CK2 crashes on startup

[FoX111]

I don't have the latest DLC, charlemange. I'm running a few DLC's like legacy of rome, the republic and the old gods. I also have the game of thrones mod installed.

I downgraded back to 2.1.6 so it should work.

It doesn't.

The game crashes in every scenario, with DLC's on, with DLC's off, with the game of thrones mod on and off, etc. It just crashes on startup no matter what. I tried reinstalling but that didn't help either.

Any suggestions?

 

[Aardvark Bellay]

Check if your AGOT mod is updated or well, the correct one for the patch you are playing on.
Also deleting the CK2 folder in 'documents' could help (take care of saves and mods first and move them if you wish to do so).
Start the reinstalled game at first without any mod from within Steam.

 

[FoX111]

I deleted the CK2 folder in the documents, and it worked...for a while.

I played for about an hour, took a break and then I wasn't able to turn the game on again, same problem as before.

I swear it has to do something with the latest patch, even though I downgraded to 2.1.6 there's gotta be a connection.

 

[Aardvark Bellay]

I deleted the CK2 folder in the documents, and it worked...for a while.

I played for about an hour, took a break and then I wasn't able to turn the game on again, same problem as before.

I swear it has to do something with the latest patch, even though I downgraded to 2.1.6 there's gotta be a connection.

ehm......don't forget to uncheck the new DLCs that came with 2.2 and Charlemagne in the launcher if you play on 2.1.6...
....and of course have any mods unchecked, when you try to launch again.

So now, launch your 2.1.6 (checksum TTXL), uncheck any mods and uncheck the Charlemagne, the two early clothes and the CM shields DLCs.
Does it work now ?

If not, delete the CK2 folder in 'documents' again, start the game as i explained and from inside the steam launcher and while being online.
After you got to the menu quit again and try to launch.

 

[FoX111]

Well, I don't have any Charlemagne related DLC's. I bought last DLC months ago.

I did it as you said and it worked, once. After I turned it off and tried to turn it on again after like an hour I had the same problem :/

 

[Aardvark Bellay]

Well, I don't have any Charlemagne related DLC's. I bought last DLC months ago.

I did it as you said and it worked, once. After I turned it off and tried to turn it on again after like an hour I had the same problem :/

Mysterious.
Did you move all save game files and mod files back in the 'documents' after you had played the game or was and is the CK2 folder in documents
still completely fresh and new, aside from a single save file ? If yes, please keep it clean without your old files or mods and try again to start and restart.
Did you try to start Ck2 from its game folder (ck2game.exe) without Steam ?

 

[FoX111]

The game seems to work when I uninstall it, then install it and remove files in the documents. Then it works once, after I turn it off I have to repeat the whole process. No mods work, no DLC's either. Just the base game, and only when I uninstall/install/remove files in the documents as stated before.

The game seems to be completely broken, and I dare to say it's not my fault.

 

[Aardvark Bellay]

You didn't really answer my questions.

1. Did you move all save game files and mod files back in the 'documents' after you had played the game or was and is the CK2 folder in documents
still completely fresh and new, aside from a single save file ?

2. Did you try to start Ck2 from its game folder (ck2game.exe) without Steam ?

3. Am i right that the game worked before on the most recent version at the time and i mean for weeks ? As that was the impression i had, especially as you said "I bought last DLC months ago".
4. Am i right that you are on Windows ?

For the DLCs to work after deleting the folder in 'documents', you need to start the game from within Steam and be online.
After a first start, the DLCs should be working the next time you start the game.

 

[FoX111]

1. No, completely fresh and new.

2. jup

3. jup

4. jup

 

[Aardvark Bellay]

1. The checksum is TTXL for 2.1.6 ?
2. So you had started the game from within the Steam library while online the first time ?
3. ..and starting the game a second time from the ck2game.exe in the game folder and without Steam running, brought up the launcher, but then pushing 'play' did only crash it ?


If all the questions get a 'Yes', then i don't know for now and can only hope that the tech support returns with an idea, sorry.

 

[AndrewT]

The game seems to work when I uninstall it, then install it and remove files in the documents. Then it works once, after I turn it off I have to repeat the whole process. No mods work, no DLC's either. Just the base game, and only when I uninstall/install/remove files in the documents as stated before.

What if you just manually delete documents/paradox/ck2/gfx/ folder, not the whole shebang? Does that help?

And, once you get it going again, does the problem still happen if you never run with any mod after the fix, just play vanilla?

The game seems to be completely broken, and I dare to say it's not my fault.

No-one is saying or implying it is your personal fault. But the fact is it's not a bug in the game per se, as others are not getting it. So it's very likely to be an issue in your machine or your Windows.

