Empire Total War, campaign map issues

**Corykb18** · July 10, 2018, 10:31 PM

New to this, but every time i play Empire Total War, on the campaign map i'll select anything, and it puts me back to the desktop and the mouse clicker will change from in-game to cpu, and all the while it'll still change from desktop screen to game screen to black screen. I need assistance, please be nice, not a very big tech person

**Corykb18** · July 10, 2018, 11:45 PM

Bit of an update, it also does it in battles now as well

**Sar1n** · July 11, 2018, 10:19 AM

Verify files via Steam client.

And what's your hardware?

**Leonardo** · July 11, 2018, 11:24 AM

Welcome to TWC, Corykb18!

Three things comes to mind.

1. Where is Empire TW installed?
2. Are you using mods and if so what kind of mods are you using?
3. How much diskspace do you have left on C:\ and the reason I ask this is, because ETW does not use file compression for gamesaves?

There are two types of mods in both Empire TW and Napoleon TW...

mod pack is a mod type that requires to be added to the C:\Users\<User>\AppData\Roaming\The Creative Assembly\Empire\scripts\user.empire_script.txt file, otherwise mods as a mod pack won't work
movie pack is a mod type that doesn't require the C:\Users\<User>\AppData\Roaming\The Creative Assembly\Empire\scripts\user.empire_script.txt file and will be loaded at the same time as ETW is launched

**Corykb18** · July 11, 2018, 06:51 PM

I'm playing strictly vanilla don't wanna use mods until this issue is resolved. I play on the lowest settings, my specs are:
Intel(R) Core(TM2) Duo CPU P8700 2.53 Ghz
6.0 GB Ram
Nvidia Geoforce GTX 260M Cuda 1GB
It's a laptop btw

**Corykb18** · July 11, 2018, 06:53 PM

I verified the steam files, nothing wrong with that, and i just uninstalled and reinstalled, it still does this. I'm not sure if i did a clean install, all i did was uninstall from my steam library and installed again.

**Corykb18** · July 11, 2018, 07:04 PM

I also have 150+ GB free to use, and I found the Empire TW file on the desktop

**Leonardo** · July 12, 2018, 04:16 AM

Originally Posted by Corykb18

I'm playing strictly vanilla don't wanna use mods until this issue is resolved. I play on the lowest settings, my specs are:
Intel(R) Core(TM2) Duo CPU P8700 2.53 Ghz
6.0 GB Ram
Nvidia Geoforce GTX 260M Cuda 1GB
It's a laptop btw

Your CPU seems okay as I once used a similar CPU. The memory probably needs to be a little better than 6 Gb, perhaps 8 Gb or 12 Gb is what you need to have.

I admit, judging hardware on a laptop is not my strongest side.

Originally Posted by Corykb18

I verified the steam files, nothing wrong with that, and i just uninstalled and reinstalled, it still does this. I'm not sure if i did a clean install, all i did was uninstall from my steam library and installed again.

Where did you installed ETW, was it in the Steam folder or where was it in what path e.g <path>\Steam\steamapps\common\Empire Total War or similar?

Remember, when playing games and using Windows Vista or newer can be tricky due for UAC in Windows, so installing Steam outside of the UAC-protected C:\Program Files(x86) folder will often help.

It seems ETW needs to be installed in the Steam folder at least when playing the Empire Total Faction (ETF) mod.

Originally Posted by Corykb18

I also have 150+ GB free to use, and I found the Empire TW file on the desktop

Having that kind of free diskspace should be enough, but how much is there left on the Windows partition, usually C:\Windows. So. How much is there left on C:\?

What do you mean by saying "I found the Empire TW file on the desktop"? I assume you mean the shortcut for Empire Total War.

**Corykb18** · July 12, 2018, 04:39 AM

Yes, I just looked it was just the shortcut, and i'd assume just the steam folder, i dont actually know where to find it, i tried looking through the documents, but my C:/ has 148 GB free. I also assumed i had enough ram for the game, given it says you only need 1gb of it to run it at the minimum settings. Thanks for getting back to me by the way

**Corykb18** · July 13, 2018, 12:46 AM

This just blows my mind that i can play Shogun 2 on low settings no problems, but not Empire..

