COTW Freeze on Startup -- A FIX

[[PGC] Meteorology]

Shortly after the release of the Bloodhound DLC my game began to freeze on startup. Nothing I tried worked. Finally, after about a month of troubleshooting, I was able to pinpoint my issue. If you have tried all of the default fixes like the ones suggested on the official website, turning off anti-viruses, unplugging external controllers, etc., then this may be your solution.

To fix theHunter: Call of the Wild freeze on startup issue I first removed the folder "Avalanche Studios" from My Documents (I saved it by putting it on the Desktop). Next I turned off the Steam Cloud Synchronization for the game (IMPORTANT). I then ran the game to generate a new default "Avalanche Studios" folder. This fixed the freeze on startup problem, however, I no longer had any of my saved progress (guns, reserve progress, character settings, etc.)

I then proceeded to copy all files from my old \Avalanche Studios\COTW\Saves\76561198024870541 folder and put them into
the same newly created folder EXCEPT for the files reserveworlddata_adf and steam_autocloud.vdf. I also copied and pasted my old \Avalanche Studios\theHunter Call of the Wild folder into the new Avalanche Studios folder. In other words, all files and folders are the same in the new folder as the old, except for the aforementioned two files which you will not transfer over.

I then ran the game and my old saves were there with all my weapons and saved game progress. The game no longer freezes on startup either.

Be sure and turn off Steam Cloud sync for the game or it will begin to freeze on startup again. The problem appears to be rooted in that. I know this because after fixing it I turned the Steam Cloud synchronization back on for the game and it did it again. If this happens you have to redo all of the above steps. Note that simply turning off Steam Cloud sync without generating a new Avalanche Studios folder will NOT work. Even if you delete the steam_autocloud.vdf file after you do it.

To Recap:
1. Move the folder "Avalanche Studios" from My Documents to the Desktop to keep your old files.
2. Right click the game in Steam and then click Properties. Uncheck "Keep games saves in the Steam Cloud for theHunter: Call of the Wild."
3. Run game to make sure it fixes the startup issue and to generate a new "Avalanche Studios" folder in My Documents. Then quit the game.
4. Copy (not drag) all files/folders from the old folder on your Desktop to the new folder in My Documents EXCEPT for "reserveworlddata_adf" and "steam_autocloud.vdf" located in the folder \Desktop\Avalanche Studios\COTW\Saves\76561198024870541.

Please reply if this fix also works for you.


*UPDATE 6/27/2021*
I created a multiplayer session on Te Awaroa and the game crashed. Then it did the freeze on startup issue again after that so I had to go ahead and do the above steps again. I think the issue may not only be rooted in the Steam Cloud Sync, but primarily in the Te Awaroa DLC. It could be causing some type of corruption in the game files. No other reserves create/cause this problem.

This would explain the rest of the game being messed up if the files were then saved via Steam Cloud Sync after loading into a Te Awaroa multiplayer session (in other words why the game consistently freezes after the first initial freeze on Te Awaroa). Even without Steam Cloud Sync on it will do this, as I did not have it on. This tells me it's corrupting local files, not just the steam_autocloud.vdf file. I would steer clear of multiplayer Te Awaroa games after you fix your issue.

[Hannes]

I have the exact same problem, BUT on Revontuli instead of Te Awaroa. So it seems that maybe the "crash at loading"-problem is linked to what ever reserve you were on when you installed the update. Or there is only a select set of maps/dlc:s where the problem can occur. If I exit the game when on revontuli it will crash at start up and I will have to remove reserveworlddata again. It also crashes if I try to load revontuli more than once in the same playing session.

[XavRus98]

Yep thx did work for me. Great!

[Xeno_the_merc]

i still had the crashes and i followed your guide and it still worked its now working again. so even in 2024 this guide still helped massively

[Palm]

Yea this helped me for 1 play session next time same issue again :(

[Millennium2k]

Your workaround works for me. Many thanks!

