Tell me more ×
Super User is a question and answer site for computer enthusiasts and power users. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 7 down vote favorite
1

I have installed a game called "Orcs Must Die" but when running it, it only shows an error about absence of d3dx9_43.dll file. It's part of DX 9, however I hava already DX 11 installed. How can I solve this problem without coming back to DX 9?

I'm using Win7 Home Preemium 32-bit, DirectX 11, nVidia GeForce Go 7300 (drivers v295.73)

share|improve this question
Which game is it? – aliasgar Aug 27 '12 at 11:55
1  
@burtek - You need to install DirectX. The game is looking for a DirectX 9 file, which means until you provide it that file, you won't be able to run the game. Besides just because you have DirectX 11 installed, doesn't mean the game supports DirectX 11, the game no matter what you do is still only going to support Direct X 9. – Ramhound Aug 27 '12 at 11:57
@aliasgar Edited the question. Sorry, forgot to add it earlier – burtek Aug 27 '12 at 11:57
1  
@Ramhound so I have to install DirectX9? Is it possible to have both v9 and v11 installed at the same time? – burtek Aug 27 '12 at 11:59
1  
@burtek - Yes. You can have multiple versions of DirectX 9 installed. Steam installs the required version of for the given game you are trying to play. Its difficult to explain the Direct X 9 backwards support that exists in Direct X 11 to a non-developer. It basically amounts to the developer using the Direct 11.0/11.1 library and writting code to support the previous versions. Orcs Must Die is only supports Direct X 9. – Ramhound Aug 27 '12 at 12:03

3 Answers

up vote 4 down vote accepted

  • Orcs Must Die totally supports DirectX 11. Gamers have confirmed it working: Read More Here

  • Its your DirectX that is malfunctioning due to some reason. Microsoft has also logged it. Follow the instructions Here to fix it.

  • Check if your nVidia driver is over-riding any DirectX settings.

  • Test your system if the game can actually run and ur system can handle it Here

share|improve this answer
It does not really matter if Orcs Must Die supports Direct X 11 it still is a Direct X 9 game. Which means it doesn't really matter how its run, it will look exactly the same, no matter what version is used. Based on the research I found Orcs Must Die was not on a character that listed every game that supported Direct X 11 and soon to be released game that supports it. This chart also listed the other version the game supported. Orcs Must Die was absent from this list. – Ramhound Aug 27 '12 at 12:14
@Ramhound Even if its a Direct X 9 game, people have reported it works on Windows 7 with a higher version of Direct X. His problem is, is that the game itself throws an exception and doesn't start. – aliasgar Aug 27 '12 at 12:18
@aliagar - I can't follow the link you posted. My guess those people actually have Direct X 9 installed. My statements about how the backwards support works is still true of course. – Ramhound Aug 27 '12 at 12:24
@Ramhound the link is good, maybe your in office or something. Most of them said they have Direct X 11 , windows 7 and a higher end Graphics Card. – aliasgar Aug 27 '12 at 12:27
The second link helped. Thanks. – burtek Aug 27 '12 at 13:11
show 3 more comments
up vote 5 down vote

DirectX installs can co-exist. So it should be safe to install dx9 when dx11 is already installed.

You could also download a dll-pack, which might include the one you're missing. Download here

share|improve this answer
nice find .. +1 – aliasgar Aug 27 '12 at 13:10
Not so nice) You'll download all packs (maybe GBs), and find there the missing file. But I'll download the missing dll (~2MB) and my game will run perfectly. – SEARAS Oct 27 '12 at 18:56
up vote 0 down vote

Today there's no big game, which can run only on DirectX 10, 11.
The core is DirectX 9, because it has large amount of libraries and functions, and that's why all big games can't run without it. And also developers use new DX libraries (especially for new effects), but 99% of them are used to DirectX 9 and they simply don't want to leave it.

I think you've started finding DirectX packs now.
There's no need to find all files in CDs, DirectX packs, and so on. You can just download the missing file from internet, and place it on game's executable's folder (or in C:\Windows\system32).
Download your file here.
Maybe your game will also need some dlls , then download from www.dll-files.com

share|improve this answer
@burtek , this is the shortest way. I think you'd prefer to download ~2MB file, inspite of downloading 100-1000MB files, or finding solution in lost disks!) – SEARAS Oct 27 '12 at 18:59

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.