Steam doesn't finish installing this game

[Rackminster]

I've been fighting with the game for around 12 hours now, trying to get it running, and the only thing I can find that's out of whack is that Steam isn't populating the AppData\Roaming folder with anything (not even empty folders). Below is a laundry list of things I've tried. I also have a thread submitted at the TotalWar forums in the support section.

Functionally, the Shogun 2 executable runs and appears in the task manager, but that's all it does. Steam registers the game is running, and tallies hours. I now have 4 hours "played" in a game that hasn't launched correctly once.

1. Verifying the cache multiple times - continually downloading a 11.4MB file over and over and over.
   
2. Running the Redistributes folder items between steps, with and without Admin rights
   
3. Renaming/deleting the ClientRegistry.blob file a few times (no other .BLOB file to clean out)
   
4. The C:\Users\(user)\AppData\Roaming folder contains no game content at all (with hidden folders on)
   
5. Running Steam as Admin just throws warnings about running in compatibility mode, but has no effect otherwise.
   
6. The Benchmark utility can't find the (nonexistant) Roaming folders and eventually tells me my computer can't run the game.
   
7. Completely uninstalled all antivirus and shut down Windows Firewalls
   
8. Checked Steam program compatibility list, uninstalled Daemon Tools but had nothing else.
   
9. Download and re-installed the DirectX 9 redistributable from Microsoft
   
10. Checked DirectX, PhysX, and Visual Studio C++ releases as current
    
11. Windows completely up to date, even with Optional updates installed
    
12. Deleted and re-installed the entire game from Steam
    
13. Deleted just the Data folder and verified to re-download the 12.4GB update
    
14. I've got all the DLC except the "Blood" pack on my account and installed with the game
    
15. Rebooting Windows before trying to run the game after a clean install
    
16. Simply letting the EXE run for absurd periods of time - Steam says I've got over 2 hours of playtime, but it hasn't launched correctly once.
    
17. Tried -dx9 as a launch variable
    
18. Running Shogun 2 in compatibility modes, with and without Admin rights
    
19. Changed the language in Steam from English to Spanish, verified, 450MB DL, reboot, test, back to English for a 490MB DL after verifying files.
    
20. I don't own Rome 2, so any install path issues due to that shouldn't affect me.
    
21. There is no Scripts folder, Log folder, or even The Creative Assembly folder in my Roaming director (I tried putting them there by hand, but the folders stay empty)
    
22. There are no unusual permissions in effect on my PC - everything is Windows default still. The build is literally 4 days old.

My system specs are:
Windows 7 64-Bit
Intel i56700K @ 3.5GHz (quad core, not overclocked)
Asus ROG Maximus Hero VIII
Corsair Vengeance 16GB @2133 (2x8GB DIMM's, not overclocked)
2x Mushkin 1TB Reactor SSD's in RAID0
MSI GeForce GTX 980 4G Video Card

My DxDiag.txt is posted to their forums, but I doubt it'll help since this doesn't appear to be a "Is my machine good enough?" problem and is very much a "This installer is busted" problem.

[SuperGorp]

Having the same probem, it completes download then starts all over.

[Iceira]

@Rackminster
you have some good point here, a new install OS and it still dont work,
so chance for addware is almost ZERO. and then steam might also be a new install or old files ?

you need to check hardware drivers becuase you have no other choise, bios chipset or whate ever auto tool you have see folder for brand name or custom build pc in start menu if such tool is there or try web support site for that name,
im check your hardware at support site atm.

https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/MAXIMUS-VIII-HERO/HelpDesk_Download/

what bios version do you have ?

MAXIMUS VIII HERO BIOS 1402
"Update Microcode and improve system compatibility.

