Game won't start - I've tried every solution I could find

[Yossarian]

I was very excited to try this game, but unfortunately when I open it from my library, nothing happens. There's the prompt for the game or the fan missions, but checking either has the same effect- I'm left staring at my library window when I click play. So far, I've reinstalled/uninstalled countless times, installed the game outside of Program Files/steam/steamapps, verified the cache over and over on multiple installs in multiple locations, put a new cam.cfg into my folder that somebody here linked to, and yet- nothing. What's more, there's no crash.dmp or shock2.log of any kind in the SS2 folder. This is frustrating, and after owning the game without being able to play it for over a week now, I am swallowing my pride and seeking help here. I'm running Windows 7 on an ASUS G73JH laptop, for reference. So, any suggestions?

[Darsiden]

Try to validate the cache

[Yossarian]

Right, I've seen that validating the cache has worked for other users here, but unfortunately I've tried validating the cache multiple times. I do it every time I uninstall and reinstall, in multiple installation directories. I feel like I'm testing the definition of insanity. When I "start" the game I don't even see anything pop up in the process manager. I'm stumped.

[ps47.3dfx]

are you perhaps running some non english localization of windows (think russian, japanese etc)?

try renaming shock2.exe to ss2.exe, and try running the exe directly.

[Yossarian]

ps47.3dfx, you're a genius! Changing the name to ss2.exe and running the executable directly worked! Thank you very much.

[ps47.3dfx]

this is actually caused by windows trying to be "smart", detecting "shock2.exe" and applying some unwanted compatibility settings sometimes. changing the filename fixes that.

[_r.u.s.s.]

actually, this is some bug with rundll32 not closing properly after loading the necessary dlls sometimes. same thing happens to me both with system shock AND anachronox; and probably other older games using the same 3d engine (not sure if it's open gl or direct x, i think it was direct x 6 and more or something at the release date though).

when you start the game and it halts, you can notice that not only Shock2.exe launches, but it also starts a rundll32 in a thread. now after loading necessary dlls it doesn't shut down sometimes and i have no idea why. to tackle this problem, you will need a process explorer that is able to shut down not only processes but also threads. i am using the ultimate windows explorer calld "process explorer" from sysinternals. the one that even windows included on its support page as a suggested tech support tool - https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/processexplorer.aspx

* open the program
* find Shock2.exe, underneath it you will find rundll32.exe process, explore it by doubleclicking on it.
* click on the tab "Threads"
* there you will find a line saying something like Rundll32.exe!YouCanCloseMeNow (i don't remember the exact phrase, because it loads fine for me now (but didn't yesterday)
* just left click on it and then click "Kill" button on the bottom

the app should start instantly now

when this happened to me once some time ago, i actually left it loading and went away for a while and the app started after like 15 minutes - half an hour or so, so if you don't want to wait, just do this. i wouldn't like renaming the excutable, as steam won't track my game time