Game won't start, not even error code. HELP!

[Ixerman]

Hello fellow X4 players.

I'm stuck with a non-playable game since the last update. I've played for more than 100h to the game, so I came back for the new DLC, bought it and without any particular reason, the game is not launching anymore.

I've tried nearly anything:

1- Reinstalled the game
2- Erased Steam Cache
3- Verified game files
4- Installed last versions of nvidia and Windows
5- Changed game directory
6- Erased config files from the game
7- Downloaded latest Vulkan SDK
8- Retrograde to 5.10 version of the game
9- Turn off defender and firewall

And I'm sure I am forgeting something that I've done to try and fix it, but nothing at all seems to do the trick.

Game is not even trying to start, I click on play on steam, it charges a bit, steam thinks everything is working, but nothing happens, no black screen, no error code, no nothing. Other games are working properly, but this is not. There isn't even a proces running in the task manager. Changes nothing to try to run the exe in the game file directory, nor using compatibility options, or running as admin.

Don't know what to do... Somebody help me please!!!

[Gin]

Anything to see in Windows Event Viewer ?

Uncheck / uninstall all dlcs and (if you use any mods) unsubscribe from all mods in steam
Empty the "Extensions" folder ?

Try launching base game only.
if it launches... start adding dlcs one by one again and test each time.
Same for mods, but... only add mods which are updated for the game version you're currently trying to launch.

Email Egosoft for more tech support.

[Ixerman]

Thank you for your answer.

Not that I am an expert in Event Viewer, but couldn't figure anything bad related to running the exe of the game. There are no errors, nor alerts popping up for trying to run the game.

I tried another thing. Just downloaded a Non-steam Version of the launcher from Egosoft Forum, but didn't made any difference.

I'm reinstalling the game again without DLCs and I will try your idea. let's see.

[Zloth]

Well, you tried all the good stuff. The only other one I can think of would be to temporarily shut off your virus scanner.

The event viewer should show something. Start the game, maybe 10 seconds, then start event viewer. There should be an entry saying that the application was stopped for some reason. It's often very cryptic but, every once in a while, it will point you in the right direction - like saying that the error happened in some NVIDIA file, indicating a graphic driver issue.

[Ixerman]

Thank you for your answer too.

I've tried once more without defender nor firewall, already did it yesterday. Again no difference, and no related error in Event Viewer. The thing is that the process keeps going unchallenged at my task manager, but nothing happens, there is no game starting at all.

I've tried also the DLC Idea from above, but nothing. I have a clean installation, with no DLCs on it, but it keeps not launching.

I'm kind of puzzled...

[zpc]

Seems like you got very fast feedback from a dev to your report at Egosoft HQ.

[Ixerman]

Originally posted by zpc:

Seems like you got very fast feedback from a dev to your report at Egosoft HQ.

Yeah, was great. Sadly no solution yet... I was planning on giving my computer a nice and deserved retirement next year... seems to me it will come sooner.

[Ixerman]

Seems my laptop was asking for a retirement. 8 years of great service.

Just bought a new rig, I guess there will be no more hardware problems with this game, maybe any other in a long time. I'll test it tomorrow.

This is the new PC:

CPU: AMD RYZEN 7 7800X3D
MOTHERBOARD: ASUS TUF GAMING X670E-PLUS
COOLER: NOCTUA NH-D15S CHROMAX.BLACK
GPU: NVIDIA PNY RTX4080
RAM: CORSAIR DDR5 6000MHZ 16×2GB
HDD: SAMSUNG NVMe M.2 980 PRO 2TB
PSU: MSI MPG A850G PCIE5 850W 80 PLUS GOLD MODULAR
TOWER: MSI MPG VELOX 100P AIRFLOW

I think it will be up to the task!

[webculb]

Originally posted by Ixerman:

Seems my laptop was asking for a retirement. 8 years of great service.

Just bought a new rig, I guess there will be no more hardware problems with this game, maybe any other in a long time. I'll test it tomorrow.

This is the new PC:

CPU: AMD RYZEN 7 7800X3D
MOTHERBOARD: ASUS TUF GAMING X670E-PLUS
COOLER: NOCTUA NH-D15S CHROMAX.BLACK
GPU: NVIDIA PNY RTX4080
RAM: CORSAIR DDR5 6000MHZ 16×2GB
HDD: SAMSUNG NVMe M.2 980 PRO 2TB
PSU: MSI MPG A850G PCIE5 850W 80 PLUS GOLD MODULAR
TOWER: MSI MPG VELOX 100P AIRFLOW

I think it will be up to the task!

That's almost the same setup that I have. I'm getting 160 FPS in space and 120 FPS on stations. This is with all DLC running and around a dozen mods.

[nostromo88]

Has Anybody solved the problem yet

[Taiu]

Same here i cannot start the game wtf u pay 50 euros and u cant play every games work only this s***t from germany not

[Abso]

I am having that exact same problem... And I clearly don't intend to change computer anytime soon.......
Edit : I updated to from Windows 10 to Windows 11, and now it works.

[Carlsberg]

Originally posted by Abso:

I am having that exact same problem... And I clearly don't intend to change computer anytime soon.......
Edit : I updated to from Windows 10 to Windows 11, and now it works.

This is an old thread, you should start your own.

But, have you verified system files? right click on start - run - sfc /scannow