This version distributed via Steam.

Suspect graphics subsystem problem - causes total crash of game. Brief flicker of menu screen before crash. Possible to get running in background with audio working, but cannot then switch window to foreground.

Distributed via steam. Game menu shows briefly, then the game crashes.

Vista Home Premium loaded system (high end graphics, 2GB RAM, fast proc, etc.): Loaded the game, when running, brief splash screen, then fails to run. Tried XP comatibility mode, same thing. Runs fine on Windows XP SP2, but not on Vista

Same thing as poster above, the game briefly shows the main menu in windowed mode than crashes. I bought the game at Target for $10 bucks. Oh well....

Freaking game doesn't seem to boot or install properly onto my Windows Vista computer. Tried plenty of ways to adjust it. I heard so much about it. Not worth the buy until they either update Windows Vista, a patch, or you buy/own an XP desktop with SP2.

RRT 3 worked fine until I got the Vista upgrade. Now it crashes just like the posts above. Even tried to run it on the old install of XP. Got error message "Invalid Operation".

Have 8800 GTX (764 MB) -- 4 gB RAM ... dual core ...

Ugh.... Steam should NOT RELEASE these until they work!

I seem to have it working on my hp laptop running x64 vista. It has an ATI video card. that may be a clue.
but I am having the same problem on my 32 bit install of vista on my main machine. interesting..

After installing the game on Windows Vista Ultimate x32 it initially didnt work.

I then tried various diffrent approaches to making the game run, and came to this;

Run the RT3.exe in compatability mode for Windows 2000, and run it as an administrator,. Both options can be found by right clicking RT3.exe, selecting properties, change to the "Compatability" tab, and changing the settings for compatability, and selecting the check box for "Run this program as an administrator"

Works for me fine, hopefully it will be usefull for some of you guys aswell.

1. Install Railroad Tycoon 3
2. Install Coast to Coast
3. Uninstall Railroad Tycoon 3 via add/delete programs
4. Reinstall Railroad Tycoon 3

Worked for me

Bryan

to get this to work under Windows Vista, do a fresh install of v1.00 and then install patch 1.04 Beta available here: http://www.gamershell.com/download_5729.shtml\

I have been running this without problem, and have been able to install additional User Content as well. the ability to add user content was not functional in the early versions of RRT3, but was enabled with the Coast to Coast expansion, which is v1.04 final. the Coast to Coast patch will not function under Windows Vista, nor will v1.05, however I discovered that when I installed v1.04 beta, and then did a ghost install of Coast to Coast under a temporary location, I could successfully copy the additional files from Coast to Coast and they function in Vista....

so get that patch and enjoy!

I tried running this with Administrator access and with Windows 2000 compatibility options still without luck. I highy regret buying this now from Steam - although I did get Sid Meier's Railroads and RRT2 Platinum as part of the package - both of which run very well!

Any suggestions most welcome!

As has been mentioned the game does not work for many in Windows Vista with patch 1.04 and byond.

But it does work with patch 1.03. However 1.04 patch also includes the expansion.

To get the expansion and still play the game simply install the 1.04 patch first then install the 1.03 patch over top of it and allow it to replace the file it needs to and you will have the expansion along with a working game.

Each patch for the game is just a single file which replaces the original .exe file with a new patched one. So you can easily roll back to a previous patch by just replacing the file with an earlier one.

Can confirm last post above

1) version 1.0.0 did not work at all , continually
hung up.

2) altered to run in adminstrator mode and menu appeared briefly before game crashes.

3) after adding patch 1.0.4 game runs ok without any problem

Have tried every possible combination of patch, compatibility settings, etc. Tried again after installing Vista SP1 RC. No dice- still crashes after the initial game screen loads.

I have had major compatibility issues with almost every game I have tried to install on the XP box.
Even if the game installs and runs (a crap shoot) crashes (as in crawl under the table and unplug the CPU from the UPS) are common.

Hi, to get the game working when installed throught steam we have to install a NO-CD patch for version 1.03.

It will work then. Sucks, but that's the only way.

I have a fairly high end system running an Athlon x2 6000+ ( 3.0 ghz ), 3 gig of ram, Radeon 3850 with 512mb Video card, Vista Home Premium, etc etc.
I did what someone above suggested, and just installed the basic 1.0 version of RRT3 from a boxed ( non steam ) cd ( I got mine on sale for $3.99 bargin bin at Gamestop ). I set the compatability to Windows 2000 and set it to be run as admin. Everything works perfect for me. I have the graphics set as high as they will go, and the resolution at 1280 x 1024. I am running the latest video drivers. I have not tried patching the game nor installing the expansion. I hope others will find this helpful.

Zente

Didn't work with patch 1.05. But the patch 1.04 (see link above) works fine (also for my German version).

No compatibility settings used. Runs natively under Vista x64 ;-)

Works either original (V1.01) or V1.04 Beta
V1.04 or V1.05 crashes

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Right click on the RT3 shortcut and chose "properties". Click shortcut tab and in the TARGET field change the line to read as follows:
"C:\Program Files\Railroad Tycoon 3\RT3.EXE" -s9.
It is now running great with no issues at very high resolution. I have Windows Vista SP1 on HP Media center M8000n, nvidia 8800 gt with 2g ram.

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This game does not run on Vista using a NVidea graphics card. Only works up to patch version 1.04b.
Versions 1.04 (included with coast-to-coast exp.), 1.05 and the inofficial 1.06 crash to desktop as soon as the main game menu is displayed. Compatibility modes / run as admin does not improve the situation. Reason for the C2D seems to be a programmers' hack introduced in 1.04 in order to make NVidea graphics cards more compatible with the game on XP (DirectX 8.1)... Now, this hack does not work with Vista and DirectX 10.1 any more.

=> Install patch 1.04b or switch back to XP.

Wonder if RT3 works fine with an ATI card on Vista.

I have the same problem, RRT3 won't run on the Compaq/AMD desktop with Vista Home Premium and an NVIDIA GeForce 6150 SE, but runs perfectly on the Acer/Intel laptop (Vista Home Premium) which only has the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator.
Bizarrely enough, the laptop works with all the patches, including the unofficial ones and all the user-created content. So I'd say it's not purely a Vista problem, but a graphics card/driver problem.

runs with the 1.04 patch in windows vista with adminsistrator mode selected and in xp2 compatibility mode selected.

On first start up music starts playing but game fails to start, then on second start up game starts up properly , then kill first startup (so only one lot of musis) then game plays ok.

Occassional crashes , but game did this anyway

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I have the original game....where you have to install using 2 CD's one you use to install the other you play with.....and I even downloaded the 1.05 patch..and it works fine....no problems at all....I also have another one where you install and play with the same CD. That one crashed on me when i hit the menu. Not sure what is up with that one......

Works with the Gathering of Developers 2 disc set! Does not work at all with the single Pop Top disk unless you install with the install disc from Gathering of Developers, then it will not play the introduction video when you start play. This game works on both Vista 32 bit and 64 bit for version 1.0. I have had the other discs laying around and installed this game for my brother and was annoyed when it did not work. I then tried my old discs and got it to work.

To get RT3 working on a Vista 64 bit computer, download the 1.03 patch. Unzip the RT3.exe file. Then delete the original RT3.exe file that installed with the game and replace it with the unzipped one from the patch. I just did this and it works great.

Working great for me. I'm running the game at 1440x900 resolution with ultra high graphic settings.

What I did:
1) Installed the game using the original 2-disc set by Gathering of Developers (did not install it in the default \Program Files, if that matters).
2) Installed the Coast to Coast expansion (which includes patch 1.04).
3) Installed patch 1.04 beta over it.

I did not need to set any compatibility mode or admin rights.

Note that I also tried patch 1.05, but it made the game crash immediately after the PopCap screen at the beginning.

My system specs:
Windows Vista Home Premium 32 bit
2 GB RAM
nVidia GeForce 8800 GTX 768 MB
Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer

Patch 1.03 reversion work fine for me runing in vista 32 and nvidia 9600gt card... thanks...

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I'm running Windows 7, but I had the same problem as everyone else who's posted here. The fix was to start the game with one of the older patches that works, disable Hardware T&L in the game options, and then switch back to 1.05. Disabling Hardware T&L is supposed to decrease performance, but I've played the game with the expansion and patch 1.05 for hours so far without a single problem or crash of any kind, and no noticeable performance loss.

So apparently I'm having a similar problem as many of the others. I have Windows Vista 32 w/nvidia card and the screen flashes on then straight off. Does anyone have a specific answer for a non-literate computer gamer?

What you need to do is get hold of version 1.03

Install this version and go to the graphics options.

Tick "Disable hardware T&L"
Click through the dialog box you get about this setting.

re-install your latest version and you should now be able to play.

Do not untick "Disable hardware T&L" otherwise you'll break it again.

For more info on this fix go here

http://hawkdawg.com/rrt/rrt3/rrt3.htm\

In compatability mode it works fine