problem with fallout new vegas installation

[Payphone]

whenever i try to play fallout new vegas, it takes me to the launcher, and with no option to play, but instead just "Install", when i click this, it says "fallout new vegas does not appear to be installed and the installer could not be found". so far i have re-started steam, uninstalled and re-installed, verified the game cache (after that it said that there was one file that could not be verified) and created a backup, uninstalled the original and re-installed using the backup, and i have been searching for a solution all day, any advice on how to fix this would be appreciated

[Payphone]

Originally posted by Nightenhelser:

If you have multiple hard drives, make sure you're installing to and launching from the same one.

i do have multiple hard drives, how can i be sure that the launcher is on the same one as the hard drive I installed it on?

[Shierke]

I think the "doesn't like to be installed anywhere other than deault steam dir" diagnosis - is correct. At least in my case it was. I solved this error with a symbolic link (NOT a "Shortcut") pointing to my 'unconventional' steamapps folder.

For those of you that don't know what a symbolic link is:

1 - Open a Command prompt using "Run as Administrator" (Start>All Programs>Accessories>Command prompt)
2 - at the prompt type: CD "C:\Program Files (x86)\steam\steamapps\common\"
3 - hit enter
4 - a new prompt will appear, showing the above path
5 - at the next prompt type the makelink command (described below)

Command:
mklink /d "Fallout New Vegas" "G:\games\Fallout New Vegas"

(*** "G:\games\Fallout new Vegas" is an example. You will want to put the correct path to your Fallout New Vegas install folder.)

6 - hit enter
7 - This should create the representation of a new folder in the "proper" steam directory. (If you were to open this folder, it should take you to the real "Fallout New Vegas" folder, wherever it actually resides.)
8 - You will need to re-create any shortcuts using the new "proper" path. (IE C:\Program Files (x86)\steam\steamapps\common\Fallout New Vegas\FalloutNVLauncher.exe)


Q & A

- What did I just do?
You created a Portal between two folders to make them capable of existing in the same time-space. (For lack of a better layman's description) Be wary, this may cause the release of exotic particles into a neighboring universe.

- Why did this work?
When the computer now tries to find Fallout it will go to the default directory, and find the "Fallout New Vegas" symbolic link (again represented as if the folder were actually there) and use it as a window to the actual install. The game will be fooled into thinking it's using the default install directory, when it is not.

- Why not just use a shortcut?
Because it won't work.