AndrewT

I see. Do the mods you've installed manually look the same as the ones you've subscribed to (which I assume work for you), in terms of what is in the Documents/Paradox Interactive/Stellaris/mod/ folder? As maybe you can tell I have no experience in manually installing mods ...  

Let's try forcing an update of the launcher.

Download the installer package: https://forumcontent.paradoxplaza.com/emailsignatures/2021.5-mac-prod.zip

Unpack the file you just downloaded and place the three files in the Steam folder for the game you're having issues with. If asked if you want to replace already existing files click "yes" - that's a sign you are in the right place!

Then please repeat the launcher reinstall procedure (ie deleting that folder) from before.

Good luck with that!  

Is this when playing a campaign that has never had any mods used in it?

I see you have our similar games HOI4, EU4 and Stellaris - do that play okay on this machine?  

If this was happening on Windows it would typically be an antivirus app getting in the way, and be fixed by adding exceptions in that app and/or running as the Windows Admin user.

Pretty unlikely for those to apply here, I assume you use no AV app like most Mac users?

Given that both the game and launcher are up to date for you, I'm struggling to see why you can run ck3.app but the launcher cannot.


You can bypass the launcher by following these instructions:

- Download the attached file dowser-mac.txt
- 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
- then move that file to the Steam-CK3-launcher folder, to over... Read more

You should be able to subscribe to mods in our mod site

Paradox Mods

mods.paradoxplaza.com and have them install via our launcher?  

So you never see our launcher at all, is that right? If so 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/  

Most people don't realise that in dual video setups all video goes through the Intel before it gets to the nVidia or AMD GPU. So yes the Intel driver version can matter, with this game in particular for some reason.

Well done!  

That log looks very much like a corrupted installation, unless you are using mods that have a problem.

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

- move any valued save games elsewhere
- "uninstall" in Steam-CK3
- manually delete both the Steam/SteamApps/common/CK3 AND Documents/Paradox Interactive/CK3 folders
- re-install game in Steam, run a Steam Verify when done.
- add CK3.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 with a new campaign, NOT with any existing one

In particular make sure there are no files or folders left under either the Steam CK3 or Documents CK3 locations, before installing again.  

Your issue may not be a launcher problem. What version of it do you see? Current is 2021.5.2

What happens if you run hoi4.exe and ck3.exe directly from File Explorer, which bypasses the launcher?  

If you now see launcher 2021.5.2 your issue may not be a launcher problem at all. Can you start the game from ck3.app directly?  

I don't think the Steam workshop has a feature to download mod files separately, if that's your goal. So yes you subscribe to them, next time you run the game they will be copied to Documents/Paradox Interactive/CK3/mod/ folder.  

Are you sure you are not subscribed to it in the Steam Workshop?  

I've now logged a bug report on this, thanks.  

That could happen to any of us so I guess we're all idiots

All the best!  

Do these crashes force a restart of your computer? Because I see several LiveKernelEvent in that dxdiag, which normally means a forced restart of some sort. Or is that a separate issue you are having with this machine?

Anything in error.log?  

If you exit the Steam app entirely and run ck3.exe directly , what happens?

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


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

That was the hard drive Windows is on, C: ? In other words this is a clean Windows reinstall? Or some kind of backup and restore process?  

I see, I did not know about that.

Only the devs can change that, so i suggest you post in that thread about the issues it causes. I agree it seems wrong to not have it as an opt-in .

Sorry about that!  

I see nothing in there to explain this. While we work on it keep an eye on the YOU'VE PLAYED time on Steam, if it approaches their limit of 2 hours STOP and seek a refund from them, as they will not honour that after that time.

in Steam please click on Steam-Help-System Info, and paste everything there into a text file and attach that here.

I assume CK2 runs okay for you?  

Aside from the BEX64 errors in ck3.exe we see in there, there's also a Windows error Bad Module. Sadly MS don't tell us which one!

Would you say you are having any other Windows issues on this machine?

If you run the Update app does it find anything to apply?

And you could try this repair tool too:

Use the System File Checker tool to repair missing or corrupted system files

Describes how to use the System File Checker tool to troubleshoot missing or corrupted system files in Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7 or Window... Read more