Industry Giant 2 on Windows 7

Tested: ,

When trying to run Industry Giant 2 on Windows 7 the main issue you’re likely to run into is with unsupported graphics cards rather than the issues with the OS itself. Industry Giant 2 seems to have the most trouble with newer Geforce cards (Geforce 6xxx series and later). Having an unsupported graphics card can cause random crashes as well as invisible game objects. To fix these issues follow the steps below:

  1. Install the IG2 addon version 2.1 patch OR disable popups and videos.
    Download link 1 <– fileplanet
    Download link 2 <– gamershell
    Download link 3 <– softpedia
    This patch will only install on 32 bit machines! If you are running 64 bit Windows as mentioned by Krellebobz you’ll have to disable popups and videos instead. To do this start the game, start a mission and from the options menu uncheck News Automatically Popup and Videos.
  2. Install the video card fix. Go to http://forum.jowood.de/showthread.php?t=167118 (web archive of post) and download the appropriate fix. Too2 posted the fix for the Gold edition and the addon and Stach posted the version for the original game. Once you have downloaded the patch, install it in your main Industry Giant Directory e.g. C:\Program Files\Industry Giant 2.
    Local mirror <– IG2 Gold NVidia patch (not sure if it’ll work with the main game)
  3. Delete the following files OR run Installer.bat (if you have it):
    enginetest.exe
    uif\uif.jfl
    uif\uif.ind
    gfx\gfx.jfl
    gfx\gfx.ind

    If add-on or gold edition are installed:
    gfx\uif\7_Icons\98_Icon_C_01.tga
  4. Run as administrator and with Windows 98 compatibility. Right click on your Industry Giant 2 shortcut, select properties. Select the compatibility tab and run the program under Windows 98 compatibility and select Run this program as administrator (if you are on Windows 7 or Vista).
  5. (Optional) Change language to English. If, like me, you don’t speak any German you’ll want to switch your language back to English as the video card fix will likely have changed your game language to German. See changing Industry Giant 2 language.

If you’ve come this far and you’re still having issues check the list below to see if any of them match the ones you’re experiencing:

  • menu icons are invisible – you have likely only installed the 2.1 patch. You need the video card fix at least in order to see the menu properly.
  • trees won’t appear – you have likely installed the 2.1 patch and the video card fix but haven’t removed all of the listed files (see #3 above).
  • buildings don’t appear – you have likely installed the patches and removed the appropriate files but haven’t set your game to run in Windows 98 compatibility or checked off Run this program as administrator. Trying to build a building will lead to a crash to desktop until you have done these two things.
  • crash when furry pets are invented – if your game crashes at the start of 1902 you have the furry pet crash. This is most likely caused because you haven’t installed the 2.1 patch. If you’re using a 64 bit version of Windows you won’t be able to install the patch but you can get around the crash by disabling popups and videos from the in-game options (see #1 above).

If you have any issues with running Industry Giant 2 on Windows 7 that aren’t covered here, or if you’re still having trouble running the game after following the above steps, please post your issues below. To increase your chances of a solution being found include as much detail as possible (which version of the game you’re running, what operating system you have, what video card you have and steps to reproduce the issue). Screenshots are also very useful!

For those of you that love economic simulation games like IG2 and/or need something similar to play while you wait for a solution check out the amazing OpenTTD project.

sources: link 1, link 2, link 3, link 4

    alan
    January 23, 2013 at 11:22 am

    ya lo compre, pero para win xp y necesito el de win 7

      You should be able to use the same steps on Windows XP.

    Gavin
    April 2, 2013 at 6:01 am

    “MFC Anwendung has stopped responding” is the error I get… that’s after I run IG: Gold. Can’t apply the update cos it says it won’t run on 64 bit.

      Skip the 2.1 patch as it may be optional. Follow the rest of the steps especially installing the appropriate video card fix and see if that works.

    inad92
    April 13, 2013 at 5:28 pm

    hi, i want to run it in w7 64 bits, but i cant because all addons and updates are for 32 bits versions. What can i do and where can i find 64 bits versions?

    thanks

      Are you getting a specific error message? I didn’t have any problems related to the patches only working for 32bit windows. Try setting the patch .exe files to be run as administrator and set them to be XP compatible.

      My previous comment may have been wrong. The 2.1 patch won’t install on Windows 7 64 bit but the patch may be optional. Try following the rest of the steps and skipping the 2.1 installation

    Alex
    May 1, 2013 at 7:40 pm

    Hi,

    I have difficulties too in playing the game. I can start the game but no menus appear and if I click on something, the game crashes. I followed all steps, but am not able to install the patch. Even if I run it as administrator, and set compatibility to 98 or XP. Any other thoughts?

