Cannot start game and no directory in APPDATA

[sixtyfifthbit]

Basically as the topic says - I got the game on Steam and while the autorun thing comes up, neither the start game button nor running the game from its directory starts the game. Furthermore, there is no "Code Force Limited" directory anywhere in the APPDATA tree. I have tried it on two different drives to no avail. Are you sure your installer is installing it correctly?

[VPaulus]

Could you please attach a DxDiag report file to your message?

Please attach a DxDiag report fie.
How to get a DxDiag report file:

1. Click on "START" (on Windows 8/10 press “Windows key” and the “R” key at the same time)
2. Click "run" (skip this step on Windows 8/10)
3. Type in "dxdiag" and click "OK"
4. Check through the tabs and perform all tests
5. Click "Save all Information..." and save the text file to a location of your choice
6. Attach the file to your message

[sixtyfifthbit]

The DXDiag file:

[VPaulus]

Please check if you have any file named DW_CrashDump.txt and attach it to your message. You can find that file at your Windows documents folder at:
....\Documents\My Games\Distant Worlds Universe

[sixtyfifthbit]

DW_CrashDump.txt

[VPaulus]

Please try the following:

1. Open the game installation folder and find the following folder:
....\_CommonRedist\DirectX\Jun2010
Find a file named DXSETUP.exe and run it.

2. Open the game installation folder and find the following folder:
...\_CommonRedist\vcredist\2012
Find the files named vcredist_x64.exe and vcredist_x86.exe and run both.

3.. Open the game installation folder and find the following folder:
...\_CommonRedist\XNA\4.0
Find a file named xnafx40_redist and run it.

[sixtyfifthbit]

I have already tried those (though there is no 2012 directory under vcredist - should I look for the equivalent from Microsoft?) as well as everything under your FAQ. I have tried it again to no avail.

[twinkypillow]

sorry to but in, just throwing it out there..

if you don't have these files and folders then re download the game..?

I have 129 files in my Redist folder..


*I had a problem with the game not even launching and I knew it was something I screwed up in windows..

I know this won't help you much but when I went back to my original Windows Clean install with everything untouched.. I installed Distant Worlds, and all the Redist folder (XNA, DirextX, and DotNetFX -though I didn't need DotnetFX..)

then it worked for me anyway..

[sixtyfifthbit]

I have the Steam edition. It looks like yours is a direct download/purchase.

I have a _CommonRedist folder with half-a-gig of stuff in it - under it I have redist/2010 instead of redist/2012. I downloaded the 2012 redistributable from Microsoft myself and installed(repaired) and still no change.

I might have to pursue a refund soon, which is a shame.

[twinkypillow]

ok.. well look, I don't work for Matrix and have no affiliation etc.. but,

and don't take this the wrong way, but,


You have something set wrong or changed something in Windows that is causing Distant Worlds to have a problem, there are many many many factors involved..

-maybe you have the UAC set to high..

-maybe you have the DotNetFx error like I had where no matter what I did, I couldn't install DotnetFX.. it wouldn't download from the internet and wouldn't try to install.. something was wrong in my windows and I never fixed it except when I reinstalled windows..

-you might have a videocard or some Program that messes with what Distant Worlds needs to use..

- you might have a sound card that doesn't like directX version that Distant Worlds needs..

- you have to have windows installed properly with no settings changed like pagefile/Ram /Internet Explorer/Media player turned off etc... understand?

- you need to not have any custom stuff you've done to windows...

- and since you have the Steam version, you need to not have changed anything in Steam or the way it works..

- do you have any custom harddrive setup?

-are you using Raid?


see what I mean? there are so many factors..

I can tell you this, 1000's of other Distant Worlds players installed the game through Steam and played it. So it works on standard Windows installs..


Do you have a custom version of Windows? for example Lenovo pre-packs an installed windows and changes things.. or HP computer etc..?

I hope you don't take this the wrong way but the game works for standard windows as long as you have media player and install all redistribute folder exe's.. like I showed you..


So if you can, redownload the game through steam (I think you have to right click the game and go to Properties and then look for "recheck files" or something I can't remember the exact words.." maybe it's "re-verify" files ..?

Do you know how to use a virtual windows? you could also use Macrium Reflect FREE and make a quick copy/image of your current system right now, and then save that to USB or external Hard Drive disk, and then install a fresh windows and try the game that way and see if it works..

then you have your Macrium Reflect backup image of your old windows to just put back after you see if Distant Worlds works.. Hope that makes sense..


just throwing out there any and all ways to solve playing the game if you really want to without refunding.

[sixtyfifthbit]

Pumkinfacer22, as someone who is a programmer in the game industry who has worked on Windows titles, the factors you list in your post should not matter. You mention the idea of "standard [W]indows" - let me tell you a secret every legitimate programmer has learned with sufficient experience:

There is no such thing as a "standard" Windows installation.

