[PC-Steam] Cannot start a new game nor load any saved game

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[PC-Steam] Cannot start a new game nor load any saved game

Hi,

I can't play Witcher 3 at all since the new patch (1.30) and I can't understand why. I've got the game installed through Steam with all DLCs installed : View attachment 71011 (every DLCs are ticked and shown as "Installed" by Steam).

My original issue with the game was that I couldn't play because the game didn't recognize all DLCs in-game. I've gone about 4 re-installations, trying to figure out why some DLCs didn't appear in-game.

At my second installation, even with only one DLC (Temerian Armor Set) installed in Steam, the game would never recognize the DLC in a consistent manner. About 1 times out of three the game would recognize the single DLC (Temerian Armor Set).

At my third installation, I wiped out the following folders (Documents\The Witcher 3 and Steam\steamapps\common\The Witcher 3) after uninstalling the game through Steam. I then installed the game from Steam again. Steam automatically installed every DLCs as well but when I started the game, the result was worse, only a few (about 3-4) DLCs would be recognized.

At my fourth installation, I uninstalled through Steam and deleted the same folders again. Then, I installed through Steam but without any DLCs (I have a monthly data cap). I then proceeded to install the DLC one by one, going through bottom to top from this list here : https://steamdb.info/app/292030/dlc/. I also started Witcher 3 after every DLC installation to confirm whether they were recognized or not. Here are my notes concerning the installations of those DLCs and they are recognized in the game unless noted :
1. Temerian Armor Set
2. Beard and Hairstyle Set
3. Alternate Look For Yennefer
4. Witcher Contract: Missing Miners
5. Nilfgaardian Armor Set
6. Elite Crossbow Set
7. New Quest: Fool's Gold
8. Ballad Heroes: Neutral Gwent Card Set
9. Scavenger Hunt: Wolf School Gear
10. Alternate Look For Triss
11. Skellige's Most Wanted
12. Skellige Armor Set
13. Alternative Look For Ciri
14. New Finisher Animations (Not recognized or is it supposed to appear in the menu? It doesn't show as missing when loading my save)
15. New Quest: Where The Cat and Wolf Play (Not recognized, confirmed by loading my save and by the menu)
16. New Game Plus
17. Heart of Stone
18. Blood and Wine (Not recognized, confirmed by loading my save and by the menu)

However, after the fourth installation, I've had to reboot to install updates for WIndows. After I rebooted, I launched The Witcher 3 and to my surprise, all DLCs were recognized in the game. However, when I exited the game and launched it again, the same DLCs were not recognized by the game at all (Blood and Wine & Where The Cat and Wolf Play). I rebooted again and the DLCs were all available but only for the first game startup after a reboot. Subsequent launches of the game would render the two DLCs missing in-game.

So I rebooted Windows again and I launched the game. However, I cannot load nor create any new game at all for the DLCs! Launching a new game of Blood and Wine only resulted in an endless loading screen. I killed the process and then launched the game once again (Once again, the two DLCs Blood and Wine & Where The Cat and Wolf Play are now missing). I tried to start new game of Hearts of Stone only but it resulted with the infinite loading screen again. I tried to launch a new normal game and once again, the infinite loading screen is there. When I analyse the game process with Process Monitor (Sysinternals), the game appears to constantly read these files :
For a normal game :
E:\Steam\steamapps\common\The Witcher 3\content\content0\soundspc.cache
For both expansions, the game try to read either of these files :
E:\Steam\steamapps\common\The Witcher 3\content\patch0\sounds.cache
E:\Steam\steamapps\common\The Witcher 3\content\patch1\sounds.cache

Now, I have tried to delete all three of these files and verify integrity of the game cache through Steam and letting it re-download these. I also changed my download location to US - New York through Steam, in case my closest (Canada - Toronto) was serving me corrupted files. I have also cleared the Steam download cache as well. However, despite doing that, the only notable thing is that Blood and Wine works after the first launch of the game after the verify cache. Creating a new game or launching a saved game just gives the infinite loading screen, with one of the same files being read as mentioned earlier.

I have also included my user.settings as an attachments. It is after I wiped the Documents\The Witcher 3 folder after my fourth installation and a single launch of the game. There are also no mods installed.

Here is my setup (I have also included my DxDiag as an attachment) :
Windows 10 Pro Anniversary Update
Intel i7 4790K
32 GB Ram
EVGA GTX 1080 FTW
Steam is installed on my E: drive (3 TB WD HDD)
 

Attachments

  • Witcher3-DLC.png
    Witcher3-DLC.png
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  • user.settings.txt
    3.5 KB · Views: 130
  • DxDiag.txt
    99.2 KB · Views: 116
1.) This sounds like an account issue through Steam. What's your internet speed? You may wish to change your download region as well to something with a beefy bandwidth.

2.) I would recommend not installing over and over again. If you've tried a few times, and it doesn't seem to be making a decisive difference, we can rule that out. Ensure you have created a shortcut for the game that is set to "Run as administrator". Also ensure the game is not installed under either Program Files or Program Files(x86). If so, simply drag-and-drop the entire Steam folder to the root of that drive.

3.) Download both DriverSweeper (Display Driver Uninstaller) and CCleaner. Grab the latest Nvidia Reference Drivers. Use DriverSweeper to completely gut your system of all Nvidia files. Use CCleaner to clean the Registry (continue running it until it reports back "No conflicts detected".) Then install the new Nvidia Drivers using the CLEAN installation option.

4.) Disable any anti- virus/spyware/malware programs and see if that corrects the issue.

5.) If all of that fails, send the report into CDPR Tech Support. (Just a word of advice to speed thing up in this case, send a very brief bullet list and your dxdiag. All they need to know is: bought game, installed / reinstalled, game will not start, DLC is not being reliably recognized through Steam.)
 
I contacted CDPR Tech Support and they actually just told me to reinstall the game but in another folder, something which I never did. Now, my game consistently recognizes the DLC and I can play my saves once more! =D
 
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