BugSplat crash when entering Skirmish/SinglePlayerSetup (Intel Integrated Graphics)

Age of Empires III: DE III - Report a Bug
1

Hello,

I am experiencing a consistent BugSplat crash every time I try to enter the Skirmish/Single Player menu. The game used to run perfectly on this exact hardware, but now it crashes instantly when trying to load the 3D Home City background.

My System Specs:

  • Device: Acer Aspire 5 Laptop

  • CPU/GPU: Intel Core with Intel Integrated Graphics

  • RAM: 12 GB

  • OS: Windows 11

According to my Age3Log.txt, the engine aborts the Home City and crashes exactly here: APregame : LeaveMode : Destroyed City ModeTrack – entering mode 3 (SinglePlayerSetup) from mode 0 ()

Troubleshooting steps I have already taken (none worked):

  1. Complete clean reinstall of Windows 11 from the cloud.

  2. Deleted the “Age of Empires 3 DE” folder in Documents and disabled Steam Cloud to ensure no corrupted Home City files.

  3. Installed the latest Intel graphics drivers.

  4. Ran the game as Administrator and in Windows 8 Compatibility Mode.

  5. Set all in-game graphics to the absolute minimum before clicking Skirmish.

I have attached my Age3Log.txt file for your review. It seems there is a fatal compatibility issue between the current engine patch and Intel integrated graphics when rendering the SinglePlayerSetup screen. I hope the dev team can look into this.