"Unhandled Exception: Object reference not set to an instance of an object."

[LDan101]

I've not played this in a while and now when I try to I get a pop-up stating "Unhandled Exception: Object reference not set to an instance of an object." Clicking "OK" on it closes the start screen under it. Help greatly appreciated...

[HairballHacker]

It means the code is trying to call a method off of a null object. You just need to instantiate a new one then call the method. Eazy peazy.

[Dolphin Bottlenose]

Originally posted by HairballHacker:

It means the code is trying to call a method off of a null object. You just need to instantiate a new one then call the method. Eazy peazy.

It other words: reinstall the game.

[LDan101]

Thanks. I've just done a files verification via Steam and it said all was good. I'll do a reinstall next (hate to lose all my old stuff though):, unless someone's got a better idead.

[Dolphin Bottlenose]

Save your old stuff. Like your bindings. Don't worry about your game progression - it's stored on the game servers and will be preserved upon the reinstall.

[LDan101]

After trying various things, including an uninstall/install, I still have the exact same problem when launching via Steam (by the app or their installed desktop shortcut).

If I start it via the "EDLaunch.exe" [in Windows (C:) > Program Files (x86) > Steam > SteamApps > common > Elite Dangerous] using "Run as administrator" then the Launcher works fine.

Foot note : Discovering this I created a desktop shortcut for "EDLaunch.exe" in order to easily use "Run as administrator" (the Steam created shortcut doesn't have that option).

Still working on trying to get it to work the other/normal ways though...

[Dolphin Bottlenose]

Keep in mind that once you launch something as Administrator, it may also create files with Administrator permissions that are inaccessible from a normal user account.

[ZombieHunter]

The launcher is written in C# and that is a null reference exception in C#. I've often argued that this null reference error is useless and might as well say bad stuff happened somewhere b/c that message is about as useful as the one Microsoft chose to use.

Re-install the game. Also make sure .NET 3.5 is installed on the system. The ED launcher is quite picky.

And now the technical mumbo jumob of what is happening:

Check the app.config of the launcher and you will see which versions of .NET it needs installed. This error should NEVER be shown in release software but alas it happens from time to time.

And it is NOT the result of an instantiation or a 'new' b/c new is 100% guaranteed to work in C#. Meaning that you do not need to check the result of new unlike C++ where you do. What it most likely means is that either a static load to a .NET DLL failed and this is an internal DLL loading issue (this tends to happen if references cannot be loaded meaning .NET is not installed on your system) or it is a call that returns an object and that object is not being checked for null.

I have seen a null reference exception occur due to modules not loading in correctly. Unfortunately it happens inside of .NET and usually when one .NET module relies on another that is not there or is the incorrect version. The error cannot be caught by developers b/c it happens before Main() is even called. It happens when the compiled code is busy loading in all of the references before Main() is called.

I've had my code crash long before Main() is called and in these cases it is extremely 'fun' read 'horrible' to track those kinds of errors down and fix them.

[Keerah]

I have a new system, a clean game install and now I have exactly this problem, this is so disappointing 😒