Common Solutions

There have been a number of threads covering various different technical problems with installing or playing The Movies game by Lionhead Studios posted here. In this thread I am going to attempt to post a description and solution to each of the problems which has been encountered so far. Please do not post asking for help in this thread - this thread should be used for posting known (and working - at least in some cases) solutions.

Things To Try First

Patch - The Movies v1.1 patch has been released which fixes a number of issues with the game: http://www.lionhead.com/news/231

Before trying the solutions that are listed below it's worth noting that most problems with games are caused by out of date drivers, the need to carry out some standard maintanence tasks or unsupported hardware. Please do the following as a first step in making sure you have no problems:

• Check for windows updates (Windows Update).
  
• Make sure you are running the latest version of DirectX.
  
• Update your display drivers (commonly either nVidia or ATI).
  
• Check for sound driver updates for your card.
  
• Defragment your Hard Disc Drive.
  
• Scan your PC for viruses and spyware.
  
• Check your PC meets the Minimum Requirements.

Additionaly if you are experiencing slow performance try turning down detail levels and make sure you are not "forcing" high quality modes or other features using your graphics drivers.


Solutions For Problems

Please follow the links below for solutions to problems (links take you to posts within this thread):

• I can't install The Movies
• The Movies won't start with message "Please Insert Correct Disc"
• The Movies won't start, exits after showing the introductory screens
• I can't connect to The Movies Online
• My movies don't play (sound with no vision)
• All my extras/actors/workers are black/white
• I lost my CD Key
• 30 Second Upload Mac Users Only

None Of This Helped

If none of these solutions helped you with your problem you could try posting a thread in the Technical Help Forum or contact Activision through The Movies Support Page.

If posting a thread in Technical Help please give as much information as possible such as when exactly the problem occurs, what the problem is and give as many details about your system as possible (eg. CPU, RAM, GFX Card, Sound Card, Driver Versions etc.).

To find out your system specifications (if you're not sure) simply go to the Start Menu select "Run" and type "dxdiag" (without quotes) and press enter. This will bring up a window giving you all the information you need. The display tab of this window will also tell you your graphics card make and driver version.

I can't install The Movies

The game tells you the install was not successful and your system has not been modified.
You should try copying the entire contents of The Movies disc to your hard disc drive (making sure to leave enough space for the game to install after copying the contents over ~ 2.4 GB according to the readme).

Navigate to the folder you just copied the contents of the disc to on your hard drive and run the file "setup.exe". The Movies should install correctly from your hard disc drive.

Once the install is complete delete the folder which contains The Movies disc contents and run the game. You will still need The Movies disc in the drive in order to play the game!

My computer cannot read the disc.
The first thing to check here is if you have the DVD or CD version. If you have the DVD version you must have a DVD-ROM drive to play it in. A CD-ROM drive can not read DVDs.

If you have the DVD-ROM version and a CD-ROM drive you should try returning the disc to the store and asking them to exchange it for the CD-ROM version (only available in the US) or buy a DVD-ROM drive to play it in.

I get a "CRC" error when installing the game.
A CRC error (cyclic redundancy check) is most often caused by a damaged or faulty CD/DVD disc. You should return the disc to the shop and get it exchanged.

The Movies won't start with message "Please Insert Correct Disc"

This error is more than likely caused by the copy protection system used by The Movies game. Activision is responsible for choosing which copy protection method to use so if you don't like it please contact them - not Lionhead!

Copy Protection
The Movies uses SafeDisc v4 copy protection (reffered to as CP from here on in). This type of CP uses a blacklist of certain software to prevent pirate copies from being used or the game from being copied. This means that if you have certain software installed or running on your computer the CP will prevent the game from running telling you that you must insert the correct disc.

Solution
In order to play the game without this error you may need to disable or uninstall some burning software or virtual drive/CP emulation software.

If you are having this issue and have any of the following installed on your computer this is probably the issue and I will tell you how to fix it (items marked with a * have been confirmed by myself or other users as preventing the game from loading - after removal or disabling it works):

• Deamon Tools*
  
• Alcohol 120%
  
• CloneCD/DVD
  
• Nero ImageDrive* 
  

How to fix:

Deamon Tools
It has been confirmed that with Deamon Tools installed the game will not run. Disabling the virtual drive and CP emulation does not work. You must completely remove Deamon Tools from your system.

Alcohol 120%
It hasn't been confirmed if having this software installed affects the game. It is more than likely that having a Virtual Drive/CP Emulation running will stop the game running though. To begin with try disabling the virtual drive (you may need to re-start). If that doesn't work try uninstalling the program completely and see if that solves the problem.

