Category:

Guide

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This is your guide on how to run this game without crashes and freezing on newer versions of Windows.
Please do NOT pirate this game and ask for help about why it won't work. Find a copy of the game on Ebay or something. You need the CD in the CD drive to play anyway.

I will be investigating why this works for some people and not for others in the future. I have a feeling it's because of certain graphics cards. My hunch is that if you have an old enough GPU, then the game will work with the instructions in this video, and if your GPU is too new, then it won't work. There may be a way around this, but at this time I'm unable to test that. I have an older GPU so that's probably why this works.

If you have issues with version 1 (the original) of this game, this may help that too. I don't have any issues with that version here on Windows 7 though, so you may be good with that.

Updates:
The following paragraph is no longer true, as another user kindly informed me this works on XP (edited the title in the video too for that). Leaving the paragraph here anyway for (probably pointless) historical/archival purposes.

It appears that the game may still be unstable on Windows XP. A few people have reported that the freezing persists. I'm unable to test around with this game on XP at the moment. You may be able to get this to work on XP, but chances are it won't run properly. If I can get my hands on XP and am free to tinker, then I'll try and find a solution, and update this video as necessary. Sorry guys!
(Note, I also changed the title since XP isn't fitting anymore)

There is a bug with the deck builder. Running it in Windows 98 compatibility mode seems to disable saving and loading of user decks. (and in 95 mode) You can fix this by changing the compatibility of the Play It! v2.exe to Windows 2000 (or XP but I find that to be worse). The problem with this is that you may get the random freezing and crashing, which we've tried to prevent. There isn't a foolproof way I've found to correct this. Also, doing this will add a directory that wasn't previously there, where data is now being saved. Normally, it's in your games directory (typically in C:\Program Files) To find the new directory, simply go to Pokemon Play It! v2's default directory, then click Compatibility Files in the toolbar at the top. Alternatively (if you don't have said button or other reason), you can find it in C:\Users\{your name}\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\Pokémon Play It! v2. Everything will be in the resources file located there.
Note: You'll need to be able to see hidden files and folders to access it this way. In the search box under the Start button (the Windows orb) search for "hidden files" and it should give you an option that says "Show hidden files and folders". Then, when you've opened that, look under Advanced settings, find a picture of a folder that says "Hidden files and folders", then switch the option to Show hidden files, folders, and drives. (instead of Don't show....)

Here's the text from my batch file upon request:
taskkill /f /IM explorer.exe
Games\"Pokemon Play It! v2.lnk"
start explorer.exe

Just make sure you modify it for your setup, as explained. You may also add "@echo off" at the very beginning, before the line containing taskkill, if you want. (without quotes) Don't know if it will help any, it should just stop cmd.exe from spamming stuff.
Links:
Missing CD Drives Fix: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929461
*Note that this does apply to Windows 7, despite what it says. Make sure you follow those instructions EXACTLY. Changing the registry incorrectly can be disastrous. Make a restore point before doing this so you can always go back.

If you do not have your computer in an English locale, then the games will not run but crash immediately. You need to make sure you have your locale set up correctly. If you have an English OS and have never changed that or had anyone else change that, you should be fine. Details on how to change system locale are easy to look up on Google and it's not complicated in the slightest, you'll just need to reboot afterwards.

If you have any questions, feel free to post below.

(And yeah, Youtube decided to botch up the quality again. Couldn't fix that, sorry)

I do not own Pokémon or Pokémon Play It!. Pokémon Play It! and v2 is copyright Wizards of the Coast, Fluid Entertainment, Nintendo, and Game Freak.