game does not start

[METAL]

Decided to play the game again but now it does not start at all. Steam says that it is running but nothing happens. Strangely I can select a different game and press PLAY and that will start while FEAR maintains its "running" status.

I have restarted Steam, my PC and even verified the game with no files damaged or missing. I could play the game before through Steam with the same hardware and OS (win 7). I am at a loss why all of a sudden the game just wont start but steam insists that it does.

Before I forget. I also called up the task manager. FEAR is not running there.

[vealmike]

I have almost exactly the same issue. I'm running windows 7.
Steam says the game is running. But the game itself doesn't start. I look in task manager & I see
"Fear.exe *32"
It will start, but very rarely.
Is there a log that can be enabled so we can see what it's getting hung up on?

[foofighterfoos]

I had the exact same issue when I downloaded doom 3, and then this. I seemed to fix this by starting the game outside of steam by finding it in my games folder. For whatever reason after I did that a few times steam runs it just fine. (BTW when this happens and you bring up the task manager head over to processes and there is one fear.exe like vealmike said) Also have windows 7.

[METAL]

yes, starting outside from steam works. no idea why. i will see if it will start again from steam. still weird why this is the case.

[The Royal Cheesewagon]

I've noticed on steam some people have been having the following problem. they start the game but nothing happens. it say's it's running but it does nothing. If you have this problem do the following
Restart your computer and launch Steam
From the Library section, right-click on the game and select Properties from the menu.
Select the Local files tab and click the Verify integrity of game files... button.
Steam will verify the game's files - this process may take several minutes.

[vealmike]

Yep done that. The game doesn't start.

[vealmike]

Starting outside steam does not work either.

[METAL]

Originally posted by Tyber Zhan:

I've noticed on steam some people have been having the following problem. they start the game but nothing happens. it say's it's running but it does nothing. If you have this problem do the following
Restart your computer and launch Steam
From the Library section, right-click on the game and select Properties from the menu.
Select the Local files tab and click the Verify integrity of game files... button.
Steam will verify the game's files - this process may take several minutes.

Done all of that. Nothing.

[quantumx4]

Below is a copy and paste from a reply of mine on another Thread. Here is what worked for me:

-----
I realize this thread is several years old, but it comes up top ranked on Google when searching FEAR and rundll32. I recently reinstalled Windows 7 64-bit. After reinstalling my games, FEAR was failing to launch. It switched to Aero Classic, started a process with rundll32 which consumed all of my available CPU and then proceeded to spin/hang.

I eventually found a solution which worked for me. From here:

https://superuser.com/questions/805170/windows-7-when-running-old-games-rundll32-is-started-for-the-first-time

Referencing the above link. It seems Windows 7 recognizes FEAR as a game and is trying to access a former Microsoft Server that is no longer running to update games data. This causes rundll32 to hang. A pretty messy situation. You can, however, null the address of the server it is trying to access; effectively disabling the lookup attempt.

Rename the Windows Registry Value called "Games" located in "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\GameUX\ServiceLocation". I simply renamed it "Games.bak". Then create a new empty value of the same type, "String Value", and name it "Games". This should disable the lookup and allow FEAR to run.
-----

[vealmike]

Thanks!
Yes that seems to have fixed the issue. Fingers crossed it won't come back.

[omiyoshi933]

Found a solution for my computer that others can try:
Same prob. Black screen zoomed in... windows cursor spinning.
I have good specs, Windows 10 w/ RTX 2070 super and 3700x. 16gb ram. Logitech wireless keyboard mk710 and mouse m510.

Tried adding that dinput8.dll fix to the fear directory. nothing changed even with Logitech peripherals. went to property tab off fear.exe to check the "disable fullscreen optimizations". still black screen..
But then tried running the game off config.exe in FEAR Ultimate Shooter directory and set it to 1920 x 1080 x 32 and launched it from there and it worked! Not sure if the first two steps helped it work at that point but it worked and I believe it was just the checkbox that did it. First few intro screens flickered the first time but I went to display settings in the game which set itself to 640 x 480 x 32. I changed it to 1080p and maximum quality options and it ran better. It seemed noticeably better after restarting the game in 1080p. Anyway it worked. I tested removing the dinput8.dll and it still worked, but if I uncheck the "disable fullscreen optimizations" checkbox it stops working again.

So if your's is like mine, check that box with fear.exe > properties > compatibility tab..and run config.exe to run the game. Works for me! I made a shortcut to config.exe but maybe it will work in steam now I don't know haven't tried yet.

[omiyoshi933]

if after a minute the fps drops down to choppy, put dinput8.dll in your fear directory. Got it running so I removed the .dll thinking I didn't need it, then fps drops..put in back in and stays at 60 fps. Especially if you have logitech periferals.

[omiyoshi933]

If you need dinput8.dll to put into fear directory to correct fps drops esp with logitech periferals in FEAR, here was the link where I got it I don't see the other comments showing it this time:
https://community.pcgamingwiki.com/files/file/789-directinput-fps-fix/

[Unexpected Walker]

Local files -> FEARXP -> Launcher.exe -> "Yes" "Yes" "Yes" "Yes" "Yes" ... "Yes" -> START

[$L!CK_J.Mi$t@]

damn, i have this problem too.

EDIT: THE FIX IS TO TURN OFF THE STEAM OVERLAY!!! if it still doesn't work, then go to the root folder of the game and launch it from the config file.

[Mictian Manah]

From WB Game's Support

1. Navigate to the game's intallation directory. Usually its "C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\FEAR";

2. Right click on [FEAR.exe] file and select [Properties];

3. On the [Compatibility] tab, click the "Run this program in compatibility mode" check box;

4. Click the dropdown box and select [Windows XP Service Pack 2];

5. Click the "Disable fullscreen optimizations" check box;