Launch issues and The Beta branch.

[ManOwaR]

Due to the large number of similar requests to technical support, we created the following mini FAQ.

1. The game won't launch, can run but slowly, freezes on applying new settings

Most often this is because of active STEAM overlay, GeForce Experience overlay (if you have got nVidia card) or their mix. Try to disable overlay in STEAM game properties and GeForce Experience options accordingly.
Second common reason is antivirus software. If you have one, try to disable it temporary, or add entire game folder to exception list.

2. The game launches, you can hear the sound, but the screen remains black (or goes to power saving mode, or displays a floating warning related to unsupported mode)

In 99% of all cases, this happens on nVidia graphics card connected with analog cable to monitor. It is a bug in nVidia drivers, related to corrupted registry settings. Easy to check if it is the case - just launch DxDiag diagnostic utility and verify on Display tab if you have "Non-PnP" monitor and "unknown" native mode.
The only "true" solution is to fix drivers issue. Often installing display and/or re-installing graphics drivers really helps. Also it is possible to fix by switching to some digital interface (DVI, HDMI or DisplayPort) if possible.
Otherwise you can switch to beta branch, it has special workaround for such a broken configurations.

3. Graphics card overheating

The game uses graphics hardware at its maximum. Especially in Dynamic Lighting mode.
The game does not use any hacks or undocumented APIs, so if a graphics card is overheating, it's the manufacturer's fault. It should not overheat under any valid load.
As a workaround, it is possible to switch to static lighting to reduce load, to enable vertical synchronization in graphics drivers control panel, or switch to a beta branch, where you can enable VSync in game settings (game restart is required). Either of that options limits the FPS to the refresh rate of you display, typically 59-120Hz, reducing GPU load.
With VSync set on, you may notice game input is somewhat delayed. This is because game input is synchronized with frame rate.
We're working on workaround to handle this case in a better way.

P.S.: Beta branch is in unhurried WIP (work-in-progress), once it's ready, we'll move it to public default and announce full list of changes.

[Beefy Otaku]

Tried running steam as admin and disabling the overlay in steam. Still every time I launch the game the window just sits there and never responds tried uninstalling the game and verifying the files and it still won't launch

[Mr.dif]

(((

[Jukebox Goblin]

none of this worked for me :(

[🍁DooMAGE🍁]

can we please get a fix?

[vlad[54rus]]

İlk olarak ๋ tarafından gönderildi:

Hi there I have the DVD-Box of the game, but the key don't work on steam.is there a way that you can help me, ManOwaR ?

You must convert your key first: http://cop.stalker-game.com/?page=reclaim

[𝓚𝓘𝓣𝓢𝓤𝓝𝓨𝓐]

уаргшршиашигш

[xBioniCxx]

Hello all. I am also experiencing the issue of Shadow of Chernobyl and Clear Sky not launching. You click Play, and then it shows the box with the name of the game, but it doesn't load any further. Have to click on it and close the program when it errors, or you can click on Stop in Steam itself and close it that way, or close in Task Manager.
I knew I had launched the game once awhile back, and it worked. I was hooked to an external tv using HDMI, and was playing it on that screen.
I have tried that again and it does launch both games correctly. You do, however, have to have your display setting set to only output on the external tv/monitor (laptop screen OFF).

I have an ASUS ROG Strix gaming laptop, and it has the MUX Switch feature, which bypasses the internal/integrated gpu, and outputs directly from the dedicated gpu to the screen, instead of the normal flow where it passes through the internal gpu first, and then it outputs to the dedicated gpu/screen. When using an external screen, it automatically bypasses the integrated gpu. I turned on this feature, restarted (which is required), and then disconnected the HDMI cable. I now can launch both games successfully just on my laptop itself.

So it seems maybe on Windows 11 (I am on 11), or maybe with a newer Windows update, it has caused this to become an issue seeing the other comments on here. I think there are ways of adjusting your system through the BIOS to do the same thing as this MUX Switch does, but I don't have knowledge on that process to skip integrated graphics.

