Game Not Starting

[tholugo 朗涛]

I made a summary of what helped most people if the game does not start


0. If you use a M1 mac or a rather old GPU, try https://steamcommunity.com/app/1016920/discussions/3/3113644379489050878/

1. Verify files via steam (https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=2037-QEUH-3335)

2. Try to start as with the following launch option (right click on the title -> properties -> general and then set launch options...):
--force-opengl
(remove it again if it does not help)

3. (Windows only) Repair/Reinstall the C++ Redistributable 2013 (vcredist_x64.exe)
Since we had players saying they installed it but they had installed the 2015 or newer version: You explicitly need the 64bit 2013 (!), otherwise it still won't start!
And please don't just skip this point when you have it already installed. We had many cases with broken installs where a complete uninstall and re-install fixed it. Also really make sure you downloaded the "vcredist_x64.exe" and not one of the other ones.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-US/download/details.aspx?id=40784

3.5 (Windows, Epic Store version only). You also need to install the C++ Redistributable 2015, 64 bit: https://aka.ms/vs/17/release/vc_redist.x64.exe

4. (Pre Windows 10 only) Repair/Reinstall .net framework 4.8 or newer. https://dotnet.microsoft.com/download/dotnet-framework/net48

5. Update your graphics card drivers

6. (Windows only) If you use an anti-virus application: Try deactivating it temporarily or make sure to whitelist the game. We had a case where F secure led to random freezes on startup.

7. (Mac only) If you're using a custom shell (like zsh), our start script might fail. In that case, open the local game folder (right click in steam, properties, [local files] and [browse local files...] and navigate to
Unrailed.app/Contents/MacOS/mac/
Here replace UnrailedGame with https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/563657938175262723/719991872080314378/UnrailedGame
(will be fixed with the next update)

8 (Linux / Chrome-OS only) Try start with the following steam launch option: MESA_LOADER_DRIVER_OVERRIDE=i965 %command%
(Thanks for @Alf in Discord for the hint)

9 (Windows only) Press [Win]+[R] and enter
%localappdata%\Daedalic Entertainment GmbH\Unrailed\GameState\AllPlayers
then press okay and delete the language.txt in the folder. If the folder and file does not exist, just proceed below.

10 (Windows only) Follow the instructions here:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/use-the-system-file-checker-tool-to-repair-missing-or-corrupted-system-files-79aa86cb-ca52-166a-92a3-966e85d4094e
(Run the DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth command)

11 (Windows only) Unplug as many USB devices as you can (we had a crash due to an ACME controller driver but also freezes due to some keyboard drivers). If you identify the device, you'll probably want to update it's drivers or try avoid using it.

12. (Mac only) We had a case where when SIP is disabled, the game won't start and enabling SIP fixed that issue (https://developer.apple.com/documentation/security/disabling_and_enabling_system_integrity_protection)

If none of the points helped and you're running Windows, please (pleeeeasse ! And please A, B & C, not just one of them :D):

A. Look for .dmp files in
%localappdata%\Daedalic Entertainment GmbH\Unrailed\GameState\AllPlayers
and send me the most recent one or tell me there was no .dmp file if there was none.

B. Open the windows error log ([Win]+[R] and enter eventvwr, check under "Windows > Application") and look for errors occuring during the startup and send me all details or tell me that there are no windows error messages if that is the case.

C. Open dxdiag ([Win]+[R] and enter dxdiag) and click "Save all informations... " and send me the file.

The easiest way to send me the files is via Discord (https://discordapp.com/invite/f5mBuWv) and send it to #bugs or to me (Thomas) directly.

[OurMajesty]

JFYI: the fix for me was to install C++ redist., but not actually the 2013, but 2015+ version (https://aka.ms/vs/17/release/vc_redist.x64.exe). Game from EGS if it matter.

[Mythtician]

Originally posted by OurMajesty:

JFYI: the fix for me was to install C++ redist., but not actually the 2013, but 2015+ version (https://aka.ms/vs/17/release/vc_redist.x64.exe). Game from EGS if it matter.

THANK YOU! I tried the 2013 fix but that didnt do jack s**, this worked 100 percent. You are the man. I sent you friend request just to tell you thank you.

[Mythtician]

PS: The log file error was: Unable to load DLL 'EOSSDK-Win64-Shipping.dll': The specified module could not be found. (You can delete this post after reading it OP)

[tholugo 朗涛]

Right! I added it to the list above