Anno 2205 isn't starting up

[Yosua]

I've checked the firewall and my antivirus but those things aren't blocking it. I load up Anno and the screen is black and after like half a minute the game crashes. Can somebody many help?

[Yosua]

I didn't check my nvidia driver tho

[Snaru]

i have same problem too. i try everything but result always same.

ERROR SteamInfoReceiver.cpp (42) Failed to initialize Steam
ERROR UplayInstallerImpl.cpp (100) InstallerInit: installer api is not available.

[Silky Johnston]

I'm having the same issue as well, I'm at my wits end after trying compatibility modes, etc

[Silky Johnston]

Bump

[BuffHamster]

Originally posted by Silky Johnston:

I'm having the same issue as well, I'm at my wits end after trying compatibility modes, etc

Those errors have nothing to do with compatibility settings. They are UPlay errors, having to do with UPlay not being installed or updated properly. You need a UPlay account and activation key to run the game.

[Silky Johnston]

Originally posted by BuffHamster:

Originally posted by Silky Johnston:

I'm having the same issue as well, I'm at my wits end after trying compatibility modes, etc

Those errors have nothing to do with compatibility settings. They are UPlay errors, having to do with UPlay not being installed or updated properly. You need a UPlay account and activation key to run the game.

I bought the game on steam, and anno 2070 as well, Anno 2070 works fine. I don't see where uplay could be causing an issue, and I have a uplay account as well

[BuffHamster]

Originally posted by Silky Johnston:

Originally posted by BuffHamster:

Those errors have nothing to do with compatibility settings. They are UPlay errors, having to do with UPlay not being installed or updated properly. You need a UPlay account and activation key to run the game.

I bought the game on steam, and anno 2070 as well, Anno 2070 works fine. I don't see where uplay could be causing an issue, and I have a uplay account as well

Did uplay update? When you start the game, does the initial splash screen indicate that it is "checking for patches"-"logging in"-"synchronizing your save games"? After the first screen, the game will show a intro movie clip then go to the main menu. This is where you set up your corporation (name and logo) then asks which map you wish to start on, ... did it get that far before crashing?

[Silky Johnston]

Originally posted by BuffHamster:

Originally posted by Silky Johnston:

I bought the game on steam, and anno 2070 as well, Anno 2070 works fine. I don't see where uplay could be causing an issue, and I have a uplay account as well

Did uplay update? When you start the game, does the initial splash screen indicate that it is "checking for patches"-"logging in"-"synchronizing your save games"? After the first screen, the game will show a intro movie clip then go to the main menu. This is where you set up your corporation (name and logo) then asks which map you wish to start on, ... did it get that far before crashing?

I get the uplay splash screen like you described, then it goes to a black screen and nothing. I don't get any sound, I don't get the intro movie, nothing :(. The ubisoft support people have been sending me around in circles quoting stuff from the forums I've already attempted to research

[BuffHamster]

@silky: Ah ha, it is not a compatibility issue, rather it is a uplay issue. The game needs to link to uplay before it can start, and in your case, it is not connecting.

Have you tried manually logging into your uplay account and checking to see if you have linked your Steam account? In your Dashboard it should list the accounts you have linked to uplay. At the bottom of your Account Information page is where you can link Uplay to other services, like Google, Steam, Facebook, etc.

As a last resort, you can re-install Anno 2205 and create a new Uplay account*, which should be the updated uplay version and should automatically link it with Steam.

*of course, you will need to come up with a new 'legacy' username.

[Silky Johnston]

@BuffHmaster, if Anno 2070 works wouldnt that mean Uplay is working correctly? Unless it's a game by game basis?

[BuffHamster]

Originally posted by Silky Johnston:

@BuffHmaster, if Anno 2070 works wouldnt that mean Uplay is working correctly? Unless it's a game by game basis?

Not 100% sure, but for me, it appears that 2070 uses a simple autopatcher while 2205 actually logs into the uplay server. I have both games and 2070 starts up differently than 2205 does.

Again, try logging into your uplay account and check to see if Steam is linked.

EDIT: 2070 does log into uplay, but only after the autopatcher (which sometimes fails-manually entering Port 80 gets it working). But if you log into your uplay account from your browser, it will list all the games it knows you have, if 2205 is not on that list, you may have to re-install the game. During install it will try to log into uplay, this is where you enter your username or email address, and password. This is how it links up with your Steam account.

