Cities won't lunch on Mac (m1) after it worked fine

[Nosperato]

Hello,
I'm having this issue suddenly, although everything worked before.
I saw people have this issue on windows but no thread for Mac.

launching the game failed please verify the integrity of your game files

I verified the files and all went well. Re-installed the game too. :/

Is there a known solution?

 

[MarkJohnson]

Maybe try this post?

Cities: Skylines (Steam) - Cities Skylines wont launch, asking to install Visual C++

Describe your issue Cities Skylines wont launch, asking to install Visual C++ What is your game version? build 8274844 What expansions do you have installed? After Dark, Snowfall, Mass Transit, Green Cities, Parklife, Industries, Campus...

forum.paradoxplaza.com

 

[gigau]

to the Tech Support subforum.

 

[AndrewT]

Please delete the ~/Library/Application Support/Paradox Interactive/ folder. To see it go to the Finder, hit command-shift-G (ie Go To) and paste in ~/Library/Application Support/ . Then run the game from the PLAY Button in Steam, to reinstall the launcher.

If that does not get the launcher running, we will need these files from that same folder:

Attach ALL .log files Found here ~/Library/Application Support/Paradox Interactive/launcher-v2/

 

[Nosperato]

Please delete the ~/Library/Application Support/Paradox Interactive/ folder. To see it go to the Finder, hit command-shift-G (ie Go To) and paste in ~/Library/Application Support/ . Then run the game from the PLAY Button in Steam, to reinstall the launcher.

If that does not get the launcher running, we will need these files from that same folder:

Attach ALL .log files Found here ~/Library/Application Support/Paradox Interactive/launcher-v2/

Thank you Andrew.
This didn't work.

Deleting the whole folder didn't launch at all.
Deleting several specific files in the folder and running the game from Steam did re-create them in the folder (I saw this answer in another thread somewhere). But still doesn't work.

I tried adding a comment to bypass the launcher, but it won't work either.

It's something with the new launcher because when the new version pops it show's like I don't have the game (see screetshot). But when I go to the Paradox website I see the game and DLCs in my account .

Here are the .log files, please see if you can sort it

 

[AndrewT]

It's something with the new launcher because when the new version pops it show's like I don't have the game (see screetshot).

That is normal and nothing to do with your problem. You've run the launcher from the desktop shortcut which is a standalone mode for non-Steam users, and this game was never ported to that platform. You can ONLY run this game from the Steam Library PLAY button.

Those launcher logs show no problem at all; it installs, updates, and runs without error.


Anyway, You can bypass the launcher by following these instructions:

- Download the attached file dowser.CSL.zip
- extract dowser.CSL from it
- rename it to just dowser
- move it to your Home folder (the one in Finder with the little house icon)
- run the Terminal app. That will open up a command line to that folder; do LS to check that dowser is there.
- then do this command: chmod +x dowser This is to set the file to be executable on your Mac
- right click on cities.app, Show Package Contents, open the Contents folder then the Launcher folder in there. Rename that dowser to dowser.org or whatever, THEN move the new dowser we just made into that folder
- delete the ~/Library/Application Support/Paradox Interactive/ folder again
- Run the game

Good luck!

 

[Nosperato]

Hi Andew,
First, thank you for the quick reply!

Second, to your point, I actually never ran the game other than via Steam, so I'm not sure there's the problem.

In any case, I did all the steps up to getting into the Contents folder of Cities, but I don't see what you are referring to in there. Please see the screenshot:

 

[AndrewT]

That says Cities Skylines.app but the actual file is, or should be, Cities.app - does that not exist on your machine?

 

[Nosperato]

That says Cities Skylines.app but the actual file is, or should be, Cities.app - does that not exist on your machine?

Hmm, no, that's what I have and I re-installed cities 2 times when trying to resolve this issue :/
What else can be done?

 

[Nosperato]

OK, so I managed to find the cities.app (it's in the steam folder, so you should first go to steam and click on Show Package Contents and then find the cities file.

I switched the dowser files.

It does skip the Paradox Launcher now

It worked once, but after I exited and tried to run it again it crashes every time (it show's like it's starting and then stops).

Is there a log file I can send you to see why it crashes?

 

[AndrewT]

Please attach this log file here:
~/Library/Logs/Unity/Player.log

To find that file, in Finder do cmd-shift-G to bring up the GOTO box. In there paste ~/Library/ . You will see a /Logs/ folder, and inside that /Unity/ folder. Please attach that file player.log here by dropping it on this support ticket, or use the "Attach file" link here.

 

[Nosperato]

Please attach this log file here:
~/Library/Logs/Unity/Player.log

To find that file, in Finder do cmd-shift-G to bring up the GOTO box. In there paste ~/Library/ . You will see a /Logs/ folder, and inside that /Unity/ folder. Please attach that file player.log here by dropping it on this support ticket, or use the "Attach file" link here.

Please see attached

 

[AndrewT]

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

-noWorkshop -disableMods

Does it launch okay then? If not please attach a new player.log , thanks.

 

[Nosperato]

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

-noWorkshop -disableMods

Does it launch okay then? If not please attach a new player.log , thanks.

No, same thing... crashes (I see the cities mouse courser icon before it crashes, so it's starting, and it worked one time in the beginning...).

 

[Nosperato]

Here's also a screen recording of how it looks on my side.

 

[AndrewT]

Somehow those launch options have not taken effect, there are still mods in use in that log.

If you delete that log file and try the game again, does it make a new log?

 

[Nosperato]

Somehow those launch options have not taken effect, there are still mods in use in that log.

If you delete that log file and try the game again, does it make a new log?

Yes, it does. Attached.

 

[AndrewT]

I don't have an M1 yet to test this on, but as you can see those launch options are not working. No real idea what's going on there.


Please try a **clean** reinstall:

- Remove the game from Steam (uninstall)
- unsubscribe from ALL mods in the Steam Workshop for this game
- Manually delete all these files and folders, if still there:

~/Library/Application Support/Steam/SteamApps/common/Cities_Skylines/
~/Library/Application Support/Steam/userdata/<SteamID>/255710/
~/Library/Application Support/Steam/SteamApps/workshop/content/255710/
~/Library/Application Support/Colossal Order/Cities_Skylines/
(first move the /saves/ folder elsewhere to keep your save games)

- Install the game again and see if it runs now.

If it does not we should do a clean Steam reinstall

Steam Support :: Removing and Reinstalling Steam on a Mac

support.steampowered.com

Good luck with that!

 

[Nosperato]

Ok, I did all the above and re-installed the game. It looks like it's working and there is no need to bypass the Paradox launcher.
When I ran the game the first time it asked me if to install Paradox, I said "No" but it somehow installed it anyway.
The launcher looked different at first but now it seems the same as the old version.

Adding the player log to try and understand what happened here. Probably deleting the files manually helped, because I already re-installed the game many times.

Do you think I can re-add the DLCs I bought and the mods?

 

[MarkJohnson]

DLC are already activated, you can't do it again.

Mods/assets should auto-install when you launch Steam by itself. It may take some time, depending on the amount it speed.