CloneCD/DVD
I don't know if the version of SafeDisc on this game blacklists CloneCD/DVD but other versions of SafeDisc do. If you have CloneCD/DVD installed and the game doesn't start with the insert correct disc error then try uninstalling CloneCD/DVD this may fix the error.

Nero ImageDrive
You DO NOT have to uninstall Nero. The game will work fine with Nero installed. However Nero comes with a feature called Nero ImageDrive. This runs a virtual drive on your system if enabled and prevents the game from starting. To check if you have the feature enabled try starting Nero ImageDrive, if it is not enabled it will tell you and you can click no (don't enable). If it is enabled it will start up and you should then disable it. In some cases it may be neccesary to delete the ImageDrive folders from your PC.

Still not working?

Firmware
If it is still not working it may be that you need to update your DVD/CD ROMs Firmware. Go to your manufacturers website and check to see if there is any new firmware available. Some old firmware versions don't work with newer CP methods and need these updates. Note be very careful to follow the manufacturers instructions and read all warnings. Flashing firmware can cause permanent damage if not done correctly.

DVD or CD?
I know it sounds obvious but check wether you have the DVD or CD ROM edition. A DVD will not work in a CD ROM drive. A few people have had this problem.

DVD-RW Drive?
One or two members have reported that while their disc works fine in a normal DVD drive it refuses to play on their DVD-RW drive. Most DVD-RW drives will play the disc fine but I believe Activision do have a (very small) list of DVD-RW drives which won't work with the copy protection on The Movies. You should contact Activision Support if you think you are affected by this issue.

This support page on EA's website also offers some help with this issue.

Please Note
This is not an exhaustive fix list so may not work in all cases. Also note that while there may be other solutions such as NO-CD cracks these may contain viruses, may cause your gameplay to suffer and may prevent you from using online services with the game. They are not supported and by using them you void your rights to support. Please do not post that kind of thing here.

The Movies won't start, exits after showing the introductory screens

In some cases the game will load but exit to the desktop after showing the introductory screens (or after the splash screen). The following solutions should fix this for most people.

Download and install the version 1.1 patch
There was an issue with some older AMD CPUs without SSE support which was addressed in the version 1.1 patch which was released in December 2005. You can download the patch from here: http://movies.lionhead.com/news.html?story=231 (for a full list of fixes and changes please see that page).

Installing the patch should fix this issue, if not try the solutions below.

Copying the fonts folder to the HDD
The first solution to try for this problem is to copy the "Fonts" from the game disc (Setup\Data\Data\fonts) into the "Data" directory of your Movies installation.

This solution has been confirmed as working for some members of the community.

Update Drivers
Make sure you have the most recent drivers for your Video Card. You can get them from nVidia or ATI in most cases.

Does your CPU have SSE support?
This is completely unconfirmed but some people report that they are unable to play the game because their CPU's don't have SSE support. This is a problem with some older AMD CPUs. Some AMD CPUs can have their SSE support enabled through a BIOS update or using another tool.

Again this is an unconfirmed problem though some people have reported success using this method.

I can't connect to The Movies Online

Some people have been having problems connecting to The Movies Online to upload their movies. It's not clear why but here are some possible solutions.

Download and install the version 1.1 patch
Since the introduction of the propshop on TMO you will need to have updated your game to version 1.1 for it to work correctly with The Movies Online. You can get a hold of the version 1.1 patch from the following URL: http://movies.lionhead.com/news.html?story=231 (for more info on the patch see the linked page).

Firewalls & Routers
If you are using a firewall you will need to grant The Movies permission to connect to the internet in order to upload your movies to The Movies Online website.

If you are behind a router you may also be behind a NAT. You may need to configure port forwarding in order to get the connection to work correctly. As each router is different I can't really give you instructions for this. Check your manufacturers website!

Using a proxy
Some people have found that using a proxy to connect to TMO works - it seems to be that a lot of German people are having this problem.

The settings that are suggested as working are:

In the Online setup, set the Proxy Host name to 209.86.122.224 and the Proxy Server Port to 80. Also set the port setting to 2.

This thread also has more discussion on the topic (esp. for German ISP users).

This may or may not work for you. Remember even people without Firewalls may be behind the default Windows Firewall.

My movies don't play (sound with no vision)

The most common reason for the movies not playing is a missing or corrupt video codec. The game ships with a copy of WMP 9 on the disc. It is recommended that if you have trouble playing movies that you try installing this version of WMP as it may very well fix the problem.

If you aren't sure if you have the most recent windows media video codecs they can be downloaded from Microsoft, Softpedia also offers a download of WMP 9 codecs.

It has also been reported that versions of WMP which have other programs installed as part of the package (such as the version that includes Napster) may not work correctly with The Movies. You may need to revert to the standalone WMP.

