Witcher 3 - Loading error/Desktop Crash

[edorius]

Hello,

I recently started witcher 3 again. I already had put in 92h of game time. But now for some reason, I can't get the game running again.
Menu loads fine. When loading last save game first thing that appears is a black screen (no loading screen) and then a weird graphic glitch.

After some time, the game loads into this scenario:

I reinstalled the game, checked game file integrety in steam (it even downloaded a single file again - didnt help)
Also I reinstalled my nVidia driver. (I even started the game without any GPU driver, didnt help)
I used 5 mods - uninstalled - didnt help either.

One change between the last time I played witcher and today was a major windows 10 update (update to 1809)
But I dont know if this could be the reason.


Attached you can also see the crashinfo log.

Any help is much appreciated.
Thanks!

 

[Riven-Twain]

That is unusual. It looks a bit like an issue I once encountered in Witcher 2, as the result of outdated graphics drivers. However, you've already taken the steps I would have suggested, but, still, let's go over some basics. First, what are your system's specifications? Also, it looks as though you have the game installed in Programme, which I assume is the German for Program Files. If so, you might try re-installing Steam outside of that directory, as installations there can cause problems.

 

[SigilFey]

System specs indeed. And also, can you list your complete installation path and driver version?

Also, are you using any mods, or have you ever used any in the past?

 

[edorius]

Sorry, totally forgot the specs:

Operating System: Windows 10 Home 64-bit (10.0, Build 17763) (17763.rs5_release.180914-1434)
System Manufacturer: MSI
System Model: MS-7977
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-6700K CPU @ 4.00GHz (8 CPUs), ~4.0GHz
Memory: 32GB RAM
GPU: MSI nvidia Geforce GTX 1070


Steam install path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam
Games install path: G:\Programme\SteamApps\common\The Witcher 3

I run steam on my system drive (SSD) and the large games are stored on the bigger HDD.
However, I never had any problems caused by the installation path. Witcher 3 worked just fine before.

I have uninstalled all mods.
I just used them once. I installed and uninstalled them via Nexus ModManager.

I'm not quite sure, if the GPU or its driver is the problem. As I said, I started the game with the CPU graphics driver and the same results occured.

Post automatically merged: May 26, 2019

I managed to fix the problem.

I deleted folders "patch0" and "patch1" in "content".
Then checked the game via steam for file integrety, downloaded everything again and no its running just fine.

 

[SigilFey]

Good to hear! Strange, too. I've not heard of that being a problem for anyone for quite a while. Glad to hear it was an easy fix!

A step you may want to take now is to move the Steam installation out of Program Files(x86). I'm not sure about non-English installations of Windows, but if G:\Programme\... is the equivalent of G:\Program Files\... then it would be a good idea to move the library, too. Protected directories can be problematic for gaming in general.

Simply place both directories on the root of your drive or in a folder of your own creation. So:
C:\Steam\...
and
G:\SteamApps\... or G:\MyGameFolder\SteamApps\...

You can follow the instructions here for moving an existing Steam installation. It may require you to verify the integrity of each game once after doing so.

 

[MeatEtr]

I do recall having a similar problem awhile back. If memory serves I fixed it with a new driver. (Geforce GTX 770 SLI)