Can not initialize 3D engine

[Ula Jolly]

That's what I get. I've been playing SH3 fine, most dandy, for the last couple of years, but today I retried it. I got a weird little error, the SH3-has-had-problem etc, at first that kicked me back to the desktop, so I reinstalled it all. I entered the editor and the game well enough, and didn't play for a while.

I went back to playing the game after I installed Notebook Hardware control - that's the only change I can think of. Upon entering, I now get the message "Can not initialize 3D engine" or something like that. When trying to open the Editor, I ALSO get a SH3 has had a problem and must be shut down-message. This happened also after patching to 1.4b.

Can anyone lend a hand? A search on the forums for this failure message gave me nothing that seemed of value.

(I forgot my hardware-software specs, sorry. Oh, and look at my avatar!)
3-year old Inspiron 6000, 1.6GHz with 1Gb RAM. XP SP2, ATI Mobility Radeon X300 - 128Mb. I also have the June 2007 DirectX9 update.

Further edits, after I googled "can not initialize 3d engine silent hunter" - I run at 1280x800 @ 60Hz, but have tried 1024x760 @ 60 as well. I do not have two monitors, I attempted to delete the two movies in the Intro folder, none of this worked.

From a quick study of the failures people are experiencing, this error message certainly displays for a range of different engine-related issues. This does not particularly help me, but is an interesting bit of information.

[panzer 49th]

Ummmm I have an Inspiron 9300

Specs

Processor: 1.86 Ghz

Video Card: ATI Mobility Radeon X300 64Mb

RAM: 2 x 1Gb

HDD: 74.67 Gb 7200 RPM HDD

It runs fine for me it could possibly be the Direct X update you got
Or it could be video card problem(try updating the drivers)

I get about 60 FPS with GWX 2.0
and about 100 FPS on stock.
If reinstalling it didnt fix it Im dont really have any more ideas what could be causing it.

[Ula Jolly]

I now restarted the computer under safe settings, then restarted again as normal - only this time with a 1024x760 resolution. Now SH3 works. I just set the resolution to 1280x800 and had the editor open. Works. Upon attempting to turn on SH3, this does not return the error - but I haven't tried to actually enter the museum or any such place.
WHY. DOES. A PROGRAM. SUDDENLY rebel against my resolution settings?

As if that wasn't enough, I also lost my avatar.

[Blacklight]

I had this very same problem when I first got SHIII. What I was advised to do by Ubisoft tech support (after about 4 weeks of bantering back and forth) was this:

Try switching yur desktop resolution to 1024x768 in the display properties in Windows, and then try running the game again.

This caused the game to work perfectly and ironically, once it started working, I was able to pop my screen resolution back up to what I had it at and the game still worked. Go figure.:roll:

[Ula Jolly]

I had this very same problem when I first got SHIII. What I was advised to do by Ubisoft tech support (after about 4 weeks of bantering back and forth) was this:

Try switching yur desktop resolution to 1024x768 in the display properties in Windows, and then try running the game again.
This caused the game to work perfectly and ironically, once it started working, I was able to pop my screen resolution back up to what I had it at and the game still worked. Go figure.:roll:
What is your current resolution? I will try one more thing, tomorrow, which is to start the machine in 1024x760, start the game, exit and turn the computer off, and then turn on again to change the setting. Was this what you did? Because to increase the resolution before rebooting did not help me. Thanks for all help.

[AVGWarhawk]

The only time I see "can not initialize 3D engine" is when I get new drivers for my ATI X1300. Perhaps a refresh of your drivers will cure this. I cured the problem by getting a Nvidia card. I never saw that awful message again.

[bigboywooly]

Having your hardware acceleration turned down too low for graphics also throws out the 3d engine cannot initialize message

[Blacklight]

What is your current resolution? I will try one more thing, tomorrow, which is to start the machine in 1024x760, start the game, exit and turn the computer off, and then turn on again to change the setting. Was this what you did? Because to increase the resolution before rebooting did not help me. Thanks for all help.
I rebooted the computer with the new resolution and then the game would run. Can't hurt anything by trying it. My actual desktop resolution is 1280 x 1024 with 32 bit color quality. Before altering this, try this first...
Go into your Silenthunter III folder... then go into the DATA folder. Look for the file Main CFG file and load it up in notepad. Scroll down till you see video. These are the settings I have....

[VIDEO]
Resolution=1024 x 800
DynamicShadows=No
FullScreen=Yes
Synchronized=No
ParticleDensity=100
TextureResolutionHigh=Yes

Make a backup copy of the file if you make changes to it first(just in case it messes something up) and then save the file.

If this doesn't work, Turn your screen resolution down to match as well. You shouldn't have to, but reboot just to be sure (make sure to note your current resolution if you want to switch back to it). Then try to run the game again. See if this fixes it. If all else fails, go to Ubisoft (although it took them weeks to solve this issue for me.. their tech support is not stellar:stare: ).

[Ula Jolly]

Thank you BL, those are the settings I have as well. What does Synchronized do?

[Blacklight]

Did you get the game running ?

Quote from another thread:
It sychronizes the framerate output of the game to your monitor. (Best I can describe it.) Doing so greatly reduces graphic tearing and other anomalies. Infact this option works better with some LCD monitors than not having it enabled.

Heck, I've gotten to where I can hardly stand it WITHOUT this video option enable in-game. I think lots of people have simply gotten used to the graphic tearing in SH3 because they aren't sure what this option does.

Synchronizing will usually lower the framerate... but will stabilize it. For instance... on my system, I get all kinds of FPS, up into the hundreds if I leave it un-selected... but it is typically STABLE at 75-76 FPS in most occasions in-game with this feature enabled.

I think too that many stay away from this option because all they see is that it "lowers FPS" in various descriptions and don't realize the quality improvement they get in return.

ANYTHING above 23 FPS is GOOD... as it is faster than the human eye can register. Below 23 FPS... it starts to get choppy where you notice that your system is struggling.

[Ula Jolly]

@ BL: Yes, I did get it running. However, I also experienced a most gruesomely sudden blue screen of death (pure blue, nothing but blue). I don't know what happened, but had played for a while when it happened. HD or CPU overheating? Could be, on this laptop.

[PhantomLord]

Got the same problem a few weeks ago after reinstalling Windows. I was completly mad about that. Installed driver from here and there, searched the whole internet... nothing works.

Solution here was:

1. remove your graphics driver completly. There´s a tool called "DriverCleaner" for ATI and Nvidia.

2. install latest DirectX first!

3. then install graphic drivers

[TomcatMVD]

I had the same problem the very first time I tried to run the game, and I found the answer in a forum.
It's quite simple.
You need to go to the game folder, right click on SHIII, click properties, go to compatibility, click run in 640X480.
Then run the game... exit it, and uncheck that option.
Did it for me!