DayZ Standalone- Steam: Preparing to launch

[Fuelstream 1]

Just if anybody with similar problem reads this old thread...

 

What worked for me and a lot of other people is to redownload and install the directx sdk, and then run the dxsutup as mentioned earlier in this thread.

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=35

 

I have no idea why it just stops working sometimes.

 

Hope it helps someone :) 

[Norcath 0]

I have exactly the same issue. It began on May 29th with Steam endlessly trying to update itself, then applying the same Game updates over & over (Approx 11 Games incl. DayZ were affected). If the updates were allowed to complete & the game selected for play the above error would appear; any attempt to close & retry would result in a "Game is already running Error"

 

I contacted Steam & after almost a week of troubleshooting & multiple emails we managed to resolve the Steam Update Error. This also resolved 'some' of the Game Update misques (Primarily Valve Titles), but unfortunately DayZ was not among them. I was notified I'd have to contact each Developer individually.

 

This has been a rather 'painful experience'. However, I'm pleased to say after much trouble shooting (usually revolving around Direct X/ Reinstallation of Game Files) Civ 5 & it's add-ons work &  we're 90% sure we have a solution fo StarTrek: Online:)..

 

I'm mentioning the above to illustrate that the problem appears to be focused on the Steam Update, is far from isolated to DayZ,  & to clarify all of the 'quick' fixes have been tried. IE. Reinstall the Game Client, Steam, Run as Admin, verify Cache, etc.

 

Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated, currently the game is non-functional, thx.

[proto00000 4]

Nothing has worked for me, and I still have not been able to play DayZ. So far it was a waste of my money. I have a video uploaded of the issue for anyone else willing to try and help.

[cwkhorne 0]

okay so not sure why you haven't been told to do this yet XD LOL right click your DayZ in steam library and go to properties then local files then verify integrity of local files. you'll probably be missing up to like 100 thats what happened with me and can now work i was missing 166 guess the last update didnt update properly and got corrupted XD lol but w/e.....but yeah do that and play sorry you havnt been able to play in so long.

 

if that DOESN'T work make sure to run steam as admin and try to play it if that doesn't work verify files again while running steam as admin

Edited June 29, 2014 by cwkhorne

[proto00000 4]

Thanks for the idea cwkhorne, but that didn't fix it either.

 

Just to clarify the situation, I have never been able to play DayZ SA at all. It never worked before and it still isn't working.

[Traktor666 0]

Hi guys. 
 

I have similar issue. Yesterday i played dZ for about 15 min, tryed to change resolution when it kicked me out. When i was trying to enter again it shows only icon on taskbar and screen is blinking. I was able to hear voice but it wont enter in game. 

Would be really thankful if someone can help

[Ardogen 0]

Similar issue here as well.

 

Tried all of the suggestions here, as well the basic troubleshooting guide Steam gives here: https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=6218-USFX-5568.

 

Steam will say "Preparing to launch Day Z" and nothing will happen afterwards, no processes detected with Windows Task Manager.

 

In addition, this is the only game on Steam which has a problem like this. Should I still go to Steam for support? Is this a DayZ only problem or Steam problem?

 

Would appreciate any help and/or attention to this problem.

Edited July 15, 2014 by Ardogen

[Ardogen 0]

At the behest of a possible solution in a couple other threads, I reinstalled Windows and booted up DayZ.

 

It works.

 

My guess is that somewhere an outdated driver or otherwise key component had not been fully uninstalled from my computer and had been messing with DayZ launching somehow? I'm not entirely sure, but this is what has worked for me.

[proto00000 4]

Ardogen, did you do a clean installation or just a normal installation?

[proto00000 4]

Sorry to bump, but I am still having this issue. Help of ANY kind would be greatly appreciated.

[Fedfarmer 1]

Hello! I was having the same problem, with the steam window popping up saying "preparing for launch", and so I looked up this troubleshooting thread. However, I didn't exit out the the "prepare for launch" window when I did, so it must have been continuing it's loading or whatever. In the time it took me to read all these comments, though, the window suddenly went away and the game started. I don't know if it's my computer's fault and its just slow at loading, or it was having the same problem everyone else seems to be having, but in my case, it was solved simply by waiting it out. Mabye after updates of the game it needs a little time to prepare or something...

