Patch 2.0 - Launcher issue

[steelboned]

Patch 2.0 - Launcher issue

Hello, I think I might have found an issue with Patch 2.0. When there is no internet connection Launcher freezes and won`t let me play. All I can do is run the game from installation directory.

Could you guys check if you have the same problem?

 

[kiwi68]

Same here, why do I need to have my internet active for playing this game

 

[GuyNwah]

I may have found a way to reproduce this.

It happens if Windows Firewall (or another firewall) is active, you have more than one network defined (for example, you have both a "private" and a "public" network on Vista or W7), and the network that Launcher used before is down. This is likely to occur in ordinary Vista or W7 configurations.

Launcher will try to access the network, but Windows will fail trying to use the network it used before, then Windows will try the other network. There is no firewall rule for Launcher on that network, so Windows Firewall (or whoever does your firewall) will pop up a dialog asking you to allow Launcher to use the network.

About the same time, Launcher will be starting the game and will have taken control of the screen. The firewall dialog will now be hidden, and the game will be jammed until you confirm that dialog, which you can't do because you can't see it.

Workaround: Alt-Tab and see if there is a dialog that you need to confirm. As soon as you do, the game will proceed.

 

[dragonbird]

Interesting thought, and it was worth trying, but no, it didn't work.

I just disconnected the modem (yet again), then turned the firewall off completely. I still got the same error, i.e. the launcher comes up, with no input possible except ESC, and that only if you don't click the mouse anywhere on the screen first.

Alt-Tab didn't bring anything up.

Closing through the task manager does give the "waiting for input" message, but I don't have a clue what input it's waiting for.

I'm using ethernet+DSL, TW2 has access through both the private and public profiles (running private). Windows 7. Only one adapter set up (LAC), Windows firewall.

 

[fabianqa]

i had the same problem

 

[UomoDiGhiaccio]

Same issue here. It all started going the wrong way after patching the game to the new 2.0 version.

 

[waltc.480]

I may have found a way to reproduce this.

It happens if Windows Firewall (or another firewall) is active, you have more than one network defined (for example, you have both a "private" and a "public" network on Vista or W7), and the network that Launcher used before is down. This is likely to occur in ordinary Vista or W7 configurations.

Launcher will try to access the network, but Windows will fail trying to use the network it used before, then Windows will try the other network. There is no firewall rule for Launcher on that network, so Windows Firewall (or whoever does your firewall) will pop up a dialog asking you to allow Launcher to use the network.

About the same time, Launcher will be starting the game and will have taken control of the screen. The firewall dialog will now be hidden, and the game will be jammed until you confirm that dialog, which you can't do because you can't see it.

Workaround: Alt-Tab and see if there is a dialog that you need to confirm. As soon as you do, the game will proceed.

Oh, how I wish it was something this simple... But to recap my experience, it began with the installation of 2.0. When I disable my Windows 7 Internet connection to simulate being off line, I can no longer run the game through Steam--or run it at all. The W2 launcher itself has been altered in appearance from pre-2.0. When no Internet connection is detected, the orange lightning bolt in the upper left quadrant of the launcher (which appears when I am online) transforms into a gray skull & crossbones, and bright orange text appears in the center lower quadrant of the launcher which says this: *Connection error. Try again later. The heading of "Registered User" is also grayed out. At this point the launcher is non-functional, and if you click on it to try and run the game it completely locks up and the only way to get out of the launcher at that point is to kill it through Task Manager. I cannot run the game offline anymore as of 2.0.

Prior to the 2.0 patch, this launcher configuration didn't exist! With no Internet connection prior to 2.0, there was no skull/crossbones, just blank space, and no visible message anywhere on the launcher. And of course, the game was playable offline just as it is supposed to be.

I wish this was a firewall problem! But, my Win7 firewall notification boxes are a good bit larger than the W2 launcher and so would have been evident from the start. Just for fun I tried it with the firewall turned off--absolutely no difference. This is behavior now hard coded within the game as of the 2.0 patch--and if not, then it is one hell of a bug...

