[FIX] Game Not Launching

[Night]

I have struggled for a few hours to diagnose the issues regarding tha launching issues of RDR2.

The problem revolves around the Vulkan Drivers. Vulkan API has changed and RDR2 has not adapted for these changes in GPU drivers. Effectively creating an access violation upon trying to initialize the Game Window.

The simplest and easiest fix is to navigate to

MyDocuments\Rockstar Games\Red Dead Redemption 2\Settings\system.xml

Open this file with any text editor, you are looking for the following string (should be located at line 37)

kSettingAPI_Vulkan

Simply change it to the following:

kSettingAPI_DX12

[GhinzuTERERF]

Good morning.

I've been trying to launch the game for two days and I'm going crazy! I am in the situation where the game launched via Steam does not generate any action apart from opening the launcher. I created the .xml document, but still nothing...

Someone to help me please? THANKS !

[Bad 💀 Motha]

IDK how many times I have to say it.
After you launch Steam, launch the Rockstar Launcher, then launch RDR2 from the Rockstar Launcher. NOT Steam.

[GhinzuTERERF]

Publicado originalmente por Bad 💀 Motha:

IDK how many times I have to say it.
After you launch Steam, launch the Rockstar Launcher, then launch RDR2 from the Rockstar Launcher. NOT Steam.

Not working for me,

[GhinzuTERERF]

Refund for me...

[puckymon666]

Publicado originalmente por DevilBoyGamer:

Hello guys after finding too much on internet. I found a solution for me. Maybe this will works for you as well. Follow the steps below

1. C:\Windows\SysWOW64

Go to this location and delete these 4 files

vulkan-1.dll
vulkan-1-999-0-0-0.dll
vulkaninfo
vulkaninfo-1-999-0-0-0

2. C:\Windows\System32

Go to this location and delete the same files mentioned above

3. Now go to location where your game is installed and open Redistributables folder. There you will find an exe name VulkanRT install it and restart the system.

Thats all. Try to run the game now it will work now. Worked for me and I hope this works for you as well.

Publicado originalmente por DevilBoyGamer:

Hello guys after finding too much on internet. I found a solution for me. Maybe this will works for you as well. Follow the steps below

1. C:\Windows\SysWOW64

Go to this location and delete these 4 files

vulkan-1.dll
vulkan-1-999-0-0-0.dll
vulkaninfo
vulkaninfo-1-999-0-0-0

2. C:\Windows\System32

Go to this location and delete the same files mentioned above

3. Now go to location where your game is installed and open Redistributables folder. There you will find an exe name VulkanRT install it and restart the system.

Thats all. Try to run the game now it will work now. Worked for me and I hope this works for you as well.

It worked, version purchased from the epic store.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Publicado originalmente por Ghinzu:

Refund for me...

This is the problem with you all.

What is not working exactly? Explain what's going on?
Look in Event Viewer and share the errors.
Explain the process of what you are doing that is not working.
Maybe YOU are doing it wrong.

[Xel]

if you want Vulkan do this...

Delete

C:\Windows\SysWOW64\vulkan-1.dll
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\vulkan-1-999-0-0-0.dll
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\vulkaninfo-1-999-0-0-0.exe
C:\Windows\System32\vulkan-1.dll
C:\Windows\System32\vulkan-1-999-0-0-0.dll
C:\Windows\System32\vulkaninfo-1-999-0-0-0.exe

^do not select all files containing Vulkan only these ones^
there might be Vulkan files in-between those **DO NOT DELETE THEM**

install "VulkanRT-1.3.204.1-Installer.exe" NOT THE ***SDK****
You can download this version from here https://vulkan.lunarg.com/sdk/home - (filename: VulkanRT-1.3.204.1-Installer.exe)

---- Yes you need to delete those files and then get that version number Vulkan, the exact """Version""" ***you don't need to restart after doing this****

I think they didn't update the game to work with Vulkans new drivers..so if you get this error you need to keep doing this to play...sry thats the only way

I just came back to the game after 1 year and had to do the same thing cause I was getting the error again and it worked..it just takes deleting 6 files and installing that exe and you're done.

NOTE: Every time you update the Nvidia driver you need to do this again...just keep the exe somewhere safe and delete the files again.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

^ Only time I had to do that was on Win7.
Not once on dozens of PCs have I had to do this on Win10/11
Vulkan gets installed/updated is all dictated by your GPU Drivers.

Games do not have to update to work with newer drivers; it's the other way around.
And newer drivers, while not always the best, content updates that older drivers have had. It's just that not all GPU drivers are going to be fully stable in all games. Some versions will be preferred for certain games compared to other GPU Drivers. It's always been this way.

[dirt013]

Publicado originalmente por DevilBoyGamer:

Hello guys after finding too much on internet. I found a solution for me. Maybe this will works for you as well. Follow the steps below

1. C:\Windows\SysWOW64

Go to this location and delete these 4 files

vulkan-1.dll
vulkan-1-999-0-0-0.dll
vulkaninfo
vulkaninfo-1-999-0-0-0

2. C:\Windows\System32

Go to this location and delete the same files mentioned above

3. Now go to location where your game is installed and open Redistributables folder. There you will find an exe name VulkanRT install it and restart the system.

Thats all. Try to run the game now it will work now. Worked for me and I hope this works for you as well.

After trying 20 different fixes, this worked for me. Thank You!

[Bad 💀 Motha]

That's very odd since I never needed to do that on Win10/11. Only in Win7/8 was that a fix

[Mylo-s]

I had a problem where the game would crash in chapter 2. Had to restart the whole game twice. It crashed again last night; black screen with background audio, but no alt-tab or ctrl-alt-del worked. Changing from Vulcan to Dx12 fixed the problem.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Publicado originalmente por Mylo-s:

I had a problem where the game would crash in chapter 2. Had to restart the whole game twice. It crashed again last night; black screen with background audio, but no alt-tab or ctrl-alt-del worked. Changing from Vulcan to Dx12 fixed the problem.

You know you can save your game before Chapter 2 right?

[Mylo-s]

Publicado originalmente por Bad 💀 Motha:

Publicado originalmente por Mylo-s:

I had a problem where the game would crash in chapter 2. Had to restart the whole game twice. It crashed again last night; black screen with background audio, but no alt-tab or ctrl-alt-del worked. Changing from Vulcan to Dx12 fixed the problem.

You know you can save your game before Chapter 2 right?

Don't care, I am enjoying every bit of it (yes I do have old saves).

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Ok no problem. I just putting that out there cause many people seemed to overlook that and seem to think you have no ways to manually save the game before reaching Horseshoe Overlook.

After you bring Sadie back to camp and the game cuts to the next day, you are given two missions to start. Once you walk outside, you can press ESC > Story > Save

[Timmy]

Hello,
got some very unusual bug which does not allow me to change API to Vulkan,
so i'm posting it here, maybe it could help someone.

i have communicated with rockstar support team and they helped me, not directly, to find solution.

I got the game on Epic Games Store and run it from there with implemented rockstar launcher and i cannot change API to Vulkan - no solution worked
BUT
if i run their Rockstar Launcher Standalone aplication and then run the game via Epic with implemented R* Launcher the API change worked as expected.

I tested this and i can repeat the problem and i'm 100% sure there is some problem with their R* app for epic games. Try this, maybe their steam R* app got the same problem.
BB