Having issue opening any and all games

[Trello]

Hi, so I have an issue where I can't open any and all games I download with exception of a few, all Ren'Py games don't work, and there are lots of others that don't as well. It's weird because they work 100% when I open them up through WinRAR directly, but not if I extract them and try to open them normally. On Ren'Py games I get the following errors (Sorry, I'd post screenshots but apparently I'm not allowed to because I haven't made enough posts):
Four Elements Trainer.exe - System Error
The code execution cannot proceed because python27.dll was not found. Reinstalling the program may fix this problem.

Four Elements Trainer.exe - System Error
The code execution cannot proceed because SDL2.dll was not found. Reinstalling the program may fix this problem.

Both of these boxes pop up one after the other, with the one about python27.dll missing coming first.

On Town of Passion, I load it up and it just displays nothing but a white box and nothing else, no logo in the actual game window, nothing at all but a white screen.

On the game Big Brother, I click on the application and open it, but nothing happens, no window opens at all.

Can anyone help me figure out the issue behind this? It's not a terrible issue as I can still acess it, but it's annoying to load up EVERYTHING through WinRAR 100% of the time.

P.S.
If anyone wants screenshots of each individual issue or even a GIF of what I do prior to anything, post below, I will send one to you via PM or something.

 

[Papa Ernie]

Hi, so I have an issue where I can't open any and all games I download with exception of a few, all Ren'Py games don't work, and there are lots of others that don't as well. It's weird because they work 100% when I open them up through WinRAR directly, but not if I extract them and try to open them normally. On Ren'Py games I get the following errors (Sorry, I'd post screenshots but apparently I'm not allowed to because I haven't made enough posts):
Four Elements Trainer.exe - System Error
The code execution cannot proceed because python27.dll was not found. Reinstalling the program may fix this problem.

Four Elements Trainer.exe - System Error
The code execution cannot proceed because SDL2.dll was not found. Reinstalling the program may fix this problem.

Both of these boxes pop up one after the other, with the one about python27.dll missing coming first.

On Town of Passion, I load it up and it just displays nothing but a white box and nothing else, no logo in the actual game window, nothing at all but a white screen.

On the game Big Brother, I click on the application and open it, but nothing happens, no window opens at all.

Can anyone help me figure out the issue behind this? It's not a terrible issue as I can still acess it, but it's annoying to load up EVERYTHING through WinRAR 100% of the time.

P.S.
If anyone wants screenshots of each individual issue or even a GIF of what I do prior to anything, post below, I will send one to you via PM or something.

I'm pretty sure it's your antivirus software. Try running the games as administrator and/or putting the specific files in your av's exceptions list. You can always change your av to a less paranoid one as well. I've used Microsoft's free Windows Defender (comes with Win 10) for years with no problems.

 

[Trello]

I'm pretty sure it's your antivirus software. Try running the games as administrator and/or putting the specific files in your av's exceptions list. You can always change your av to a less paranoid one as well. I've used Microsoft's free Windows Defender (comes with Win 10) for years with no problems.

Thanks for this, I'll give this a go and get back to you once I've done it, it's 3:30 AM for me atm so I'll try it tomorrow. Appreciated a lot though, will post again with results.

 

[Trello]

I'm pretty sure it's your antivirus software. Try running the games as administrator and/or putting the specific files in your av's exceptions list. You can always change your av to a less paranoid one as well. I've used Microsoft's free Windows Defender (comes with Win 10) for years with no problems.

Yeah I tested this and even uninstalled my Antivirus, I don't really know why I even have it installed, don't even need one.
Either way, it's not solved my problem, I am unfortunately getting the exact same error messages :C

 

[Papa Ernie]

Yeah I tested this and even uninstalled my Antivirus, I don't really know why I even have it installed, don't even need one.
Either way, it's not solved my problem, I am unfortunately getting the exact same error messages :C

Some other things to look for:
1) Are there any non-English symbols/letters in the directory the games are in?
2) Make sure you are NOT trying to run the games without decompressing the files. Extract the files and then run the game from the extracted files.
3) Some games require additional software to run, ie RGPM RTP's, Microsoft C++, etc. Check the game installation instructions and threads for requirements.

