Unable to play game through launcher

[hamish111]

Since the DLC voice of the people I have not been able to launch the game through steam using the paradox launcher. I was able to play the game on previous patches and can still play Victoria 3 by launching the games .exe file but am unable to then play multiplayer. Initially I was receiving an (exit code null error) but after both doing a fresh install of Victoria 3 and the paradox launcher I am able to boot the game running steam in administrator mode other wise I receive a bootstrap.exe error.

If I launch the game through steam (in admin mode) the game will boot to the menu, but after going to the country selection screen the game will hang for 10 minutes on the initializing game screen and likely crash. If I don't touch my pc the game will then load properly but saving will result in an instant crash. If I reboot the game the launcher will have an autosave in the play area, but when loading into the main menu the load game button is greyed out as well as in the game itself.

Booting the game through the exe works perfectly fine, the game will load in less then 30 seconds with saves available. The game will run smoothly and without crashes.

Have reinstalled both Victoria 3 and the launcher multiple times, deleting all documents and %appdata% of the launcher, vic3 and other paradox games. Have also turned off all anti virus and still cannot play through steam/launcher.
appreciate any help

 

[AndrewT]

[19:33:53][systemsettings.cpp:212]: OS: Windows 8 x86_64

If you really only have Win8 or 8.1, that is the problem - I'm afraid that the new launcher version no longer runs on obsolete Windows versions.

If you can update to Windows 10 or 11 that is the best way forward, given that Steam will no longer run on them either!

Otherwise please check this thread on the situation

Update on Paradox Game Launcher's support on Windows 7, 8 & 8.1

Hello everyone! Last week, we deployed version 2023.14 of the Paradox Game Launcher. With this version we are no longer supporting Windows 7, 8, and 8.1. We wanted to give you all some more information on how this decision came about and what it...

forum.paradoxplaza.com

Sorry about that!

 

[hamish111]

I currently already have windows 10 installed?

 

[AndrewT]

Then did you set victoria3.exe to Win8 compatibility? Undo that, if so; I can't think of any other reason why win8 would show up in system.log


As to your launcher issue, Please try this:

- uninstall Paradox Launcher v2 from the Windows "Apps and features" utility, if still present.

Delete the following folders if still present:

- C:/users/{userName}/AppData/Local/Programs/Paradox Interactive/
- C:/users/{userName}/AppData/Local/Paradox Interactive/
- C:/users/{userName}/AppData/Roaming/Paradox Interactive/launcher-v2/
To see the AppData folder you'll need to enable View Hidden Items in File Explorer.

- exit the Steam app entirely
- run steam.exe as the Windows Admin user
- run the game from the PLAY button in Steam

IF that doesn't help, in this folder are some .log files:
C:/users/{userName}/AppData/Local/Paradox Interactive/launcher-v2/
Please attach them here.
To see the AppData folder you'll need to enable View Hidden Items in File Explorer.

 

[hamish111]

cheers for the help. Have followed the above steps and can launch the game in steam admin mode through the launcher but cannot progress past the main menu screen/or see save files, and cannot launch the game without steam admin mode.

 

[AndrewT]

Did you check the compatibility setting for victoria3.exe ? We need it NOT to be set to win8 or any other compat setting.

Have followed the above steps and can launch the game in steam admin mode through the launcher but cannot progress past the main menu screen/or see save files,

That's weird. Why can you not do those things, what happens when you try? Amy error show?

 

[hamish111]

compatibility was on windows 8 but has been turned off.
this is the first picture I get when not launching through admin mode. If i launch steam and then vic 3 through admin mode. the launcher appears fine but the game will get stuck on this initializing screen for 10 minutes without movement or tips appearing ect. when the game does load, no save games appear and if the games saves it will instantly crash. these problems do not appear using the games .exe and skipping the launcher.
no errors appear, the game stops responding and shortly crashes to desktop without any errors or popups displaying

 

[AndrewT]

Okay then, let's undo any run-as-Admin settings, whether on the game, launcher or Windows.

What is the state of affairs then?

 

[hamish111]

went through and checked none of the settings were on admin mode. Game will launch fine through steam but again when I go from the main menu screen to the screen where you can pick a country on the map the game will freeze on initializing for about 8 minutes. Not touching the pc the game will load in eventually.
Saving the game will lock the game completely on the attached screen. If I interact with the game at all it will crash, if I don't it will eventually unfreeze after 5 minutes. Oddly when the game does unfreeze on the save game menu it will briefly show all my saves (including the one causing the freeze) before they instantly disappear again.

cheers

 

[hamish111]

Leaving the game idle and the menu open for about 10 minutes had the load game button appear interactable, but no save files were available. saving after this caused the game to crash again.

 

[AndrewT]

Can I please get new copies of those files in your OP here, plus
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.

IF dxdiag.txt fails to attach here, rename it to dxdiag.log , or zip it up. Thanks.