Windows [HELP] My friend cannot launch Stardew Valley

[jouskaro]

Please help us!! We've been trying to solve this issue for about 3 months ever since the 1.5.5 update came out but nothing works...

We have tried:

-Reinstalling the game
-Restarting their PC multiple times after each step
-Deleting startup-preferences
-Repairing the XNA file
-Installing NET 5, the desktop and the console one
-Deleting the Stardew Valley folder altogether
-Verifying file integrity

We do not have SMAPI installed, but the beta works despite their system being 64x... Sadly we were planning on running mods so we don't know what to do, it seems we exhausted all solutions...

 

[Lew Zealand]

Hi jouskaro and Welcome to the Forum! Have you tried Compatibility Mode in Steam? I think that's different from the XNA file repair, though it has something to do with that:

Gear Icon --> Properties --> Betas --> Select compatibility - For 32-bit systems. The legacy, XNA version of Stardew Valley.

 

[jouskaro]

Hi jouskaro and Welcome to the Forum! Have you tried Compatibility Mode in Steam? I think that's different from the XNA file repair, though it has something to do with that:

Gear Icon --> Properties --> Betas --> Select compatibility - For 32-bit systems. The legacy, XNA version of Stardew Valley.

Hello! Thank you for welcoming me, though sadly we have tried that! It does work but it runs quite poorly and with our future plans to run mods it's only a temporary fix

 

[Lew Zealand]

And of course now I see that you said you tried the beta already. Reading comprehension FTW. One question: what kind of computer are you using? SDV doesn't even work at all on my 2011-2012 era PCs and Macs (yeah, old), even though it used to work fine on them before the 1.5.5 update.

 

[jouskaro]

And of course now I see that you said you tried the beta already. Reading comprehension FTW. One question: what kind of computer are you using? SDV doesn't even work at all on my 2011-2012 era PCs and Macs (yeah, old), even though it used to work fine on them before the 1.5.5 update.

Don't worry I'm also pretty bad at reading, haha!
And also I screenshotted their computer specs!

Is this helpful at all? They were able to run Stardew Valley very smoothly along with every other game like it right before the 1.5.5 update

 

[Lew Zealand]

Wow, that's a pretty new (well, new for me) computer and should have no problems running SDV at all. I have one from the same Intel generation as that at work and I'll try it tomorrow to see how it runs.

 

[Lew Zealand]

OK first off, I have Stardew Valley from GOG and I use the standalone installers because it's convenient for me.

I installed it on my PC (for the first time) and it starts up and works fine (I created a new Farm). Here's what was installed:

Stardew Valley 1.5.6.1988831614_(53038) - regular version, not Compatibility one
Microsoft XNA Framework Redistributable 4.0 Refresh 1.0.30901.0
Microsoft Visual C++ 2013 Redistributable (x86) - 12.0.30501.0
Microsoft Visual C++ 2013 Redistributable (x64) - 12.0.30501.0

Also I thought I saw it install .NET 4 but I don't see it in the list. However I find .NET Framework 4.8 installed elsewhere so maybe it searched and found what it needed already installed and ignored this.

BTW my computer is a Core i7-7567U with 16GB installed so very comparable to yours, running Win 10 20H2. One question: are you using the processor's graphics or an add-in video card? I'm using processor graphics, no add-in video card option for this lil' guy.

 

[Giant Octopodes]

When you say you "cannot launch", what happens when you try? Does a window appear but just hang there frozen? Does seemingly nothing happen at all? Does it appear but then disappear again? With as great of specificity as you can manage, what Exactly is and is not happening?

 

[Ghamay]

Hello, my friend is also having issues with Stardew. She just bought this PC (built off IBuyPower with brand new everything) about a month ago, if that, and just got Stardew on PC. This is her first time trying to get Stardew to load up just after buying the game through Steam and she bought it yesterday as well as tried playing yesterday with the same issue happening.

She clicks on the PLAY button through Steam and the little black box that says "synchronizing with Steam Cloud..." pops up for a SPLIT second then disappears (like it suppose to) but then after 30 seconds the game will not load up and the PLAY button is clickable again instead of being a STOP button.

I run Stardew also and bought a new PC about a month before she did, and I have no issues.

PC Specs: AMD Ryzen 5 5600G with Radeon Graphics GHz, 32 GB RAM, 64-bit operating system x64-based processor. Has Window 11.

We have tried:
-Reinstalling the game
-Restarting their PC multiple times after each step
-Deleting startup-preferences folder (there was no folder)
-Deleting the Stardew Valley folder altogether
-Verifying file integrity
-Checked PC was up to date
-Ran Steam as Admin
-Compatibility (does work but runs VERY slow)

Other games pull up through Steam just fine but Stardew does not want work. There is no reason, that I see, that it should not be working.

Any Ideas?

 

[Lew Zealand]

Looks like your friend is using the Ryzen's integrated Radeon graphics, so please try installing the most recent stable AMD drivers for it and see if that works. I'm using a Radeon Graphics card (add-in GPU, not integrated) and Stardew works fine on it with those drivers. You can get them here from TechPowerUp, where I download my video drivers from:

Latest AMD Radeon Graphics Drivers 24.10.1 WHQL Download

Download the latest AMD Radeon drivers for best game performance, compatibility and to fix driver issues. Radeon Adrenalin comes with a completely

www.techpowerup.com

I'm using the AMD Radeon Graphics Drivers 22.1.2 WHQL (Latest Stable). I've used previous Beta drivers as well (currently AMD Radeon Graphics Drivers 22.2.3 Beta) with no problems either. And if one doesn't work, please try the other. No guarantees either of these is going to fix the problem, but your friend should try them and in any case, having the latest drivers installed is almost always a good plan.

 

[FilthyGorilla]

Please help us!! We've been trying to solve this issue for about 3 months ever since the 1.5.5 update came out but nothing works...

We have tried:

-Reinstalling the game
-Restarting their PC multiple times after each step
-Deleting startup-preferences
-Repairing the XNA file
-Installing NET 5, the desktop and the console one
-Deleting the Stardew Valley folder altogether
-Verifying file integrity

We do not have SMAPI installed, but the beta works despite their system being 64x... Sadly we were planning on running mods so we don't know what to do, it seems we exhausted all solutions...

The reason it will not work is that 1.5.5 made it that the game operates on a 64 bit system and now does not work on all 32 bit systems and some 64 bit systems too.
The reason it does not work is that you are running on 32 bit, there is a fix though, all you need to do is launch from steam, right click on stardew valley, click on properties, then scroll down to betas, then click the option tab for betas and click the compatibility version.
This will fix all your problems as it will return the game to 32 bit operating.
I feel sorry for you guys trying so much to do it with such an easy fix.

*For some reason no replies showed up and now I see others have replied so good luck with whatever your problems may be.