I bought GG:Max this past week after seeing the cellar scene visuals and reading about some of its updates. However, on my PC I cannot launch any version beyond the very first alpha that came with an installer. Alpha 2-3-4 all crash as soon as I attempt to open them.

Question: The first build is over 1GB while Alpha 2 is just 130 MB, and the other two alphas are 400-680MB. Why such a discrepancy? Is there a special way to install the newer alphas that do not include an installer? I have even tried copying their contents over the original alpha but that causes the same crashing after replacing the files.

I read one comment stating we may need Update 2004, but Microsoft still hasn't allowed me to update to that on my hardware, which is something millions of users are still also experiencing even though the update rolled out in May. All other software works fine, just not GG Alpha 2-4 (including running as Admin, installing to different location, and disabling any antivirus). My PC specs are in signature, and the error I receive when trying to launch them looks something like:

Alpha 1 did not use the Wicked Engine for rendering, but used GameGuru Classic and only showed off the new UI, etc. Alphas 2-4 use the Wicked Engine, so this is why it is possible for Alpha 1 to run successfully, but Alphas 2-4 to fail.

The size of the various alphas deal with what's included in the download (which models, textures, etc.) and other factors.

I don't know if updating to Update 2004 is necessary or not. But I had issues running alpha 3 (see the thread on alpha 3 to follow that) and had to go through a lot to get it to function. It ended up being a few corrupt DirectX DLLs. Using Dependency Walker, I was able to find the problems and resolve them.

One of the first things I would check is to see if you have all the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributables installed. I have 2005, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, and 2015-2019 (the last is one file, one install). And I have them for both x86 and x64.

Of course, try the obvious stuff, like attempting to run the alpha in Administrator mode, make sure you have a good DirectX installation, etc. Your system specs are fine, of course. Oh! And you can go and download and install The Wicked Engine itself:

https://wickedengine.net/downloads/

If The Wicked Engine runs, then the issue is most likely with the MAX alphas. If not, then the issue is with The Wicked Engine. And that would mostly mean that your system is missing something required to run it.

I hope this helps somehow.