GOG version cannot enter game world, Steam version runs fine

Grim Dawn Bug Reporting
1

Hello,

I have a weird problem with the GOG version and only the GOG version of Grim Dawn:

I can see the title screen, configure and create characters. When clicking the “Start” button, the loading screen appears but then the game returns to the title screen. It is not possible to enter the game world.

  • This only affects the GOG version. The Steam version works fine and can be played.
  • Reproducability: 100% (for me)
  • I tried the GOG version with GOG Galaxy and without.
  • I tried with and without a parallel installed Steam version. Note that the Steam version was installed and played first, but I bought the DLCs only for the GOG version.
  • I tried the GOG version with and without installed DLCs.
  • I deleted the configuration / save folder.
  • Game version: 1.1.9.5 64bit and 32bit
  • I can repair game files of the GOG version using GOG Galaxy
  • When using the Repair.exe of the GOG version manually and clicking Repair, the file validation of Steam starts!?
  • The log is empty except for the timestamp & version when using single player mode

Since the Steam version runs fine, I do not think that there is configuration or driver error.

Do you have any idea how I can analyze what fails?

Best regards,
Silpion81

2

Is it possible that your GOG install doesn’t have folder write permissions, or that it’s being blocked by your anti-virus?
You could look in the GOG save folder and check whether characters you’ve made actually get their own sub-folder created, or whether options you change in the configuration actually get saved after closing and re-launching the game.

Other issues could be having text characters in the character name that the game doesn’t support, or that there’s an issue playing the opening movie of the game.

3

Welcome to the forum. :slightly_smiling_face:

There are also some things listed here you might try.

4

Thank you for the ideas and warm welcome.

I tried the following:

  • Disabled Anti-Virus (Windows Defender)
  • Disabled Firewall (Windows Firewall)
  • Installed to a different folder on a different drive, checked the permissions
  • Started the game with administrator permissions
  • Deleted the My Games/Grim Dawn folder. The games successfully recreates it.
  • Settings are saved after closing the game.
  • Character folders are created, character names contain only letters from a-z of the english alphabet.
  • Copied one of the Steam version characters (located somewhere else due to cloud save) to the save folder to make sure it skips the intro.
  • Disabled OneDrive to make sure it does not interfere with the save folder.

So far, no success, the GOG version of the game still drops back to the title screen when trying to enter the game world.

5

is cloud on or off in GoG version? (in game settings) - if it’s on try off
have you tried deleting the intro movie? (i know using an old char should bypass this, but still, “mebe”?)

Steam\steamapps\common\Grim Dawn\video

are dlc installed correctly?
i know GoG version can be a bit iffy/“specific” with the expansion install, so it’s actually possible to “install” FG without AoM (tho don’t think that should return in being booted to main menu, just wont have FG or AoM content ingame :thinking:)

what happens if you try enter crucible, and then goes back to main menu and start campaign
or custom mode and back to main menu?

there is a fix for this, (same thing happens on Steam version occasionally), sadly i just can’t remember what it was specifically :confounded: - and steam forum search sucks ass :man_facepalming:

6

Partial success!

I don’t know yet if the DLCs are installed correctly, but I tested the GOG version also without them, as I knew the base game works using the Steam version.

  • Cloud sync (or uninstalling GOG Galaxy) did not make a difference.
  • Removing the video did not make a difference.

Now, what worked:

  • Windows Sandbox! The game runs really slow, with about 1 FPS, but I could enter the game world in the GOG version. I never thought this would come in handy, but it was the closest thing to a fresh system without a lot of effort.
  • New user: Reinstalling & playing the game with a new Windows user also seems to work.

==> The issue is somehow related to my Windows user profile.

I’ll investigate further, and also try with DLCs, but for now, it seems playing is possible!

Thank you all. If I ever find the actual reason for the problems, I’ll report here.

1 Like
7

What version of Windows are you on?

8

while it shouldn’t make a difference
did you run the installer as admin?
maybe for some weird reason your main user didn’t actually have full “proper” folder permission on the gog version because of the windows user settings or something weird - despite then running the game exe as admin

reason i put that thought out there is i’ve seen mentions of ex steam client being installed as admin, not just run, potentially making a difference in some weird cases

idono, just guessing random sht at this point :sweat_smile:

windows defender was the only AV you had?, no malwarebytes or anything?

9

What version of Windows are you on?
did you run the installer as admin?
windows defender was the only AV you had?

  • Windows 10 Pro 21H2
  • Yes, the installer requests admin permissions. Folder permissions are set to full access for “everyone”.
  • Yes, only windows defender. Additionally, I check downloads manually with virustotal.com

I am still puzzled that Repair.exe of the GOG version, after clicking repair, starts the file validation of Steam. I guess this is not normal? Maybe this is all due to a conflict between the two versions.

10

I have both Steam and GOG versions and have never had anything like that. Weird.

11

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