AndrewT

Thinking more about it, the launcher in the MS edition of this game is a canned installation and doesn't do its own updates, so they won't be there.

In which case I don't know why the launcher will not work for you! Especially as the identical launcher used to work. Does the Gamepass edition still work?

Does it make any difference if you launch this game from the Xbox app or the MS store app?

And can we see the launcher logs which should be in C:/users//AppData/Local/Paradox Interactive/launcher-v2/logs/  

That's bad news, the problem is deep in Windows then it seems. One last try before you'll need to look at a reset or reinstall!

I'm afraid this is a bit of work, but please delete this list of files (about 50 in total)

C:\Windows\SysWOW64\mfc100.dll
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\mfc100u.dll
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\msvcp100.dll
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\msvcr100.dll
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\msvcr100_clr0400.dll *
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\xinput1_3.dll
C:\Windows\System32\mfc100.dll
C:\Windows\System32\mfc100u.dll
C:\Windows\System32\msvcp100.dll
C:\Windows\System32\msvcr100.dll
C:\Windows\System32\msvcr100_clr0400.dll *
C:\Windows\System32\xinput1_3.dll

* you may need to change user permissions on these two files before you can delete them. If they won't delete, don't worry about them

PLUS all files that fit the pattern d3dx9_??.dll in both those folders; usually about 20 in each. Then ru... Read more

What is the nature of your issue with the launcher, pelase? You don't seem to specify. Does it run at all? If so what version shows?

In this folder are some .log files:
C:/users//AppData/Local/Paradox Interactive/launcher-v2/
Please attach them here.  

In that dxdiag i see HOI4 crashing in CELib_x64.dll . Am I right in thinking that is part of a 'training' (cheat) utility? If so we need to remove that from this machine while we work on this.

That aside, from what you say this does sound like a problem in that particular save game file. Were there any mods used while playing it at any point?  

That is odd because CK3 and EU4 use the same installation of the same launcher. Hard to see how it runs from one game but not the other. Does it still work for CK3?

In any case here is the clean reinstall procedure:
- exit the Steam app entirely
- uninstall Paradox Launcher v2 from the Windows "Apps and features" utility, if still present.

Delete the following folders if still present:

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

- 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//AppData/Local/Paradox Interactive/launcher-v2/
Please attach them here. ... Read more

That's odd because Gamepass and the Windows 10 store provide the same game edition to you.

When you say nothing at all, you mean you don't even see our launcher? Or you see that but the game won't run from it?

Do check in Avira's blocked apps list to see if any of these have been stopped:

dowser.exe
bootstrapper-v2.exe
paradox launcher.exe
stellaris.exe  

Has the game ever run OK on this computer? Or never, it's always done this?

When this happens how do you recover? Can you just kill the game in Task manager and start it again immediately? Or do you have to reboot, or wait a while before it will run again?


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.


IF NEITHER OF THOSE HEL... Read more

The key question is whether it just affects your machine, or is a general problem in Linux - I would have thought we'd have had more reports in the last 7 years if this was a general issue!

Does this affect every mod you try, or just some or one?  

Is this just in a particular galaxy you are playing at the moment? or in any one?

Are there any mods involved?

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/Stellaris/settings.txt and pdx_settings.txt .
From your Documents/Paradox Interactive/Stellaris/logs/ folder, attach here system.log , error.log .  

Please do a full **clean** re-install:

- move any valued save games elsewhere, and user_empire_designs.txt from /Documents/Paradox Interactive/Stellaris/ if you have made any custom empires or races.
- "uninstall" in Steam-Stellaris
- manually delete both the Steam/SteamApps/common/Stellaris AND Documents/Paradox Interactive/Stellaris folders
- re-install game in Steam, run a Steam Verify when done.
- add stellaris.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 you need to make sure there are no files or folders left under either the Steam Stellaris or Documents Stellaris locations, before installing again.

That will do it for you!  

Symbioteking99 said: I am not sure what "the machine was forcibly downed" means

It means the machine was powered off without downing Windows. That can be a power outage, a hard hang where you had to hit the power button, something like that. If this game caused a hard-hang in the machine that's a real concern! But you think not?


For that Windows error try this Windows repair tool:

...

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That thread was from 2014! I would assume the case sensitivity issue there was resolved long ago, but is that what you are saying is the case here?

FYI I know nothing about modding - have you asked in the User Mods forum?  

Please do a full **clean** re-install:

- move any valued save games elsewhere, and user_empire_designs.txt from /Documents/Paradox Interactive/Stellaris/ if you have made any custom empires or races.
- "uninstall" in Steam-Stellaris
- manually delete both the Steam/SteamApps/common/Stellaris AND Documents/Paradox Interactive/Stellaris folders
- re-install game in Steam, run a Steam Verify when done.
- add stellaris.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 you need to make sure there are no files or folders left under either the Steam Stellaris or Documents Stellaris locations, before installing again.

That should do it for you!  

I guess you mean it stops at 39% during game start, rather than actually while downloading from Steam. Would that be right?

Has this game ever worked on this machine? Or never yet?


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/Stellaris/settings.txt and pdx_settings.txt .
From your Documents/Paradox Interactive/Stellaris/logs/ folder, attach here system.log , error.log .  

After downloading them, you need to actually run them - did you do that? If so was there any problem or error with any of those 5 installers?

You have some LiveKernelEvent in that dxdiag, which means the machine was forcibly downed. Is that related to this game or something else?  

Probably one of those DLLs was corrupted or infected by malware. Glad you got there so quickly , well done!  

The game is crashing with a Windows error c06d007e, which is not a common one and I don't have a known answer for it I'm afraid.

May as well update that nVidia driver to August 2021:
Download Drivers | NVIDIA Then reboot, and run this Windows repair tool:

...

Read more

That error is almost always a bad or missing Microsoft module, usually Visual C++.

Please Install ALL these Microsoft modules:

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

... Read more

That's unusual, I've never seen cpatch.log exist but be empty. If you delete it and run the game from Steam again does it get recreated?

And, any idea what change or update triggered this?