After having loaded the a saved game I discovered that the only thing visible was my sovereign and the cloth map without any sort of overlay for cities or terrain. I exited to the main menu and attempted to start a new game. After the world creation I found that no change had occurred, only my sovereign was visible. I then exited the game completely. Upon launching the game again an immediate crash to the desktop occurred. Restarted Implulse and game started successfully. A review of the application logs showed the following events:

2009-09-18T02:38:06.000Z The Desktop Window Manager was unable to start because composition was disabled by a running application

2009-09-18T02:38:06.000Z A request to disable the Desktop Window Manager was made by process (Elemental)

debug.err report

DebugMessage: Version 0.22 last updated on: Thu Sep 17 11:59:54 2009

DebugMessage: *********DXDiag info follows.*********

System Info

Time: 9/17/2009, 22:38:01

DirectX Version: DirectX 10

Machine Name: ZOMBIE1

Operating System: Windows Vista™ Home Premium (6.0, Build 6001) Service Pack 1 (6001.vistasp1_gdr.090302-1506)

Languages: English (Regional Setting: English)

System Manufacturer: ASUSTeK Computer Inc.

System Model: N80Vb

BIOS: Default System BIOS

Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T6400 @ 2.00GHz (2 CPUs), ~2.0GHz

Physical Memory: 4094MB RAM

Page File: 1805MB used, 6558MB available

Windows Dir: C:\Windows

Display Info

Display device 1:

Device Name: \\.\DISPLAY1

Card Name: NVIDIA GeForce 9300M GS

Manufacturer: NVIDIA

Chip Type: GeForce 9300M GS

DAC Type: Integrated RAMDAC

Key Device: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_06E9&SUBSYS_19B21043&REV_A1

Display Memory: 2289 MB

Current Display Mode: 1280 x 800 (32 bit) (60Hz)

Monitor Name: Generic PnP Monitor

Monitor Max Resolution:

Driver Name: nvd3dumx.dll,nvwgf2umx.dll,nvwgf2umx.dll,nvd3dum,nvwgf2um,nvwgf2um

Driver Version: 8.15.0011.8631

Driver Date: 7/2/2009 00:59:00

DirectX Acceleration Enabled: Yes

Sound info

Sound device 1:

Description: Speakers (Realtek High Definition Audio)

Default Sound Playback: Yes

Default Voice Playback: Yes

Hardware ID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0663&SUBSYS_104319B3&REV_1000

Manufacturer ID: 1

Product ID: 100

Driver Name: RTKVHD64.sys

Provider: Realtek Semiconductor Corp.

Driver Version: 6.00.0001.5699

Driver Date: 9/8/2008 05:15:59

Type: WDM

Other Drivers:

Acceleration Level: 1

Cap Flags: 0

Min/Max Sample Rate: 0, 0

Sound device 1:

Description: Realtek Digital Output (Realtek High Definition Audio)

Default Sound Playback: No

Default Voice Playback: No

Hardware ID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0663&SUBSYS_104319B3&REV_1000

Manufacturer ID: 1

Product ID: 100

Driver Name: RTKVHD64.sys

Provider: Realtek Semiconductor Corp.

Driver Version: 6.00.0001.5699

Driver Date: 9/8/2008 05:15:59

Type: WDM

Other Drivers:

Acceleration Level: 1

Cap Flags: 0

Min/Max Sample Rate: 0, 0

DebugMessage: *********END dxdiag info.*********

DebugMessage: Entering WinMain

DebugMessage: ******* Starting Game Shell *******

DebugMessage: Using 4 samples for multisampling.

DebugMessage: Game Resolution: 1280 x 800 (full screen mode)

DebugMessage: HAL (hardware vertex processing)NVIDIA GeForce 9300M GS

DebugMessage: Presentation Interval: Immediate.

DebugMessage: Refresh Rate: 0hz.

DebugMessage: Back Buffer Bit Depth: X8R8G8B8.

DebugMessage: 32-bit z-buffer using 24-bits for the depth channel and 8-bits for the stencil channel.

DebugMessage: ** Checking Direct3D 9 Device Capabilities ************************************

DebugMessage: A full-color cursor is supported in hardware at high resolution modes.

DebugMessage: Bump mapping is supported.

Debug Message: Device is now ready

Debug Message: GFX-THREAD: DISABLED

DebugMessage: RGB in format 6:6:6, Masks reported as ff0000:ff00:ff

DebugMessage: Shell initialization complete

DebugMessage: Elemental: War of Magic is activated.

DebugMessage: ***** Initializing Game *****

DebugMessage: No string tables in C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock Games\Elemental\Data\English/*.tips

DebugMessage: Timer Frequency is 0 da7a64

DebugMessage: Initializing sound card.

DebugMessage: initailizing bink

DebugMessage: No files found matching mask Music\*.mp3

DebugMessage: No files found matching mask Event Music\*.mp3

DebugMessage: No files found matching mask C:\Users\shawn\Documents\My Games\Elemental\Items\*.xml

DebugMessage: No files found matching mask C:\Users\shawn\Documents\My Games\Elemental\Stamps\*.xml

DebugMessage: No files found matching mask C:\Users\shawn\Documents\My Games\Elemental\Tiles\*.xml

DebugMessage: No files found matching mask C:\Users\shawn\Documents\My Games\Elemental\Effects\*.xml

DebugMessage: Unallocated Mem: 129 bytes of memory from line 218 of F:\Projects\Kumquat3D\Source\parse.cpp

DebugMessage: Unallocated Mem: 129 bytes of memory from line 218 of F:\Projects\Kumquat3D\Source\parse.cpp

DebugMessage: Not all memory has been freed from memory system Parse.

DebugMessage: 258 bytes of memory still allocated.