[Iceira]

MSI GeForce GTX 980 4G Video Card
normal we get drivers at nvidia but do check msi auto detect tool i doubt they can help you unless they have made special settings on that card, normal they dont do that anymore,but it is a named brand msi nvidia card,

and dont forget the other asus driver and such if you need them and use it ?

ps thanks for computer information, i hope it will help yourself and was the cause why it dont work

[Iceira]

there is some thing that dont add up, no userdata that means s2 crash before it create it or antivirus app still block it , disable dont count , this is a fact that some av do this mistake and also part of the administrator issue if steam or game dont have it then it cant create it.

[fabtractor59]

c for me like I have never had a problem with Shogun 2
but the problem is c etaller on another game (TOTAL WARS: Empire / rome / Rome2) and more that I have to buy lots of DLC :( and when trying to start a game is nothing but count as if play had ?
NAPOLEON bizard works very well
total wars hope that will soon settle all these problems

[Iceira]

so... do say name of AV, we dont care what you are using,and you are not the first one that shoot himself in the foot and think you did the right test to see if it was av. several people have done that, we can all do mistakes.

[Iceira]

Originally posted by fabtractor59:

c for me like I have never had a problem with Shogun 2
but the problem is c etaller on another game (TOTAL WARS: Empire / rome / Rome2) and more that I have to buy lots of DLC :( and when trying to start a game is nothing but count as if play had ?
NAPOLEON bizard works very well
total wars hope that will soon settle all these problems

try a odd test then goto dlc section deselect new bougth dlc and see if game is working again
problem is a ongoing campaign or modded content and you throw dlc in that need original content but maybe mod has change it, and still no to load save game try new as test can also be a solutions.

[Rackminster]

Originally posted by Iceira:

you need to check hardware drivers becuase you have no other choise, bios chipset or whate ever auto tool you have see folder for brand name or custom build pc in start menu if such tool is there or try web support site for that name,
im check your hardware at support site atm.

I neglected to mention it, but all of my drivers and firmware should be up-to-date. It's part of my routine when I build a new computer. The ASUS motherboard BIOS was downloaded from their site 5 days ago and flashed to the board before Windows even got installed. The NVidia drivers are version 355, the latest one MSI's website offers for the card. Other motherboard components (chipsets, LAN, USB, etc) are all updated from their site.

As for adware/malware - I run adblock on Chrome and haven't had a pop-up or junk issue. I was running AVG until I uninstalled it to troubleshoot this. I don't have any other AV product installed to replace it yet. I've also visited a grand total of maybe 6 websites and haven't downloaded anything from anywhere suspicious or opened any file attachments in emails.

This problem strikes me as some kind of application failure. Like the developers released a patch and it shattered Steam's ability to install the game correctly. The fact that I'm missing the game's user content is the most telling thing; that the executable hangs forever after launching and I never see a splash screen tells me it's looking or waiting for something and just can't find it and hasn't been told how/when to stop waiting.

The game was installed fresh on this computer, but my old computer is still alive and I could go into that one and see if I can rip out the user content from AppData\Roaming and stuff it into the new one. Shogun 2 never ran on that machine, but it did install completely and I was able to get to the splash screen - the game just crashed immediately after and I figured I was running under the specifications and let it slide, assuming I'd get to play on my next machine.

I've got 190+ games through Steam, and this is the first epic failure I've had. I can't think of any other game I've bought through Steam that failed to launch before.

[SuperGorp]

Hmmmm, mine did 2 full 15.1 MB downloads then a pre-allocation download and then another 15.1 MB download and now works fine.

[Rackminster]

When I click "Verify Local Files" it downloads 11.4MB and then I can click "Verify" again and it'll immediately download another 11.4MB - I can repeat it endlessly.