 

Mabye you could try just starting the game to where the "preparing for launch" window comes up and let it sit for 5-10 minutes. Hopefully that will solve the problem.

I wish you luck!

[proto00000 4]

I have fixed this problem. Here is how:

 

1) Launch Steam

2) Right click on DayZ

3) Go to Properties

4) Go to Set Launch Options

5) Type "-window" (without quotation marks)

 

This is how I got it to launch for me. Hopefully this will help anyone else struggling with this issue.

Edited December 27, 2014 by proto00000

[blitzz92 7]

Try to disable ur SLI as for now it shouldn't work in DayZ anyway. Oh you fixed it. Sorry.

Edited December 27, 2014 by blitzz92

[Shakis 33]

I had this issue today (first time I've played in a long time). This is what I done before I got DayZ to launch again.

 

Symptoms: Click play button on Steam, "preparing to launch" box appears then dissapears, nothing happens but Steam reports me as playing DayZ. When checking process list in Task Manager I can see DayZ_BE.exe is running but is stuck around 3500kb of memory usage and not shifting. Ending this process removed the in game status from steam.

 

I have windows 7 64bit.

 

I reinstalled the game: didn't help

 

Verified Steam Cache: everything was fine.

 

Turned off ShadowPlay and TeamViewer: I read that someone had issues with shadow play and dayz - personally I've found TeamViewer causes issues with some games however not DayZ

 

Game didn't work

 

I reinstalled both x86 and x64 versions of all c++ redistributable files found here: C:\Steam\steamapps\common\DayZ\_CommonRedist\vcredist   - I re-installed both the 2010 files and the 2013 files

 

Next I reinstalled DirectX found here: C:\Steam\steamapps\common\DayZ\_CommonRedist\DirectX\Jun2010

 

Game still didn't run.

 

deleted Clientregistry.blob from Steam folder: didn't help

 

Deleted all files from my main Steam installation folder except Steam.exe, Steamapps(contains your installed games) and Userdata (some games store their saves in userdata so back up if you plan on deleting it). Run Steam.exe as admin to reinstall the files you just deleted.

 

Game still didn't run.

 

At this point I though, hmmm I've not tried turning it off and back on again.

 

Restarted PC, DayZ launches - weird right?

 

 

 

I don't know how much help this will be to anyone.

 

NB: the file location I've listed above are where my Steam and DayZ programs are installed, yours will likely be different and by default Steam usually installs to C:\Program files (x86)\Steam or C:\Program files\Steam and then by default DayZ would install to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\Steamapps\Common\Dayz.

 

ALSO: If you have a 64 bit OS you must install both 64 and 32 bit versions of the vcredist files, if you have a 32 bit OS then you only need to install the 32 bit vcredist (x86 versions).

[SolidOwlPL 37]

Having the same issue, tried pretty much everything from here and still the game doesnt launch...

i have 150hrs in it and just decided to comeback to it after a break but it looks like i will have to drop it all together.

[Rapio 0]

For anyone STILL stuck with this problem, I have just fixed it for myself. I tried each and every suggestion that was on this thread and still nothing, however, I fixed it myself, this is how I did it:

 

Right click DayZ in steam and click properties

Go to browse local files

Run the DayZ application as administrator

It SHOULD say the game needs updating, this is where my DayZ updated about 500MB of missing files that validating etc could not find for some reason.

Voila

[TheMightyDot 0]

I am having the same problem. Play game.... Preparing to launch.... closes. I have had this problem since October of 2014 and I had already been playing it. I have 25 hours on it. I came back after a while and it hasn't worked. It started with BattlEye screwing up then the whole game stopped working. I have tried every solution in the thread. 

[franzuu 211]

I am having the same problem. Play game.... Preparing to launch.... closes. I have had this problem since October of 2014 and I had already been playing it. I have 25 hours on it. I came back after a while and it hasn't worked. It started with BattlEye screwing up then the whole game stopped working. I have tried every solution in the thread. 

 

try everything here

 

http://www.battleye.com/support/faq/

 

reinstall steam

 

report on http://feedback.dayzgame.com/my_view_page.php