can't host multiplayer game

[feral mulch]

I can go through the process, once I press play it gets stuck on a black screen, until I press escape, then I go to main menu

[shrewd obsidian]

Can you reproduce the issue without mods?

[feral mulch]

I'm trying that right now (don't question the time gap)

[feral mulch]

without mods, it doesn't even get past loading world

[shrewd obsidian]

Try creating a new "servertest" settings file with the default values, do not add or change anything there, then try to host

If that still fails, can you also share the console.txt file?

[feral mulch]

I'm trying that now, I should also mention, I can run that server on the dedicated server, I can't seem to join it, but I might just be doing that wrong

[shrewd obsidian]

Hm, are you using your Local IP in the "IP" tab to join it?

[feral mulch]

it didn't work, I saw something at the end about ports needing to be open, I was told project zomboid would handle that though

[feral mulch]

I've tried using my public ipv4 and localhost

[shrewd obsidian]

Only sometimes, since the game tries to use UPnP on the router for automatic port forwarding

The router may not support it or block it otherwise

So manual may be needed in those cases

Your logs also show game corruption, did you perhaps switch to B42 and back to B41?

[feral mulch]

I did, I didn't think anything of it though

[shrewd obsidian]

I would suggest a full reinstall in that case, to avoid issues with downgrading the version like that.

First, uninstall the game, then go to "Steam\steamapps\common\ProjectZomboid" and make sure there are no leftover files or folders there.
After that, go to “C:\Users\%UserProfile%\Zomboid” and delete everything there except the “Saves” folder.
Then just install the game again and see if that helps.

[feral mulch]

I was hoping you wouldn't say that, it takes ages to install for some reason, but I'll go do that

[shrewd obsidian]

Localhost as in just typing "localhost" or the actual local IP?

Since the former had some issues

[feral mulch]

I've tried both

I tried the ipv4 first, but when that didn't work I tried localhost as that's worked in other games

[shrewd obsidian]

Okay, we can check that out after the reinstall, since local IP should basically always work as long as the server is installed right

Did you use the Steam client or SteamCMD?

[feral mulch]

I installed it using the steam client, but have been launching it via the files

[shrewd obsidian]

Try installing it with SteamCMD, the Steam client installation can be weird in some cases

[feral mulch]

okay, the main game not dedicated server right?

[shrewd obsidian]

No I meant the dedicated server

Install that one with SteamCMD

[feral mulch]

oh, okay, I'll do that

[feral mulch]

okay, it finally finished, and it's still failing

[shrewd obsidian]

Are you sure you deleted all the necessary folders or files?

The Zomboid folder looks untouched

[feral mulch]

as far as I'm aware, I uninstalled it and deleted it's install folder

oh wait

I see what I did wrong

I did not infact touch the zomboid folder

[shrewd obsidian]

Do that as well

[feral mulch]

it's installing again, and I should not, I couldn't delete the logs folder, as all of them are 0 bytes and when I try and delete them I get this error

[shrewd obsidian]

Close the folder and open it again, then check if the files are still there

If they are, restart your PC, then try deleting them again

[feral mulch]

okay, they are still there, will it impact the install or can I restart after it installs?

[feral mulch]

this time the game completely crashed

[shrewd obsidian]

This log again shows mods

Did you do as I said and created a new default setting?

Meaning you should not change anything in the server settings

[feral mulch]

I did not, I even made a new server profile to make sure

[shrewd obsidian]

Did you add mods or do any changes in this new server profile?

[feral mulch]

not that I know of, I'll make a new one

[shrewd obsidian]

Can you also share the latest “hs_err_pid” file found in your main game folder “Steam\steamapps\common\ProjectZomboid”?

That file is necessary if the game crashes

[feral mulch]

unless it's located in a different subfolder, I don't have one?

[feral mulch]

I've made a new one

[shrewd obsidian]

Hm, you may have a rare bug related to coop servers, we do not have a fix for it unfortunately at the moment

But the dedicated server should work with this bug, can you try installing that one and connecting to it?

[feral mulch]

ah... I'll install it

[feral mulch]

okay, it's installed

[feral mulch]

okay, it still doesn't let me respond, but it now gives the error "the server failed to respond"

[feral mulch]

okay, I tried using a different ip (not the public ipv4?) and it's working

[shrewd obsidian]

Check whether anyone else can connect to the server, since this confirms the server itself works fine

The thing to do now would be to open the 16261 and 16262 UDP ports to allow others to join