This extract comes from the readme file and might be helpful to some:

If you have the DirectVobSub codec installed on your PC, try disabling it and running the game again. To disable DirectVobSub, right click on the DirectVobSub icon in your System Tray (or find it via Window’s ‘Start’ button) and select Properties, then select the ‘Do Not Load’ option and reboot your PC. Alternatively, go to Control Panel and uninstall DirectVobSub using the Add Or Remove Programs function.

This may or may not fix the problem but it's worth a shot.

All my extras/actors/workers are black/white

Some people have found that when they play the game all of their extras/actors/workers (delete as appropriate) appear as solid black or white characters with no "skin". This problem can usually be fixed by doing one (or more) of the following:

Update your video drivers
The most common way to fix this problem is to find out what video/graphics card your computer has and download the newest reference drivers for it from the manufacturers website. To find out what graphics card you have do the following:

• Go to the Start Menu and choose "Run"
  
• Type "dxdiag" ommitting quotes and press enter/return
  
• The window that pops up tells you the specifications of your computer and the various DirectX versions installed. Along the top you should see a "Display" tab. Click on the Display tab.
  
• Make a note of your graphics card and the current driver version.
  

The two most common types of graphics cards are nVidia & ATI. For nVidia cards you should download and install the latest Forceware drivers from the nVidia website (http://www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp) for ATI you will most likely want the latest Catalyst drivers from the ATI website (https://support.ati.com/ics/support/).

Download the appropriate drivers and install them. This should fix your problem.

Ensure you are running the latest version of DirectX
The game should have installed DirectX 9c when it installed if it wasn't present on your system. If not you can download it from Microsoft and install it yourself: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/directx/

Turn your graphics detail settings down
Sometimes simply turning down the detail settings or changing the resolution in the graphics options will fix the problem. Although this fix isn't ideal it may work for you.

I lost My CD Key

Some people have previously installed "The Movies" or "The Movies Stunts & Effects" and then lost their CDKey when trying to re-install the program. If you lost your CD Key, and once had "The Movies" or "The Movies Stunts & Effects" installed on your computer this will help you. If you lost your CD Key, but never installed a copy of "The Movies" or "The Movies Stunts & Effects" then you will not be able to recover the key from the registry. You will either have to buy a new copy of the game or contact Activision. Please do not post requesting key generators etc.

Unfortunately we cannot replace your stolen or lost cd-key / cd's / manual, as we do not have any cd-keys / cd's / manuals to give out. The cd-keys / cd's / manuals are placed in the packaging at the manufacturing plant.

Checking the Registry
The way to find your CD Key if you had a copy of "The Movies" or "The Movies Stunts & Effects" installed previously is to check your registry and recover the data.

• Click the "START" menu, and then select the "RUN" option.
  
• A small box will appear. In the box, type "regedit" [no spaces], and then click ENTER. Warning: *Please be very careful in the registry as it is sensative data*
  
• Within the registry on the left side there are folders. On the left, there is one that reads "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE". Click the "plus sign" icon, to exapnd options, once with your left mouse button.
  
• Select "SOFTWARE" and left click the "plug sign" icon to expand options. A new list of folders will fall down.
  
• Find the one that says "Lionhead Studios Ltd". Beside the folder there should be a "plus sign" icon, click it to expand the options. You should see "The Movies" and "The Movies Stunts & Effects"
  
• Left click, a single time, the "The Movies" folder.
  
• A few icons appear on the right, click none of them. However, one of the icons is "CDKey" and "CDKey_AddOn1 " P "CDKey" represents the value of your CD Key data you originally entered for "The Movies" "CDKey_AddOn1" represents the value of your CD Key data you originally entered for "The Movies Stunts & Effects"
  
• Beside each icon is your CDKey as you entered it upon the original installation. Copy that down with the ol' pen and paper, and then re-install "The Movies" or "The Movies Stunts & Effects" and enter the CD Key as it appear in your registry.

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30 Second Upload

Mac Users Only (Courtesy of KirinRiotCrash)
You need to register your copy of the Flip4Mac WMV plugin that came with The Movies. In order to do this;

• Click on the Apple Logo on the upper left corner and select "System Preferences".
• Click on the "Flip4Mac WMV" icon. This icon is usually found in the bottom row in the "Other" category.
• Click on the "Upgrade" tab and then the "Enter Serial Number" button.
• You will be prompted to enter your name and the serial number. Feral Interactive provides you with a FREE registration code for Flip4Mac WMV Studio ($49.00 value) which is printed in the back of the manual, below the serial used to allow you to upload your movies on The Movies Online website.
• Once you have registered Flip4Mac, you will be able to export your movies at the full length of the film.

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