Trouble installing ETW? Please read!

[TosaInu]

Because ETW uses Steam for copy protection the game will only become active on Wednesday 4th March. This means it is impossible to install a boxed retail edition of the game before this time - the install will shut down at the point where you validate your CD key with Steam. This is not a fault with the disc or CD key; it is purely a restriction placed on the game by Steam. There is no way around this, unfortunately.

[Polemists]

Hi random mod who I have never seen in this section of the forum

Yes , CA has stated this many times. You can get the game on the 3rd but you can't play it till the 4th

[Sir Beane]

Hi random mod who I have never seen in this section of the forum

Yes , CA has stated this many times. You can get the game on the 3rd but you can't play it till the 4th

TosaInu is no 'random mod' sir! He is our lord and master, the highest authority here at the Org! You should bow deeply when you address him, and he may not have you executed.

He isn't just posting that the game cannot be played until the activation servers go online, but that it also cannot be installed. I was under the impression I could install it now and valiate it tomorrow, but alas this appears to not be the case.

[Greyblades]

Is there any way of knowing the exact time they will allow us lowly peasants of the .ORG to start installing?

[Marten]

So maybe i could be the first to fulfil master polemists wishes; But he wants an austrian screen ... nah!

We will see ... Steam says to me approximately 4 hours. 2 hours left for work, 1 for buying rabbit food
and 1 just looking out of the window, counting trees and birds ... slurping a nice cup of coffee ...

Marten

[pevergreen]

I hate you all.

I just spent nearly an hour watching a speed run of an old Nintendo 64 game. Ah, memories.

Sir Beane, thats a pretty darn good idea you sent me in that PM.

Well, those of you who have the game at unlock, enjoy it.

[LostLegion]

wait...im kinda confused....so i cant even play single player campaign today?..i have to wait fo steam?...sry jus confused!

[Andres]

I got this from the official .com site:

Release dates and activation times


If you have purchased Empire as a digital download...You will be able to activate your digital copy and play Empire on Tuesday 3rd March from 18:00 CET / 09:00 PST.

If you have purchased a boxed copy...You will be able to activate your boxed copy of Empire and play on Wednesday 4th March.

[Sir Beane]

This is exactly what it says in the title. If you have a problem installing Empire post here for advice and guidance. This is an attempt to stem the inevitable tide of Help! Threads which will flood the forum once the game goes live.

I do hope that none of you need to however.

EDIT: As pevergreen rightly points out this thread was also his idea .

[pevergreen]

Oh so I get credit for the other thread but not this one? Its ok I still love you.

[Rhyfelwyr]

I put my disk in and after I clicked to install it did something few minutes, and then asked for the activation code. So I typed it in, a loading bar came up saying activating for steam or something like that, however nothing happened after that... I can't see anything in Steam and I don't know what to do...

EDIT: Never mind, I just realised I can't install it until tomorrow. I actually read the threads that said that, but for some reason I thought it was Wednesday.

[Sir Beane]

I put my disk in and after I clicked to install it did something few minutes, and then asked for the activation code. So I typed it in, a loading bar came up saying activating for steam or something like that, however nothing happened after that... I can't see anything in Steam and I don't know what to do...

If you bought a boxed copy (which I presume you did to get the disk) you cannot activate it until tomorrow. Any attempt to do so will crash the install.

It sucks, but you will have to wait until an undisclosed time tomorrow where they allow activation for boxed versions of the game.

[Divine Wind]

Hello!

I just purchased Empire on steam so I thought I would be able to download the game straight away (I believe it states you can download the game from 17:00 GMT time). However each time I click "install game" on the steam menu, the bar begins to load, steam hangs, and then I get a little prompt which states my "Your steam ticket has expired" which asks me to enter my account name and password. After doing that...nothing happens.

Any ideas?

:edit: Seems that the steam servers are a bit overloaded. I changed my server download region to east coast america and I'm now downloading at 700kb/s :)

[Paltmull]

Yargh! After installing, an update was automatically downloaded. Now another one is going to be installed, but it's been on "download starting" for half an hour. Could this be because of busy servers, or is there something wrong?

[Greyblades]

Hey guys I have found a fix to my "stuck at 0% update" issue. Turns out steam doesn't like being put on a portable hard drive. I moved it to the regular hard drive and voila its working like a dream.

[MD2020]

I'm at 1% and the approximate time until I can play is 14 hours. Is it really going to take that long? I just want to play the game that I spent $55 to enjoy. This seems like alot of uneeded waiting and sloppy engineering of the whole process.

[The New Che Guevara]

Not really sure where to post this... Feel free to direct me...

but I've installed the game, but it wont load the campaigns... it gets to halfway and then jitters around and doesn't move.

[RTKBarrett]

Because ETW uses Steam for copy protection the game will only become active on Wednesday 4th March. This means it is impossible to install a boxed retail edition of the game before this time - the install will shut down at the point where you validate your CD key with Steam. This is not a fault with the disc or CD key; it is purely a restriction placed on the game by Steam. There is no way around this, unfortunately.

Just to let u know that ppl are playing it now mate if they have the boxed version... You may be thinking American only?

[Namarie22]

I were able to install my boxed copy this morning??


Been playing all day, it's sweet.. now though, time for food.. :o

[Sir Beane]

I were able to install my boxed copy this morning??


Been playing all day, it's sweet.. now though, time for food.. :o

Apparently you can install it right now .

[Rufus]

Those who have the game, any comments about the load times and performance compared to the demo would be greatly appreciated!

[Sir Beane]

Those who have the game, any comments about the load times and performance compared to the demo would be greatly appreciated!

I doubt any of them will be able to tear themselves away from the game to comment until tomorrow .

[CyberPhalanx]

i just installed ETW and everything was going fine untill i clicked on the shortcut, which is when a white screen apered for afue seconds and then an error message came up that sed empire total war has encountered a problem and needs to close.

[pevergreen]

restart your computer.

[A Very Super Market]

Reboot your computer and try again.

[CyberPhalanx]

i restarted the computer but its still not working.

[A Very Super Market]

You bought the boxed vs. right?

Reinstall, then restart again.

[Marquis of Roland]

Sigh......my copy of ETW special forces doesn't even contain the cd-key. I've been typing in the special forces download key for an entire day.....

Anyone else missing their cd-keys (other than tom paine a few posts above)? I live in California, I don't know if its a regional product release issue or what. Anyway, I guess I'm going back to the store for another copy. I sure feel bad for those people that skipped work, this sucks more than all the bugs in M2TW combined.

[AussieGiant]

Ok belay that order gentlemen.

The game upon settling for some minutes has finally recognised I have a local copy and has gone ahead and installed.

I'm just defragmenting my HDD now before jumping in.

[pyradyn]

I am having a problem when I play the grand campaign it crashed my whole computer and it restarts. However RTI works just fine in map and battles. I am running at just under Recommended requirements and well above minimum anyone seeing the same problems or know a way to fix. I hope it is not re-install it is a 2 hour install :( any help please