CIV VI Launcher Problem (mostly Solved)

[Dray Prescot]

So many people, including me, have had problems getting the Civ 6 Launcher to work, in many cases for over a year since about the time that Rise and Fall came out.

Could you please give us, or tell us how to do it, a BARE BONES Civ 6 Launcher for STEAM, where the ONLY things it does is give a choice between DX11 and DX12 and then starts the game at the main Civ 6 Menu. With NO opening Videos, NO tie ins to clips selling DLCs, NO to tie ins to anything else, etc.

Because something in the Civ 6 Laucher for that last year or more does NOT work right with How Windows (10 at least, I do not know about 7 or 8) wants to do things, on many of our computers at home. It is probably a problem with how Window wants to keep its and our files safe, and conflicts with something that Launcher is trying to do. There may be other problems between Civ 6 files and Windows 10 security elements.

It normally takes me several tries to get Civ 6 to reach the "Loading, Please Wait" Screen, on all the tries that FAIL Civ 6 shows as "running" to Steam but Windows Task Manager (Ctrl-Alt-Delete) will show Sid's Civ 6 as "Suspended" with about 180 MB loaded, so I "End the Task",and try again until it works after several tries.

Is there ANY way for us to invoke(run) the Main Civ6 exe program directly (and what is it's name)?

I have seen so many messages about people trying to FIX and KEEP fixed this problem. My only possible fixes have been temporary for a couple of days at most, before the problem comes back.

added: see below for what seems to be the FINAL REAL Solution to my problem (at last!)

added: It sometimes still takes a 2nd try to start the Launcher.

[MacGavin]

Hi friend, i have been using this workaround for the last 2-3 weeks in win7 for skipping the launcher entirely, give it a go and tell us if it works for you. I,ll be using my install path for the example.

- Find out what your install path for the game is. For example mine is: D:\Steam\SteamApps\common\Sid Meier's Civilization VI\Base\Binaries\Win64Steam\CivilizationVI.exe"

- Right click on civ6 in your steam library and select properties.

- Under the general tab press the "set launch options" button.

- Insert your path like this: "D:\Steam\SteamApps\common\Sid Meier's Civilization VI\Base\Binaries\Win64Steam\CivilizationVI.exe" %command%

-if you want dx12 change to CivilizationVI_DX12.exe at the end of the install path instead.

I hope i wasn,t too unclear here but this has worked for me so far. Sadly i can,t remember where i read this so i can't give credit to whomever shared this. GL

[Dray Prescot]

Thank you MacGavin, I knew where to find Civ VI inside the Steam directory, but there were too many places inside there to easily find the Civ VI.exe

My location or launch path was exactly the same as yours, since I keep my Steam Directory on my 2nd SSD (with 480 GB) as my D: drive since my Steam directory is too BIG to fit in the remaining free space on my 1st SSD (120 GB) which is my C boot drive after all of the Windows and other system software that I keep on it. So for many other people, it may still be on their C drive possibly under several other folders, such as Program Files. They will have to know where to find their Steam folder on their computer.

After putting that entire path into Steam as the launch path following your directions, I had Steam create a Short Cut to my desk top for Sid's Civ VI. It launched the first time I tried it. Hopefully, it will continue to do so. If it does not, I will post that here as an update. I did use the DX12 option.

added: so far is has worked the first time I tried it, for my 2nd time starting Civ VI

I am not sure why using this way works better than the normal click on the start button, but I will take what I can get happily.

additional added:

on some later tries to start Civ VI, I am back to my old problems of not launching the first time and when I check Windows Task Manager, Civ VI is "Suspended" like before.

So why did it seem to help for a couple of times and then stop again after the computer was rebooted? (and maybe before the reboot as well). Something changes to make Launcher and/or Windows change it's behavior. What is it that changes and how to correct/stop it ?

I am back to Launching on the the 2nd or 3rd try, but usually not on the 1st try.

[Dray Prescot]

We NEED a way to start directly at the Main CIV VI menu, without going throught anything before that. Somewhere in there Civ VI and Windows do not want to work together consistently, instead they only work together sometimes.

[tempest.of.emptiness]

What you are experiencing is called an intermittent problem. It happens, then it doesn't happen, then it happens again. Since you don't know the cause, it seems almost random. Since it is a problem, naturally you try to fix it, and that's where intermittent problems are so insidious. You do something to try to fix it, and the problem stops, so you think you solved the problem - but actually the problem wasn't "planning" to happen that time. It tricks you into thinking that what you did affected the problem, even though it did not.

Bypassing the launcher was good advice, but apparently the launcher was not the problem - or not the only problem - in your case. Unfortunately, I don't know what is causing your problem, so the only advice I can give is general troubleshooting, in order of priority:

A) Make sure your hardware is functioning properly.
B) Make sure your OS is installed correctly and properly updated.
C) Make sure your drivers are properly updated.
D) Make sure Steam is installed properly and in a location that will not be hassled by your OS or your AV software.
E) Make sure your hardware meets or exceeds the minimum requirements for the game.
F) Make sure the game is installed and configured properly.
G) Refer to the stickied troubleshooting thread in this forum and attempt any possible solutions to the problem you are having.
H) Search the forum for other users who have reported the same problem, to see if any fix has been found.

