AndrewT

Updating the OS will not improve your hardware nor add more memory, I'm afraid.  

Did you install these updates?

The latest supported Visual C++ downloads

This article lists the download links for the latest versions of Visual C++. support.microsoft.com And run the x86 and x64 installers there.

Because you dont actually mention them above.  

If MP works with no mods involved, this must be a mod issue really.

Just have everyone enable one mod only, and test like that. If it works, all enable one more mod, test ... keep doing that and you should be able to pin down the problem mod.  

If opting into Crossplay does not help neither will reinstalling Steam, as Crossplay does not use Steam MP.

Check that stellaris.exe is allowed through all your firewalls. If you use the Windows Defender one, it must be allowed through in the Public and Private domains there.  

Which monitor does the game appear on?  

New launcher link:
https://forumcontent.paradoxplaza.com/emailsignatures/2021.5-mac-prod.zip  

Has the game ever run successfully on this computer? Or never?

IF IT USED TO RUN:
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.



IF NEVER:
Install ALL these Mi... Read more

That sounds like a game issue not a launcher problem. What happens if you run stellaris.app directly?


if that still fails 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.
- 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.

**File Locations on Mac OS X**
The executable and DLC folder are in Users/USER/Library/Application Support/Steam/SteamApps/common/Stellaris/
To see it go to the F... Read more

Let's try a clean reinstall of Steam and game then:

- move any valued save games elsewhere
- "uninstall" in Steam-EU4
- exit the Steam app entirely
- manually delete both the Steam/SteamApps/common/EU4 AND Documents/Paradox Interactive/EU4 folders
- delete everything in the Steam folder EXCEPT steam.exe and the SteamApps folder
- run steam.exe to rebuild all that
- 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

Good luck with tha!  

What I'd suggest is a full clean reinstall of the game:

- move any valued save games elsewhere; they are under
~/Library/Application Support/Surviving Mars/{large number}/
- "uninstall" in Steam-Surviving Mars
- manually delete both the ~/Library/Application Support/Steam/SteamApps/common/Surviving Mars AND ~/Library/Application Support/Surviving Mars/ folders
- re-install game in Steam, run a Steam Verify when done.
- 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 SM or Application Support SM locations, before installing again.

Good luck with that!  

Your launcher has not been reinstalled since 2019 so i think we should do that:

- 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.  

I'm afraid none of the game's hardware requirements on MacOS are met here:

• Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-7820HQ
• Memory: 12 GB RAM
• Graphics: AMD® Radeon™ PRO 560 (4 GB)

Unless you have Apple Bootcamp installed and can try the game under Windows, I suggest you seek a refund for this game from where you bought it.

Sorry about that!  

What if you disable all sound by editing that pdx_settings.txt file; set all the Audio settings at the end to =0  

What happens if you exit the Steam app entirely then run ck3.exe ? Any error show up then, or what exactly do you see?  

msiexec uses the Windows installation/update facilities, and it is what is returning those errors.

Try the clean reinstall from post #3 above one more time, except first scan the registry for "paradox launcher" and delete everything you find.

Good luck!  

I've passed that finding on, thanks for the update!  

Do you have two monitors connected to different video outputs?

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 .  

Shade1357 said: We tried everything on this post and still had a problem with me joining. It was a little bit better in that I could select an empire and see other players but, whenever a game was started, the server would be lost for the other person.

You tried both the reinstall and switching to the crossplay branch? Which one seemed to help at all?  

Doener23 said: Hi Andrew, yes it‘s the same issue: loading screen freezes at 5% every time and only a hard reset helps. Where do I find the log files?

I detailed that up in post #2, thanks - all 4 of those files plus the Steam info please.  

joedoza94 said: Alright I tried all that and no dice there. Logs attached. I get an ended prematurely error when trying to install.

That 1603/5 error can be a previous stuck installation. If you see msiexec in Task Manager-processes, kill it and try the launcher install again.

Otherwise does the Windows Update app load and run okay? If so do that and apply everything it finds, and reboot.

If still no good, is Paradox Launcher v2 showing in the Windows control panel but can't be removed? Or it's not there at all?