[markus1301]

Hey Meteorolgy,
you are my man, It's 2024 and we had the same problem: A freeze of call of the wild while startup. Your solution helped. My son can play again, but there is one problem: If I turn on "save to cloud" the computers will say that cloud and pc are not sync. That's right. Then I click "copy from pc to cloud" and we are where we started: A freeze of the program on startup. We did the same again. Is it possible to activate the cloud again?
Thanks a lot and bye,
Markus

[John Deere]

Palm の投稿を引用：

Yea this helped me for 1 play session next time same issue again :(

Same here :-(

[Millennium2k]

markus1301 の投稿を引用：

Hey Meteorolgy,
you are my man, It's 2024 and we had the same problem: A freeze of call of the wild while startup. Your solution helped. My son can play again, but there is one problem: If I turn on "save to cloud" the computers will say that cloud and pc are not sync. That's right. Then I click "copy from pc to cloud" and we are where we started: A freeze of the program on startup. We did the same again. Is it possible to activate the cloud again?
Thanks a lot and bye,
Markus

I get the same issue. I will try to reinstall the game before of Meteorology's workaround.

[[PGC] Meteorology]

markus1301 の投稿を引用：

Hey Meteorolgy,
you are my man, It's 2024 and we had the same problem: A freeze of call of the wild while startup. Your solution helped. My son can play again, but there is one problem: If I turn on "save to cloud" the computers will say that cloud and pc are not sync. That's right. Then I click "copy from pc to cloud" and we are where we started: A freeze of the program on startup. We did the same again. Is it possible to activate the cloud again?
Thanks a lot and bye,
Markus

Markus,

I would not turn on the cloud sync again, as I believe that was one of the issues here. I still have mine turned off.

Also -- to those who have the problem again after playing one time -- make sure you leave cloud sync off and follow my directions to a tee.

[De.Ville]

The game worked well until I bought New England Mountains and Emerald Coast Australia. After this, the game started freezing on startup. Unfortunately, I play through GeForce NOW and do not have access to the files. And disabling the Steam Cloud feature will not allow me to use my save. Great situation.

[leathergoldfish]

I fixed mine. It was helpful reading your solutions. Mine was a bit easier. I opened my steam deck and played a few minutes. Then saved the game. My assumption is the new saved gave overwrote the corrupt game. I was then able to open the game without problem on the PC.

[Lukawashere]

This actually helped me almost 3 years after you posted it and thank you so much for the advice. By the way, the files that are removed to they affect anything after removing them? Does your data save after removing the files or no? I would appreciate if anyone replies. Thanks again!

[[PGC] Meteorology]

LuuKa_XD の投稿を引用：

This actually helped me almost 3 years after you posted it and thank you so much for the advice. By the way, the files that are removed to they affect anything after removing them? Does your data save after removing the files or no? I would appreciate if anyone replies. Thanks again!

Hi Luuka,

No your progress will not be lost. This is because in step 4. of my post I have you copy (not drag) all files except "reserveworlddata_adf" and "steam_autocloud.vdf" back into your Avalanche Studios folder in My Documents.

Just make sure you follow my directions exactly and you will be fine.

[UrNxT]

not sure if this was posted (i am not reading all the post have better things to do today but ...
not sure if this will help but i read in a google search that a persons xbox controller was hooked up and he unplugged it, so i had a ps4 hooked up and that fix it for me after i unplugged it (note it was plugged into my PC )

[Dragon Fire]

Hey Meterology,

I would really like to trie your fix, but first i would like to ask you some questions since i kinda get incompetent when dealing with my own technical issues, because i get nervous. I hope that's ok and would really appreciate it if you could answer them.

My game keeps freezing, since a few days, befor the main Menu (while the Wolf/Bear is in the bottom corner) and then my Pc wont react anymore, is that the same problem you had?

By "Move the folder" i guess you mean drag the folder somewhere else so its gone from Documents? So i can also just move them on a USB stick for example?

When copying the old files to the new one i assume you mean, copy every file in the save/long number folder separately?

So since Steam Cloud is going to be disabled should i manually make copys of the saves folder onto my USB stick?

And just out of curiosity do you know what is in the/what purpose has reserveworlddata_adf folder?