Cannot start sim: "Error 12010: Bitmap failed to Load"
 

I've been jonesing for a good modern sub sim, as it's been at least four years since I played Sub Command. I bought DW through Steam but it won't start. I get the above error message, which repeats in another resolution when I try to exit it or hit "OK".

I'm running Vista 64x with an nVidia card and drivers.

Can anyone help? Not sure what to do if it won't start, get a refund from Steam?

Can't help you about this particular trouble .. but refund from Steam ? Nope ..

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_...JC-2625#refund

Well I'm not buying another (boxed) copy of the thing so unless someone can help me, I'm out.

Boxed copy would hardly help you. There is nothing different on Steam version of the game (AFAIK). Try compatibility settings. Or try running the game in virtual machine.

contact steam for your problem try uninstall and reinstall and steam has a db files checker to make sure the files are still there it will fix if some files are damaged

Thanks gents. Uninstalled and reinstalled with no luck. I will ping Steam support and hope for the best but am not optimistic. A pity, as I have always loved Sonalysts' sub sims.

It's just too old .. the engine was old when it was released (it for example only runs in 16bit modes). Still most people manage to at least start the game.

Hmm, if it only runs in 16-bit mode, is there an easy and reversible adjustment I could make to my graphics card settings in the nVidia control panel that might address this issue, do you think?

All current cards should still support 16 bit modes .. it's just not used much. There is no relevant setting to that in nVidia control panel AFAIK. But I'm not saying it is not working, because it uses 16bit screenmode.

If you search Google for the error code text then it mostly comes up with reports about failed attempts to install LWAMI. Reinstalls seemed to have succes for the most part. Or they forgot to execute a specific file of LWAMI related to incorporate the model/graphics enhancements.

Did you by any change try to install the LWAMI mod, or was it a virgin install of DW that gave these problems?

Eh, that'll teach me to buy old, unsupported games on the fly. What a sad end to my 10-year romance with Sonalysts' sims.

Can you respond to the above question? Were you trying to install the LWAMI mod?

Sorry, JohnnyR, I only just saw that post.

No I was not trying to install the LWAMI mod. I've been trying to run DW for the first time after downloading it from STEAM. After the first series of failed attempts I did an integrity check on Steam, uninstalled/reinstalled and fiddled with the .exe's properties such as compatibility (I selected XP/SP2) and disabling the various graphical options listed in that menu. No luck on any count. I get the little "ping" and the initial welcome screen, then always a series of ""Bitmap failed to Load" messages.

I've tried following the advice given in this post, but my Steam install has no setup.exe.

EDIT: I'm blind, everything I just suggested you said you've done. I've made some more suggestions below:

Perhaps going into the dangerouswaters.ini and setting the game to run in a window, and putting the following to yes: .

SkipOpening No
SkipCredits No
SkipMovies No
FirstTimeRunning No

Just shots in the dark =(

Maybe you are missing some files in the base folder? I have 679 files, and 24 folders totaling 1.14GB. See if you match that.

Hmm, I have 673/24/1.14.

When I force windowed mode in the .ini file, after getting my nVidia Control Panel to switch over to 16-bit color depth,, I get this message when I try to start the sim :Color depth needs to be 16-bit to run in windowed mode". Grr.

I really appreciate your help.

No problem! So you are definitely missing some files somehow.

So lets go folder by folder, and find out where the issue is:

Base folder: 18 Files, 6.98MB

Audio: 14 files and 5 folders 240MB
Cinematic: 10 files, 0 folders 25.9MB
Database: 14 Files, 0 folders
Doctrine: 48 Files, 0 folders 57.5KB
Gamespy Arcade: 1 file, 0 folders 5.78MB
Graphics: 71 Files, 0 Folders 118MB
incoming: 1 file
Interfaces:389 files, 7 folders 300MB ( I suspect this may be the culprit?)
Manual:5 files 55.4MB
Scenario:69 Files (minus one, I have 1 custom one in there)
Tutorials:10 files, 254MB
World:28 files, 156MB

Let me know what you find....

OK, maybe the Steam file structure is different but my base folder ( C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Dangerous Waters unless I'm misunderstanding) contains 673 files, 24 folders, Size on Disk 1.14GB.

My numbers are identical to yours, except:

Scenario = 67 files

Which either means you have 2 custom scenarios or I'm one stock scenario short, but this can't be the culprit, I reckon.

Much to my disappointment, my Interfaces file numbers are identical to yours.

There are some very small discrepancies between us in file sizes but I suspect that's because you may have read Size vs Size on Disk in a couple of instances.

I've read that Vista 64x and Win 7 64x do not support 16-bit software and in fact prevent execution. And yet others can run DW on modern systems. Another possibility is that this is a Steam thing, maybe to do with the location of the executable on the disk but I can think of no way to change that except to buy the boxed version. Do you have the Steam version too? Maybe that would explain the discrepancies (individual folder contents still being the same, though). I do not have a setup .exe.

I think most of the Win7/Vista issues came down to location--program files either being the problem or the solution, I forget which.
Is it possible to manually move the files and then adjust the registry to reflect that change?

Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but I had 679 (minus one for my custom scenario, so 678) and you have 673. So somewhere you are missing 5 files. Minus the two from scenario which shouldn't matter, that still leaves 3 files unaccounted for. Go back over my numbers, because they can't be identical to yours, or else the total wouldn't be different. I will also go back over my files when I can. I would make sure you are showing hidden files as well.

Also, I am running it from steam on Win 7 64-bit, so I know it can be done =)

Perhaps installing in C:\Steam\steamapps\common\Dangerous Waters instead of C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Dangerous Waters might do the trick. Administrator is a nightmare in the latest Win applications so I install my program away from the Admin requirements.

I have DW installed on my brand new laptop Win 7 64 bit. DW works fine with the exception of wide screen graphics which it doesn't support,