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Battlezone 98 Redux will not start. After starting from the launcher it simply vanishes.

TS-steps done:
Verified/repaired the installation, tried completely removing and reinstalling.
Tried launching in windowed mode and with various lower resolution options.
Tried to change the renderer in Ogre.cfg to dx9/11/opengl. All result in the same issue.
Switched off every possible image modification setting in AMD Adrenalin Software Suite (freesync, image sharpening, chill, etc).
Removed all Microsoft Visual C++ packages from the system and reinstalled them cleanly.
Disabled Galaxy overlay.

Launched the game with /console flag for output - attached to this case.

Windows Version: 10.0.19041 Build 19041
GPU drivers: 21.2.2 (latest)
GPU: AMD RX 6800 XT

Let me know if any additional information is required to debug this case as I'm completely out of ideas.
It used to work fine on Nvidia GPUs last year, but ever since I've moved over to the 6800 XT, it will not start.
I also contacted Rebellion support directly and they are out of ideas at this point as well, though they did confirm that the game is supposed to work just fine on the latest RDNA2 GPUs.
The only other option I have left on the table is to reinstall Windows10 from scratch but I don't think that it will fix the issue nor is a proper approach for getting this resolved.

Any ideas? Feedback is much appreciated.

UPDATE:
Purchased the Steam version of Battlezone 98 Redux and that one works right out of the box, no issues.
Created a support ticket to GOG for further investigation.

UPDATE2:
Last version from GOG which the game launches fine with is 2.0.155 t2.
Steam version which also launches fine is 2.2.301.
GOG is investigating the matter and hopefully they can patch their launcher up - seems like a really edge-case with the new RDNA2 GPUs - though cannot confirm it as none of my friends actually have AMD GPUs to test with.
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Post edited March 11, 2021 by Kallestofeles
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avatar
Kallestofeles: Battlezone 98 Redux will not start. After starting from the launcher it simply vanishes.

TS-steps done:
Verified/repaired the installation, tried completely removing and reinstalling.
Tried launching in windowed mode and with various lower resolution options.
Tried to change the renderer in Ogre.cfg to dx9/11/opengl. All result in the same issue.
Switched off every possible image modification setting in AMD Adrenalin Software Suite (freesync, image sharpening, chill, etc).
Removed all Microsoft Visual C++ packages from the system and reinstalled them cleanly.
Disabled Galaxy overlay.

Launched the game with /console flag for output - attached to this case.

Windows Version: 10.0.19041 Build 19041
GPU drivers: 21.2.2 (latest)
GPU: AMD RX 6800 XT

Let me know if any additional information is required to debug this case as I'm completely out of ideas.
It used to work fine on Nvidia GPUs last year, but ever since I've moved over to the 6800 XT, it will not start.
I also contacted Rebellion support directly and they are out of ideas at this point as well, though they did confirm that the game is supposed to work just fine on the latest RDNA2 GPUs.
The only other option I have left on the table is to reinstall Windows10 from scratch but I don't think that it will fix the issue nor is a proper approach for getting this resolved.

Any ideas? Feedback is much appreciated.

UPDATE:
Purchased the Steam version of Battlezone 98 Redux and that one works right out of the box, no issues.
Created a support ticket to GOG for further investigation.

UPDATE2:
Last version from GOG which the game launches fine with is 2.0.155 t2.
Steam version which also launches fine is 2.2.301.
GOG is investigating the matter and hopefully they can patch their launcher up - seems like a really edge-case with the new RDNA2 GPUs - though cannot confirm it as none of my friends actually have AMD GPUs to test with.
lol I know this is a bit old but I don't frequent the GOG forums much.
Do you know what rendering engine you had enabled when you took that console screencap?
I have an odd suggestion: In the root directory of the game, either rename move or delete "RenderSystem_GL.dll" and make sure you're attempting to load in dx9 mode (-renderer=dx9).
It will complain in the console/BZLogger.txt but it's merely complaining.

Recently, I assume what must have been a GPU driver update on my R9 380 broke the game, at least the GOG version. I am forgetting now but I can say that I also deleted the dll in the Steam version. The OpenGL renderer runs like crap anyway!
BTW if you try dx11 and it looks "normal", it's probably more efficient to use it. I get strange issues with specular maps so I personally do not.

- Scott
Correction.

it does launch, tho requires gog galaxy. so it isnt DRM free as advertised technically. and you cant play SP offline.

not only that but it clearly is ment to run in DX9...unno why it has the plugins config that claims to offer DX11 when it doesnt even work when activated in the config.
Post edited June 25, 2021 by Stixsmaster
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Stixsmaster: Correction.

it does launch, tho requires gog galaxy. so it isnt DRM free as advertised technically. and you cant play SP offline.

not only that but it clearly is ment to run in DX9...unno why it has the plugins config that claims to offer DX11 when it doesnt even work when activated in the config.
DX11 mode was to be the default mode of operation but the devs basically learned toward the end of the development that though it seemed to work fine on their development machines, it was not consistent overall. I have an AMD graphics card and while it largely works, there are strange side-effects that make it not worth using. (the grid in satellite view looks very aliased and specular maps are rather messed up) I often mention the launch option to folks and tell them to try it out because if it does work favorably then the performance tends to be better. The game can also run in OpenGL mode but the performance tends to be severely inferior.
The game accomplishes its graphics improvement by use of Ogre3D as a drop-in rendering engine. At the time of the development of the game, Ogre3D ... was not terribly robust. Functionality in DirectX 11 mode is not guaranteed which is why it was not the default mode on release; however, I've found that some people have luck.

EDIT: To address the lack of offline single player -> this is rather unfortunate
Even on Steam, you can play the game offline if you have Steam in offline mode. What mainly stops one from playing MP that way is the fact that the game server uses credentials associated with the platform used for authentication. The server uses your Galaxy user ID or SteamID for this purpose. Basically the Steam version of the game will load in offline mode and Multiplayer will be replaced with "NOT READY". The same thing happens if you, for example, block Steam with Windows Firewall.
Post edited June 26, 2021 by HerpMcDerperson
Sorry for the necroposting, but i got some info in case someone needs it.
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Kallestofeles: Battlezone 98 Redux will not start. After starting from the launcher it simply vanishes.
AMD may have fixed this. I wasn't able to luanch the game a while back, but I can now.
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Stixsmaster: Correction.

it does launch, tho requires gog galaxy. so it isnt DRM free as advertised technically. and you cant play SP offline.

not only that but it clearly is ment to run in DX9...unno why it has the plugins config that claims to offer DX11 when it doesnt even work when activated in the config.
Are you sure about that? I just tested it, and I can play the single player campaigns. With the ethernet cable disconnected, so fully offline. Only thing I can think of is that maybe its just the galaxy version that requires you to be online? I don't use Galaxy at all. Offline installers for me.
Post edited September 17, 2021 by MobiusArcher
I know it's a old thread, but the game is updated and you can play offline with no internet.