The new Paradox Launcher is Planned Obsolescence.

[Xyxaan]

So, Paradox has decided they no longer want money from anyone on Linux or Mac pre-Mojave/Catalina. They also don't seem to care very much about the rest of their playerbase, but that's not why I'm here ranting.

I love Hearts of Iron IV.

I love Stellaris.

I bought all of the DLC for Stellaris, and most of HOI4's.

Both of these games USED to work well on my macbook, a late 2009 model. It's perpetually stuck at OSX 10.13.6 'High Sierra', which is understandable. I'm too poor to afford a newer model, and I'm not super happy with Apple anyway. That didn't matter though, because I could at least play two of my favorite games.

Until the "'Better Launcher'" came along and ruined everything.
Now the launcher 'isn't supported on obsolete OS's', and opening the game executable manually doesn't load DLC (let alone mods). AND NO-ONE AT PARADOX SEEMS TO CARE!!

If one of those snooty Admins were to find a way that I can play the GAMES I PAID FOR, with the DLC I PAID FOR, I might take this rant down. Until then, consider your company on notice, I won't be buying any more of your games or expansions without proof that I will actually be able to use them.

 

[Vetgirig]

If you have a 32-bit OS you must use an old version of the game.

They are available as beta-versions on steam (but in reality its just old version of the game).

Sadly Paradox did not do any big version number change when adding the 64-bit requirement so its hard to know which old one to use.

 

[Matt714]

2009 was almost 11 years ago... that's not planned obsolescence.

 

[Xyxaan]

My OS is 64-bit, and everything worked fine, until the new launcher.
The Paradox admins have stated that they don't intend to support older OS's with the new launcher, but they also won't let us use the old launcher if we don't have a newer system.
I can run the game fine, if I manually launch the game. I just can't use any of the DLC I bought, if I use that method. I understand that I have an old system, and they don't want to spend money to support my needs when they have so many newer systems to work with instead.
I do, however, find it odd that EU4 has a workaround for older systems to bypass the new launcher, but HOI4 and Stellaris don't.
All I want is the same fix, to use DLC without the launcher, in HOI4 and Stellaris.

 

[AndrewT]

I do, however, find it odd that EU4 has a workaround for older systems to bypass the new launcher, but HOI4 and Stellaris don't.

I'm not sure how you got that impression, but you can revert to game versions before the new launcher for all those games.

 

[Xyxaan]

If the launcher fails to start or you cannot use it for any other reason, you can always run the game directly.

To do this, right-click on "Europa Universalid IV" in your Steam library, go to "Properties", switch to the "LOCAL FILES" tab and click "BROWSE LOCAL FILES...". This will take you to the folder where EUIV is installed. Double click "eu4.exe" (Windows), "eu4" (Linux) or "eu4.app" (macOS) and the game will start without using the launcher.
The default settings enable all DLCs you own. If you want to disable specific DLCs or enable Mods without using the launcher you will have to edit the file "dlc_load.json", usually located in "C:\Users\your_username\Documents\Paradox Interactive\Europa Universalis IV" (Windows), "~/.local/share/Paradox Interactive/Europa Universalis IV" (Linux) or "~/Documents/Paradox Interactive/Europa Universalis IV" (macOS).
To disable DLCs, add them to the "disabled_dlcs" list, to enable mods add them to the "enabled_mods" list.

"dlc_load.json" Example:
{
"disabled_dlcs":["dlc/dlc065_fredmans_midsummer_epistles/dlc065.dlc","dlc/dlc052_sabaton_soundtrack/dlc052.dlc"],
"enabled_mods":["mod/ugc_1792575623.mod"]
}

If there was a similar workaround/feature to these two games, I would be very happy to do the extra work to enjoy your excellent titles.

 

[Xyxaan]

Apparently, I may actually be able to update my machine to Mojave against Apple's wishes... I might just have a chance to 'enjoy' the bugfest that is the new launcher.