels of mapping" so one thing is "the physical controller", another one is "the virtual one", and another one is "the actual mapping of buttons/etc. as used in the game" .. with the "added bonus" ( or malus ) that there's also - on the PC at least - a thing about "controllers merge" what to do/etc. if > 1 "controllers" are detected/etc. keyboard/mouse/etc. ..

In all this shit someway "BUTTON_START" got "lost" or better to say "incorrectly mapped" into "something that you cannot press no matter what" ..

It gets worse, at the time of that code, which is quite some years old, there was a bit of "mixture of things" so "some bits of code where shared among diffrent games" so there was a bit of "if GAME == this, do this else if GAME == that, do that" and such ..

The idea was "not to have to replicate 10 times the same bug-fixes in 10 different sources that should be nearly the same" ( so why not to use the same source shared between 10 thigns ? Sometime you don't have the smartest ideas .. ) .

Anyway someay "in that case" BUTTON_START got "lost" and to be honest I THINK I should have been more a thing like

Code: Select all

	// TODO : ABSOLUTELY CHECK WHAT HAPPENS AT END OF GAME !!!

#ifndef _THIS_IS_PS4
	if (controls.pressedButtons&BUTTON_START)
#else
	if (controls.pressedButtons&BUTTON2)
#endif

Because "BUTTON2" , B, would have gone well for "everything", probably even for PS4 DO NOT ASK ME WHY has to be "start" instead I WOULD NEVER EVER REMEMBER the reason ...

But yeah .. if/when I'll touch that code again "remind me again about this bug" ... I may have forgotten about it by that time ...

P.S. I am still trying to convince Atari that "we need a VR version of T4K" ..

Also NOTE : there's ABSOLUTELY NOTHING the user can "externally" do to fix that ( apart maybe go with some hex editor, find that bit of code and change that "anded constant" ) because "does not matter what button you push in the controller", there is "a layer" that will NEVER map it to "BUTTON_START, also if "BUTTON_START" would be defined as 0x00 you are totally fucked ( i.e. "don't want ANY start button" ).

[rowan]

Thanks for all the detailed reply. I know it's neither fun nor trivial. Like all the webforms development you have to be on the end of

If any of it is revisited, any chance of an

"or (keyboard.pressed&ESC)" [excuse my pronunciation]

just in case the controller-fu still doesn't work?

[mb3018]

I know about Atari saying they didn't want VR, but I wish you guys could do ONE Tempest game in VR. Just one at least. I love all your games in VR and outside of VR, but the Tempest/Space Giraffe games are my favorite.

[Harlequin]

I know about Atari saying they didn't want VR, but I wish you guys could do ONE Tempest game in VR. Just one at least. I love all your games in VR and outside of VR, but the Tempest/Space Giraffe games are my favorite.

Unfortunately, it seems Atari does not want anyone but themselves publishing anything that looks or feels Tempesty.

[gilesgoat]

I know about Atari saying they didn't want VR, but I wish you guys could do ONE Tempest game in VR. Just one at least. I love all your games in VR and outside of VR, but the Tempest/Space Giraffe games are my favorite.

Unfortunately, it seems Atari does not want anyone but themselves publishing anything that looks or feels Tempesty.

ANYTHING involving "Tempest" is EXCLUSIVE PROPERTY/IP/ETC. by Atari .. They own ALL the rights/ip to it so "it's all in their hands" when it comes down to this and that about it.

Said that "we are still in good relationships with them", occasionally I try to "poke" saying "we could still do a VR version of .. " .. as I said the answers so far been around the lines of "could be, but not for the moment".

We'll do more VR titles anyway, at some point something new will come out