TrackMania United Freezes at "Please Wait"

[Snorge]

I have the following problem. I have installed the game, and I'm running it through Steam, but that doesn't matter since I have the same problem with TrackMania Nations not through Steam. When I press play, the game starts up and I get to the opening screen with choices "Play, Configure, Help, Update, Exit." I hit Play but then it sits on a black screen with "Please Wait..." in the bottom right hand corner. I watched the CPU % go from small to 100% CPU as soon as it got to the Please Wait screen. Please help, I've not yet found an answer for this after searching as many forums as possible. On the forum for the game there are many many people with this same problem who have not found a solution. I had to select the option to run the game in windowed mode to see this, but it's the same in fullscreen. It freezes then I have to restart the computer because Ctrl+Alt+Del, or Alt+F4 doesn't do anything. I have uninstalled/reinstalled many times and never gotten to play yet. I have tried changing many many times of the settings under Configure, but nothing good happens, same result every time. Here's some specs of my system, I don't know if this is correct or if I have all you need.

System Specs
CPU: Intel Pentium 4, 2400 MHz
Mainboard: Dell Dimension 8250
Memory: 512 MB
Hard Drive: 120 GB
Video: NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 420
Sound: Creative SB Live!
CD Rom: Samnsung DVD-ROM
Printer: HP Photosmart 7900
OS: Windows XP

I think I have basically ruled out firewalls, since I started my computer with no firewalls or antivirus or spyware or anything running, and even tried going offline. Also I upgraded my NVIDIA drivers to the newest recommended one following their site. Before upgrading those drivers I upgraded DirectX on the microsoft site. Can someone please help me out here?

TrackMania Nations is available Free here for download in case you want to see what I'm working with.
https://www.trackmanianations.com/indexUk.php

[Tiber Septim]

Hi, welcome to TSF.
I think the problem is your video card. I'm pretty sure the GeForce4 series doesn't have DirectX 9.0c compatibility, which is a requirement for Trackmania United.
Easy way to check is to go to Can You Run It? and select something like Trackmania Sunrise. It'll tell you if your video card is up to scratch.

If it says your PC passes post back here and we'll troubleshoot a bit further.

[Snorge]

Thank you very much, Tiber Septim!! I am so relieved to see this simple problem may be the cause of all my worrying. Sadly, I cannot run this neat site/program right now because that computer is ailing badly from some sort of attack that happened yesterday. I will have to get back to you at some point in the future, as the machine in question has no internet access and I think it got hit by a virus or something. I'll try it out as soon as I can and report back here.

If that WAS the problem, would my only solution be to buy a new graphics card?

[Tiber Septim]

Oh, good luck getting the virus sorted out. Pesky things.

Unfortunately yes, the game basically requires that your card has what they call 'Pixel Shaders' (I think Trackmania needs 1.1 of the pixel shader technology), of which your card has none.
I used to have an old Geforce4 MX440 and I had the same problem when I went to try and play newer games (particularly Far Cry). It simply wouldn't work.

[Snorge]

Okay...got all the computer issues worked out, now I got to look into getting a graphics card. Hey Tiber Septim, since you seem to know what you're talking about, do you think this card would be an appropriate choice for me? I don't do all that much computer gaming (almost none) but from time to time I play a game. And I think this one supports that stuff for TrackMania that the other one didn't. Also, now that I think of it a few other of my games have not worked and I never knew why, now I do.

Check this one out and tell me what you think:

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.as...mp&dcaid=17194

[Tiber Septim]

That's actually a good pick.
It's not bleeding edge so you will only be able to play newer games like Crysis, Call of Duty 4 etc on low settings. However, games such as Trackmania, Half-Life 2 etc. should run fine on high settings without a hitch.

Remember to shop around though, some brands or online stores (assuming you are going to buy online) may offer the same card cheaper the the one you listed.

[dsoelberg]

Originally Posted by Tiber Septim

Hi, welcome to TSF.
I think the problem is your video card. I'm pretty sure the GeForce4 series doesn't have DirectX 9.0c compatibility, which is a requirement for Trackmania United.
Easy way to check is to go to Can You Run It? and select something like Trackmania Sunrise. It'll tell you if your video card is up to scratch.

If it says your PC passes post back here and we'll troubleshoot a bit further.

OK, I've done the can you play it button and it says yes, but it is still freezing up in the same place as the previous fella. Suggestions?

[Snorge]

Wow...tried out that link there and oddly enough, my machine says it should be able to run it also...all the "Pass" things are fully green except the Video Card, which is 1 bar above minimum...it says I should be able to play it.

[bobbob123456]

hello
i had the same problem as you the solution is to click configure when you open up the game
and untick full screen and select window size 640x480 and click save
this will let you see your firewall messages and just say allow
once working you can reselect full screen and enjoy your game

:)

[Snorge]

Sorry, sir. We're both already way past the firewall stage. This is a different problem.

[JHoudini]

I have the same problem , And i'm quite sure it hasn't got anything to do with firewall's or system config. Tried reinstalling it loads of times but still nothing helped ... Beginning to blame vista :(