      Try skipping the 2.1 patch as it may be optional. Follow the rest of the steps and see if that solves your problem.

    MisterSzakal
    May 25, 2013 at 11:58 am

    I’ve also this awesome problem, that i cannot run patches (2.1), bacause of my Win7x64 ver xD. That’s weak.
    Yes, I have already tried to run as administrator and with 98/Me/XPsp3 configuration.
    I have basic IG II 1.1.0.0 ver.

      It seems like patch 2.1 may be optional. I’ve updated the tutorial accordingly. Please try skipping the installation of 2.1 and follow the rest of the steps.

        MisterSzakal
        May 26, 2013 at 10:03 am

        It works ! After so many nerves, it finally works :D.
        It’s true: the patch does not have to be installed. And the mod is running on IGII basic, without 1980-2k20 addon. My problem now is the game language, because i have combined german, english and polish version, but this is no problem xD.
        Thank you for your attention to the problem :).

    After all the steps, the game launched and when i load tutorial or campaign mode, the game keeps crashing. Dont know what to do :/

    I didnt install the patch 2.1 though…

      A few questions:
      which version of Industry Giant 2 do you have (vanilla or gold)?
      did you install the correct patch from step 2 above? Installing the wrong one may cause the crashes.
      did you notice any of the following issues before the game crashes:

      • menu icons are invisible
      • trees won’t appear
      • buildings don’t appear

      finally, what version of windows are you running, and what model is your video card?

        i have the normal game. not gold edition. i forget to run installer.bat :/
        i noticed that a few moments ago. what i do now?
        thank you

    I have IG2 Gold Edition, Windows 7 64 bit, every patch properly installed (besides 2.1 because i didn’t want to download it) and my game crashes when teddy bears are invented. What’s more there isn’t any info what’s wrong – just rude crash. Any idea what may be wrong?

    I have found errorlog in the game directory containing a lot of numbers and a comment:

    “Read from location 00000038 caused an access violation.”

    Hope this will help with helping me :P

      I will try to reproduce this on my own machine. The error message is unfortunately not helpful, but thanks for posting it.

    Krellebobz
    August 25, 2013 at 6:33 am

    My game also runs perfectly untill Teddy bears arrive.

      Are you also on Windows 7 64 bit with the IG2 gold, but didn’t install patch 2.1 like Bluetrane?

        Krellebobz
        August 25, 2013 at 10:42 pm

        I’ve tried both ways.
        But I found a work round. I just disabled the popups and videos from the ingame options.

          Good to know, thanks! I’ve added your fix to the post above.

    duc nguyen
    September 3, 2013 at 1:11 am

    Hi. When I run the Installer patch with administrator run. It showed on the blackboard with c:\ window\system 32\ etc and cant find the enginetest gfx…. although I installed the game on c:\program file\industry giant 2\ Please help. I use window vista

    duc nguyen
    September 3, 2013 at 1:24 am

    I will summarize my error clearly. First, i downloaded the game on pirate torrent and also download patch NVIDIA.Fix.1.00, 1.10, 1.20m\, and followed what the host showed on the note. But when I installed the game and started run installer,bat of any patch, it always showed on cmd like it could not c:\user\desktop\…….. or when I run the installer.bat with run as administrator, it showed c:\window\system 32\ del uif system cant locate although I download and put the patch fix together on Program file\ industry giant 2\ I use window vista. Please help

      All that running the installer.bat file that may have been included in your installation will do is remove the files from step 3. If the batch file is failing to execute please just delete the specified files manually.

      Out of curiosity can you please post the contents of your installer.bat file to help debug this issue?

    duc nguyen
    September 3, 2013 at 2:16 pm

    I fixed the problem. I just deleted the files as you said and copy the fix patch and I could play now. Thank you admin

    Ariel
    October 2, 2013 at 7:17 pm

    Hola, no puedo hacerlo funcionar correctamente en Windows 8 64 Bits, ya aplique el patch el juego arranca y carga, pero funciona muy lento. Saludos!

    Ariel
    October 5, 2013 at 12:13 pm

    Hi, the game not work properly on windows 8 64 bits, i applied the patch, the game start and load, but works very slowly. Thanks!

      I haven’t heard of the slowness issue before. I’ll start looking around for a solution. If you or anyone else finds a solution to this, please let me know!

