Game Boot Problem

[Snivy Films]

Good day, I have been enjoying HoI4 ever since i got it a few years ago, but currently after the launcher screen where i press play, Either the launcher goes away and doesnt boot the game, or it says Game Failed to Start. I have tried disabling everything (DLC and Mods), validating game files, and reinstalling the game. Any suggestions for a solution would be nice.

(The game fails to boot on Windows, but does boot fine on MacOS, so it is this game and Windows)

[bubbas]

One thing you could try is navigating to your HOI4 install folder, locate a file named dowser.exe and right click it and select properties. Then select the 'Compatability' tab and tick the box next to 'Run this program as an administrator' and click ok.

Then run the launcher and see if it works.

[Snivy Films]

Thanks for the suggestion bubbas, I have tried your solution and it has not worked unfortunately

[bubbas]

Try setting the displaymode to borderless fullscreen in the game settings in the launcher.

[Snivy Films]

Hello again bubbas, I typically play in Windowed Borderless, I have attempted to swap all screen modes already, No dice

[bubbas]

Hmmm, what if you try this:

Right click steamapps/common/Hearts of Iron IV/hoi4.exe
set compatibility to run in 640 X 480,
then start from the edited .exe.
Adjust your resolution through the in-game options
Exit the game
Remove the check from 640 X 480 box
Start the game from the steam library

[bubbas]

Or this:

Go to your game's install folder, where the .exe for the game is
Right click the game's .exe file
Go to properties
Go to the compatibility tab
Tick "Run this program in compatibility mode for:"
Select windows 8 from the dropdown
Tick "Disable full-screen optimization"
Click "ok"
Run the program

[Snivy Films]

Hi Bubbas again, Tried both of your ideas, both of which didnt work.

[bubbas]

Maybe you are better of with contacting their tech support at:
https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/index.php?forums/hearts-of-iron-4-tech-support.952/
You will need a paradox account and sync it to steam to access that forum section.

[Snivy Films]

Thats fair, Ill do that, thanks for your suggestions bubbas

[Snivy Films]

I did a bit of testing, and i have determined that it might have to do something with the new launcher (introduced with 1.8), as reverting to any game version that used the old launcher booted up fine, with no problems

[bubbas]

In that case it might just be a faulty launcher installation. Navigate to your HOI4 install folder, locate a file named launcher-installer-windows.msi and run it then choose remove.

Then restart your computer and then start the game and see if it works now.

[ev0k3r]

I'm having the same issue today, it just started randomly... did you manage to fix it?

[Snivy Films]

As of now, no ev0k3r

[Snivy Films]

Hello to people who needs this same type of support, Paradox got back to me with these instructions, I have yet to do them because i cannot do them at this time (phone squad), but when i do i shall report the results here.

Go to your .../Documents/Paradox Interactive/{Game Name} Folder (The {Game Name} = the name of the paradox game, IE Hearts of Iron IV or Europa Universlis IV ETC.)
Move your save game folder outside of this directory, such as to the desktop, to temporary save it
Unsubscribe from all mods
Right click the game in the Steam Library
Go to properties
Go to the BETAs tab
Ensure opt out is selected from the dropdown
Select close
Right click game in the Steam Library
Select Uninstall
Uninstall Paradox Launcher v2 from the Windows "Apps and features" (Win 10/8/8.1) or "Programs and Features" (Win 7) utility, if still present.
Go to your game's previous install location folder (normally ...\steam\steamapps\common\)
Delete the folder with the game's name as the folder's name if a folder exists there
Go to C:\Users\NAME\Documents\Paradox Interactive
Delete the folder with the game's name as the folder's name if a folder exists there
Delete your C:/users/<UserName>/AppData/Local/Programs/Paradox Interactive/ folder if it exists
Delete your C:/users/<UserName>/AppData/Local/Paradox Interactive/ folder if it exists
Delete your C:/users/<UserName>/AppData/Roaming/Paradox Interactive/launcher-v2/ folder if it exists
Go to the folder your steam.exe file is located in
Delete everything except the steamapps folder, steam.exe, and userdata folder
Run the steam.exe file and let steam download all the files it needs
Restart Computer
Install the game to your C: Drive (If possible, make sure you install the game outside the 'C:\Program Files\' or 'C:\Program Files (x86)\' folders, as it can cause issues with permissions)
Copy the c:\windows\system32\msiexec.exe file to your game's install folder
In the games install folder run launcher-installer-windows.msi
During installation change the install path to your steam install location
Add the game's .exe, the steam.exe, and the dowser.exe (if it exists in the games's install folder) to the exceptions list/white list of your antivirus app
Go into Windows Defender Security Center -> Virus & Threat Protection -> Virus & Threat Protection settings and allow the steam.exe, the game's .exe, and the dowser.exe (if it exists in the games's install folder) files through via Allow an app through controlled folder access
Set both steam.exe, the game's .exe, and dowser.exe (if it exists in the games's install folder) to run as the Windows Administrator user in the .exe properties (Windows 10 only)
Shut down computer completely and Start Computer back up (It is important that you do not just do another computer restart and you do a shut down and then manually start the computer back up)
Start the game launcher
Change the windowed mode to borderless fullscreen
Select play
If it fails to launch try and run the game's .exe file in the install folder (NOT the dowser.exe). (This will bypass the launcher and try and run the game directly)
If there are no issues you can now move the save game folder back into place
Test game
If there are still no issues you can re-subscribe to mods slowly and test as you do so.
If there are still no issues you can now move the installation of the game to any other drive if you wish

(It mentions at the end that if it doesnt work, to get in touch with them with some more instructions)

[ev0k3r]

Actually fixed it by repairing the 2015-2019 C++ packages. Go to Add/Remove programs on Win10 and click Modify on both 2015-2019 C++ redtristributables and then select Repair. Restart your PC and it should work. If it doesn't, remove the launcher and reinstall.