It is possible that your game could be locking up on load because of a problem with the SSD it is installed on. I don't know that is the cause, but I mention it because it is possible and if it is in fact the cause then you could bounce around the forum looking for answers and never find them. You might reinstall the game a hundred times and attempt all manner to software fixes but never make any headway. So, if your case is as it sounds, then you may need to consider a broader scope of potential causes for your problem.

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Originally posted by Dray Prescot:

We NEED a way to start directly at the Main CIV VI menu, without going throught anything before that. Somewhere in there Civ VI and Windows do not want to work together consistently, instead they only work together sometimes.

It might seem like that, because of the problem you are having, but I suspect that most users do not have your problem. I don't recall Civ6 ever locking up during startup, for me. I doubt that it is the logo screens that are causing the lockup in your case, but rather some other problem that is being triggered by the loading process.

I seem to recall there being a mod that bypassed the startup screens and logos. I haven't tried it myself and I don't know if it works. I'm also not sure it is good advice to suggest adding in a mod on top of your problem. However, if you tried it and it worked, but didn't actually solve the lockup problem, then at least you would know that the startup and logo screens aren't the problem.

[BLÀde]

Base\Binaries\Win64Steam

create shortcut of the CivilizationVI or CivilizationVI_DX12.exe to desktop use that.

Base\Platforms\Windows\Movies

delete ALL the logos files you will now go straight to the menu.

[Dray Prescot]

@BLAde I have already done the first part in two different ways, neither made a difference, in the long run. (sometimes changes seem to help a couple of times, and then the problem seems to come back).

I will have to try deleting the Logos files.

Thank you for the info.

added: I got Launcher to run the first time after moving several Logos files to a new file in order to save them. I will have to see if it continues to work. (So many times I thought I had it fixed and then the problem came back).

Could I have some kind of problem with the Widows 10 program that Civ VI is trying to use to play those Logos files? Although I do not seem to have any other problems with film clips.

added again: It (moving the Logos files) has worked a second on my first try to Launch Civ VI

Hopefully this will be the solution that lasts.

What Windows 10 program is Civ VI trying to use to run those Logos files? Maybe I have a problem with that or some setting that I have in place with Windows 10 (and/or Power DVD 18 which plays my Movies) that affects something related to it.

another added: it has worked 3 times in a row, on Launching Civ VI on the first try. It looks promising as a FIX.

[BlackSmokeDMax]

I used to use the manual method to get rid of all the logos and branding, this seems easier:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1658551717

[tempest.of.emptiness]

The advantage of the mod over deleting the files is that if you delete the files then Steam may restore them it if notices that they are missing.

[BLÀde]

that will only happen if you use the check file integrity or a new expansion is installed. they have never came back for me except when that happens. even updates don't restore them. no need to use a mod slot for something that's easy to do yourself.

[Dray Prescot]

Thank you, BLAde and the others (MacGavin, BlackSmokeDMax, and tempest.of.emptiness). This (getting rid of the Logos files) seems to be the Real solution to my problem with the CIV VI Launcher needing several tries to work properly.

Hopefully, this message thread will help others with a similar problem.

Could the problem be partially due to changes in the standard (or default) Windows 10 Media Player versus older Windows? Could I have fixed the problem by changes to settings to that in Windows 10?

[tempest.of.emptiness]

I don't think Civ uses Windows Media Player to play those logos, but rather Bink Video - but I'm not sure. In either case, there could be some sort of compatibility problem between the player Civ uses and your hardware/driver configuration that causes the videos to hang intermittently. If you had a way to identify the exact cause then you might be able to correct it, but honestly if removing the videos fixes the problem then there's not much point to messing with further troubleshooting because you aren't missing out on anything by not getting to see those logos.

[aNOOBis of ZA]

I've been experiencing custom game setup loading, only to get a blank map covered in FoW, spinning timer saying it is someone elses turn and nothing else happens.

[tempest.of.emptiness]

Originally posted by -=#Fez'sMustFall=-:

I've been experiencing custom game setup loading, only to get a blank map covered in FoW, spinning timer saying it is someone elses turn and nothing else happens.

That is a different problem not related to the topic of this thread. There are threads related to the problem you are experiencing that already exist. I would recommend searching for them.

[Dray Prescot]

I even wonder if settings in my Power DVD 18 could somehow be tweaked to solve the problem. Since I am not sure where the problem is coming from.

I did uninstall all of my old Power DVDs (11 to 17, some of which were still installed on my computer) today. As well as making sure that my NVidia graphics card driver was up to date (it was NOT, somehow the Driver for my NEW graphics card, a GeForce 1050ti, was NOT installed 2 months ago when I got the card, even though I thought I had installed it, so I was still using the driver from last summer for my old GeForce 960).

But I am satisfied just to not play the opening Videos and Logos, if that WORKS.

Are there any updates to Bink Video that could be installed? or settings changed? I have a 1920 by 1080 monitor/TV.

THANK YOU everyone.

[tempest.of.emptiness]

Originally posted by Dray Prescot:

Are there any updates to Bink Video that could be installed? or settings changed? I have a 1920 by 1080 monitor/TV.

I believe that this is all handled internally by the game itself, with no settings exposed to the user except what exists in the game options.