Batclient wont start when I install it on a new computer

[Rech]

I have an old computer where batclient works just fine.
When I install batclient on my new computer it wont start.
If I follow the instructions and disable steam cloud and delete C:\Users\xxx\batclient and C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\userdata\xxx\616920 and restart my computer I get a message saying "You are missing crucial configuration files..." and it will try to recreate them.
Nothing happens for several minutes and I have to tell Steam to stop the program. When I hit play again the client will start SOMETIMES, but not every time. If I close the client after it has started once and try starting it again it never starts again.
I have repeated the process many, many times with varying results. Sometimes it starts once, sometimes not.

I have tried copying the C:\Users\xxx\batclient and C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\userdata\xxx\616920 folders from my old computer to the new one but the client will not start
I have tried creating a steam backup of the client on my old computer and restoring it on the new one but the client will not start.
I have tried enabling steam cloud, launching the client on my old computer and saving it to steam cloud. When I sync my new computer to steam cloud and try to start the client it wont start.
I have tried downloading 1.99l version of the client from https://www.bat.org/batclient/exe/batclient-preview-64bit.exe and after installing it, it started ONCE. After closing it and trying again it wouldnt start again.

I have spent several hours trying different solutions and nothing seems to work.

[Janked]

Batclient won't even start

Seems to be a common problem reading the forums. Just purchased the client. I get the popup saying it needs to create those two files. It then just sits there saying it is running, but I see no client. I stop it from Steam, launch it again I get a Splash screen then it doesn't proceed. I am running Windows 11. Right now I can't seem to play at all until this gets resolved.

[Romp]

I am getting the exact same problem. I have uninstalled and reinstalled and it does not fix the issue

[jiojio吸尘器]

me 2

[Axu]

Hi @Janked, @Romp and @jiojio吸尘器,

We've been trying to hunt this one down with our meager resources, but haven't been able to hit this issue (anymore) ourselves. We actually added an option for a more extensive debug regarding this in the previous version, but alas, it seems that right now the game executable cannot seem to pass BAT_DEBUG=true arguments for that to work.

When the BatMUD Steam client is not able to start, it is "trying to establish something in/from the %USERNAME%\batclient folder, e.g. C:\Users\Yourname\batclient -folder on Windows) and the Steam Cloud's folder the game has created AND connect to www.bat.org and batmud.bat.org servers.

The two folders mentioned are basically identical copies of each other and if there is an issue, both need to be "removed" for the game client to re-create them and its configurations from scratch (defaults).

So, to re-iterate, in general there are the two things:

1. Steam Cloud stores a "latest version" of your batclient-folder so that one can play the game from multiple different computers with the "same settings". Steam Cloud is enabled by default. There's an option in Steam to delete this, do this. However, you also need to delete the local version per instructions below, before you try restarting the game client again. (Vice versa, when you delete the local directory, you need to delete BatMUD Steam Cloud saved data, too.)

2. Your computer has the \Users\username\batclient -folder like referred above. This also stores all of your configurations. It seems that quite a few users have experienced an issue where one of the files in this folder has become bugged/corrupted (e.g. 0 byte length or so). Can any of you find such files in there? The directory especially to check is
be batclient\conf. The previous version included error control for game client start-up, but apparently something fails with that as well.

How to not to lose all settings?

If you had a great setup with all those triggers etc. set up, what you can do is to rename the folder (or backup it otherwise, e.g. on Windows mouse right-click on the folder name (batclient) and select Send to -> Compressed (.zipped) folder and then delete that folder from the local computer (AND from Steam Cloud). The game will then re-create all default configurations from scratch again. Then you can move files/replace folders from your backups to replace the defaults. -- Note that obviously one of the files in there is the corrupted one or otherwise making the game client fail starting, (so you'll have to look in manually).

If this doesn't work, please contact us at [e-mail] for debugging this further with our tech support. We'd actually be glad to see one of these happen live.

[Rech]

I managed to get some "progress" doing the following.
- uninstall batclient
- uninstall steam
- delete C:\Users\xxx\batclient
- delete C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\userdata\xxx\616920
- restart PC
- install steam
- install batclient
- launch client
- everything works and I can play
- close client
- launch client
- it wont start

Somehow I manage to get the client to start ONCE but after that it refuses to start again.

[Rech]

I did some more testing with the client. I repeated the steps in my previous post and had the same results. When launching the client for the first time it works but any time after that it just gets stuck in the splash screen and will not start:

https://i.imgur.com/BljmpWj.png

I decided to try caveman tactics and opened C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\BatMUD\ -folder and spam clicked BatMUD.exe until I had it running something like 10 times in task manager and the client suddenly started!

https://i.imgur.com/d8j3kzm.png

The client opened without any windows on the screen, only 2 sets of action buttons. I managed to get login window visible by hitting network -> open login window. I got the generic window visible by hitting setting -> others -> move all frames into view:

https://i.imgur.com/e2DBhR4.png

Now I have a working solution to start the game and play but unfortunately it requires me to spam click BatMUD.exe like a madman and then close all the extra processes. Trying to start it from Steam only gets it stuck in the splash screen (like the first image in this post).

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

[Rech]

I copied C:\Users\xxx\batclient from my old computer and now I have all my windows and settings and triggers set up the way I want them. I can repeatedly and reliably start the client by spamming the hell out of the .exe until it finally starts. Starting it by pressing play in Steam does not seem to work. I guess I have a solution for the problem now, albeit a very clumsy one.

[OneI]

Exactly the same problem. Funy is, that i play from work computer, where everything works fine. I just can't understand how a really complex games work fine and this game client has so much problems ...

[Axu]

This should now be finally fixed with v1.105.

[Axu]

There's a new update (v1.105), which should also fix this kind of issues in general.

[Rech]

Originally posted by Axu:

This should now be finally fixed with v1.105.

I still have the same problem after the update. It keeps getting stuck in the splash screen. Only way to launch the client is to double click the .exe 1-30 times until in finally gets past the splash screen and launches the client. Then I have to kill the extra processes in task manager to get rid of the numerous splash screens stuck on my screen.

[canshow]

Originally posted by Axu:

This should now be finally fixed with v1.105.

It only worked the first time with the new patch.

[Axu]

@Rech and @canshow, sad to hear that the failure tolerance we did on v1.105 didn't help your issue. Could you please send a .zip of your \batclient\conf -directory to [e-mail] (or make it available on a private web share and send the link).

Just make sure you haven't saved your character's password in the config. If you have, just remove that line before sending.

[OneI]

Similar here. Nothing changed with update. On my notebook works fine but on my desktop is random start. Usualy take 3-8 started instances when finnaly one loads.

[Romp]

I am having the same issue. I click to play and the splash screen just sits there, and I have to do a "end task" to shut it down. This occured today with the new client