Packaged game won't start

Development Platform & Builds
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1

Hi, my game that I built (in development, not shipping) on UE 5.5.4 just won’t start at all — it crashes so early that Unreal doesn’t even have time to write a .log file…

I took a screenshot of my Unreal Engine packaging settings if that can help.

{83138F75-6F2E-4FF3-AD88-0AC75E15AD40}
{83138F75-6F2E-4FF3-AD88-0AC75E15AD40}1553×910 57.1 KB

{2AF73FA3-9858-4562-87FE-E2AA3253D174}
{2AF73FA3-9858-4562-87FE-E2AA3253D174}1564×939 67.9 KB

{3E46BB7B-AB18-48CF-A068-0AD27FBA1ED9}
{3E46BB7B-AB18-48CF-A068-0AD27FBA1ED9}1555×948 37.8 KB

I used ChatGPT to check the most logical issues that could show up, and in the end I ended up messing around with a bunch of .dll files (not sure if that was the right move).
I also used WinDbg and ProcMon and found some missing .dlls (which I added in …\Win64\ but no luck). Then with WinDbg I saw that no .dlls were missing when the game tried to run.

After that, ChatGPT suggested that since it crashes so early, the issue must be coming from either:

  • a plugin crashing before the map has a chance to load

  • or the Startup Map being broken

So I tried keeping only the essential Unreal plugins, but then Unreal wouldn’t even open the editor without crashing. I restored everything to default from a project backup.
And by the way, I also changed the startup map to the most basic one possible to avoid conflicts, but no luck there either.

Either way, I can’t check any .log files since none are generated, so I’m completely stuck and have been blocked for 2–3 days now. It could just be a simple checkbox somewhere, I’m not sure, but at this point I really need help.

PC specs:

  • i7-9700K
  • RX 6700 XT
  • 32GB RAM (3200 MHz)
  • SSD
  • Windows 11 Pro

Sorry if this is not the right topic or place, I’m not used to it here, but thanks for any potential help.

2

Hey there @HadossYT! Welcome back to the community!

This is going to be a tough one if you can’t get any logs whatsoever from a development build. Depending how early the crash is, you might be able to get some information from trying to launch the game from Visual Studio itself and attach the debugger to the process from the beginning.

However, we’ll also walk through the standard troubleshooting done before that though you may have already tried some of these.

As always, back your project up before doing anything.

Deleting all previous Builds, Saved, Intermediate, and DerivedDataCache is the first step. I see you have Clean Rebuild selected, which does most of this for at least the builds folder, but being thorough is a good idea. Rebuild them by relaunching your project.

Build with only a simple starting map, with a default game mode.

If not, try to (from a new default project) build the same starter map with default gamemode. If the first one worked, it’s level or logic based, if the second worked, it’s plugin or project based, and if neither work, there’s a larger issue at play.

Disclaimer: One or more of these links are unaffiliated with Epic Games. Epic Games is not liable for anything that may occur outside of this Unreal Engine domain. Please exercise your best judgment when following links outside of the forums.

3

Ok, so I finally managed to launch my .exe in Visual Studio (because the .exe doesn’t stay open long enough for me to do a “Debug → Attach to Process window”), and I was able to get some output from Visual Studio:

‘SurvioBase.exe’ (Win32): Loaded ‘C:\Windows\System32\ntdll.dll’. Symbol loading disabled by Include/Exclude settings.
‘SurvioBase.exe’ (Win32): Unloaded ‘C:\Windows\System32\vcruntime140.dll’
‘SurvioBase.exe’ (Win32): Unloaded ‘C:\Jeux\Survio_v1.0.0\Windows\SurvioBase\Binaries\Win64\vcruntime140_1.dll’
‘SurvioBase.exe’ (Win32): Loaded ‘C:\Windows\System32\kernel.appcore.dll’. Symbol loading disabled by Include/Exclude settings.
Thread 21564 exited with code 777006 (0xbdb2e).
Thread 21952 exited with code 777006 (0xbdb2e).
Thread 16124 exited with code 777006 (0xbdb2e).
The program ‘[26720] SurvioBase.exe’ has exited with code 777006 (0xbdb2e).

The first line actually repeats 21 times with different .dll files, and just to clarify, “SurvioBase” or “Survio” is the name of my game.

I also tried changing the startup map and setting a default GameMode, but the crash still happens.

Then I deleted (in my project, not the packaged build): Builds, Saved, Intermediate, and DerivedDataCache folders (probably for the 5th time now), but unfortunately no change.

After that, I created a fresh third-person template project with nothing but the default Unreal Engine assets, and I was able to build (Shipping + Development) and run it without any issues.

So I honestly think the problem isn’t coming from my PC or from Unreal Engine itself, but from my project.

That being said, I’m not sure if this is a “level or logic-based issue” or a “plugin or project-based issue.”
I’m still pretty new to Unreal, especially when it comes to troubleshooting this kind of thing, so sorry in advance if I’m not doing the right steps.

By the way, I also tested running the game on another PC, and the exact same crash happens there too.
And thanks for the help, by the way :grinning_face: