The Glest Wiki

Many problems that users may encounter in Glest have commonly available solutions. If the problem cannot be resolved from this page, it is recommended to post on the Glest Board, where a number of experienced, active editors are available to help you. The original Glest game is no longer in development, and some bugs it suffered are fixed in GAE and MegaGlest, which are still in active development, and are strongly recommended.

System requirements[]

Before reporting a problem, be sure your computer can even run Glest. While Glest normally has no problems on most modern computers, very old computers may not meet the system requirements.

  • OpenGL 1.3+
  • Pentium 4 / Athlon processor or better
  • DirectX9/OpenAL compatible sound card

Problem checklist[]

In addition, there are a few things you should do before reporting any problems.

  • Check for system updates
  • Make sure you are using the latest graphics driver
  • Ensure your sound card driver is up-to-date
  • Try a fresh install
  • Perform a virus scan

Common Problems and Solutions[]

Issue or error message Solution
Your system does not support 3 texture units, required for shadows. Disable shadows in the config menu.
I made a change to a file but it is not reflected in game on Windows Vista/7. Windows Vista and 7 both use a system called User Account Control, or UAC, which can clone a folder in a protected location to allow editing it. If you are an administrator, you can disable the UAC to prevent this, allowing Glest to modify the correct file. If you are not an administrator r do not wish to disable the UAC, the cloned files can be generally be found in C:\Users\%user_name%\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\Glest_* or a similar folder, which replicates parts of the program files in a user's folder.
Geforce2 cards don't support 3d textures. Disable 3D textures in the config menu.
OpenGL extension not supported: GL_ARB_texture_env_crossbar, required for Glest. This means that your video card and drivers don't support this OpenGl feature. If you have an NVIDIA or ATI card you will solve this problem just by downloading and installing the latest video card drivers. You can bypass the OpenGL check by changing the "CheckGlCaps=1" line in the INI with "CheckGlCaps=0".
Error Setting Video Mode Set the width and height in the INI to a supported setting on your computer. Be sure it is a ratio of 4:3.
The ordinal (or reference) numeral (number) 11 cannot be found in DLL "DSOUND.dll Install the newest DirectX.
Game is laggish or slow. Reduce the resolution (the screen height and width in the INI), set windowed to true, turn off shadows, turn off 3D textures, avoid zooming out too far or using large values for max render distance.
You need at least OpenGL 1.3. You need to update your graphics card driver. Under windows, use Windows Update or go to your graphic card manufacturer's website.


I press "Join" in the main menu but nothing happens. If you are using Linux, you need to copy the servers.ini file from glest's program directory to ~/.glest/.
Failed to lock direct sound buffer. Download your soundcard´s latest drivers and install the last DirectX. If problems persist you can deactivate sound acceleration in dxdiag (start > run > dxdiag).
The Application failed to initialize properly (0xc0150002). Try installing the Microsoft .NET Framework Version 2.0 Redistributable Package (x86).
open /dev/[sound/]dsp: Device or resource busy

Exception: Couldn't open audio device.



If you need libopenal.so.0

If you are running KDE 3.x (as 4.x doesn't use ARts) as your window manager, you might find that ARts, the KDE sound server, holds the sound card open and prevents Glest from accessing it. In this case, Glest will exit fairly quickly with the message "Cannot open /dev/dsp: device or resource busy". It's best to suspend ARts before starting glest, by running glest like this: "artsshell suspend && glest".


If you need libopenal.so.0 -

from root terminal:

apt-cache searchfile libopenal.so.0

install and copy ,example:

cp /usr/share/livestation/libopenal.so.0 /usr/libopenal.so.0

( cp /from /destination )

See also[]

External Links[]