Stuck on Initial Title Screen

[Quezni]

Every time that I open up EUIV, the application starts but it gets stuck on the screen that just says Europa Universalis IV and nothing else. You can see the file attached to see what I mean. Simply waiting doesn't fix anything, nor does running it as an administrator or changing the display settings in the launcher. I have also done a complete reinstall (including AppData folders and Documents folders) a couple times, as well as verified the files, and I have also looked through other threads and installed/reinstalled corresponding Microsoft modules. Nothing seems to fix it. I've attached my system log from "Europa Universalis IV\logs\".

 

[AndrewT]

In the game launcher please set Display mode to Borderless. THEN go here:

Latest supported Visual C++ Redistributable downloads

This article lists the download links for the latest versions of Visual C++ Redistributable packages.

support.microsoft.com

And run the x86 and x64 installers there.

IF that doesn't help, Has the game ever run OK on this computer? Or never?

IF NEVER:
Install ALL these Microsoft modules:

Download Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Service Pack 1 Redistributable Package MFC Security Update from Official Microsoft Download Center

A security issue has been identified leading to a vulnerability in MFC applications that are built with Visual Studio 2010 and ship the Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Service Pack 1 Redistributable Package.

www.microsoft.com

Download Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 Redistributable Update 3 RC from Official Microsoft Download Center

This update is the latest in a cumulative series of feature additions and bug fixes for Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 Redistributable.

www.microsoft.com

(run dxsetup.exe after extracting this download to its own folder anywhere on your computer)
(run dxsetup.exe after extracting from this download)

Add EU4.exe to the exceptions list of your antivirus app; ESPECIALLY if you have Windows Defender, add it to the Ransomware "Apps Allowed Through" list.

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


IF IT USED TO WORK:
Please do a full **clean** re-install:

- move any valued save games elsewhere
- "uninstall" in Steam-EU4
- manually delete both the Steam/SteamApps/common/EU4 AND Documents/Paradox Interactive/EU4 folders
- re-install game in Steam, run a Steam Verify when done.
- add EU4.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 make sure there are no files or folders left under either the Steam EU4 or Documents EU4 locations, before installing again.

Also if you have installed RivaTuner, RadeonPro, or 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 the Windows search box on the task bar. 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 here your Documents/Paradox Interactive/EU4/settings.txt and pdx_settings.txt .
From your Documents/Paradox Interactive/EU4/logs/ folder, attach here error.log .

 

[Quezni]

None of that worked. I've attached the files you requested. I cannot upload my error log because it is empty.

 

[AndrewT]

Has the game ever run OK on this computer? Or never?

I see you have Stellaris too, does it work or have the sam eproblem?

What do you see if you run eu4.exe directly from File Explorer?

 

[Quezni]

EUIV has never worked. Running it from File Explorer has the same issue. Stellaris works perfectly with no problems.

 

[AndrewT]

That's interesting because your dxdiag has several crashes in stellaris.exe but none in eu4.exe

Anyway may as well update that nVidia driver to Dec 2021:

Download The Latest Official NVIDIA Drivers

Download the latest official NVIDIA drivers to enhance your PC gaming experience and run apps faster.

www.nvidia.com

because I don't see any other cause of this in those files!

 

[Quezni]

Updating the drivers and changing to fullscreen fixed it. Fullscreen wouldn't work before updating them. Thanks!