Insomnia Not Booting

[Hyp3rCru$h]

Hello, I originally purchased Insomnia on a different platform but it did not work. I assumed maybe it was a problem with the client... Purchased this game on Steam and I'm having the exact same issue. The game is NOT playing when I try to start it. My drivers are fully updated, I have MSI Afterburner and ThrottleStop turned OFF. I tried to boot the game with altered compatibility options, absolutely nothing seems to work. I am very confused. When I click Play in Steam, it synchronizes says "Running" for about 10 seconds, I can hear my PC fans running a bit harder (indicating maybe its trying to start it) but then nothing occurs.

I've literally been going to Help forums left and right, I've tried almost everything in the book. Reinstalling drivers, ensuring all my Microsoft C++ visuals are downloaded, I have the newest DirectX, I'm really perplexed right now. Any help would mean SO much, thanks.

I have an Alienware x17 R2, intel i9, GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, running on Windows 11

-Markus

[omvinteren]

Hi! Thank you for writing. Can you please tell me, if you bought the game from another platform for the same PC?
Insomnia is an older game, so it might not be compatable with Windows 11. Do you have any chance of trying to boot the game up on a different OS?

[f5f9]

"Insomnia" is my forbidden dream. Everything tells me that I would have loved it. Before removing it from my wishlist, I waited for three years for an Italian translation to come out.
Sadness

[Hyp3rCru$h]

Originally posted by omvinteren:

Hi! Thank you for writing. Can you please tell me, if you bought the game from another platform for the same PC?
Insomnia is an older game, so it might not be compatable with Windows 11. Do you have any chance of trying to boot the game up on a different OS?

Hi there, thank you so much for the response! I have purchased this title from both GOG and Steam. Both clients do not play the game, so I believe its actually the game. I'm pretty sure I read online some people with Windows 11 were playing the game successfully.

[omvinteren]

Originally posted by Hyp3rCru$h:

Hi there, thank you so much for the response! I have purchased this title from both GOG and Steam. Both clients do not play the game, so I believe its actually the game. I'm pretty sure I read online some people with Windows 11 were playing the game successfully.

This is very unfortunate. There are a lot of possible causes for an issue like this. I am sad to say this, but currently we have no way to find out what is going on (The development team of Insomnia has broken up).
Right now I can advise you to get a refund from Steam, if you still can.
I'm sorry.

[Wise Primate]

This is a glitch that affects the Unreal Engine. It affects all games that use a version of Unreal Engine from 4.13 through 4.21. This game uses version 4.21. Those versions of the engine have a flawed implementation of "OpenSSL". It affects all Intel processors starting from the 10th generation. Your "Alienware x17 R2" computer uses a 12th generation Intel processor, so it is affected.

You could read about it here:
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/developer/articles/troubleshooting/openssl-sha-crash-bug-requires-application-update.html

That page mentions a solution, but it doesn't say how to implement it.

This is the method:

1. Press the "Windows" key of your keyboard plus "R" at the same time.
2. Type "sysdm.cpl" without the quotes and press enter.
3. A window will appear. Click the "Advanced" tab.
4. Inside of the "Advanced" tab, click the button that says "Enviroment Variables".
5. A new window will appear. It will say "User variables" and "System variables". You must press the button that says "New" under the "System variables" section, NOT the button that says "New" under the "User variables" section.
6. After pressing the correct "New" button, a small window will appear.
7. In the box next to the words "Variable name", type "OPENSSL_ia32cap" without the quotes.
8. In the box next to the words "Variable value", type "~0x20000000" without the quotes. You MUST include the strange symbol before the first zero, but NOT include the quotation marks.
9. After you have verified that you typed or copied-and-pasted both parts correctly, press the "OK" button.
10. Restart your computer. DON'T press "shutdown" and then turn it on again, because you may have "fast startup" activated, which may cause the value to not be activated. Pressing "Restart" will ensure that the value will be set.

After you have followed the instructions and restarted your computer, try playing this game.

[omvinteren]

Originally posted by Wise Primate:

This is a glitch that affects the Unreal Engine. It affects all games that use a version of Unreal Engine from 4.13 through 4.21. This game uses version 4.21. Those version of the engine have a flawed implementation of "OpenSSL". It affects all Intel processors starting from the 10th generation. Your "Alienware x17 R2" computer uses a 12th generation Intel processor, so it is affected.

Thank you so much for this!
If this solution helps, we'll be sure to note it and to share with other players.

[Wise Primate]

The simpler method below may work. Try this first, and if it doesn't work, try the instructions in my last message instead.

1. Open the Steam program and go to your "Library".
2. On the list of games on the left, right-click "Insomnia: The Ark" and click "Properties".
3. A small window will appear. On the left side, click "General".
4. In the space below the words "Launch Options", enter this:

cmd /c "set OPENSSL_ia32cap=:~0x20000000 && %command"

[Hyp3rCru$h]

Originally posted by Wise Primate:

This is a glitch that affects the Unreal Engine. It affects all games that use a version of Unreal Engine from 4.13 through 4.21. This game uses version 4.21. Those versions of the engine have a flawed implementation of "OpenSSL". It affects all Intel processors starting from the 10th generation. Your "Alienware x17 R2" computer uses a 12th generation Intel processor, so it is affected.

