Weekly Penguin

Troubleshooting questions

Windows SmartScreen prevents me from installing / running the games!

SmartScreen claims it can tell if a program is safe or not. In reality, SmartScreen is a placebo at best and a protection racket at worst. In order to appear as 'safe', the publisher needs to get a certificate which you have to buy for big bucks. And these certificates expire and require yearly renewing. As freeware developers we can't afford that. The cheaper certificates we could afford are impossible for us to validate as Finnish individuals (we tried). In other words, there's nothing we can do about it.

This is why SmartScreen claims TAGAP games aren't safe. Either we pay a Microsoft affiliate 1000€ every year or they'll harrass our 'end users', i.e. you. If SmartScreen stops you, you can run the game by selecting More info and then Run anyway.

TAGAP games do not have any online functionality what-so-ever, so they are a lot safer than whatever Kernel-level always-online bollocks AAA publishers try to sneak to your computer.


I can't save the game in TAGAP games!

Currently Windows prevents, allegedly for security reasons, non-certificate-signed programs like TAGAP games from writing files into the 'Program Files' folder.

To fix this issue, simply copy/install the game into a non-system folder.

The original default TAGAP 3 installer was written before the Windows updates that created these rules were released. This is why the older versions of TAGAP 3 install into 'Program Files' by default. The current installer defaults to 'C:\Games\TAGAP3' instead.


TAGAP 3 runs SUPER slow (~10 FPS) on Intel Graphics!

Ah yes, Pablo's true nemesis, the integrated Intel Graphics chip sets. There are two ways to fix this issue:

  • Recommended solution: Install the latest update (v1.4 or newer).

  • If you are playing TAGAP 3 v1.3 or earlier and are for some reason unable to update the game, use the Stream Safe Mode shortcut created by the installer.


I can't run the installer, it says it's unable to write "TAGAP.exe" / "TAGAP2.exe"!

This can occur when attempting to install a version that mismatches the system, i.e. installing x86 program to a system with x64 OS. The solutions are:

  • Recommended solution: Install the latest 64-bit Classic TAGAP version of the game.

  • If you are trying to intentionally install an older version of the game on 64 bit Windows, run the installer in compatibility mode (i.e. right-click on the installer, choose tab 'Compatibility' and choose 'Windows XP'). The installer should now run without issues.

  • Alternatively, you can always download the zip archive versions of the games. They don't require installation.


There are only white boxes where characters should be!

This happens with the older versions of TAGAP and TAGAP 2 – simply update to Classic TAGAP versions of the games. Classic TAGAP and TAGAP 3 should automatically detect whether to utilize the anti-whitebox-fix or not. However, if the issue still occurs, use the manual override command line '+whitebox 1' (i.e. "TAGAP2.exe +whitebox 1").

If the issue persists even with the override, it's most likely a matter of faulty or out-of-date video drivers.

This problem was mainly caused by integrated video cards, especially Intel Graphics. These video cards usually don't support all the extensions of OpenGL – the API TAGAP uses for graphics – causing some graphic elements to appear as white boxes due to the hardware's inability to load non-power-of-two textures.


Some graphical elements, like fonts, appear screwed!

It's fault of incompatible video card drivers. If you are using standard desktop PC, go to the GPU manufacturer website for new, up-to-date drivers. If you are using a laptop, if you can't find drivers from GPU manufacturer website, look for them on the computer manufacturer site instead.


I want to play TAGAP 2 Co-op but my controller isn't XInput compatible!

There is an unofficial emulator program aptly called XBox 360 Controller Emulator, or X360CE for short. This software can turn calls from DirectInput compatible controller into XInput calls and thus makes them work, not only with TAGAP, but also with all modern Windows games. And don't let the '360' in the name fool you – the emulator works for Xbox One controllers, too.

You can download the software at the project's site on github.

NOTE; Xbox 360 Controller Emulator wasn't developed by us and as such we can't provide any technical support regarding it.


I installed new hardware and/or drivers and now TAGAP runs super-poorly!

Check whether or not you are using the Xbox 360 Controller Emulator. If so, remove the X360CE and re-install it. X360CE transforms calls from XInput to DirectInput and changes in hardware and/or drivers can mess with its virtual wiring.

If you are not using X360CE, make sure the drivers you installed are right ones. Installing a driver designed for another OS version or for different iteration of the hardware can result in serious performance issues.


There is an unexpected crash on my 64 bit Windows in old TAGAP games

Download and install the Classic TAGAP version of the games. This issue appeared in the earliest versions of TAGAP and TAGAP 2 and was caused by compatibility problems with x86 applications in modern x64 environment. The current versions of all TAGAP titles are natively 64 bit.


There is an inevitable crash on my Windows 98/ME/NT/2000!

All the curret versions of TAGAP are optimized for 64 bit Windows 7 and beyond. The earlier Windows versions are no longer supported. Sorry 🙁


Can't run the game; there's an error about XINPUT1_3.DLL!

This bug appeared in TAGAP version 1.5 and has since been dealt with; please upgrade TAGAP to the latest version available.


I played around with settings and the game won't start anymore!

Start the game with command line +safemode 1 (i.e. "TAGAP.exe +safemode 1"). That reverts all settings to the game defaults.