      Yurii
      December 12, 2015 at 11:57 am

      just do ALT+TAB after game load and do it again after map load. it helps.

    endys
    November 9, 2013 at 3:38 am

    Hi,

    win 7 64bit. IG2 Gold edition. the game crashes some seconds after lounching first ship. all other things work perfect. where can be problem?

      Have you disabled popups and videos from the in-game menu?

        endys
        November 10, 2013 at 2:10 am

        Yes!

          I’ll test it out and see if I can reproduce it. Thanks for reporting the problem!

          Ok I tried on my install and creating docks, buying a ship and sending it from port to port worked fine. Can you post what year you’re trying this in, and when exactly the crash happens (when you buy the ship or when it actually starts moving). The map you’re playing on would help too.

            Saga286
            December 11, 2013 at 9:46 pm

            I was able to get it to start after following the directions, but now it crashes when I left click on Campaign or in the game after launching an endless game. II did turn off video and popups.

            My immediate guess is that you didn’t install one of the patches (2.1 patch or NVidia mod), it’s possible one of the two may have failed to install. Can you specify which Campaign you tried to load? I tried the following: Campaign -> Easy -> Bart Country, but didn’t get any crashes. Also can you post which Windows version you are using e.g. (Windows 7 64bit) and which video card you have?

    rares
    March 1, 2014 at 5:18 pm

    Hi! I have a problem. When i enter in game ( in map, when you must start build) he crash. i followed step by step your instruction. I seen a comment with an error lik mine and I reinstall the gaame without install 2.1 patch. PLZ HELP ME!!! :(

      Make sure you are running the game with the following options:

      • Windows 98 compatibility mode
      • Run as administrator

      Not having those two settings on your game shortcut seem to be the most common cause of crashes related to placing buildings. I hope that helps!

        rares
        March 2, 2014 at 4:51 am

        still not working :(

    Dan
    April 17, 2014 at 6:16 pm

    I’m running windows8.1, with a nvidia GeForce GT 740M.
    I have disabled popups and videos, and have installed the nvidia fix.
    I have the game set to run in win 98 compatibility mode and as administrator.
    I didn’t bother with the patch as my pc is 64bit.
    The game opens, but the buttons flicker and the graphics are garbled and distorted, and the mouse moves laggingly. It sometimes crashes within a few minutes.
    v2.1 (57831)

      Dan
      April 17, 2014 at 6:20 pm

      oh and I ran the installer.bat too

      Chris
      May 21, 2014 at 6:50 pm

      Same issue.:(

        Is this what you’re graphics look like?
        Screenshot 1
        Screenshot 2

        If so you’re unfortunately the only two people that have seen this issue. It might be related to Windows 8? I’ll forward you the email thread I had with Dan. If you have the patience for it try to work through some of the suggestions in there and let me know if anything improves or fixes the issue!

          Dan
          May 26, 2014 at 6:41 pm

          I even tried running IG2 in Oracles VirtualBox, under Win XP and Win 7, but the game just refused to run – incompatible graphics card.
          No progress made here :(

          Tim
          June 13, 2014 at 10:22 pm

          Please let us know if you mange to find a solution on Windows 8 users for IG2 Gold Edition.
          Thanks in advance

            Jacob
            July 29, 2014 at 5:40 pm

            I have this issue as well, but am running Windows 7! I got the game as part of a set from UIG, and have contacted their support, too. Game starts, but buttons are covered with flickering white text.

            Can you send me a screenshot by any chance? Also have you followed the steps above, most importantly do you have the video card fix installed? Sorry for the super late reply.

            Jacob
            August 27, 2014 at 2:24 pm

            Screen looks the same as it does in the links you posted on May 22. However, I’m running Windows 7. My version comes with the Nvidia Fix built in. The mod’s makers are credited in the installer. I also tried a copy of Industry Giant 2 version without the Nvidia mod and installed it separately, same issue. I’m starting to wonder if something is wrong with the mod, not the game. Computer is running with and AMD Firepro and a Intel HD 4600 as a secondary card. I’ve tried running the game on both cards with the same problem.

            To be honest I rarely trust these bundled version of games repackaged for sale. They often do a poor job of patching the games and then provide little to no support. Try installing the mod over your clean install and you might have some luck. Other than that I don’t know what to suggest :(

            Jacob
            September 13, 2014 at 8:53 am

            Excuse my late reply, but I tried your suggestion, but the issue persists. Oh well, I guess some games just are broken. Thanks for helping me and everyone else on this blog.

