Paradox Launcher does not work

[G0DOG]

Hello, I was playing the game fine yesterday but since today when I try launching the game normally it launches the Paradox Launcher, but then is stuck loading forever (I left it for 3 hours when I went to go get dinner). If I launch the game through the .exe itself the game works fine, but it still loads some mods I have enabled and I can't change that without the Launcher.

I've completely uninstalled and reinstalled the game via steam as well and that did not seem to fix the issue.

 

[AndrewT]

Neither the launcher nor the game changed in the last day or so ... !

Any other local changes?

I've completely uninstalled and reinstalled the game via steam as well and that did not seem to fix the issue.

Just to be clear, you are saying you get the same issue when launched from Steam, are you saying? It will run from the Steam imperator.exe but not from the Steam PLAY button?

 

[G0DOG]

No local changes here I can recall.

And I only got the game to Launch via the local files in binaries\imperator.exe. But this just boots the game directly without the launcher. Using the Steam PLAY button gives me the endless loading screen on the launcher, messing around in the local files I did notice something odd though.

When I went to the local files in launcher\Paradox Launcher.exe I got a
'Steam Initialization failed error. Saying Steam is Running, but steam_appid.txt is missing. Expected to find it in C:\Program Files x(86)\Steam\steamapps\common\ImperatorRome\launcher\steam_appid.txt'.
Sure enough that steam_appid.txt is not in the folder. I tried pasting a version of the file I saw in the binaries but it spat out a different message:
'Steam initialization failed, but Steam is running, and steam_appid.txt is present and valid. Maybe that's not really YOUR app ID? 692230'

That's the same ID in the txt file

 

[AndrewT]

I think I see what your problem is. You are not supposed to run C:\Program Files x(86)\Steam\steamapps\common\ImperatorRome\launcher\Paradox Launcher.exe - you can't run the Paradox launcher version of the game from a Steam installation, they are separate.


If you want to run the Steam version of the game use the PLAY button in Steam, or a desktop shortcut that Steam makes.

If you want to run the Paradox launcher (client) version of the game, install the Paradox client from here
https://play.paradoxplaza.com/
Then install the game in it, and run it from there.

 

[G0DOG]

I've been using the Steam PLAY button but that gives me the infinite loading error.

Would installing the game by the Paradox Launcher fix it? I'd really rather stick with the steam version.

 

[AndrewT]

I've been using the Steam PLAY button but that gives me the infinite loading error.

I suggest we try to fix that rather than work around it.

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

- move any valued save games elsewhere
- "uninstall" in Steam-Imperator
- manually delete both the Steam/SteamApps/common/Imperator AND Documents/Paradox/Imperator folders
- re-install game in Steam, run a Steam Verify when done.
- add imperator.exe to the exceptions list of your antivirus app; ESPECIALLY if you have Windows Defender, add it to the Ransomware "Apps Allowed Through" list.
- start the game with no mods active and test

In particular you need to make sure there are no files or folders left under either the Steam Stellaris or Documents Imperator locations, before installing again.


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/Imperator/pdx_settings.txt.
From your Documents/Paradox/Imperator/logs/ folder, attach system.log .

 

[G0DOG]

Deleting the Documents folder seemed to have done the trick. Not sure how but thanks!