Frequently Asked Questions

If you receive a missing DLL or Questviewer error after installing an update, then this is usually caused by the Windows VirtualStore.

Please try to run the program unregister.exe from the installation folder of Ship Simulator 2008 (default location C:\Program Files\Vstep\Ship Simulator2008\). This program cleans the "Virtual store".

If you are familiar with computers you can also choose to fix this by emptying the Virtual Store manually. To do so open your windows explorer window and proceed to the following folder: “C:\Users\ \AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\”. Delete any file or folder inside the VSTEP folder.

If this folder does not exist, your Virtual Store is already empty.

Please note that you need to have the "Show hidden files and folder" option on, otherwise you will not see these folders.

After starting up the game, it prompts with DLL-errors, missing channels-errors, gives a black screen.

Usually these problems are related to a graphics card that does not meet the minimum requirements. If you are sure your system exceeds the minimum requirements you can follow these steps to get the game to work:

1. Try to run the game as an administrator (Rightmouse clicking on the SSE icon or on the Steam icon before starting steam and choosing "Run as administrator")

2. Reinstalling Nvidea PhysX
The PhysX software can sometimes be improperly installed without notice. In such case it is adviced to remove any existing Nvidia PhysX installation and reinstall it again. You can download it here:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/physx-9.14.0702-driver.html

3. C++ Redistributables
Sometimes, the proper C++ runtime libraries are missing. You can download the ones ShipSim uses here: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=26347
You won't need to remove any previous versions. After you've clicked on the download button you can select all three items. Your computer will only install the correct redistributables.
After the installation is done, try to run the game.

4.Refreshing Virtualstore & registry data
Try to run the program Clean_vstore.exe & Unregister.exe from the installation folder of Ship Simulator Extremes. This cleans your profile and the "Virtual store". The programs will not open any window or dialog.

5. If you are using Steam, you could try validating Steam's cache files.
You can follow the steps on steam's support section here:
https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=2037-QEUH-3335

6. Windows update
Make sure you have all latest updates installed for your Windows version. Outdated Windows versions are known to cause issues with the game.

7. Graphics driver update
Outdated graphics drivers can cause the game to crash. Make sure you have your latest AMD or Nvidia drivers installed.

If you are experiencing an error with "libmysql.dll", create a backup of your current "libmysql.dll" in your "WINDOWS/System32" folder. Then copy the "libmysql.dll" from the "ship_simulator_2006_installation_path/3rd" folder to your "WINDOWS/System32" folder.