 

[tommy5761]

Confirmed non working launcher exe when disconnected from internet . I have retail version of game . The only plus is that i can run from witcher exe . The launcher is fully non functional and the ONLY way to get it off the screen is by task manager .

 

[waltc.480]

Confirmed non working launcher exe when disconnected from internet . I have retail version of game . The only plus is that i can run from witcher exe . The launcher is fully non functional and the ONLY way to get it off the screen is by task manager .

Yes, exactly. The only difference is with the Steam version, running the Witcher2 executable always brings up the launcher, so I cannot avoid it. The weird thing about the foo-bared launcher is that *if you don't click on it* you can get rid of it by pressing ESC. But if you should click anywhere on its surface--task manager is the only way out. Very odd. Seems like a bug, but also seems like an attempt at DRM.

I suspended play of the W2 to await the 2.0 patch, and now I have to suspend again until CDPR gets this sorted out. Well, I *could play* the way it is, but...nah, I'll wait.

 

[tommy5761]

Yes, exactly. The only difference is with the Steam version, running the Witcher2 executable always brings up the launcher, so I cannot avoid it. The weird thing about the foo-bared launcher is that *if you don't click on it* you can get rid of it by pressing ESC. But if you should click anywhere on its surface--task manager is the only way out. Very odd. Seems like a bug, but also seems like an attempt at DRM.

I suspended play of the W2 to await the 2.0 patch, and now I have to suspend again until CDPR gets this sorted out. Well, I *could play* the way it is, but...nah, I'll wait.

Good question . I wonder if this has anything to do with the ongoing court case involving Namco-Bandai .

 

[waltc.480]

Good question . I wonder if this has anything to do with the ongoing court case involving Namco-Bandai .

That very thought had occurred to me as well. I recall something about N-B being upset that CDPR had pulled the DRM out of the PC version without "asking their permission"--but at the time I thought that was either a bogus claim or else someone had gotten something mixed up, because I could not see how a dispute over the distribution of the console version of W2 might have anything to do with DRM on the PC side of the house. I'm still not clear on how that might work, exactly. But if this is the case, then it is incumbent on CDPR to explain the situation quickly. There's no way that N-B could have injected something in the 2.0 code without CDPR knowing all about it... I hate the practice of law/lawyering... Heh...

 

[dragonbird]

When I first found about this yesterday, my initial thoughts were that it was deliberate DRM, but now I think it's unlikely. Firstly, DRM's been around long enough for someone to add it without it being such a total cock-up as this, and secondly, it's too easily by-passed for everyone who doesn't use Steam. (by simply not using the launcher).

They've screwed up. The important thing now is how quickly they fix it.

If their servers go offline tomorrow for some reason, and every player in the world suddenly can't run the game, what do you think the publicity will be like? Especially given that it's undocumented, goes against CDPR and GOG's public statements about DRM, and can't be bypassed by Steam customers.

tl;dr - it's all in my sig.

 

[waltc.480]

When I first found about this yesterday, my initial thoughts were that it was deliberate DRM, but now I think it's unlikely. Firstly, DRM's been around long enough for someone to add it without it being such a total cock-up as this, and secondly, it's too easily by-passed for everyone who doesn't use Steam. (by simply not using the launcher).

They've screwed up. The important thing now is how quickly they fix it.

If their servers go offline tomorrow for some reason, and every player in the world suddenly can't run the game, what do you think the publicity will be like? Especially given that it's undocumented, goes against CDPR and GOG's public statements about DRM, and can't be bypassed by Steam customers.

I see no reason to doubt that--and I would absolutely think it was a bug--if not for the changes made to the launcher GUI (that Tommy has so thoughtfully posted above.) Prior to 2.0, there was no skull/crossbones, and no "connection error" message to be had when you played W2 offline through Steam or otherwise. These changes had to be coded in, otherwise they would not now exist. Perhaps this is some DRM that was originally planned for the game but that got accidentally reintegrated into the 2.0 patch even though CDPR had decided not to use any DRM in the PC version of the game. That's certainly possible! But you'll have to admit that if it is DRM targeted to make running the game impossible unless you are online--well, it has succeeded in doing that, hasn't it?

