Launcher Borked (Suffered a Fatal Error and will Now Exit)

[Viva Espana!]

This is something y'all have probably run into before and I hope you can help me. I reinstalled Medieval 2 via Steam with my KingdomsLauncherApp that I used for all of my old mods. When I launch through Steam, I can play Medieval 2. However, when I try to use the Launcher and select one of my mods (for example Divide and Conquer), I get a fatal error and it shuts down. Does anybody know how to fix this?

[Gigantus]

The custom KingdomsLauncherApp doesn't work properly anymore since the merging of the two executable. Simply make a copy your medieval2.exe and rename it to kingdoms.exe
Then start the mod with the mod's desktop shortcut.

There are other ways (editing the mod's BAT file, the universal batch file) but this is by far the easiest way. Note: any mod that was running on the old medieval2.exe file will not work with Steam anymore - they will need extensive modding. You can check that by opening the mod's BAT file (right click the file, choose 'edit') and see if it mentions only the medieval2.exe - if it only mentions the kingdoms.exe then you will be fine with the renaming method.

[Viva Espana!]

The custom KingdomsLauncherApp doesn't work properly anymore since the merging of the two executable. Simply make a copy your medieval2.exe and rename it to kingdoms.exe
Then start the mod with the mod's desktop shortcut.

There are other ways (editing the mod's BAT file, the universal batch file) but this is by far the easiest way. Note: any mod that was running on the old medieval2.exe file will not work with Steam anymore - they will need extensive modding. You can check that by opening the mod's BAT file (right click the file, choose 'edit') and see if it mentions only the medieval2.exe - if it only mentions the kingdoms.exe then you will be fine with the renaming method.

So I've tried running it from the Stainless Steel Launcher and the Third Age batch file. I either get "fatal error and will now exit" or it just opens up regular Medieval II. Do I need to do a clean reinstall of everything?

(If I find my old CD and reinstall that way, will KingdomsLauncherApp still work?)

[Gigantus]

Simply make a copy of your medieval2.exe and rename it to kingdoms.exe
Then start the mod with the mod's desktop shortcut.

Go into your medieval 2 total war folder and do the copy\renaming.
If the mod does not have a desktop shortcut then create one from the mod's BAT file (right click file, choose 'send to\desktop')

Note: any mod that was running on the old medieval2.exe file will not work with Steam anymore

The above method will not work with mods that are listed in this forum and result in a fatal error.

[Viva Espana!]

Go into your medieval 2 total war folder and do the copy\renaming.
If the mod does not have a desktop shortcut then create one from the mod's BAT file (right click file, choose 'send to\desktop')



The above method will not work with mods that are listed in this forum and result in a fatal error.

When I do this, it keeps running "Broken Crescent." No matter what mod batch file I start, I get Broken Crescent.

Also, when I try to launch through Steam, I still get "fatal error will now exit."

[Gigantus]

When I do this, it keeps running "Broken Crescent." No matter what mod batch file I start, I get Broken Crescent.

Also, when I try to launch through Steam, I still get "fatal error will now exit."

We are going in circles it seems. Let's break the circle:

1. Delete all desktop shortcuts for your mods.
2. Go into each mod folder (example medieval 2 total war\mods\TATW) and create a desktop shortcut by right clicking on the BAT file and choosing 'send to\desktop'
3. Give the desktop short cut a distinctive name (example 'TATW Start')
4. Repeat step 2 and 3 for all mod folders (except the original kingdom campaigns)
5. Now test if it works by double clicking the individual short cuts.

[Viva Espana!]

We are going in circles it seems. Let's break the circle:

1. Delete all desktop shortcuts for your mods.
2. Go into each mod folder (example medieval 2 total war\mods\TATW) and create a desktop shortcut by right clicking on the BAT file and choosing 'send to\desktop'
3. Give the desktop short cut a distinctive name (example 'TATW Start')
4. Repeat step 2 and 3 for all mod folders (except the original kingdom campaigns)
5. Now test if it works by double clicking the individual short cuts.

Tested this for Third Age. Got Broken Crescent again.

[Gigantus]

Please compress and upload the CFG and BAT file for TATW and give me the correct spelling of the folder, eg mods\ThirdAge

[Viva Espana!]

I went ahead and did a clean reinstall of Med2 and Third Age, repeated your steps (copy medieval2, name it kingdoms, create shortcut, etc.) Now, I no longer get Broken Crescent (I deleted everything, after all), but it just sends me to the normal Medieval 2.

