• 3Various troubleshooting steps

Welcome to the troubleshooting guide. You should already have a copy of this with your installation of Long War which you can duly find in .. XCOM Enemy Within XEWLong_War_EW_Detailed_Install_Troubleshooting.txt

Ok so when i try to start xcom enemy unknown from steam the launcher that lets you select. I can find.also enemy unknown starts without enemy within installed and i have tried verifying. Same here the game wont launch.

Be sure to first run all the steps relevant to your troubles before posting a thread or comment on the Long War Nexus forums. Most issues are usually resolved by the players themselves. If not, we will be more than happy to help you get the mod running.

Before an install

1. Make sure you have a legit Steam copy of XCOM EW. It won't work on pirated copies.

2. If you have ever played with any other mods on your EW install, or have changed some files yourself, verify back to a vanilla installation of EW before installing Long War. If you have any trouble with installation, do this as well.

3. Disable any antivirus software. We have specific reports that Comodo security software prevents a proper install. However, we have another report that turning it off prevents a proper install. So, either way, if you run this, be prepared for some trial-and-error while getting this running. It does work, though.

4. Make sure you have the latest .NET framework installed.

5. Negative pressure in pipe flow. Switch XCOM to one of the mod's supported languages in Steam. As of Beta 14 this is English, Spanish and French.

6. Run the installer. You shouldn't need to run it in administrator mode, but it couldn't hurt.

What the installer does

1. Asks you where the XEW directory is. On most installs, it's C:Program Files (x86)SteamSteamAppscommonXCom-Enemy-UnknownXEW.

Going forward, I will use {app} as shorthand for what you entered. A common mistake when file hunting is to leave out the XEW from the path, and you'll go into EU files, which otherwise have the same names and directory structure.

An incorrect entry here will mess up your install. When you select your path to install the mod, you should receive a warning that the directory already exists. If you didn't, have you may have messed up. (Note this warning may not happen on admin mode, however).

2. Once you select the path, it makes backups of all files it is going to patch, overwrite or delete for the uinstaller. If I say 'deletes' a file, it's not really deleted, but moved to to the backup folder, which is {app}Long War Files.

3. Then it does the following file operations:

This file is patched:{app}BinariesWin32XComEW.exeThese files are deleted after being backed up:

NOTE: If these files are not deleted, you will get CTDs when trying to run XCOM Long War.

These files are overwritten after being backed up:

Config files:

Localization files / English:

Localization files / Spanish

Localization files / French

Unreal package files:

These new files are added:

An uninstaller and several files that help with patching the exe are also added to {app}Long War Files, and some readmes, perk and tech tree files are added to the {app} directory.

Various troubleshooting steps

When you start the mod, you should get a CTD on the first try. This is normal -- it is Steam adjusting to your new file sizes. It should start properly on the second try.

If you see low-res textures on MECs or other game elements, turn up your graphics settings.

Here are some troubleshooting steps if you are getting CTDs, graphical glitches, game functions like ALT-F10 not working, rocket launchers with insanely high scatter, or start with only four soldiers in the first mission of a campaign:

First thing to try

1. Go to C:UsersYOUR WINDOWS USERNAMEDocumentsMy GamesXCOM - Enemy WithinXComGameConfig

2. Delete all files in that directory. If you don't have this directory, you have an unusual install and may need to reinstall XCOM from scratch.

3. Start the game and see if it works. You may get a CTD on first restart; start it again.

Second thing to try

1. Make sure these files are NOT present. They will cause CTDs on launch. If they are, delete them and start the game.

Third thing to try

1. In Steam, turn off cloud synchronization of your saves. If that doesn't help, play XCOM Long War in offline mode in Steam.

This has been reported to work if you are getting periodic slowdowns during play, and sometimes addresses lockups during game load, including the 'Loading User Settings' freeze.

Also, if you have dozens of save files, deleting most of them has been reported to help speed up the game.

Fourth thing to try

1. Go to C:UsersYOUR WINDOWS USERNAMEDocumentsMy GamesXCOM - Enemy WithinXComGameSaveData

2. Delete or rename the file profile.bin and start the game. You may have to re-set your graphics and other settings ingame after this.

3. Start the game and see if it works.

Fifth thing to try

1. Install Long War EW again, over the current copy. This will probably make the included uninstaller not work, so you'll have to verify back to vanilla via Steam to uninstall.

Sixth thing to try

1. Verify your install back to vanilla via Steam, and start over.

Seventh thing to try

We'll try to run down where the installer got borked.

1. Check to make sure the upk files were in fact installed. They should have recent created and/or modified dates (as should all files listed above). The upk files should be much larger than vanilla, as well (as we distribute uncompressed files):

If they are massively smaller (like 1/2 to 1/3 the size), the mod didn't install correctly. If they are only a little different, then this isn't the problem.

3. Check to make sure the config files (inis) were in fact installed. They should all have recent created and/or modified dates.

4. If you are getting vanilla text, but seeing other expected Long War changes, check your localization files in the directory listed above. These control ingame text. Look for recent created and/or modified dates.

5. If you found problems with any of these files and a verify-reinstall didn't help, alert johnnylump via PM on the Nexus, and he'll try to get you corrected versions.

6. Check the date modified date on {app}BinariesWin32XComEW.exe .. it should be the date you installed the mod. If not, the patcher didn't work. I can't help you there by sending you a good file -- distributing an exe crosses the line into piracy -- but you can duplicate the necessary hex changes yourself with a hex editor like HxD or Notepad++. Open the exe in an editor (and be very careful not to change anything else, and perform three HEX (not ANSI string) search-and-replaces:

Find this:

25 00 64 00 00 00 00 00 49 00 6e 00 69 00 56 00 65 00 72 00 73 00 69 00 6f 00 6e 00 00 00 00 00 2e 00 2e 00 5c 00 2e 00 2e 00 5c 00 58 00 43 00

and replace with this:

25 00 64 00 00 00 00 00 49 00 6e 00 69 00 56 00 65 00 72 00 73 00 69 00 6f 00 6e 00 00 00 00 00 2e 00 2e 00 5c 00 2e 00 2e 00 5c 00 57 00 43 00

Then, find this:

5c 00 58 00 43 00 6f 00 6d 00 47 00 61 00 6d 00 65 00 5c 00 43 00 6f 00 6e 00 66 00 69 00 67 00 5c 00 44 00 65 00 66 00 61 00 75 00 6c 00 74 00 4c 00 6f 00 61 00 64 00 6f 00 75 00 74 00 73 00 2e 00 69 00 6e 00 69 00 00 00 25 00 64 00

and replace with this:

5c 00 57 00 43 00 6f 00 6d 00 47 00 61 00 6d 00 65 00 5c 00 43 00 6f 00 6e 00 66 00 69 00 67 00 5c 00 44 00 65 00 66 00 61 00 75 00 6c 00 74 00 4c 00 6f 00 61 00 64 00 6f 00 75 00 74 00 73 00 2e 00 69 00 6e 00 69 00 00 00 25 00 64 00

Finally, find this:

70 00 72 00 6F 00 64 00 2E 00 78 00 63 00 6F 00 6D 00 2D 00 65 00 77 00 2E 00 66 00 69 00 72 00 61 00 78 00 69 00 73 00 2E 00 63 00 6F 00 6D 00

and replace with this:

70 00 72 00 6F 00 64 00 2E 00 78 00 63 00 6F 00 6D 00 2D 00 65 00 78 00 2E 00 66 00 69 00 72 00 61 00 78 00 69 00 73 00 2E 00 63 00 6F 00 6D 00

7. Let us know if any of these steps work; it will help us direct other players to the solution faster.

See also