My game won't start

[boogie_dog]

I've tried every thing I could. Even tried looking at guides and nothing has helped.

Any time I boot up Stardew Valley nothing happens. It says it's running, but it's not showing or doing anything.

Does anyone know how to fix this?

[Xx420xX]

I've not had this problem with SDV, but have with a few other games. Try opening your Task Manager, forcing both Steam and Stardew to end task, and then retry opening Stardew

[boogie_dog]

Originally posted by Xx420xX:

I've not had this problem with SDV, but have with a few other games. Try opening your Task Manager, forcing both Steam and Stardew to end task, and then retry opening Stardew

I tried this and I don't know how to force close stardew. Tho some thing interesting happened. It opened. but when I first tried it shut off steam. it's kinda odd.

[Preposterown]

I've had the same issue since the 1.6 update dropped. The game will "launch" but just run in the background for several minutes. Eventually, the game window will pop up. However, the game will completely freeze upon saving. It will also completely freeze if attempting to pull up the saves list (not load a game, just pull up the list of saves). I haven't been able to figure out a fix either.

Edit: I don't use SMAPI, so that being the issue is eliminated.

Update: I've finally fixed it. I think...

[boogie_dog]

yea thats what happened to me. I use smapi too and I disconneted it and it still didnt work.

[Preposterown]

I finally got the game running properly again (so far). Here's what I did:

1. Completely uninstall. Navigate to AppData>Roaming (Windows key+R and type in %appdata% then find Roaming folder) and delete the Stardew Valley folder entirely.
   
2. Go here[www.microsoft.com] (Windows) and download/install update.
   
3. Reinstall the game.
   
4. Before launching the game at all, go back to AppData>Roaming. Open the Stardew Valley folder. Delete startup_preferences.

Although I have tried deleting startup_preferences and installing updates several times, it finally worked when I did this sequence precisely. Prior, it had made absolutely no difference. If the game breaks again, I'll update. Hopefully with possible reasons the game broke. Oh, and I still don't run SMAPI/mods. So I'm not sure if this sequence will have any success with SMAPI usage.

Edit: I forgot to mention I also deleted all the save games cloud backup restored when I deleted startup_preferences. I'm not sure if this had any affect on fixing things.

Update (8/6/24): I have installed SMAPI and tested gameplay with very light modding (Content Patcher, NPC Map Locations, Better Ranching, Automatic Gates). The game has remained stable so far.

[boogie_dog]

where do I find startup_preferences in the StardewValley file? I can't find it

[Hananas]

I had the same problem, already tried every other suggestions, following guides, and even reinstall the game three times, but nothing could make my game run except it should be on compatibility mode. I just want to play to relax but this issue occurs and made it even more frustrating. I want to try using mods but even the normal game can't launch.

[Preposterown]

Originally posted by boogie_dog:

where do I find startup_preferences in the StardewValley file? I can't find it

AppData>Roaming>StardewValley

The quickest/easiest way to get to it is to use Run or WinKey+R and type in %appdata%.

[Preposterown]

Originally posted by Hananas:

I had the same problem, already tried every other suggestions, following guides, and even reinstall the game three times, but nothing could make my game run except it should be on compatibility mode. I just want to play to relax but this issue occurs and made it even more frustrating. I want to try using mods but even the normal game can't launch.

It's possible my fix is a one-off. But it made the game playable again. I also ran through troubleshoot after troubleshoot without solution. The game seems to have broken, and remains broken, for several players after 1.6.

[boogie_dog]

Originally posted by Preposterown:

Originally posted by boogie_dog:

where do I find startup_preferences in the StardewValley file? I can't find it

AppData>Roaming>StardewValley

The quickest/easiest way to get to it is to use Run or WinKey+R and type in %appdata%.

thats what i did and i couldn't find the startup_prefrences

[boogie_dog]

Originally posted by Hananas:

I had the same problem, already tried every other suggestions, following guides, and even reinstall the game three times, but nothing could make my game run except it should be on compatibility mode. I just want to play to relax but this issue occurs and made it even more frustrating. I want to try using mods but even the normal game can't launch.

what is compatabillity mode?

[Preposterown]

Originally posted by boogie_dog:

Originally posted by Preposterown:

AppData>Roaming>StardewValley

The quickest/easiest way to get to it is to use Run or WinKey+R and type in %appdata%.

thats what i did and i couldn't find the startup_prefrences

https://postimg.cc/rzbf60xN

If it's not in there, I'm not sure why. But you could delete that entire folder and once the game is launched, a new folder will be created (which is the end goal anyway).

Compatibility modes are found under the properties menu of an executable. In this case it would be the game executable found in the Steam directory. I didn't have any luck with compatibility modes either, but nonetheless.

You can get to it by right-clicking Stardew Valley in your steam library. Go to properties. Go to local files>installed files. There you should see at the top "installed files". Click the "browse" button next to it and that'll open up the game's install folder. Scroll through until you find the Stardew Valley (application). Right click that and you'll find a compatibility tab at the top of that menu.

[Puchbol]

I had the issue, completely Reformatted and Reinstalled Win10, Reinstalled SDV, and nada. Game 'Launches', as an icon on the Taskbar, Audio plays, the Mouse Cursor disappears, and the only way to get back is 'Alt-F4'.

Maybe a Radeon issue; do you have an AMD GPU?

[boogie_dog]

a what?

[Puchbol]

Originally posted by boogie_dog:

a what?

GPU Software.

Also, the game works if I disconnect my secondary monitors.