            I just bought IG2 from steam. Let’s see if this version works…

    Nick
    May 25, 2014 at 5:03 pm

    I fully installed IG2 gold, installed the invidia patch and deleted all the required files. Program loads perfectly but when I get to the game the town looks ok but background starts blinking and if you move the map it looks like what your screenshot looks like. The game then sometimes crashes. I am also using Windows 8. Running in windows 98 compatibility mode as an administrator. I’ve tried about anything i can think of. Any luck with a fix?

    Zera
    June 3, 2014 at 8:18 am

    Hi! I have a problem. When i enter in game ( in map, when you must start build) he crash. and i i cant klick on campane than it crashes

    I am in
    Windows 98 compatibility mode
    Run as administrator
    Allso have install the video card fix.and 2.1 patch

      Two questions for you:
      1. Did you delete the listed files?
      2. Are you on a Windows 8 machine?

    Michael
    June 5, 2014 at 3:58 am

    using windows 7 64 bit. Bought gold edition. installed game. says it needs to now check compatibility of graphics card. screen flashes few times then just stops. loading circle continues moving in centre of screen. tried compatibility too. any help?

      That sounds like it’s running enginetest.exe. From what I remember I think the video card patch should remove that file. Have you installed the video card patch for gold edition?

        Michael
        June 5, 2014 at 9:35 am

        not yet, got a link please?

          Step #2 above. Make sure you get the right version of the patch. You want the gold edition fix.

    Lynn
    June 25, 2014 at 6:22 pm

    Hi, so glad to find this blog. I bought a Win 8 computer with 4 gb. Don’t think there is a video card. IG2 Gold gets to the menu, the mouse flickers, then the game crashes. What video card do I need? Do I need a patch too?

      Hi Lynn, sorry for the delay. This guide is for running the game on Windows 7. I’ve had a few people comment above that have had trouble running the game on Win 8. As people are far more likely to comment when there’s a problem I’m not sure if anyone has managed to run the game successfully on Windows 8 yet.

      I would definitely follow the steps above, especially installing the video card fix and running as admin with compat mode. Past that I’ve set this google doc up that you can have a look at. It’s shared with other IG2 Win 8 users in efforts to try and crowd source a solution to running the game on Windows 8. Have a look if you like: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nyaZZoOsUL3xsbNpDyfuodK3f8TsJU5-n6z5i4lrmTQ/edit

    Peter
    July 9, 2014 at 7:49 am

    Oddly I’ve run both the steps from here and the forum you linked and I still can’t get to work my IG2:Gold in my Win7x64. I’ve tried with all NVidia fix versions and diferent compatibility modes (98/XP and with some twists) to no avail. The game just doesn’t start yet. Could it be that these NVidia fixes even got too old for these latest generation NVidias such as mine GTX560?

      Peter
      July 9, 2014 at 10:05 am

      I’ve tried installing the standard IG2 that I had on CD and worked with the basic fix since. Might be problem of the gold version I got.

        Could be? Did you make sure to install the gold version NVidia fix when you tried the first time? Perhaps you installed the vanilla fix for your IG2 gold install? Other than that I’m not sure.

        There are many different bundles of the game, from pirated to legal. Some of them may not work at all on newer machines.

        Peter
        July 9, 2014 at 5:44 pm

        I’ve managed to get Gold edition to work, not sure if problem was of the Gold edition I have found or was because I hadn’t installed the addon patch (I’ve run the setup on a x86 PC and copied the files).

    maciuc
    July 11, 2014 at 3:05 am

    Hey. I have problem with the buildings. Every single click makes my game crash. I have win 98 compatibility and run as administrator. I have win7 64 bits. Anyone ?

      In my experience, on almost all newer machines with NVidia cards, you must install the video card fix (step 2 above) in order to get any semblance of operability out of the game. If you haven’t done that yet, I would start there.

    Charles.
    September 24, 2014 at 9:36 pm

    Is so sad that a good game like IG2 don’t run in Windows 8. Maybe, together we’ll find a solution, it’s like a classic game that must be rescued…

    Burak
    October 16, 2014 at 4:09 am

    I’m running game on x64 win7, and it works perfectly. The problem I have is, when i setup a transportation and use any of truck, ship or plane immediately i lost all my money. Its like 10 million per month and that makes game unplayable. I can’t use transportation because it simply went me down
    any suggestions?

      Well that’s a bug I haven’t heard of before. I don’t think that’s related to compatibility. Are you running any mods? Can you find a different version of the game, perhaps the one you have is corrupted?