You could read about it here:
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/developer/articles/troubleshooting/openssl-sha-crash-bug-requires-application-update.html

That page mentions a solution, but it doesn't say how to implement it.

This is the method:

1. Press the "Windows" key of your keyboard plus "R" at the same time.
2. Type "sysdm.cpl" without the quotes and press enter.
3. A window will appear. Click the "Advanced" tab.
4. Inside of the "Advanced" tab, click the button that says "Enviroment Variables".
5. A new window will appear. It will say "User variables" and "System variables". You must press the button that says "New" under the "System variables" section, NOT the button that says "New" under the "User variables" section.
6. After pressing the correct "New" button, a small window will appear.
7. In the box next to the words "Variable name", type "OPENSSL_ia32cap" without the quotes.
8. In the box next to the words "Variable value", type "~0x20000000" without the quotes. You MUST include the strange symbol before the first zero, but NOT include the quotation marks.
9. After you have verified that you typed or copied-and-pasted both parts correctly, press the "OK" button.
10. Restart your computer. DON'T press "shutdown" and then turn it on again, because you may have "fast startup" activated, which may cause the value to not be activated. Pressing "Restart" will ensure that the value will be set.

After you have followed the instructions and restarted your computer, try playing this game.

You… my friend… know your stuff. I’m blown away right now, IT WORKS! I’ve been trying to get this running for weeks. Honestly, thank you so much! Now I can play Insomnia AND Devil’s Hunt 🥺👏 You are a legend.

@OMVinteren You can mark this as solved and please share this with the rest of the community. I’ve been to TONS of support forums and nobody got even close to this guy. Nailed it! I am so happy right now!

[omvinteren]

Originally posted by Hyp3rCru$h:

@OMVinteren You can mark this as solved and please share this with the rest of the community. I’ve been to TONS of support forums and nobody got even close to this guy. Nailed it! I am so happy right now!

Noted. I am very happy to see that Insomnia community supports each other.

[omvinteren]

Originally posted by Wise Primate:

The simpler method below may work. Try this first, and if it doesn't work, try the instructions in my last message instead.

1. Open the Steam program and go to your "Library".
2. On the list of games on the left, right-click "Insomnia: The Ark" and click "Properties".
3. A small window will appear. On the left side, click "General".
4. In the space below the words "Launch Options", enter this:

cmd /c "set OPENSSL_ia32cap=:~0x20000000 && %command"

We greatly appreciate your help! You just fixed a major issue.
To thank you, we would like to offer you a Steam key to any other HeroCraft PC game. Please DM me, I've sent you a friend request :)

[Polien Agricola]

Originally posted by Wise Primate:

This is a glitch that affects the Unreal Engine. It affects all games that use a version of Unreal Engine from 4.13 through 4.21. This game uses version 4.21. Those versions of the engine have a flawed implementation of "OpenSSL". It affects all Intel processors starting from the 10th generation. Your "Alienware x17 R2" computer uses a 12th generation Intel processor, so it is affected.

You could read about it here:
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/developer/articles/troubleshooting/openssl-sha-crash-bug-requires-application-update.html

That page mentions a solution, but it doesn't say how to implement it.

This is the method:

1. Press the "Windows" key of your keyboard plus "R" at the same time.
2. Type "sysdm.cpl" without the quotes and press enter.
3. A window will appear. Click the "Advanced" tab.
4. Inside of the "Advanced" tab, click the button that says "Enviroment Variables".
5. A new window will appear. It will say "User variables" and "System variables". You must press the button that says "New" under the "System variables" section, NOT the button that says "New" under the "User variables" section.
6. After pressing the correct "New" button, a small window will appear.
7. In the box next to the words "Variable name", type "OPENSSL_ia32cap" without the quotes.
8. In the box next to the words "Variable value", type "~0x20000000" without the quotes. You MUST include the strange symbol before the first zero, but NOT include the quotation marks.
9. After you have verified that you typed or copied-and-pasted both parts correctly, press the "OK" button.
10. Restart your computer. DON'T press "shutdown" and then turn it on again, because you may have "fast startup" activated, which may cause the value to not be activated. Pressing "Restart" will ensure that the value will be set.

After you have followed the instructions and restarted your computer, try playing this game.

Oh yeah! It works! I have the GOG version of the game and it worked with that as well.
It was incredibly frustrating when yesterday the game suddenly (before it worked) stopped launching. Because at one time it left me with a very warm feeling and now I really want to replay it. Thank you so much for being able to do this.

[Polien Agricola]

@OMVinteren I confirm - the method works

[omvinteren]

Originally posted by Polien Agricola:

@OMVinteren I confirm - the method works

Thanks! I already passed this solution to our Support team and other community managers, so we can help other people with this issue :)