[EOS and NullRefernceException] Game won't run on new PC/fresh Steam Install

[elijahgalador]

First, sorry for opening a new thread, I am aware there are already multiple threads on Epic Online Services and NullReferenceException. Unfortunately after trying to get 7D2D to run for hours now, nothing has helped so far and this is my last resort.

[The Story]

Yeah, I just completed assembling my brand new PC w/ i5-13600  and a GTX 3080,. Everything (and every game) runs smoothly ... so back to one of my all time favorites, back to z-smashing 7D2D. Hitting the Download-Button on Steam and a few Minutes later, program starts and presents me with a " Could not fully initialize Epic Online Services" Error. So I hit "play offline", generate my little survivor from scratch and start a PreGen Map. BANG - console shows up with a red line telling me something of a NullRefernceException. Game freezes and I need to alt-tab out and kill the process to get back. A few hours of googleing, cleaning everything with the launcher tool, adding AV exceptions and the like, shutting off Windows Firewall (EOS) - but nothing changes. I cannot get the game to load.

 

[Some additional notes/observations]

- PC w/ Win11 is almost virgin - so everything is freshly installed and totally clean

- No use of mods or anything other than a clean install

- Verifying game files, uninstalling and re-installing changes nothing

- Downloading additional VS redistributables changes nothing

- adding/removing EAC changes nothing (admin or not)

- Shutting down Windows Firewall/AV changes nothing

- trying to connect to EOS on port 443 fails w/ bad access

- https://api.epicgames.dev/sdk/v1/default?platformId=WIN is reachable though browser though

- Reverting to Alpha 19.6 works like a charm. Game fires up and runs smoothly - but this cannot be the solution

 

I am bit desperate so I will gladly try every idea you may have. Here's one of the many output logs: https://pastebin.com/embed_js/Dj21uf5S 

Edited November 13, 2022 by elijahgalador (see edit history)

[elijahgalador]

Leaving a quick update for everyone else who may run into this.

• First, it is indeed the failed EOS login that prevents the game from running properly
• I tried every EOS related trick I could find on the internet (port forwarding, certificate installation, change DNS in standard gateway and the like) ... sadly, nothing helped
• Only solution or rather workaround is to remove EOS from the platform.cfg file in Steam's 7 Days To Die installation folder, so that it look just like this
   

  platform=Steam
  crossplatform=
  serverplatforms=Steam,XBL,

  
  After saving that change the game runs perfectly. Looks like I am giving up on cross-play functionality, though. But at least I can play the game

Hope this may be helpful to anyone running into the same challenge. And still, I would be grateful for any advice on how to properly connect to EOS

[Beelzybub]

This seems like an unusual log entry for a fresh system:

 

"2022-11-13T13:53:53 0.025 INF Last played version: Alpha 19.6"

 

Try cleaning again. Maybe this will help.

 

 

[elijahgalador]

Thank you Beelzybub,

 

Quote

This seems like an unusual log entry for a fresh system:

 

"2022-11-13T13:53:53 0.025 INF Last played version: Alpha 19.6"

 

If you look at the time stamp, this perfectly makes sense. As stated above, to narrow down the issue I reverted to A19.6 (pre EOS) to see if this version runs properly. And yes, it does. So this was merely just a test yesterday.

 

But I will try to clean again and see if I get any further w/ EOS. Appreciate the help!

[elijahgalador]

And here comes the solution *drumroll*

Maybe I am stupid and should have tried this earlier ... but linking my Steam Account with Epic finally did the trick. Wouldn't hurt to get an in-game hint to try this, though

[meganoth]

34 minutes ago, elijahgalador said:

And here comes the solution *drumroll*

Maybe I am stupid and should have tried this earlier ... but linking my Steam Account with Epic finally did the trick. Wouldn't hurt to get an in-game hint to try this, though

 

Lots of player (including me) don't have an EOS account and it still works. So it is a bit surprising even though there is an important difference here. Were you always logged into EOS when you tried all this?

 

Has anyone else here both EOS and Steam and does it work for you without linking?

 

Edited November 14, 2022 by meganoth (see edit history)

[elijahgalador]

Frankly, I do not remember if I had my Steam account linked to Epic on my last machine. Nonetheless, it looks like this helped to authenticate and connect to EOS. Since I also own Satisfactory which uses EOS for cross-play, I installed this one and checked how they approach this. They offer two options to handle this and trigger the authentication only for the App. (through browser). So I guess, there is an alternative way to handle this in-game, that gives a bit more control for the user. But I never played around w/ EOS, so I really do not know.

 

I am glad it works for me now. I do not use cross-play at all, but at least I can run 7D2D on the current version now normally. Maybe this is still helpful to the Pimps or other players with the same challenge.

[Star69]

I’m very nervous about upgrading to Windows 11 due to all the gaming issues it has caused thus far. I’d be willing to bet that this is some issue with Windows 11 and EOS, no proof but an inkling. I’m glad that your issue was resolved and will keep it in mind when trying to help people having issues. For myself, I’m in no hurry to upgrade to Windows 11 until more issues are resolved. The pc that I game on is strictly for gaming, those pcs I have for not gaming I will try Windows 11.