The only thing in my TATW bat file is this:

cd ..\..
start kingdoms.exe @mods\Third_Age_3\TATW.cfg

I'm unfortunately not computer literate enough to know how to compress a file. My TATW cfg file:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[features]
editor = true
mod = mods/Third_Age_3


[io]
file_first = true


[log]
to = logs/system.log.txt
;level = * trace
level = * error


[video]
;windowed = true
;movies = false
show_banners = 0


[misc]
show_hud_date = true
;bypass_sprite_script = 1
;rebuild_geography_db = true


[game]
unlimited_men_on_battlefield = 1
no_campaign_battle_time_limit = 0
unit_size = huge
advisor_verbosity = 0
;event_cutscenes = 0


[multiplayer]
## comment/uncomment following line to disable/enable hotseat campaign
# playable = true
## faction mask for setting default starting factions in hotseat campaign
# factions = 1 # = england, 2 = france, 4 = hre, 3 = england+france, etc


[hotseat]
## disable start turn scroll in hotseat campaign
# scroll = false
## disable forced separate human faction turns (including diplomacy) in hotseat campaign
# turns = false
## enable cheat console in hotseat campaign.
# disable_console = false
## specify password for administrator access to the dev console when console disabled. Change 'password' to a suitable password
# admin_password = password
## enable camera updates during ai turn in hotseat campaign
# update_ai_camera = true
## enable voting in papal elections in hotseat campaign (only first valid human faction votes)
# disable_papal_elections = false
## disable forced autoresolve all battles in hotseat campaign
# autoresolve_battles = false
## disable diplomacy validation for incoming propositions
# validate_diplomacy = false
## disable forced relevant hotseat options to be saved with game.
save_prefs = true
## autosave hotseat game at start of players turn
# autosave = true
## save config file in save dir containing information about next players turn
save_config = true
## close medieval II directly after a hotseat autosave
# close_after_save = true
## sub directory name for hotseat save games
# gamename = hotseat_gamename
## ensure game data files used in previous save match current campaign data files.
# validate_data = true
## prevent game to load if savegame or data validations fail
# allow_validation_failures = false


[misc]
## specify the name of the save game to automatically load when Medieval II is launched
# bypass_to_strategy_save = game_name.sav

[Gigantus]

The BAT and CFG file are fine. If you have done the copy\rename as you say (and the start of the default medieval 2 game instead of a crash confirms that) then I can only think of a wrong installation path. Or a wrong mod folder name.

Will you please confirm that the path to the BAT file is ..\medieval 2 total war\mods\Third_Age_3\TATW.bat
and that the TATW.cfg file is in the same folder?

[Viva Espana!]

Yes. I can confirm both of these things. Except it's "Medieval II Total War" not "medieval 2 total war"

And, again, I'm using the Steam version.

[Viva Espana!]

Weirdly enough, when I try running the batch file as administrator, it comes back with an error that it cannot find "kingdoms" and yet I see the renamed kingdoms file in my medieval 2 folder...

[Gigantus]

Two more possibilities:

1. change the entry in the bat file to this: start medieval2.exe @mods\Third_Age_3\TATW.cfg

2. check this tutorial from step 3 onward and delete the Medieval II Total War folder in the virtual store if it exists

[Viva Espana!]

Two more possibilities:

1. change the entry in the bat file to this: start medieval2.exe @mods\Third_Age_3\TATW.cfg

2. check this tutorial from step 3 onward and delete the Medieval II Total War folder in the virtual store if it exists

When I change the entry in the bat file to medieval 2, and use the bat file, it just brings up vanilla med2, like before.

I already did the "Full Control" step, and my Virtual Store folder does not contain a Med2 folder.

(I feel like I'm running out of options and have no idea why it's different for me)

And for the record, I still get the "fatal error and will now exit" when I try to run any Kingdoms campaign from Steam.

[Gigantus]

Here comes my last attempt:

Rename your mods\Third_Age_3 folder to mods\ThirdAge
Download this file and place it into the mods\ThirdAge folder
Extract the file (see underneath for more details)
Run the executable.bat with admin rights


Extracting:
Download and install this application - it is available in several languages, you will need the 64bit version.
Right click the file you want to extract and then choose '7zip\extract here'

[Viva Espana!]

I extracted to the ThirdAge folder. Ran the bat with admin rights. Got an Error: Cannot find the M2TW executable.

(Something I haven't noted -- should it matter that my Steam is in my E folder, not the C drive? I installed/extracted everything to Steam under the E drive. But I don't know if it matters. Also... something else I've noticed -- when I clean reinstalled from Steam... for some reason... "broken_crescent_kingdoms" still exists in my mods folder. And when I delete it... it reappears. I don't know what the heck is going on.)

[Gigantus]

Got an Error: Cannot find the M2TW executable.

I guess this is the full message you got in the small DOS window:

ERROR: Cannot find the M2TW executable.
You probably installed the mod into the wrong folder.

The only reason it would happen is if the BAT file is not in the right path. This has to be the path: [your drive]:\Steam\steamapps\common\Medieval II Total War\mods\ThirdAge\executable.bat

The blue folder contains the game's executable file (medieval2.exe\kingdoms.exe). The red folder contains the executable.bat file. Anything else will result in an error.

[Viva Espana!]

That's the path! I have it set up like that...

[Viva Espana!]

Aha! I found something from when I initially set up my mods ages ago. My Steam Launch Options was set to open mods/broken_crescent_kingdoms my old Broken Crescent folder... I changed it to mods/Third_Age_3 and now it works. The Launch Options was the problem. Something I'd forgotten I'd done forever ago.

What should I set launch options to so that everything/anything works?

[Gigantus]

I have to confess I haven't got an idea how to set the launch options as I have never used this method: I have always used the direct launch via the desktop shortcut. Kindly explain how this is done and then I can have a look at how it should be in default mode.