The Windows environment is NOT a console - it is expected that installs are going to vary by wide margins, and any practice that will not work on the widest selection of Windows-using computers should not be exercised. Half of the install qualities you mentioned don't apply to me, and most of the actions you suggest I have already attempted. But none of that matters, because none of those should be necessary to operate this program - thousands of games and programs don't have these problems, even ones made by single people. The fact that Distant Worlds does makes *it* an outlier, not my computer. The very idea that you think that re-installing an entire operating system is a legitimate tactic to get a dysfunctional program to run is Stockholm-Syndrome levels of insanity.

And saying that "1000's of other Distant Worlds players" had success is not an excuse. I worked on a a Windows-based MMO - "thousands" of players would mean bankruptcy to the company. A publicly-distributed program must aim to work for all users under all conditions, or it may as well work for none.

Someone on Matrix's staff made decisions that shouldn't have been made, and now Matrix's customers are suffering the consequences of those bad decisions. In such a case, demanding a refund is a just decision - not doing so only encourages sloppy work and badly-made products.

However, I foolishly did not check the goods at time of purchase, and it has been long after Valve's normal refund period since I first tested the game. So it seems Matrix has gotten away with incompetence and my money, and I have a license I will never truly use. I am not about to poke holes in my secure version of Windows (as much as it can be such) just so this unnecessary program can run. Therefore I have no remaining choice but to abandon it, learning an expensive lesson - expensive not just to me, but to future companies whose products I will not buy because I cannot test their product in the two-week period Valve allows.

[VPaulus]

ORIGINAL: sixtyfifthbit

I have a _CommonRedist folder with half-a-gig of stuff in it - under it I have redist/2010 instead of redist/2012.

I'm sorry, I meant 2010 not 2012. Have you tried running both 2010 vcredist?


Also try the following:

Run the game as Administrator

- Right-click the game in your Steam Library.
- Go to Properties, then to the Local Files tab.
- Click Browse Local Files.
- Locate the game executable (the application file).
- Right-click it and go to Properties.
- Click the Compatibility tab.
- Check the "Run this program as an administrator" box.
- Click Apply. Having done this, restart Steam and try launching the game again.


Run Steam as Administrator

- Navigate your Steam installation file (By default, it is C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam).
- Right-click the Steam executable.
- Follow the above steps to set it to Run as Administrator.
- Restart Steam.

[twinkypillow]

Sixtyfifthbit,

As I said earlier, don't take it the wrong way - as obviously you are frustrated about "your" windows setup (that includes hardware and software) which won't appear to run a program that works on 1000's of other windows systems..

You may think it's an excuse or not, but the fact is matrix made a program that should run based on a (I say again) a "standard" windows install.. And the added redist folder programs.

I, for example bought a Lenovo laptop, which came preinstalled with a "custom" windows Lenovo put on.. It ran Distant Worlds fine..

But when I fresh installed windows from scratch with the downloaded ISO from Microsoft, all the sudden Distant Worlds didn't run! So windows needed me to install XNA framework and directx.. Then distant worlds would run..

And matrix supplies those in a folder with the install.. The only "factors" left are your hardware and software that might interfere with how Matrix coded the game..

If you have media player and Internet explorer installed with no change and then the program's installed in the redist folder, the only next thing that prevents Distant worlds from running is system settings or the hardware.. As you well know, being a programmer..

Things like if you are running 5 monitors in different screen resolutions. Like duplicate displays etc... And having newer or not certified drivers for your sound card..

I had a sound card that wouldn't accept direct x installing and the error in my crash dump file said something about directx sound failed etc..

So I reinstalled from my manufacture website (Lenovo) the original sound drivers.. Then reinstalled directx and then it worked..

You should know all this and as you say apparently tried everything..

This is not meant to be an argument with you but to help you realize that Distant worlds works out of the box with standard hardware and a fresh windows install of course add the supplied XNA and directx..

So, if you think your system hasn't ever had anything changed like settings that could prevent Distant Workds from running, then the next best thing is to try it on a different computer as a test and if you don't have another computer or want to do that, then your next best test is to use something like sandboxie or parallels and just quickly try a fresh windows install with added XNA and directx..

Another program called macrium reflect allows you to take a picture of your system right now and save it to an external hard drive and then you can put it back exactly how it was.. It's called imaging or cloning your hard drive..

You then could try a fresh windows install to see if you really wasted money.. And if Distant worlds works on the fresh install, then again, it's something set in your current windows system..

But if it didn't run, then you can really assume it's a hardware issue and request all the refunds you can..

[sixtyfifthbit]

I have already tried all of these. Any "pat answer" you've given other customers I've already searched for and tried. For this problem you're going to have to engineer something new.

[sixtyfifthbit]

The only "factors" left are your hardware and software that might interfere with how Matrix coded the game..

This is the problem - Matrix was incompetent enough to create a program that allowed a hardware/software combination to interfere with it. Matrix should have programmed a more robust game. They have no excuse.

