Losing my mind - Witcher won't launch

[Morwyn Kelm]

Losing my mind - Witcher won't launch

Ok this will be a long-ish post since I've scoured every 'support' board I can find and tried every possible solution, fix, hack and tweak I can think of. I've *never* had a game I couldn't run - until now. Bought the series to run it through in order since I've never played them but...

I got the Steam version and it didn't work. Then, I bought the GOG version, same problem. Witcher EE - "Direcror's Cut" refuses to run.

What I've tried:
Witcher.exe As-admin, compat-mode (all varieties), disable DPI scaling, 640x480
Launcher.exe - same as above
- DontForceMinReqs - Doesn't do anything.
In each case, I get no error, no black screen, just nothing.

About my rig (Dx Attached below):
Win7x64 Home Premium
Intel QX6950 @ 4.0GHz
Ram: 8GB Dominator @ 1600
GPU: HD6990
Drives: I run a RAID0 dual SSD for boot and 4 platters for storage.

OS/System is fairly clean, I keep it tidy. After each install (verified integrity and cache files for GOG and Steam) I clean out the registry. Drivers are all current and TAGES has never been installed on my system, nor is it needed (via support email) since 1.5.

None of the 'fixes' I have found online seem to work. With the Steam version, one post I read suggested putting Steam.exe in the same location as the Witcher.exe and this caused Steam to want to update, presumably because it finds the exe but none of the support files for it, I cancelled out and didn't let it finish because I already have Steam installed and working fine.

For the GOG version, I do a verify prior to installing and it's the latest version, same thing - no black screen, no error, nothing.

My suspicion is that it has to do with paths and the witcher.ini but I could be wrong. Installation location is:

D:\The Witcher Enhanced Edition Director's Cut\

Steam is installed at default on C:\

Another trick I tried was to launch it from within djinni!.exe and it loads up just fine. Smooth as butter - BUT - I can't start a game. I've changed some settings in the options menu (disabled fullscreen, changed resolutions, etc) but still no go.

Pretty much on hold with the series and, game aside, just want to know what the hell is going on because I have NEVER had a game I couldn't get to run and want to do the series but... waiting! HALP!!!

EDIT: My suspicion is that it's somehow related to paths and what I see in Witcher.ini I've tried manually editing the paths but what's there isn't very clear and some of the paths are odd.. Also, I get two "The Withcher" folders in My Docs which is.. impossible? I copied the contents from one to the other since it was empty and it still didn't work. This leads me to believe the game simply isn't finding resources...

View attachment 25646

 

[RageGT]

hmm.. It launches fine for me. You could try getting GOG Galaxy and select "import folder" (right side of Play button, dropdown MORE option). It will recheck the files in the folder you select and probably will redownload the whole game but it is worthy. I'm quite happy with Galaxy for my TW3.

 

[Sken]

Wild shot, could it be direct x related?

I seem to recall not being able to run W1 or W2 until I installed the following Direct x Runtime, 97mb in size.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=8109

 

[Morwyn Kelm]

Good suggestion but I did that and the vc distrib that comes with W1. Tried every trick in the book, it just won't run. Support has been useless/non-existent. A 'support' guy as CD Projeckt told me in an email to install TAGES. Moron.

@RageGT I'll try it, can't hurt.

Second Edit: "Import Folder" didn't work. Installing via Galaxy. Will report back.

 

[Gilrond-i-Virdan]

By the way, you didn't have to buy the GOG version if you already owned Steam one. You could get it for free here: https://www.gog.com/witcher/backup but I guess it's a bit late now (unless you'll request a refund from GOG, since the game doesn't work for you).

I've never played Witcher on Windows, so not sure what can be causing it. May be it's AMD driver related? It usually works just fine for me on Linux in Wine.

 

[Morwyn Kelm]

Using Galaxy didn't work, either. Although the green flickers black for a brief moment when launched, it doesn't do anything. Ran Galaxy as-admin, changed desktop resolution, disabled aero and themes... Nothing.

The game run FINE if I run it from the editor, that's why I suspect the problem is with paths.

 

[Gilrond-i-Virdan]

@Morwyn_Kelm: By the way, does your CPU have an integrated GPU? You can try running the game on it for a test.

 

[Morwyn Kelm]

No it's not an Intell 4000 or anything like that. It's a HD6990 and soon to be a R390.

 

[Gilrond-i-Virdan]

@Morwyn_Kelm: But the CPU itself is Intel? They usually have integrated GPU which you can use instead of separate AMD card you have. It might be old to run the game well, but at least you can check if it's AMD specific issue or not.

 

[Morwyn Kelm]

Oh no, it's an Intel QX9650, no integrated GPU. This is a custom liquid build, I know what's in it. DxDiag is attached in OP

I strongly suspect the problem is simply with the paths from the witcher.ini in the Witcher system folder, is that where paths are defined?

 

[Gilrond-i-Virdan]

For me it looks like this:

[Alias]
HD0=.\
OVERRIDE=..\Data
SCRIPTS2=.\Scripts
SCRIPTS=.\Scripts
SCRIPTSNSS=..\Data\Scripts
MODULES=..\Data\Modules
AMBIENT=..\Data\Music
MUSIC=..\Data\Music
MOVIES=..\Data\Movies

[Game Options]
Debug Mode=1

[Djinni]
Language=FinalEnglish_Short

---------- Updated at 11:34 PM ----------

Which is pretty generic, since it uses relative paths.

 

[RageGT]

hmm, it's the exact same witcher.ini as I have. Not sure that's the problem.

 

[RageGT]

@Morwyn_Kelm
My best suggestion. Try uninstalling with Revo Uninstaller, cleaning all the residual traces of the game. Then download the GOG version and reinstall it. I believe it is free since you probably have the game registered to your account already. Check for updates from the Launcher which should be placed in your desktop during installation. Let us know if it works?

 

[GuyNwah]

Absolute paths for the game are kept in the Registry. You need good registry-fu to tinker with them. Best to do what RageGT suggests and reinstall. Never install to the default location in Program Files or Program Files (x86). Those are read-only and can make your game unmoddable.