Launcher Crashes Before I can click 'Play' (in the Launcher)

[Sam67]

Hi, i'm having an issue i cant specifically find a solution for.
in Steam, after I have clicked play and the launcher pops up, I can not click anything (i.e. it seems to have loaded, but is unresponsive), and within 5 seconds it has closed itself and goes away as if i never clicked play in steam.
A curious observation is that in the 5 seconds that it is up, the newsfeed section says 'Loading News feed...'. this may seem of no consequence however i have tried to play this say 20 times in the last 2/3 months, and about 3 times it has worked with no issues, but in those cases the news feed has immediately loaded and is conveying news.
therefore is it something to do with connecting to the Paradox CK2 server?
I have tried to update directX, I have updated NVidia, and i have tried to add the CK2game.exe to my McCafe whitelist. nothing seems to work.
Thanks for reading and would appreciate the help.
S.

 

[AndrewT]

I'm not aware of any such issue with the launcher. The game can be played while offline so the firewall or news really should not be the problem here.

In your Steam Library right-click on this game and choose Properties. Click on Set Launch Options, and paste this in there:

-skiplauncher

Does that get you past the problem each time? Or you still have issues?

 

[Sam67]

Hi, thanks for the reply.
No that does not work. it does skip the launcher to launch the game, however it runs for 5 seconds to the first loading screen (the bluish 'Paradox development studio' shield bit), then crashes/closes as if i never clicked play...
This has been going on for the last 2/3 months (although i had not played it for a few months before that, so an issue may have developed then?), and i have tried to uninstall and reinstall it in that time. still have the issue. could be to do with the windows 10 update?
and just to reiterate, on random days i have tried it, it has sometimes worked glitch free...:|
Cheers.
S.

 

[AndrewT]

Please do a full **clean** re-install:

- move any valued save games elsewhere
- "uninstall" in Steam-CK2
- manually delete both the Steam/SteamApps/common/CK2 AND Documents/Paradox/CK2 folders
- re-install game in Steam, run a Steam Verify when done.
- add ck2game.exe to the exceptions list/whitelist of your antivirus app
- start the game with no mods active and test

In particular make sure there are no files or folders left under either the Steam CK2 or Documents CK2 locations, before installing again.

Also if you have installed a gaming VPN app called Evolve, or the MSI Gaming App, or Duet, disable it as it clashes with this game.


IF that doesn't help, DXDIAG is a program you run from a command prompt or the Windows start menu 'run' dialog box (or 'search programs' in Windows 7 or later). After running it will open a window and start collecting info with a progress bar in the lower-left corner. When it completes click the 'save all information' button and save it to a file then attach that file here.

Please attach your Documents/Paradox/CK2/settings.txt.
From your Documents/Paradox/CK2/logs/ folder, attach system.log .

 

[Sam67]

Hi,
Tried all that and no luck. Only difference is what looks like a 2nd (Blank) box also pops up (unresponsive) as well as the launcher. assuming this is to do with the fact i did a clean re-install...
(Note: I disabled any MSI stuff i had, i added the ck2game.exe to my McCafee exceptions in real time scanning)
attached the DxDiag.txt, and the System.log, however there was no settings.txt file where you said i should find it...? (Documents/Paradox/CK2/settings.txt.)
Could that be something...?

Thanks,
S.

 

[Aardvark Bellay]

Disclaimer: I'm not tech support. Ony a forum member.

Hi,
Tried all that and no luck. ....

You said in your openingpost that you updated Nvidia, but i see this
Driver Date/Size: 27/10/2017
and the most recent appears to be this
https://www.geforce.com/drivers/results/138697

I mention it especially, as NVIDIA drivers on Win10 appeared to cause issues after more recent Windows updates.

 

[Sam67]

HI,
Ah, i did believe i had it updated... Must have been doing it wrong/done the wrong thing...:| sorry.
However i have now updated it through the link you provided, and its still the same issue... ill link the things again just to make sure. Also this time around the settings.txt file is there.
Appreciate the help.
Thanks,
S.

 

[Sam67]

Hi, Think i've sorted it.
Annoyingly it is something you suggested and i thought i had tried. Looks like when i have MSI Afterburner running it causes the 'crash'.
I did disable the MSI apps at start up, as suggested. However it seems like i hadn't tried actually 'closing' the app. (i.e. it was still running, even though i set it to not start up... no idea why)
I need to manually close the app after start-up (right click, and select close in the background apps tab), and then it seems to work.
(I'm going to put this down to me not being tech savvy... :|)

Thanks for all the help. .
S