 

[FoX111]

I deleted the folder manually, but it still doesn't work, even vanilla.

It gets stuck on loading history files.

So, to sum it up...

It still only works when I uninstall/install/delete document folder. Then the game works even with the DLC's, but only once, as stated above.

Deleting gfx doesn't work, the game crashes both with/without dlc's on.

No mods installed...

I even tried upgrading from 2.1.6 to current version, but no change whatsoever.

 

[AndrewT]

OK, well something is interfering with your files I think. Can you set your AV to white-list both the CK2 folders?

If that doesn't help:
What then if you just delete (or rename) the documents/paradox/ck2/settings.txt file?

What if you exit Steam and manually run ck2game.exe ?

What if you move the whole CK2 folder out from under Steam (which I assume is under c:\program files\) to some new places like c:\games\ck2\ and manually run ck2game.exe from there?

 

[Plushie]

But the fact is it's not a bug in the game per se, as others are not getting it. So it's very likely to be an issue in your machine or your Windows.

I'm actually having the same problem: It starts up to the loading screen, gets partially loaded, then dies. I tried what you suggested with deleting the folder, uninstalling and reinstalling, and it worked for a short while, then went back to having the problem. Just now I repeatedly started the game, let it crash, and started again, and it actually started loading further and further each time until it worked and loaded all the way. I haven't tried again yet.

 

[FoX111]

It worked fine for ages UNTIL the last patch...

I'll try your tips anyway, but I doubt it will help.

No it didn't help.

The patch must be the problem, seriously..nothing else makes sense at this point. Once again, the game worked flawlessly since I bought it UNTIL the last patch.

I've owned the game pretty much since it came out.

I doubt something is wrong my PC. Everything but CK2 works just fine. And CK2 worked fine too, until the last patch...

SO I managed to turn the game on successfully twice. It crashed in the menu and it hasn't been working since.

 

[Aardvark Bellay]

It worked fine for ages UNTIL the last patch...

I'll try your tips anyway, but I doubt it will help.

No it didn't help.

The patch must be the problem, seriously..nothing else makes sense at this point. Once again, the game worked flawlessly since I bought it UNTIL the last patch.

I've owned the game pretty much since it came out.

I doubt something is wrong my PC. Everything but CK2 works just fine. And CK2 worked fine too, until the last patch...

I suppose it would help if you reply to every point AndrewT made and mention what happened exactly, starting with the AV question down to the last point about moving out the folder.
That way it's far easier to comprehend if what you did is what he thought you should/would do and to analyse what's going on.

 

[FoX111]

Well, the thing is, that absolutely nothing has happened. I turn on the game and it crashes immediately, no matter what I do.

 

[AndrewT]

The patch must be the problem, seriously..nothing else makes sense at this point. Once again, the game worked flawlessly since I bought it UNTIL the last patch.

That can only be coincidence, since you say rolling back to 2.1.6 doesn't help - the game is identical now under 2.1.6 as it was before 2.2 was released. Something else has happened or changed in your PC, Windows, or Steam in that time.

One thing has come to mind - don't click or move the mouse at all while the game starts up. We've had sporadic reports of that causing crashes. Any different?

What anti-virus and firewall do you have? Does disabling both, as a test, change anything?

If not please try a combined Steam+game refresh:
- move any valued save games elsewhere
- "delete local content" in Steam-CK2
- exit Steam
- manually delete all files and folders left under Steam/CK2 AND Documents/Paradox/CK2
- manually delete everything in the Steam folder EXCEPT steam.exe and /SteamApps/ folder
- right-click on steam.exe, properties, compatibility tab. set it to run as Admin user, and make sure no other compatibility settings are set there
- manually run steam.exe to rebuild all the steam stuff
- re-install game in Steam, run a Steam Verify when done.
- BEFORE running the game for the first time, right-click on ck2game.exe, properties, compatibility tab. set it to run as Admin user, and make sure no other compatibility settings are set there

Whew! I hope that helps!

 

[FoX111]

Apparently Documents\Paradox Interactive\Crusader Kings II\settings.txt was the problem.

I modified

refreshRate=0
fullScreen=no
borderless=yes
shadows=no
shadowSize=2048
multi_sampling=0
anisotropic_filtering=0
gamma=50.000000

to

refreshRate=60
fullScreen=yes
borderless=yes
shadows=no
shadowSize=2048
multi_sampling=0
anisotropic_filtering=0
gamma=50.000000


And it works again. Apparently the settings.txt must have been modified with the latest patch or something, I've never modified anything in settings.txt before.

Anyway, thanks for your help

 

[AndrewT]

refreshRate=0

That causes crashes in EU3, but I've not seen it cause crashes in CK2 or EU4 ever ... anyway thanks for the update.