Opening video cuts off top half of screen for RTW and Barbarian Invasion

I have played RTW for many years even on this desktop i'm using. All of a sudden yesterday when I opened the game the opening video had the top half of the screen cut off. It was just simply black on the top half and video showing on the bottom half. I have checked to make sure this isn't a problem with my monitor. I have never had this problem before and was wondering if anyone else has had this problem and if there is a fix for this. Please help!

I got an account on this forum just because I got the exact same problem yesterday!

This is really weird because until a few days ago, it seems that nobody ever had this problem. Then a thread about this exact same problem came up yesterday at Total War Center. (can't post links yet it seems, but it is in the Total War Eras Technical Help sub forum.)

It's definitely weird that several people got the same problem on the same day. I hope there is a solution to this problem, but at least we can still play the game.

Ok, great news, I found a solution to this problem!
So it seems that the cause of this problem is indeed the recent Windows update, for some reason. Here's how I did it on my Windows 7 operating system:
1. I clicked Start-Control Panel.
2. Then I clicked Programs-view installed updates.
3. Then I double-clicked and uninstalled some of the updates that had 7/11/13 next to it. (I didn't really know what I was doing, so I actually only uninstalled some of the updates with 7/11/13 next to it.)
4. I then restarted my computer, hoping beyond hopes that I uninstalled the update that was causing this problem.
5. I then started Rome Total War and---no half screen!
Again, I'm not sure what I was really doing, and there are still about 8 updates from 7/11/13 still installed, but it ended up working for me.

Thanks, man! I see there are a whole lot of those updates for 7/11/2013. If I have to, I will remove all of them. When I beat the game with the Greek Cities or Seleucids, it is very important to me to see the victory video with the music since it's the best thing ever.

Same issue here... After the new Windows updates were installed, RTW's videos are shown cut in half. Does anyone know which update is causing the problem? It would be a major drag to have to uninstall all of them and then go through the hassle of having to reinstall/reboot one by one until the bad one pops up!

A look on the Steam website for the game has answered which update it was, and to save other people having to uninstall everything, I'll say that the update was the security update for Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Client Profile (KB2803821), which you can find once in the installed updates menu by using the searchbar to find KB2803821.

Incidentally, on my computer at least there was no need to restart, so try launching the game before you do.

On my computer, KB2803821 is listed as "Security Update for Microsoft Windows", rather than "Security Update for Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Client Profile", and it only shows on the "View Installed Updates" list, which leads me to believe that KB2803821 is in fact a component of an update in the "View Update History" list. Does anyone know if uninstalling this component will make the update that it belongs to unstable or broken? Also, can you please provide a link to the Steam page where you found this information?

Never mind... It's on the "View Update History" list, but as "Security Update for Windows 7 for x64-based Systems (KB2803821)", rather than something for .NET Framework 4. This means that KB2803821 is a stand-alone update (i.e. it's not merely a component of a larger update). I'll totally fix this by reloading a system image that I made a few months ago, rechecking for Windows updates, and hiding KB2803821 when it shows up. Microsoft... ridiculous.

I'm afraid I can't link to the Steam page, as it's on their 'community' and has already vanished (and the link would have just been to the game's Steam page anyway). It didn't really say any more than I said, anyway.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lamanogaucha

On my computer, KB2803821 is listed as "Security Update for Microsoft Windows"

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This was also the case for me, after uninstalling it I ran the game without restarting my computer and it worked perfectly.

I uninstalled KB2803821 and everything was fine, but every day or so the update comes back and i have to uninstall it again... Any way to get rid of it permanently?

The next time that it fully installs (after a reboot), uninstall the update, reboot and re-check for updates. When the offending update pops up, click on "show details" (or whatever it's called), uncheck the update and right-click on it to hide it. Reboot the computer and check for updates again. The bad update should not turn up. That's it.

Thank you all guys! Thats the solution....
I installed 3 times windows on my pc until i understood that my problem is the damn windows update....
I hope next time it will update, i ll make lamanogaucha's solution way, and will not bother me agian...
Good morning to all of you from Thessaloniki Greece!

ps:sorry about my bad english.

For the first time in years, I started a R:TW campaign and encountered the same problem and found the solution here.

Thanks guys :bow:

Thx for finding a solution. I just bought a new mobo and processor. Wasn't sure if it was something with my drivers or what, lol. Just a few days ago the game worked fine. Has anyone reported this to Microsoft? Give that this is an old game, maybe they don't give a crap.