Missing Executable?

[Calahan]

I did buy it off of steam I just did not remembered the date at all so I looked online and assumed when that was released was the same day that steam had it too. I did not even get back home until March 20, 2014. Once again I am sorry for the wrong date. I have no idea why its doing what it is doing A14 and A15 worked just fine on it the whole time.

Without any screenshots, or some further relevant info, then all I can suggest right now is to perform a clean uninstall and registry wipe. You said you've tried re-installing the game, but I don't know if that was a clean re-install or not. Details on how to perform this can be found in the OP of the following thread https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=4805.0 .

If that doesn't work, then I'm personally pretty much out of ideas I'm afraid (although that certainly doesn't mean other users/mods are as well). I only use Steam when it's unavoidable, so I don't know any of its quirks to have an inkling of what's preventing Steam from installing your game properly. And since nobody else has reported the same issue before, I can't refer to previous suggestions/solutions for this. The only other thing I can think of right now trouble shooting wise is for you to uninstall the game and then start taking screenshots of each part of the re-install, and each message that displays, so we can see exactly what's happening, and hopefully see exactly what's going wrong. (milon gave instructions on how to take screenshots in his earlier post).

Edit - Or another thought, have you tried installing any of the older versions of the game from the Beta's tab? Or yet another thought, have you tried searching your computer for a "RimWorldWin.exe" file, or searching for just "RimWorld", and see what results turn up. I don't see why your .exe file would be somewhere it's not supposed to be, but who knows? At least a search for it can rule this idea out.

[milon]

I have several scattered thoughts.  In no particular order, they are:


I'm guessing the 2013 date was when RimWorld got the Green Light to go on Steam, even though it didn't show up until 2016.  I haven't tried to verify that, but the timing seems about right.

Isaiah, try Calahan's suggestions and tell us how it goes.

If Steam's Verify action doesn't realize that the core .exe file is missing, then I have absolutely no faith that it does anything useful.  Seems like a *really* obvious thing to overlook.  Yet another reason I avoid Steam where I can. 

Oh, and it turns out that a missing .exe file is a common Steam problem.  One of these links may help:
https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/1/828939163943652381/
https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=8676-EFLX-7453
https://www.google.com/search?q=steam+game+exe+missing

[Calahan]

I'm guessing the 2013 date was when RimWorld got the Green Light to go on Steam, even though it didn't show up until 2016.  I haven't tried to verify that, but the timing seems about right.

4th November 2013 was when the first alpha was released to kickstarter backers (and direct purchasers I assume).
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tynansylvester/rimworld/posts/651214

2nd October 2013 is the stamp date on the Greenight page.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=183032873


Going by those Steam threads it's starting to sound likely that an A/V program deleted the RimWorld.exe file, or that Steam's installer borked something (latter most likely). All Some of the garbage free PUP's A/V software is a nightmare to completely uninstall in my experience. The OP said they had McAfee previously installed, so maybe some parts of it are still active due to not uninstalling properly (garbageware that doesn't uninstall properly. I am so so shocked ) 

Or another thought I had overnight is that perhaps this problem is being caused by the name change of the AppData folder between A15 and A16. From "RimWorld" to "RimWorld by Ludeon Studios". Although that makes no sense since the .exe file isn't located in these folders, but I'm firmly at the wild guessing stage on this one (given lack of new info to go on).

[milon]

Or another thought I had overnight is that perhaps this problem is being caused by the name change of the AppData folder between A15 and A16. From "RimWorld" to "RimWorld by Ludeon Studios". Although that makes no sense since the .exe file isn't located in these folders, but I'm firmly at the wild guessing stage on this one (given lack of new info to go on).

Yeah, that's just for saves & config and stuff.  The .exe should always be in the steamapps\common\RimWorld\ folder with the other files Isaiah mentioned.  Speaking of which, I can confirm that my Steam RimWorld folder has exactly the same structure as Isaiah's except mine also has RimWorldWin.exe present.

Personally, I use Windows Defender.  I've found other AV's to be far too intrusive/jumpy/inaccurate/etc for my tastes, and I've never had an .exe go missing on me.

[Isaiah652]

I have tried the Beta Tap and its on A15 but I got a new message saying "An error occurred while updating RimWorld (unknown error)" I also found a A/V that I did not install myself called Virus Eraser Antivirus, I have tried to uninstall it but it says "This action can't be completed because the folder or a file in it is open in another program"

[milon]

Sounds like you've got some unwanted software there.  It's most likely legit AV software, but I'm going to suggest what to do in case it's not.

I recommend rebooting into Safe Mode (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/12376/windows-10-start-your-pc-in-safe-mode) and then uninstall whatever shouldn't be there.

It may be a good idea to download & run Malwarebytes to make sure you don't have anything nasty hanging around after you've cleaned up everything else.  There *is* a free (trial) available.  Just use that - you don't actually have to pay for anything.  Once it's run and the system is reported to be clean, feel free to uninstall Malwarebytes too.

Once you're happy your system only has what it should have, delete RimWorld, exit & restart Steam, then download & install RimWorld.  Hopefully whatever overeager Anti-Virus ate the .exe is gone at this point and things should proceed normally.

[Isaiah652]

Sounds like you've got some unwanted software there.  It's most likely legit AV software, but I'm going to suggest what to do in case it's not.

I did do everything you suggested and removed it. I just started RimWorld up and its working now I opened to the menu I have not fully tried everything yet.

[milon]

Excellent. Rogue AV is rogue.

Let us know if you have any further trouble!