 

[dragonbird]

I see no reason to doubt that--and I would absolutely think it was a bug--if not for the changes made to the launcher GUI (that Tommy has so thoughtfully posted above.) Prior to 2.0, there was no skull/crossbones, and no "connection error" message to be had when you played W2 offline through Steam or otherwise. These changes had to be coded in, otherwise they would not now exist. Perhaps this is some DRM that was originally planned for the game but that got accidentally reintegrated into the 2.0 patch even though CDPR had decided not to use any DRM in the PC version of the game. That's certainly possible! But you'll have to admit that if it is DRM targeted to make running the game impossible unless you are online--well, it has succeeded in doing that, hasn't it?

You're right. If this wasn't in any way deliberate, then it would be saying something like "Playing offline" instead of "Please try later".

Regardless of whether this is a screw-up or deliberate, or a combination of both, this is still going to harm them.

Remember the fuss back in March when EA blocked a player from using DA2 because of a forum post? I'm fairly sure that was a mistake, even though EA/Bioware never said so. But there are still plenty of people saying "EA ban players from games they purchased if they complain in forums".

And that was just one guy being blocked. This is everyone.

 

[saddletrampnc]

No...not everyone. I've disabled and even unplugged my internet connection. Fired the launcher up, got the 'skull' up in left corner, 'registered user' greyed out, and I can still play. I downloaded the full 2.0 version (10+gb) from GoG.

 

[dragonbird]

No...not everyone. I've disabled and even unplugged my internet connection. Fired the launcher up, got the 'skull' up in left corner, 'registered user' greyed out, and I can still play. I downloaded the full 2.0 version (10+gb) from GoG.

Ok. Everyone except Steam users, and all of those people who don't use Steam, don't know about being able to bypass the launcher, and who downloaded the update instead of the full version. Still several hundred thousand people, probably.

But this is interesting - what exactly happens when you run the launcher? I gather that you can mouse-click on the menu options. Do you have the skull and the "Try again later" message? If not, then it means that there is a working version of the launcher somewhere, and CDPR may just have used the wrong version for the various update packages.

 

[saddletrampnc]

Ok. Everyone except Steam users, and all of those people who don't use Steam, don't know about being able to bypass the launcher, and who downloaded the update instead of the full version. Still several hundred thousand people, probably.

But this is interesting - what exactly happens when you run the launcher? I gather that you can mouse-click on the menu options. Do you have the skull and the "Try again later" message? If not, then it means that there is a working version of the launcher somewhere, and CDPR may just have used the wrong version for the various update packages.

I start it up normally with the launcher. Here's a link to a vid I put up:

W2 Internet Disabled

The 'purple' highlight on the cursor shows the 'skull' and 'greyed' out items.

 

[dragonbird]

So the same launcher, but yours works.

I assume you didn't do anything special to get it to work? Otherwise you'd have shared

Is that XP?
Is there anything in your setup that may be unusual? Are you using a mouse, or some other input device? (Just wondering because of the "target" when you select something)

 

[saddletrampnc]

So the same launcher, but yours works.

I assume you didn't do anything special to get it to work? Otherwise you'd have shared

Is that XP?
Is there anything in your setup that may be unusual? Are you using a mouse, or some other input device? (Just wondering because of the "target" when you select something)

lol...no nothing special. I d/l'd from GoG, installed and been running ever since. I use a wired Logitech Trackman Marble (trackball) mouse and Logitech cordless keyboard. Windows 7 Home Premium tweaked using this guide:

Windows 7 Tweak Guide

I've not had any problems with the W2 at all. I almost got it where I can run it on 'Uber'...still got a few settings to change to see if I can get it there.

 

[dragonbird]

OK. So the only difference is that you downloaded the "big" 10gb version instead of the smaller upgrade. Maybe some other Gog downloader will also come along and say the same, which would be nice. Even if it doesn't help us Steam people directly, it would at least give some kind of confirmation of "fixable screw-up".