[Iceira]

yeah then you are even harder to help.

ok if you are that good, then lesser explanation then.

check
steamclientservice a service
check windows crash log if any is even recorded
see failed windows install
avg has not report as game blocking by other steamusers (atm.)
tw forum has blame chrome ( game use default browser)
check flashplayer ( game use default browser)
administator with/without on steam and game.exe
reset steam with steam webhelper
no shield issue on steam icon or steam.exe

check with adwcleaner anyway we are at ends road.
same with ccleaner

and you forgot to reply on new steam install or previous left overs from old system ?

i could make it even shorter but then it might be to hard to understand.

check other steam game if more games dont work then you do have steam issues

[Iceira]

GeForce GTX 980 make advance install, select clean install

[Iceira]

sorry if this is to hard but most skilled people dont need explanations, but do ask if needed, even we dont know everthing, and we normal manage it anywway, well again depend on how skilled people are...cya

[Rackminster]

Originally posted by Iceira:

yeah then you are even harder to help.

That's been my problem. I've tried everything I could find online about this in extensive searching. Reddit forums, Steam discussions, official forums - they all have something to say and try, but none of it has worked.

steamclientservice a service
I'll look into this, but it's not something I've gone into yet.

check windows crash log if any is even recorded
I haven't looked at event logs, but can hunt around. The app isn't crashing, exactly, but more refusing to progress. Maybe something's there, though.

see failed windows install
My Windows install was fresh from a DVD, first steps included updating Windows to current updates and getting firmware/drivers up to current standards. The OS didn't suffer any kind of catastrophic issues getting there, but some things (Windows updates) needed to be run a second time simply due to how many there were. It'd install 55 out of 60, and then the remaining 5 after a reboot.

avg has not report as game blocking by other steamusers
AVG has been completely uninstalled. I currently have no antivirus on that machine (not the one I'm posting from).

tw forum has blame chrome
I don't know how Google Chrome could affect the install of a game, but I have tried running the game after closing out every background application and utility and leaving only the bare essentials to run Windows going and it didn't launch.

check flashplayer
I've installed and re-installed the flash player included with the game in the redistributables folder, but didn't go out and overwrite that with a newer version from Adobe. I can try that.

administator with/without on steam and game.exe
I have done this. Steam complained that running in a compatibility mode might affect the stability of games, but otherwise worked normally. Shogun 2 just prompted the admin permissions message and otherwise failed. I performed a number of steps last night with Steam in Admin mode, including verifications.

reset steam with steam webhelper
I haven't done this yet, but will when I get home. I believe the command was steam://flushconfig ?

no shield issue on steam icon or steam.exe
I'm not sure what you mean by this, so I may not be experiencing it. Steam doesn't ask to run as an Admin unless I've told it to and there's no other security active on that machine right now.

check with adwcleaner anyway we are at ends road.
I'll try - but with a brand new build and very little web browsing, I don't expect to find much.

same with ccleaner
Again, not much to clean in a brand new build, but I can try it.

and you forgot to reply on new steam install or previous left overs from old system?
I've tried it both ways. I installed it clean and it did the pre-game installer packages and then stopped at the executable hanging before the splash screen. I also deleted the local content and copied over the files from my old computer afterwards using robocopy /mir and let Steam find the old files and try to use them. This had no effect - but it also didn't grab the user content inside AppData\Roaming, so I'm going to try manually moving that tonight.

check other steam game if more games dont work then you do have steam issues
I've tested a dozen other games - Fallout 4, Darkest Dungeon, Terraria, Dungeon of the Endless, Bionic Dues, etc... all of them are working just fine.

GeForce GTX 980 make advance install, select clean install
I can purge the old drivers and make sure just the newest ones are there. I'm 95% sure that I did that with the last driver package I downloaded, but can do it again.

[Iceira]

Originally posted by Rackminster:

Originally posted by Iceira:

yeah then you are even harder to help.