        Burak
        October 16, 2014 at 9:41 am

        Mine is v2.1 with nvdia patchs. I’ve googled it and only a couple of people mentioned it and they are from 4-6 years ago. All links are dead :(

          Yeah that’s often the problem with these old games :(

          Where did you download/buy the game from?

    Jan
    October 18, 2014 at 4:07 am

    I’ve installed the fix, changed the language, but as soon as i start the game, when I try to click on something – the game crashes. What should I do?
    Win7 64bit. I’ve already disabled the videos and popups.

    NieMamImienia
    October 18, 2014 at 3:06 pm

    Hi. I’ve got a problem on win7 x64. Game crashes during map loading. Anyone knows how to fix that?

    I have IGII gold edition. By deleting the enginetest.exe i can make the game run but no buildings or main menu icons are present. None of the links to the nvidia patch work so i cannot install that. is this likely to be the reason for this error?

      You definitely need the patch to get it to work. Unfortunately those links can be really spotty but I’m reluctant to host those files on here because they’re huge (100+mgs) and a lot of people download them

        What about a dropbox account or something like that? I am desperate to get this game working lol

          Also noticed some people having issues installing the patches due to their are 32bit. My pc is 64 bit, any suggestions?

            I found a snapshot of the site here: http://web.archive.org/web/20110719051352/http://forum.jowood.de/showthread.php?t=167118

            Direct links to the IG2 Gold Nvidia mod
            link1, link2

            Direct links to the IG2 regular Nvidia mod
            link1, link2

            There’s also a ton of other information in that thread post which sadly looks like it’s dead now. I’ll add the archive link to the post. Thanks for mentioning.

            As for how to install the 1.2 patch on 64bit, you can’t as far as I know. Though this patch doesn’t seem to be needed for some people. That part is also mentioned in the above thread post

    ok thanks for that I will try and get them downloaded. One or two of the links are broken or it says it cannot access the file. I have got one of the patch’s but otherwise I am going to have to either stick with playing it without buildings or not playing it at all :( That will suck because this is one of my favourite tycoon type games of all time

      Yeah install the mod and follow all the other steps. You might be able to play the game without the 1.2 patch (I am). Let me know if it works for you.

    hi everyone, just so as you know. the company that owns the rights to Industry Giant II, is working on a release that will work with modern operating systems and all gfx cards. I contacted them and they tell me that they are close to a solution but cannot give an estimate to a release…read into that what you will i suppose lol.

    But it is amazing news that UIG games are working on it. For anyone interested they are apparently working on many of the old JoWood classics as well.

      Woah, woah, woah. You can’t just drop something like that without providing links!

          Raymond
          December 26, 2014 at 12:59 pm

          Don’t wanna ruin the good news but the Transport Giant remake they did seems to be buggy and not really support the latest hardware. Read some reviews on steam. Just hope they’ll do a better job with IG2 because I bought the 2012 edition last week, hoping it would work on my rig, but sadly I get the flashing letters and buildings

    hamed
    June 2, 2015 at 6:14 pm

    i did all the steps , but now i get the message : no cd-rom found

    I purchased it from steam and it is a little temperamental and sometimes crashes on loading the game, but after a few attempts or running the app in administrator mode, it will work for me on both my PC and Laptop. my PC is win 7 pro 64 bit, gtx 780 ti graphics card so it clearly has made some improvements but I can see from the steam discussions that it doesnt work for everyone.

    I have seen the dev saying they are working on it but comments from people on the history of the dev, do not make for good reading regarding the support.

    but it is progress and the game is still as awesome as it was when it released 13 years ago.

      Thanks for pointing that out. I only have the patch for the Gold version of the game I believe. Nevertheless I uploaded it to drop box and you can download it and try it out.

      Lemme know if that works for you.

    2cats
    September 11, 2017 at 4:13 am

    I do not have any of the above issues !! Now if only my win7 64bit laptop would simply read the dvd I might get some. Will avoid similar bargain disc releases in future, and just use steam, and if i have to, origin.

    deidara
    May 6, 2018 at 8:32 am

    Hello i did all what i can and run ig2 perfetcly even in czech language and when i start to play there are several issues depends which campaing i run but the same issue mainly is that i cant produce anythin. I build up a farm and cant start producing so its unplayable … or when i click on some shop which i build it crash or i cant send cars trains or ship to send a goods there are not the buttons for it :/ do u know what it can be ?
    x64 windows 7 home premium nvidia graphic etc.

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