Working with Steam and Steam Issues
I have decided to dedicate a thread to Steam users for some of the most troublesome issues that can occur with the Steam version of Witcher 2. Please bear in mind that my time at present is limited and if you don`t see your particular problem listed the most likely cause is that I haven`t got to it yet.
Probably the first thing to cover is that there is no need to download and apply any game patches. The game you get from Steam should already be patched with the latest available patch .
1) As with any game from Steam if you encounter any issues with the game running the first course of action is to verify the game cache. To verify the cache open Steam>Library and right click Witcher 2 and select properties . Then in the window click the local files tab and tick the verify game cache button . Note that there is generally 1 file that always fails to validate and this in no way will keep the game from running.
2) First Time Setup every time I start the game is very common and is easily solved by either of two different ways . One is by going to your install directory and if default would be
C:\Program Files or Program Files(X86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Witcher 2 . Then simply right click the redist folder and rename to redist.OLD . Or you can open regedit for more advanced users and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE>SOFTWARE>Wow6432Node>Valve>Steam>Apps>20920 . Then right click the right side of the screen window and hover your mouse over new and select DWORD (32 bit) Value . Then type VCRedist for one entry and another for dotNetFx40 You may or may not have one there already named DirectX. If not then create another entry as described earlier . When finished you should have 3 entries in addition to the (default) one . Now double click each one and change the 0 (zero) to a 1 (one)if it isn`t already.
DirectX ------REG_DWORD -----0x00000001 (1)
VCRedist -----REG_DWORD -----0x00000001 (1)
dotNetFx40 ---REG_DWORD -----0x00000001 (1)
3)Adding different languages Again there are two different ways to do this . One is by going to This Link and scroll to where you see the relevant language packs and download the one(s) you want then click the installer to install them . You can also open Steam>Library and right click Witcher 2 and select properties and in the language tab select one at a time the language files you want and Steam will install them . After installation sometimes it`s necessary to exit and restart Steam .
4)Bonus Content is additional and is downloaded separately . At present it`s about 7GB . And is available by opening Steam then click view in the upper left of the screen and scroll down the list and click Witcher 2 Bonus Content and then next. When finished downloading you can view it under \Steam\steamapps\common\The Witcher 2\Bonus Content .
5) Game stops working or continuous loop between launcher and desktop . This is known to be a problem when there is a software compatibility problem . IE one or more software installations that will coincide with the witcher 2 not starting . A list of programs known to be the cause of this is located in This Link.
6)Steam Cloud Saving issues and problems with saves not being organized properly, game crashing, and ways to diable Cloud saving can be found by following the link.
http://en.thewitcher.com/forum/index.php?/topic/29207-some-notes-on-steam-cloud-saving/
Also it should be noted that you can delete cloud saves by following this link
http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2470784
GAME CRASHING
There are numerous factors that can the game to crash and will try to list the most common ones.
1) Games crashes directly after the logo splash screen and or directly after intro movie . Is most likely a corrupt Witcher 1 save . If importing a save from Witcher 1 then delete it and retry the game .
2) Game just randomly crashes . If you have a 32 bit system with 4 GB of memory then try then 3 GB switch . If you have less than 4 GB of memory then this will not work for you . To enable the switch .
Open Command prompt as administrator and copy this and paste in the dialog box
bcdedit /set IncreaseUserVA 3072
Close dialog boxes and retry game .
Overclocked graphic cards can also cause crashes of the game . This would include factory overclocked models as well .
I have decided to dedicate a thread to Steam users for some of the most troublesome issues that can occur with the Steam version of Witcher 2. Please bear in mind that my time at present is limited and if you don`t see your particular problem listed the most likely cause is that I haven`t got to it yet.
Probably the first thing to cover is that there is no need to download and apply any game patches. The game you get from Steam should already be patched with the latest available patch .
1) As with any game from Steam if you encounter any issues with the game running the first course of action is to verify the game cache. To verify the cache open Steam>Library and right click Witcher 2 and select properties . Then in the window click the local files tab and tick the verify game cache button . Note that there is generally 1 file that always fails to validate and this in no way will keep the game from running.
2) First Time Setup every time I start the game is very common and is easily solved by either of two different ways . One is by going to your install directory and if default would be
C:\Program Files or Program Files(X86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Witcher 2 . Then simply right click the redist folder and rename to redist.OLD . Or you can open regedit for more advanced users and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE>SOFTWARE>Wow6432Node>Valve>Steam>Apps>20920 . Then right click the right side of the screen window and hover your mouse over new and select DWORD (32 bit) Value . Then type VCRedist for one entry and another for dotNetFx40 You may or may not have one there already named DirectX. If not then create another entry as described earlier . When finished you should have 3 entries in addition to the (default) one . Now double click each one and change the 0 (zero) to a 1 (one)if it isn`t already.
DirectX ------REG_DWORD -----0x00000001 (1)
VCRedist -----REG_DWORD -----0x00000001 (1)
dotNetFx40 ---REG_DWORD -----0x00000001 (1)
3)Adding different languages Again there are two different ways to do this . One is by going to This Link and scroll to where you see the relevant language packs and download the one(s) you want then click the installer to install them . You can also open Steam>Library and right click Witcher 2 and select properties and in the language tab select one at a time the language files you want and Steam will install them . After installation sometimes it`s necessary to exit and restart Steam .
4)Bonus Content is additional and is downloaded separately . At present it`s about 7GB . And is available by opening Steam then click view in the upper left of the screen and scroll down the list and click Witcher 2 Bonus Content and then next. When finished downloading you can view it under \Steam\steamapps\common\The Witcher 2\Bonus Content .
5) Game stops working or continuous loop between launcher and desktop . This is known to be a problem when there is a software compatibility problem . IE one or more software installations that will coincide with the witcher 2 not starting . A list of programs known to be the cause of this is located in This Link.
6)Steam Cloud Saving issues and problems with saves not being organized properly, game crashing, and ways to diable Cloud saving can be found by following the link.
http://en.thewitcher.com/forum/index.php?/topic/29207-some-notes-on-steam-cloud-saving/
Also it should be noted that you can delete cloud saves by following this link
http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2470784
GAME CRASHING
There are numerous factors that can the game to crash and will try to list the most common ones.
1) Games crashes directly after the logo splash screen and or directly after intro movie . Is most likely a corrupt Witcher 1 save . If importing a save from Witcher 1 then delete it and retry the game .
2) Game just randomly crashes . If you have a 32 bit system with 4 GB of memory then try then 3 GB switch . If you have less than 4 GB of memory then this will not work for you . To enable the switch .
Open Command prompt as administrator and copy this and paste in the dialog box
bcdedit /set IncreaseUserVA 3072
Close dialog boxes and retry game .
Overclocked graphic cards can also cause crashes of the game . This would include factory overclocked models as well .