[Silky Johnston]

It sees the game in ubisoft club, the initital account manager doesn't show much

[BuffHamster]

Originally posted by Silky Johnston:

It sees the game in ubisoft club, the initital account manager doesn't show much

I am going on the assumption that your system meets or exceeds the game recommendations and your AV allows a TCP connection to the Ubisoft servers (I am using Avast and it works fine).

In your main Ubisoft Account Managment page (not the club dashboard), under Account Information, is where you can check to see if Steam is linked with your Ubisoft account, if it isn't linked, go ahead and link it.

If this doesn't work, try verifying your game cache in Steam. If that doesn't work, try re-installing the game.

Do you have a nVidia GPU? If so, make sure that the drivers are up to date, they just released another update this week.

[Silky Johnston]

Originally posted by BuffHamster:

Originally posted by Silky Johnston:

It sees the game in ubisoft club, the initital account manager doesn't show much

I am going on the assumption that your system meets or exceeds the game recommendations and your AV allows a TCP connection to the Ubisoft servers (I am using Avast and it works fine).

In your main Ubisoft Account Managment page (not the club dashboard), under Account Information, is where you can check to see if Steam is linked with your Ubisoft account, if it isn't linked, go ahead and link it.

If this doesn't work, try verifying your game cache in Steam. If that doesn't work, try re-installing the game.

Do you have a nVidia GPU? If so, make sure that the drivers are up to date, they just released another update this week.

Yeah, my rig well exceeds the recommendations for the game. I am using an Nvidia GPU, and I updated it this morning to the most recent drivers.

I've disabled all the overlays, Nvidia, Steam, and Uplay.

Steam is linked on the account page

I'm just using the default antivirus from Windows 10 Pro 64bit

I've tried reinstalling the game twice :(

The ubisoft support people have actually recommended trying an older nvidia driver which doens't make much sense to me

I'm stumped honestly

[BuffHamster]

Originally posted by Silky Johnston:

I'm just using the default antivirus from Windows 10 Pro 64bit

^That^,... that right there might be an issue. Never mind the old nVidia drivers, mine are up to date and I have no issues.
You say you have done this?

Find "Anno2205.exe" and right-click it and chose properties, click the compatibility tab and find the Check-Box marked "run this program as an administrator".

It's not really a "compatibility" thing rather it is giving the game's executable permission to read/write and perform special actions, like updating files and saving game settings.

Is it a permissions problem? Check here:
https://winaero.com/blog/how-to-take-ownership-and-get-full-access-to-files-and-folders-in-windows-10/

If not, then check this: Program Files (x86)\Ubisoft\Ubisoft Game Launcher\logs
look for "launcher_log", you can view this file in Notepad or Notepad++. Look for any recent lines marked "ERROR" (each line is timestamped), then Google that error, there might be a solution.

The log file usually points to what is causing the CTD.

I have Windows 7 Pro 64 bit, with Avast(free) and everything works, BUT the Ubisoft folder is on Drive C while Steam is on Drive F. The reason I did this was that my "C" is a 500Gb SSD and permissions are heavily restricted. Drive F is a 2Tb drive and is not so restricted. (plus my Steam folder would never fit comfortably on Drive C).

I am guessing that your Steam folder is on Drive C as well? In that case your Ubisoft folder should be in C:Program Files (x86)\Ubisoft and Anno 2205 is in C:Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common folder.

Even though Anno 2070 with Uplay works, it might be corrupted, did you try this?
https://support.ubi.com/en-GB/Faqs/000025799/Installation-oder-Neuinstallation-von-Uplay
It describes completely uninstalling Uplay and reinstalling the latest version from their server. Make sure to back up your "savegames" folder first into another temporary folder, then after uninstalling the software, you will need to manually delete any leftover files in the C:\Program Files (x86)\Ubisoft\Ubisoft Game Launcher (64-bit versions of Windows) folder.

You must run UplayInstaller.exe as Administrator.

Another option is to install Avast, it's free (of course it will nag you for the Paid version after the trial period expires) but I just keep the free version up to date and ignore the nags. Don't use the "PC Optimization" stuff, as it tends to delete stuff you end up needing later. https://www.avast.com/windows-10-antivirus

I am stumped too, but checking the Launcher log should tell us what is going on, ... maybe?