That's been my problem. I've tried everything I could find online about this in extensive searching. Reddit forums, Steam discussions, official forums - they all have something to say and try, but none of it has worked.

steamclientservice a service
I'll look into this, but it's not something I've gone into yet.
this is same as administator service should work under Service

check windows crash log if any is even recorded
I haven't looked at event logs, but can hunt around. The app isn't crashing, exactly, but more refusing to progress. Maybe something's there, though.
normal most app tell crash issue or just what time it crash so you can see a pattern maybe ?


see failed windows install
My Windows install was fresh from a DVD, first steps included updating Windows to current updates and getting firmware/drivers up to current standards. The OS didn't suffer any kind of catastrophic issues getting there, but some things (Windows updates) needed to be run a second time simply due to how many there were. It'd install 55 out of 60, and then the remaining 5 after a reboot.
some times a kb??????? or soemthing like that fails and missing a retry

avg has not report as game blocking by other steamusers
AVG has been completely uninstalled. I currently have no antivirus on that machine (not the one I'm posting from).
you know very very a databse signatur file can change alot or update the app can cause new blocking issue..

tw forum has blame chrome
I don't know how Google Chrome could affect the install of a game, but I have tried running the game after closing out every background application and utility and leaving only the bare essentials to run Windows going and it didn't launch.
. again you have chose another browser then IE and now you need to figure out if this is the cause of it, ( and you know very well cause and effect,

check flashplayer
I've installed and re-installed the flash player included with the game in the redistributables folder, but didn't go out and overwrite that with a newer version from Adobe. I can try that.
same as always newest flash and java or you have a security issue
we only delete it and apply old version so game launch in test then we upgrade it asap.

administator with/without on steam and game.exe
I have done this. Steam complained that running in a compatibility mode might affect the stability of games, but otherwise worked normally. Shogun 2 just prompted the admin permissions message and otherwise failed. I performed a number of steps last night with Steam in Admin mode, including verifications.
problem here is do client service even work ? that why we flip/flop that properties setting
on the exevutable file to force it if we can, unless steam complain over this.
again uac yellow/blue shield security issue raise the shield on shortcut and do check .exe
not samething

reset steam with steam webhelper
I haven't done this yet, but will when I get home. I believe the command was steam://flushconfig ?
that is another solutions,ecit stem reclik that app to currect security issue
?:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\binsteamwebhelper.exe
also part of the security issue

no shield issue on steam icon or steam.exe
I'm not sure what you mean by this, so I may not be experiencing it. Steam doesn't ask to run as an Admin unless I've told it to and there's no other security active on that machine right now. uac issue administrator issue already explanded

check with adwcleaner anyway we are at ends road.
I'll try - but with a brand new build and very little web browsing, I don't expect to find much.
i know but you know very well addware /virus comes from all places even dvd/cd/archived files ( as i told you we are at ends road )

same with ccleaner
Again, not much to clean in a brand new build, but I can try it.
again i gree with you but you only need 1 app to ruin it with wrong registation ( as i told you we are at ends road )

and you forgot to reply on new steam install or previous left overs from old system?
I've tried it both ways. I installed it clean and it did the pre-game installer packages and then stopped at the executable hanging before the splash screen. I also deleted the local content and copied over the files from my old computer afterwards using robocopy /mir and let Steam find the old files and try to use them. This had no effect - but it also didn't grab the user content inside AppData\Roaming, so I'm going to try manually moving that tonight.

okay is this a brand new install of steam client that install and then install game.
many of os actual have steam instaon diffren disk so then we reinstal os then we add old steam games to the new os and that can give odd behaiver if settings is wrong somhow from the old previous system.( again a security issue with the game )

check other steam game if more games dont work then you do have steam issues
I've tested a dozen other games - Fallout 4, Darkest Dungeon, Terraria, Dungeon of the Endless, Bionic Dues, etc... all of them are working just fine.
this is also a clue this is s2 only issue if you know other older games that need admin added

GeForce GTX 980 make advance install, select clean install
I can purge the old drivers and make sure just the newest ones are there. I'm 95% sure that I did that with the last driver package I downloaded, but can do it again.

standard install and advance is NOT same thing ( make a clan install then checkbox is there )