Tropico 5 crashes on start

[Rian1813]

Same Issue. 2/3 Games that I normally play don't work anymore. The other one being Burnout Paradise. No update on this???

[Grantholomaeus]

EXACT same issues with both of those games - Tropico 5 and Burnout Paradise. They both run for a bit and then crash out or lock up my system. I signed up for Access mainly to try out Tropico and this is pretty unacceptable.

[ivrognard]

@Grantholomaeus For Burnout Paradise, you may find a solution in the Burnout board

As for Tropico...that is on the publisher (Kalypso Media). Kalypso has a poor record on supporting the releases outside Steam (be it GOG or Origin), plus they've broke the relation with the devs of Tropico 3 - 5, both parties parting ways on bad terms. The Tropico IP belongs to Kalypso, Haemimont Games only being contracted for developing those titles. As Kalypso did not paid them for more patching and kind of frag them to payments, Haemimont decided to find someone else and work on their own IP (Surviving Mars), a game that found a rather unexpected success. Kalypso also has a bad track while dealing with the devs they are contracting for the IP's they own, refusing to pay them, delaying payments and so on. Tropico 6 was made by a different developer, but the game seem to be worse than the ones made by Haemimont., sadly

[Grantholomaeus]

If so then that's unfortunate. Seems EA shouldn't allow an obviously broken game on their platform though, no?

[SoriAgi]

I agree.  I'm pretty sure i don't want to give EA my money to waste downloading a game that I think i might enjoy just to find it doesn't work.  

Fix it.

[ivrognard]

@SoriAgi EA gets only a cut from the sales. As Tropico IS NOT an EA IP and belongs to Kalypso Media (which are also the publishers), fixing the game is THEIR responsibility. A merchant can only refund or exchange a product, fixing fells upon the manufacturer/developer. In this case... Kalypso. On GOG, they were selling another one of their games without the final patch. And the previous version had some game-breaking bugs, with the only solution being starting the game all over and praying that the bugs won't occur again. It took years of campaigning on the Kalypso's boards, but in the end they've finally fixed it. So contacting them and bugging them can bring results. 

[siouxsays]

Same issue, have been researching this to see if it can be fixed.  Have found some fairly conclusive information about the cause and possible solutions.

CAUSE:  Windows 10 build 1903.  None of the reports of this crash happening were reported BEFORE the update to build 1903.

ADD'L CAUSE DATA:  According to Kalypso (game dev/producer), the root of the issue is the error "XAudio2_7.dll unloaded" OR "ddraw.dll unloaded" (as reported in the DXDIAG report).

SOLUTIONS (PICK ONE, NOT ALL):

1. Roll back Windows 10 updates to build 1803 (previous build version, Tropico 5 worked fine).

2. Change tropico5.exe (or variant of game executable) to run in Windows 8 compatibility mode.  (THIS DOES NOT WORK.)

3. Disable the audio service in Windows 10 (build 1903); disable the Realtek Audio driver (not the service, but the driver); this will disable all PC audio.

4. Move the "XAudio2_7.DLL" file to the desktop (located in C:\Windows\SYSWOW64), play game, move DLL back when done.

5. Under "steam/steamapps/common/tropico 5/local" delete the HPK file (english.hpk) in the LOCAL map, not the VOICES map.

6. Under "/common/Tropico 5/Common/Redist" - run all secondary installers (all executable files), reboot.  (THIS DOES NOT WORK.)

The two solutions that specify they do not work have been personally attempted (by me).  Several users have reported success with solutions 1, 3, and 4, and only a couple have reported success with solution 5 (it isn't a widely shared potential fix, so that may be why there is limited information about whether it works or not).

Still investigating...

[siouxsays]

ADDENDUM TO PREVIOUS POST

After more research, I have found a little more information about the "Tropico 5 crashes to desktop on game start" issue.  This post will add to or modify some of the information in the previous post, as well as add more information to allow someone to hopefully determine - unequivocally - what the issue is and how to fix it (without "un-fixing" anything else).

2. (EDIT/ADDITION) Kalypso (dev/producer) recommends Windows 7 compatibility mode, rather than Windows 8.  They also suggest/recommend running the game as administrator.  Furthermore, it was noted that you should NOT run the Steam version (tropico5steam.exe) in ANY compatibility mode, as this can cause crash-to-desktop issues all by itself.  (AS PREVIOUSLY NOTED, COMPAT MODE SUGGESTIONS DO NOT WORK.)

6. (EDIT/ADDITION) Secondary installers (executables) may also be located in "/steamapps/common/tropico 5/common/redist" (if not in the previously specified location).

7. Deactivate RAPTR/AMD Gaming Evolved; some players have noted that the newest AMD drivers can and are causing crash-to-desktop issues (limited distribution of complaints re: this particular issue, perhaps due to low number of players using that particular AMD app/program).

8. Change the properties of APPDATA.EXE so that it is neither read-only nor hidden.  (C:\games\tropico 5\appdata.exe)

9. Go to your PC's BIOS (F2 at start-up); load default BIOS settings; exit to Windows & allow OS to fully load; reboot/restart; go to BIOS & reload personal settings.

10. Copy the 32-bit version of the XAudio DLL and paste it in the 64-bit location (System32 > SYSWOW64).

11.  Copy XAudio2_9.DLL and rename it XAudio2_7.DLL (change previous 2_7 file extension to .OLD to avoid overwriting).

Still researching...

[Darkomi18]

The redist folder is in tropico but it is in the _installer folder and then vc that folder has two folders in it and both have redist in them.

[friskerfun]

Did anyone get solution to this error?