Distant Worlds: Universe not starting

[Spacecadet]

I don't have the Steam version and don't know the particulars, so this is probably going to be stupid.

The Steam client is running?

Were you asked for your Serial number during install?

Tried reinstalling?

[Daedalus0815]

Spacecadet, I appreciate your effort but I have tried all the obvious things that people in this and other topics have suggested.
Yes, my client is running. I have not been asked for any key though. But with most steam games I have, I wasn't required to enter any key since you directly add it to your own acount and cannot pass it on to others. But I do suspect something along the way during installation must have went wrong, I just have no way to check what it was and apparently it keeps happening every time I install it again

[Raap]

Does it make any difference if you:

Go into C:\Users\<Active user account>\AppData\Roaming\
Create a folder called "Code Force Limited"
Enter said folder
Create a folder called "Distant Worlds"
Enter said folder
Create a folder called "1.9.5.0"
Enter said folder
Save attached file in folder
Rename said file to "defaultOptions", i.e. remove the .txt part.

[Daedalus0815]

Good thinkin, but no.
I just installed it on my laptop where it does work. Same OS and stuff. Maybe it really is something of the hardware. Clueless...

[Raap]

Yeah, annoying stuff. I don't think it's the hardware because I had it happen too, with a previous version of the game. I tried pretty much everything imaginable, but ultimately a full OS reinstall was the only thing that did the trick. I suspect I or some program I'd installed once upon a time had either corrupted some files or altered some obscure setting somewhere.

[republicofpepsi]

I'm not sure why but something in the original Matrix Distant Worlds installer fixed the problem for me. I'm assuming it was the earlier version of .Net but the OP stated they had installed 3.5. Not sure.

[Raap]

I have versions 3.5.1, 4.0 and 4.5 of .Net, as well as XNA 4.0 and visual runtimes 2005 through 2013.

.Net 3.5.1 is a little tricky(at least on Win7) since you need to make sure it's activated in Windows Features, like with Media Player.

[Cliffo]

My genuine thanks to all who have tried to help with my problem that started this thread. I really appreciate your time and consideration to my problem. )

FINAL OUTCOME:

THE GAME NOW RUNS, (in background mode), on my Win 7 64 PC. The initial problem was a Windows 7 bug that did not give me full administration rights, (explained at the end of this document). The Smitheren technicians have been a great help to me and deserve a good amount of praise for their kindness and assistance. We are still trying to find a fix to bring it out of background mode.

ORIGINAL PROBLEM: Game installed but would not run.

My machine happily runs all other software with no errors.

Here is what I have tried so far:

* Uninstalled and reinstalled the .net framework.
* Downloaded and run the Microsoft Framework Cleanup Tool.
* Looked for and not found an error file from the software.
* Downloaded from Steam 4 times and tried to install.
* Ran the program directly as administrator.
* Checked for updates on sound and video drivers.
* Ensured Windows Media Player is working and auto plays WMV files.
* Verified Steam is working correctly.
* Verified Internet Explorer 11 is working correctly.
* Verified the Verdana fonts are in place.
* Made a Code Force folder and setup the default file mentioned above.
* Tried to run the software with no antivirus active.
* Installed some other software that worked to ensure that there is not an installer problem.
* Cleaned, checked and compacted my Registry.
* Turned off all non-essential start up software,(msconfig), before rebooting and trying again.
* Tested Direct X 11 - it is OK and has no error reports.
* Went through the Distant Worlds Trouble Shooting, (on Steam), Guide step by step.
* Checked that no other software on this machine is misbehaving in any way.
* Checked all error logs and found nothing that pertains to this problem.
* Searched for *dump.txt - none found.
* The game is registered as being installed by Steam.
* Uninstalled and moved the entire game to a different partition and tried to run it from there - No change.
* Contacted support and got a few suggestions.
* Reinstalled .net framework 3.5 - (verified)
* Reinstalled .net framework 4.0 - (verified)
* Reinstalled .net framework 4.5.2 - (verified)
* Reinstalled Direct X 9c from the game folder.
* Tried to run the file as Administrator.
* Ran a Microsoft online error log check and fix - only report was minor graphics glitches from time to time.
* Completely uninstalled AMD graphics drivers and reinstalled the latest version.
* I have Catalyst installed, but no Hydravision found in the package.
* Tried it with lowering my graphics resolution from 2560 x 1440 to 1280 x 1024.
* Tried launching the program with the RUN command line. (Still no error recorded.
* Tried to launch with AMD games control centre - It does not recognize the game as being there.
* Thoroughly checked for virus, malware, ad-ware - found some minor empty folders from a previously removed item.
* Ran Microsoft FixIt to check the installation of Internet Explorer. It is OK.
* Tried installing Spiral Knights from Steam - it worked and ran OK. 4 other new game installs have all worked.
* Downloaded and tried out the new BETA patch of Universe - the problem remains.
* Got my 1st error report by running MS PCW Diagnostic will trying to load the program. (listed below). Seems not to be relevant.
* Opened Windows Task Manager to see if any program name would pop up when running it saw nothing.
* I watched the Process window and found Distant Worlds starts up for about half second only and is then gone.
* Cleared all error logs and tried install again - no errors were posted.
* Tried to run the program offline but failed.
* Verified Direct X again - no errors
* Did a complete reconstruction of my System Index, (over 2 hours run time) - no change.
* Checked firewall rules for DWU - It has outgoing permissions auto setup to 'yes', and no inbound rules in place.
* Checked Steam folder, (Drive F:/), for error logs and found no errors there. There is no Steam folder on my C:/ drive.
* Game is installed in F:/ partition, as is Steam and all of my games. 
* Installed two more other new programs with no problems. Only Universe is giving me a problem.
* Tried to run the game with the movie disabled - no change.
* Ran the introduction movie directly - it works OK.
* Windows 7 is completely up to date with service pack 1 and all updates.
* Only one time I saw a small brown box when I closed Task Manager that was behind it that said:
"Steam - Error
Failed to start game, (unknown error).
See the Steam support site for more information
OK" (button).

* Used the 'Dependency Walker' tool to verify what is going wrong. These were errors were reported:
[D? ] API-MS-WIN-APPMODEL-RUNTIME-L1-1-0.DLL
Error opening file. The system cannot find the file specified (2).
[D? ] API-MS-WIN-CORE-WINRT-ERROR-L1-1-0.DLL
Error opening file. The system cannot find the file specified (2).
[D? ] API-MS-WIN-CORE-WINRT-L1-1-0.DLL
Error opening file. The system cannot find the file specified (2).
[D? ] API-MS-WIN-CORE-WINRT-ROBUFFER-L1-1-0.DLL
Error opening file. The system cannot find the file specified (2).
[D? ] API-MS-WIN-CORE-WINRT-STRING-L1-1-0.DLL
Error opening file. The system cannot find the file specified (2).
[D? ] API-MS-WIN-SHCORE-SCALING-L1-1-1.DLL
Error opening file. The system cannot find the file specified (2).
[D? ] DCOMP.DLL
Error opening file. The system cannot find the file specified (2).
[D? ] GPSVC.DLL
Error opening file. The system cannot find the file specified (2).
[D? ] IESHIMS.DLL
Error opening file. The system cannot find the file specified (2).

There was an online report that the above errors found by D.W. were due to the tool being out of date. It appears that these DLL's are found in Windows 8 and not in Windows 7 that I am running. The exception being GPSVC.DLL, which I do have.

* Repeatedly cleaned my registry for errors as well as junk files.
* Ran Microsoft FixDotNet2 to check Framework.
* Inserted file folder under roaming as suggested by Raap's post.

I was previously left with the problem that the program will not do anything after starting DistantWorlds.exe
If I try to start the autorun.exe, I get a small pitch black window that is called DW Game Menu. if I click it on the lower left side it sends me to the game site online. That's it - nothing else would happen.