If you have media player and Internet explorer installed with no change

I absolutely will not allow Microsoft's Internet Explorer or Media Player on my system - they are each open doors to electronic intrusion. If Matrix was foolish enough to include those libraries they should be boycotted until they use more secure libraries.

So, if you think your system hasn't ever had anything changed like settings that could prevent Distant Workds from running, then the next best thing is to try it on a different computer as a test and if you don't have another computer or want to do that, then your next best test is to use something like sandboxie or parallels and just quickly try a fresh windows install with added XNA and directx..

You're missing the point - I should not need to do any of this - the purpose of the company is to serve their customers, not for the customers to serve the company. I am not being paid my Matrix to fix their sub-standard software - I paid them for a license to software with a minimum standard of quality they aren't meeting. Telling me to do all this extra work is effectively telling me to subsidize incompetence.

Another program called macrium reflect allows you to take a picture of your system right now and save it to an external hard drive and then you can put it back exactly how it was.. It's called imaging or cloning your hard drive..

I'm familiar with the concept - Again, I'm not going to waste hours of my valuable time fixing Matrix's incompetence. If Matrix is willing to contract me to fix it, that is another matter.

You then could try a fresh windows install to see if you really wasted money.. And if Distant worlds works on the fresh install, then again, it's something set in your current windows system..

The fact that I have to even attempt any alterations of my system is proof I've wasted my money. I have already lost double what I spent on this game in hours spent trying to make up for Matrix's incompetence.

And, for the last time, A FRESH WINDOWS INSTALL WILL NOT HAPPEN. Quit trying to make me waste even more time with your garbage.

To finalize, I have never had a problem like this in the 20 or so years dealing with Microsoft Windows and other programs. Every other program I've used has not had this issue - Distant Worlds is the only outlier. Therefore it is not my hardware and my setup but Matrix's incompetence that is at fault. You obviously aren't going to let logic sway your opinion so I'm not going to bother trying to convince you of your own falsehood.

It is Matrix's duty to fix this problem and get their program to work on my system AS MY SYSTEM IS or give me a full refund. If they have any interest in repeat business and avoiding bad press they will work quickly. Larger companies die every week to smaller mistakes; Matrix can avoid a similar fate if work earnestly to fix things.

[VPaulus]

ORIGINAL: sixtyfifthbit

I absolutely will not allow Microsoft's Internet Explorer or Media Player on my system - they are each open doors to electronic intrusion.

You need to have Internet explorer and Windows Media Player installed on your Windows in order to run the game.
That's part of the system requirements list in the game product's page:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/261470
http://www.matrixgames.com/products/515 ... -.Universe

[sixtyfifthbit]

ORIGINAL: VPaulus
You need to have Internet explorer and Windows Media Player installed on your Windows in order to run the game.
That's part of the system requirements list in the game product's page:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/261470
http://www.matrixgames.com/products/515 ... -.Universe

Why would you do this? Why would you purposefully program your game with a backdoor for every script kiddie on the planet?

I have never come across this problem with any other program, so it is no surprise I did not look for a requirement I did not know was possible.

On top of that, Steam has rejected my refund request, so congratulations Matrix - you've received $25 you didn't earn. I am the most unsatisfied customer you have, and I will encourage everyone I can not to buy your games.

[VPaulus]

I'm sorry that you feel like that.
Please note that a lot games using XNA, requires Windows media Player.
Before purchasing any piece of software, you should consult its minimum requirement list and check if your system fulfils it.
I'm sorry that you have missed consulting the minimum requirement list.

[twinkypillow]

that is hilarious.

Matrix, you already know you have an awesome game.. it's so awesome that you are making Distant Worlds 2.. but you know this..

as for the dude who thinks companies are for serving customers.. wow.. you got a lot to learn there buddy.. companies make money. figure that one out. They offer Services to "paying" customers.. they don't owe anything except to deliver a product of which they promise.

If I bought a car and when I get home it doesn't fit into my Garage at my house, do I have the right to call up the company and tell them they better do everything possible to make that car fit in my Garage?

And in this case they delivered the product which you paid for and now it's your fault for not checking the requirements.

but even more importantly, (I don't even know why I'm telling you about this) but start reading and researching about hips protection and how to block internet explorer from starting.. there are sooooo many ways to secure Internet Explorer from scripts buddy.. but you should know that already..

you can even force IE and Windows Media player to not load unless it asks you first..

if you are sooo scared about kiddies and backdoors into your computer, then you may want to refrain from using computers on the internet now-a-days.. cause no matter what you do, unless you bought a computer in very very specific countries which I won't name, you have backdoors in your system no matter what as soon as you go online. it's built-in to hardware now-a-days expert.

oh, and Distant Worlds works with a Standard Windows Install.. [:D]





but anyway

[sixtyfifthbit]

ORIGINAL: VPaulus
Please note that a lot games using XNA, requires Windows media Player.

And how many games use XNA? I can probably count them on one hand.