Overview
You clicked on Play, it said ‘Running’, synced to Steam Cloud, then the process ended and nothing happened. Here’s how to fix that.
The Story:
I’ve reformatted my computer and then Psychonauts didn’t start, even though it didn’t require any extra effort before.
I found the solution by reading Ikodai‘s Discussions post, so all credit goes to him/her.
The Problem:
When clicking on play, it says ‘Running’, syncs to Steam Cloud, then the process ends and nothing happens.
Known to have happened on:
- Pentium 4, GeForce 6600, Windows XP, DirectX 9.0c config, after fresh reinstall (me)
- Windows 7, compatibility mode (Ikodai)
The Cause:
Your computer is missing some DirectX files.
The Solution:
- POSSIBLY OPTIONAL: If you don’t already have your DirectX upgraded to at least 9.0c, you may need to upgrade it first before moving on to step 2. Download and install the ‘DirectX 9.0c End-User Runtime’ from Microsoft’s website, it is currently at: [link]
- Go to Microsoft’s website and search for the ‘DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer’, or the ‘DirectX Software Development Kit’. (Ikodai installed the whole Kit, for me the Web Installer was enough in itself.) Currently working links:
- Download, install, then restart your PC.
- Psychonauts should work now.
The Alternatives:
It might happen that this didn’t solve your issue. Here are everything else that I tried, and though none of them have worked for me, they might just work for you:
- Restart Steam / your PC / the Universe.
- Try out some launch options; I tried windowed and autoconfig. ([link])
- Verify the integrity of your game files. (Before the DirectX thing fixed it, I verified at least 3 times, and each time it seemingly corrected something, but I still couldn’t open the game. I didn’t dare to verify since the fix.)
- Disable the in-game Steam Overlay.
- Disable Steam Cloud synchronization.
- Disable Steam Cloud synchronization and take your savefiles out of their folder.
- Enable Steam Cloud synchronization and take your savefiles out of their folder. (This makes Steam redownload them upon starting the game.)