[241] “Steam must be running to play NS2”

SwatinemSwatinem Join Date: 2012-10-29 Member: 164362Members
Well this is a strange and very annoying Bug i have seen a few times since 241.

I want to start the game, but it does not start, it rather presents a bogus dialog saying “Steam must be running to play NS2” but Steam IS running, I’m using it to start NS2.
Well I then quit and restart my Steam.
Now the game starts like it should BUT it completely wipes my graphics settings. Other settings like keybindings are untouched. It just resets my graphics settings. It starts in Fullscreen instead of Borderless Fullscreen mode, with a lower resolution and some rendering settings set to lower values than the max settings I want them to be at.

Please note that I usually do not restart my system. I have my windows running for weeks on sleep/hibernate and I don’t restart steam either during that period. Maybe that has something to do with the problem, although it worked fine up until now.

Comments

  • JCDJCD Join Date: 2005-01-07 Member: 33150Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    Having the same problem have thought it would be because of my batchfile.
    The problem started at 240 for me
  • ekrizonekrizon Join Date: 2012-11-14 Member: 170924Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    Yay, I thought it was just me, exactly the same problem as Swatinem. The bug actually prevents me from playing any steam game not only NS2.

    Further inspection reveals the steam service cannot start, however after exiting and starting steam again the service starts fine which allows the games to work.

    I have already have reinstalled steam by deleting everything minus steamapps folder and steam.exe. Not sure what to try from here.
  • rwsrws Milwaukee, WI Join Date: 2013-01-05 Member: 177696Members
    Some things to look at:

    Make sure that you are running Steam as an administrator.
    If you are running NS2 from a shortcut, try running the game from within the Steam interface instead.
    Restart computer.
    Check anti-virus software.
    Delete the ClientRegistry.blob file and restart Steam.
  • SwatinemSwatinem Join Date: 2012-10-29 Member: 164362Members
    Well if steam is the culprit, then why did this bug only start occurring with 240/241?
    Anyway, I read you can somehow set the graphics settings file to readonly so it is at least not reset to default when this bug happens (which it just did yet again for me).
    Which file would that be?
  • YoungTrotskyYoungTrotsky Join Date: 2007-03-09 Member: 60307Members
    edited March 2013
    %appdata%/Natural Selection 2/system_options.xml

    (hit windows key + R > type %appdata%/natural selection 2 > hit enter)
  • sotanahtsotanaht Join Date: 2013-01-12 Member: 179215Members
    This sounds exactly like a "bug" that occurs when you run most cracked steam games. Seems more likely that a game you recently downloaded is the cause, and I recommend checking to see if other online steam games show the same issue while it is occurring for NS2.
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