**Alwyn** · July 13, 2018, 02:23 AM

Originally Posted by Corykb18

I verified the steam files, nothing wrong with that, and i just uninstalled and reinstalled, it still does this. I'm not sure if i did a clean install, all i did was uninstall from my steam library and installed again.

You wrote that you weren't sure if you did a clean install. Empire Total War keeps files in two places (on a Windows PC):
- C:/ProgramFiles(x86)/Steam/steamapps/common/Empire Total War
- C:/Users/[your user name]/AppData/Roaming/The Creative Assembly/Empire

As I understand it, if you uninstall the game, the first of those sets of files are deleted but not the second. The second contains the file with your preferences for difficulty level, graphics, etc, plus saved games, replays etc.

One thing which has sometimes fixed problems (for example, saved game corruption) for me was this:

Open your C:/Users/[your user name]/AppData/Roaming/The Creative Assembly/Empire/scripts folder and:-
(Some of these folders might be hidden by default, so you might need to search online for how to reveal hidden folders in your operating system)

- Cut and paste your preferences.empire_script.txt file somewhere else, e.g. in a sub-folder you create called 'broken script files' (I suggest moving it rather than deleting it, just in case you ever want to put it back, although that should not be necessary)

- Start the game in the normal way (the game should detect that it doesn't have a preferences.empire_script.txt file and will create one for you)

- In the game, you will need to choose your preferred options again, such as the level of advice you want and the graphics settings

- If you had previously edited your the preferences_empire_script.txt file to implement mods such as the developers battle camera, Bran Mac Born's Preferences Script Setting for better battle AI and You can't play in high? Here is solution, then you will need to edit the preferences script to add those settings. You might also need to right-click on the preferences_empire_script.txt file and select 'read only' (you could try not doing that, playing a few turns, exiting the game and looking at the preferences file to see if your changes are still there).

I can't guarantee that this will help. If it doesn't, then unless you or someone else can think of a better idea, you could carry out a manual complete reinstall by:

- Copying and pasting the saved games, replays and script files (if you want to keep them) from C:/Users/[your user name]/AppData/Roaming/The Creative Assembly/Empire
- Delete both folders containing the game's files, C:/ProgramFiles(x86)/Steam/steamapps/common/Empire Total War and C:/Users/[your user name]/AppData/Roaming/The Creative Assembly/Empire
- Reinstall from scratch using Steam

**Corykb18** · July 13, 2018, 03:16 AM

OK, i was able to delete both folders, i'm gonna try reinstalling from scratch like you said, i'll let you know how it goes. And thanks again you guys, i really do appreciate the assistance.

**Corykb18** · July 13, 2018, 04:22 AM

Very big update, I don't know what that uninstall did, but i don't care, i played maybe 30 minutes into the game and the issue that i had been having has not happened. Usually it did within 10 minutes. Thank you so very much for all the assistance guys!

**Leonardo** · July 13, 2018, 04:48 AM

Originally Posted by Alwyn

One thing which has sometimes fixed problems (for example, saved game corruption) for me was this:

Open your C:/Users/[your user name]/AppData/Roaming/The Creative Assembly/Empire/scripts folder and:-
(Some of these folders might be hidden by default, so you might need to search online for how to reveal hidden folders in your operating system)

- Cut and paste your preferences.empire_script.txt file somewhere else, e.g. in a sub-folder you create called 'broken script files' (I suggest moving it rather than deleting it, just in case you ever want to put it back, although that should not be necessary)

- Start the game in the normal way (the game should detect that it doesn't have a preferences.empire_script.txt file and will create one for you)

- In the game, you will need to choose your preferred options again, such as the level of advice you want and the graphics settings

Sometimes I actually delete the entire C:/Users/[your user name]/AppData/Roaming/The Creative Assembly/Empire/scripts folder and that had helped me when having a mod issue.

Originally Posted by Alwyn

I can't guarantee that this will help. If it doesn't, then unless you or someone else can think of a better idea, you could carry out a manual complete reinstall by:

- Reinstall from scratch using Steam

Based on what observations I have made over the years is that ETF seems to be designed to only work when ETW is installed in the Steam folder and not outside, so reinstalling ETW through Steam might require Steam to be installed outside of the UAC-protected C:\Program Files(x86) folder. I have done that ever since I start using Steam after I bought ETW in mid March 2009 and that has always worked for me.