 

[Trello]

Some other things to look for:
1) Are there any non-English symbols/letters in the directory the games are in?
2) Make sure you are NOT trying to run the games without decompressing the files. Extract the files and then run the game from the extracted files.
3) Some games require additional software to run, ie RGPM RTP's, Microsoft C++, etc. Check the game installation instructions and threads for requirements.

Checked all of those things and it's not them, it's funny because there was a time when these did work, not on this specific computer but on my last one, it was running W7 and worked fine, but then suddenly it stopped and I had this issue, since then I just ran through WinRAR but it's a bit of a pain as on some games it doesn't save the game correctly making things a lot more difficult.

I mean, with Ren'Py files it's a case of just simply extracting and running the .exe file, which I've done.
Other games like Town of Passion have no installation instructions but I can only assume it's the same based off of that.

 

[Papa Ernie]

Checked all of those things and it's not them, it's funny because there was a time when these did work, not on this specific computer but on my last one, it was running W7 and worked fine, but then suddenly it stopped and I had this issue, since then I just ran through WinRAR but it's a bit of a pain as on some games it doesn't save the game correctly making things a lot more difficult.

I mean, with Ren'Py files it's a case of just simply extracting and running the .exe file, which I've done.
Other games like Town of Passion have no installation instructions but I can only assume it's the same based off of that.

I'm not trying to be condescending, but did you try downloading, extracting, and starting a game after you uninstalled your av? I still think it's an av deleting/isolating your .dll files.

Also, do you have directx 9 installed?

 

[Trello]

I'm not trying to be condescending, but did you try downloading, extracting, and starting a game after you uninstalled your av? I still think it's an av deleting/isolating your .dll files.

Also, do you have directx 9 installed?

Don't worry, that doesn't come across as condescending to me, troubleshooting is just that, testing everything you can think of until it fixes, I definitely have Dx9 installed, that's for certain, but I will try and do a fresh install of the games, potentially that may fix the issues.

 

[Trello]

I'm not trying to be condescending, but did you try downloading, extracting, and starting a game after you uninstalled your av? I still think it's an av deleting/isolating your .dll files.

Also, do you have directx 9 installed?

Just tested it now with a completely fresh download, exactly the same issues unfortunately, no difference at all. Seems the anti-virus is most likely not the cause given that I uninstalled it.

 

[Trello]

On the bright side, seems I can now post links. Here's a webm of exactly what happens:

You must be registered to see the links

I also went through the .dll files and found the two that I am supposedly missing according to the errors, they're both sitting there happy as can be.

 

[Trello]

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[Prokopije]

Give more info about your system. Which OS do you use etc? Maybe you're trying to run 64bit games on 32bit OS? Do you have microsoft visual c++ and which version?

 

[HiEv]

I also went through the .dll files and found the two that I am supposedly missing according to the errors, they're both sitting there happy as can be.

You shouldn't be unpacking these files to your desktop. Create a folder, like "C:\Games" or something, and unpack/install them there. Anything in the Users folder may be affected by security restrictions. If you want stuff on your desktop, just put shortcuts there, not the games themselves.

 

[Trello]

You shouldn't be unpacking these files to your desktop. Create a folder, like "C:\Games" or something, and unpack/install them there. Anything in the Users folder may be affected by security restrictions. If you want stuff on your desktop, just put shortcuts there, not the games themselves.

Thank you for this, realised that all the files I had in there was actually cluttering up my SSD anyways so I should have just put it on my D: Drive anyways. Don't know why I was being a retard and putting it on my Desktop as obviously that's my C: drive. Derp.

Give more info about your system. Which OS do you use etc? Maybe you're trying to run 64bit games on 32bit OS? Do you have microsoft visual c++ and which version?

Windows 10, yes, and whichever version is the latest.


Update:

One thing that is strange is that the earlier versions of games I downloaded and extracted all work completely fine, yet the later versions of the game do not. They were all downloaded in the same way, so I have no idea why this is the case, just thought I'd add that.

 

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