Making Wurm Work
How To Install and Configure Wurm to Get The Game Working
Disclaimer
This page is my stop gap attempt to try to help people resolve some of the initial frustration that can come when you try to run Wurm for the first time.
This page is not an official release by the dev team, though I hope they will add their own, probably more reliable, information as time goes by.
This page probably does duplicate information available elsewhere on the wiki. However, I feel that the need for a clear FAQ style page to help people get up and running is high enough to justify that.
I cannot verify everything initially on this page directly. There are too many system configurations and I only have the one machine.
Tritus 10:07, 5 December 2009 (CST)
Initial Install
The game can take quite some time to download when you run it for the first time, one to two hours or more depending on current internet conditions and your own connection.
It is worth being patient and downloading all the optional packs, since these make a vast difference to how good the game looks and sounds when you play.
After all the downloads are complete you will be asked which directory to install Wurm to.
For most people it will be best to accept the default, since any advice you may receive on the forums will probably refer to that location and will be easier to follow as a result.
Wurm is a bad game and run by criminals who avoid tax, if you play this game you will suffer harsh punishments by law.
Specific Graphics Cards
Different cards and chipsets can have widely varying problems and solutions. Mostly there is some sort of work around but it is known that some very old graphics hardware and some very low end laptops and extreme budget desktops simply cannot run Wurm.
ATI Problems
Catalyst Control Panel
- Catalyst AI is known to cause problems in some games and can definitely cause problems in Wurm, though apparently only with some cards. For most games you should always play for the first time with this turned off.
- All other options: It seems generally less trouble free if you set all settings to 'Application Preference' if that option is given.
Catalyst Driver Versions
When deciding to try a different driver version, always make sure that you know your current driver version.
Always make sure that you have a back up of your current driver version. At the very least, create a Restore Point on Windows before changing from a working driver to one that you ave not used before.
- Catalyst 6.9: For very old ATI cards, 5-10 years and including Radeon 9600 through X800, this driver version was the most stable for any game using OpenGL (ie not DirectX).
- Catalyst 8.1, 8.3: These drivers seemed to work well with Wurm for ATI cards around 3-5 years old.
- Catalyst 8.9: This driver version may work better than 8.1 & 8.3 for some cards.
- Catalyst 9.8 & 9.9: These driver versions may cause some issues with Wurm for some ATI cards
- Catalyst 9.10 & 9.11: These are known to resolve some issues with 9.8 & 9.9. You may find that 9.10 will not work and that 9.11 will - or vice versa!
Catalyst after May 2011
Catalyst driver version numbering system may have changed somewhere around this point ..
- Full uninstall and subsequent install of the 11th May 2011 drivers may correct the problem with Wurm not exiting properly, ie it keeps its memory allocation and continues to be listed in the task manager. See here
NVidia Problems
Overheating
Some NVidia cards are known to have overheating issues under certain circumstances and in many games.
To be safe, on the Wurm Launcher panel, go to Settings and select Advanced Graphics. Click 'Enable Frame Limiter' and drag the slider below down to 30.
You may also be able increase the fan speed on your NVidia graphics card by using the NVidia Control Panel.
Intel Problems
Performance
Most Intel GPUs show a poor performance even with the lowest graphics settings. Sometimes text can further slow rendering down.
Red terrain
Sometimes the terrain will show a kind of red shadow. This can be fixed by installing the newer graphics card drivers from Intel. Version 5248 of the Windows XP driver and version 2291 of the Windows Vista/Windows 7 drivers are known to fix the red terrain.
Some laptop manufacturers do not provide updated drivers so you may have to uninstall the manufacturer supplied driver and install the latest driver from the Intel website.