Maybe if others have a MUX Switch feature on their systems, they can turn that on and then see if the games will run, or try outputting exclusively to an external monitor or tv.

[Just Mosin Around]

İlk olarak xBioniCxx tarafından gönderildi:

Hello all. I am also experiencing the issue of Shadow of Chernobyl and Clear Sky not launching. You click Play, and then it shows the box with the name of the game, but it doesn't load any further. Have to click on it and close the program when it errors, or you can click on Stop in Steam itself and close it that way, or close in Task Manager.
I knew I had launched the game once awhile back, and it worked. I was hooked to an external tv using HDMI, and was playing it on that screen.
I have tried that again and it does launch both games correctly. You do, however, have to have your display setting set to only output on the external tv/monitor (laptop screen OFF).

I have an ASUS ROG Strix gaming laptop, and it has the MUX Switch feature, which bypasses the internal/integrated gpu, and outputs directly from the dedicated gpu to the screen, instead of the normal flow where it passes through the internal gpu first, and then it outputs to the dedicated gpu/screen. When using an external screen, it automatically bypasses the integrated gpu. I turned on this feature, restarted (which is required), and then disconnected the HDMI cable. I now can launch both games successfully just on my laptop itself.

So it seems maybe on Windows 11 (I am on 11), or maybe with a newer Windows update, it has caused this to become an issue seeing the other comments on here. I think there are ways of adjusting your system through the BIOS to do the same thing as this MUX Switch does, but I don't have knowledge on that process to skip integrated graphics.

Maybe if others have a MUX Switch feature on their systems, they can turn that on and then see if the games will run, or try outputting exclusively to an external monitor or tv.

I was literally playing this game a day ago with no issues and now it won't load up. Just pops up a message saying there is an issue with XR_3DA. I've uninstalled which solved nothing

[marior]

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2-czekam z niecierpliwością

[Катя)]

сталкер имба

[Rat_King]

So none of the solutions work for actually getting any of the games to work.

[ygarian]

I removed Steam and Nvidia overlays, but the game still won't start. When starting a new game and selecting difficulty, the screen goes black. Same when trying to load a saved game (yes, the game worked, a few years ago). ALT-TAB shows that other programs are still running (but can't be changed to - the screen remains black). Unlike those other tasks, Stalker can't be terminated from the ALT-TAB view. CTRL-ALT-DEL works, but task manager screen is also black. Leaving and entering again via "switch user" changes nothing. Only way out: Sign off. All drivers are up to date and the problem persisted through several Nvidia driver versions.
And yes, I have a regular PnP monitor connected, verified by DxDiag.

[Xottab_DUTY]

İlk olarak ygarian tarafından gönderildi:

I removed Steam and Nvidia overlays, but the game still won't start. When starting a new game and selecting difficulty, the screen goes black. Same when trying to load a saved game (yes, the game worked, a few years ago). ALT-TAB shows that other programs are still running (but can't be changed to - the screen remains black). Unlike those other tasks, Stalker can't be terminated from the ALT-TAB view. CTRL-ALT-DEL works, but task manager screen is also black. Leaving and entering again via "switch user" changes nothing. Only way out: Sign off. All drivers are up to date and the problem persisted through several Nvidia driver versions.
And yes, I have a regular PnP monitor connected, verified by DxDiag.

Try to disable fullscreen and enable it only when the game loads.
Also you could beta pre 1.0007 test branch.

[parakleta]

Based on this idea that other applications might mess with it I closed everything else and the game worked. I then went through programs that I had been running one at a time until it would fail to launch, and for me it turned out to be the GOG Galaxy Launcher which was minimised. Afterburner, Epic, Steam, etc. all didn't cause a problem.

ETA: Interestingly, once I got into the game and set the resolution to match my screen resolution it launched correctly even with the GOG application running. Seems it might be a conflict triggered by the change in screen resolution. Not sure if there's a way to fix that in a text config file somewhere but setting the game to run at your native resolution could fix the problem.

[76561199536624730]

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