Programs that all work OK on my system include: Civilization 5, Warcraft, Bioshock Infinite, Path of Exile, Tomb Raider, Neverwinter, Space Engineers, Spiral Knights, Spore, etc. No other game has a problem. What might this game require, (other than Verdana Fonts, Windows Media Player, Direct X 9c and .net Framework 4), that I currently don't have? I can only wonder if there is an obscure Windows 7 DLL call that was not supplied by Win 7 Professional. But I doubt it.

***** Since my last post, I have benefited greatly by the help of Paulo, a technician from Smitherene. With his generous assistance we have determined that the underlying problem is a Windows 7 bug, in that it was not giving me full Administration rights which is something that the game requires. We now have been able to run the program but are left with the problem that it is running in 'background mode' and is not visible on-screen. Paulo is looking into this issue for me to see if we can rectify it. It turns out that Windows had lost its way.

*****FINAL UPDATE: The games runs in 'background mode' only and is not visible. Having given me his very best effort, Paulo has concluded that finally the problem is some sort of conflict going on in the background with Win 7. As we are not able to fix this it turns out that I am one of the rare unlucky ones who has developed this issue. The only solution appears to be a complete rebuild of Windows to fix this. As I am unwilling to do this at this time, I will simply have to wait either for an unknown solution, or until the time that I can afford to do a rebuild.

Thanks to all who gave me suggestions and "special thanks" again to Paulo and to Elliot for their assistance and ongoing suggestions. I have to say that the effort put in to helping me by Paulo is greater than I could have expected and that I really appreciate it. I am most indebted to Smitherene, This is one very "user-friendly company". )

[Spacecadet]

In your Start Menu, in the Distant Worlds folder there are a couple of other options for starting DW.

Have you tried those?

[SkifAlef]

Hi Cliffo.

I had totally the same problem and totally the same symptoms. And have tried totally the same fixes.

Know what? Try to run the game executable with "Run as administrator" option.

It worked out for me.

EDIT: Uh, just seen you've tried this already. Well, no ideas then

[VPaulus]

@Cliffo

I didn't see this mentioned in your "checklist".
Open the folder where the game is installed and open the folder "_CommonRedist\DirectX\Jun2010" (For Steam version) or "redist" (for Matrix version)
Locate a fiule named "DXSETUP.exe". Run this. This will reinstall DirectX.
In spite DxDiag reporting that everything is OK, that doesn't necessarily mean that you might not have issues with your DirectX installation.

[Cliffo]

Hi Vpaulis

Thanks for your thoughts. I tried your suggestion - result: No difference.

[Terl]

Maybe as a shot, try starting the app from the commandline
window and see if it spits out an error?

[Cliffo]

Thanks Terl,
Tried it - No joy.

[Thrgor]

Just registered to say I'm having the same problem. Game won't start, no error message, no folder in Appdata/Roaming containing an error log, nada. Tried all the various solutions to no effect. I hope a solution can be found. Seems like a great game, and I look forward to (hopefully) playing it.

[Princessjj1]

When is there going to be a fix issued? No response to this from devs, and no response to my refund request to Steam.

[Raap]

If one of you guys with problems could be bothered, it might be interesting to see what Dependency Walker says. It can be downloaded here: http://www.dependencywalker.com/ Just extract to any directory and run depends.exe.

Press Open, find and select your DistantWorlds.exe. Check if anything is missing in the "Module" section. Then press Profile on the toolbar and Start profiling, then press OK. If DistantWorlds.exe crashes, just press close application. Paste log here.

[Princessjj1]

I'm sorry, I'm not paying to be a beta-tester. Fix or refund.

[Thrgor]

Here you go.

[Raap]

Hmm, not easy to make head or tails from that log, but from what I can see AMD's HydraVision is interfering quite a bit. I can't really tell if that's what's causing the premature exit or not, but both you and Cliffo have AMD video cards.

Are you able to uninstall HydraVision? It should be possible via ControlPanel->Applications&Features then use AMD Catalyst Install Manager -> Custom Uninstall, select Hydravision and proceed. Restart computer and try game.