Just got stronghold Crusader 2 special edition, it installed fine, but it won't launch (not even partially).

windows 10 education, version 2004, os build 19041.264, win feature experience pack 120.2202.130.0 , it's 64 bit on an amd ryzen 3 3200g with a geforce 1650 (nvidia driver v. 432, DX 12 installed ), and 16gb of ram.
Don't know what patch version the game is, right clicked on t he main exe and it had no version info.

Don't have galaxy installed, I just grabbed the full download to install.

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When I hit the shortcut *or* the .exe in " * \Stronghold Crusader 2\bin\win32_galaxy_release" all I get is a error box that pops up and says:

"crusader2.exe - application error

The application was unable to start correctly (0xc000007b).
Click OK to close the application."

Went through the usual suspects - the compatibility wizard and the settings manually, that made no difference. Double checked to make sure I had all my legacy stuff ticked on in the add/remove control panel, yep, all working.

Searched that specific error code, and it looks like it is usually a problem with the game calling for a wrong .dll or resource (calling for a 32 bit when it should be 64 or vise versa). So I uninstalled *all* of my .net frameworks and visual c++ stuff, used M$'s cleaner to remove the remnants and settings for .net, found all the official offline installers for said and reinstalled them all, and just for good measure did the directx web installer and the 2010 dx9 offline installer.

Ran sfc /scannow and DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /Restorehealth (and just for grins, chkdsk /f )

Looked at the troubleshooting stuff here on GOG and over at firefly studios - no joy, didn't find that specific error code and the stuff they both mentioned that might be related didn't work.

Not sure how to tell which version of patch this game is, right click on crusader.exe and I get no version info. Is there a patch beyond the base install of the game that I have missed? (went and looked, didn't find one).

Anybody have anything like the same error or problem? Thanks ahead of time to anyone who takes the time to read/respond.

Usually you don't need to uninstall those libraries. Instead check if you have installed the runtime libraries from the legacy DirectX SDK and the Visual C++ 2010 Service Pack 1 Redistributable Package (vcredist_x86.exe), which are required by the game.

Thanks for the reply ...

Eh, I went ahead and removed them and got all the stuff out because I remembered I had some oddities when I installed them, and the error code was for wrong file being selected.

checked both on that, Know I did the web installer for DX, grabbed the other, apparently I already had it so I did the whole repair instead of reinstall thing it offers ... still no joy, same error. :/

Suspect I may have to chat with the GOG or firefly support on this one, but decided I'd see if anyone else has run into this before.

Are you sure you got the x86 (32 bit) version of the Visual C++ 2010 Package? I'm asking because there are three different downloadable files and you may have installed the 64 bit one. Before launching the game try deleting the options.xml file located in the %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Stronghold Crusader 2\Profiles\ directory.

If it still crashes, open this file with a text editor and try manually setting a different resolution and/or running the game in windowed mode:
- In order to change the game resolution, you have to enter the desired x_res and y_res values;
- In order to run the game in windowed mode, you have to change the option fulscreen="true" into fulscreen="false".

Yeah, I got the x86. I also had the x64 installed, not a comp guy at all but as I understood it, they didn't interact and are stand alone? ... anyways, uninstalled the x64 of 2010 just in case, still the same error (EDIT: x86 of 2010 is installed).

Went to look for the options.xml file in the documents directory - directory doesn't even exist. Searched the whole hard-drive for anything labelled stronghold, still wouldn't find it, than searched for options.xml, didn't find that either.

I suspect the game hasn't made the directory? :S ??? deleted my version I downloaded and am re-downloading in case I got a corrupted installer, will let you know if that works.

Ok, uninstalled the game, got the game re-downloaded, used the re-downloaded installer. Noticed the game installer runs the 2010 vc++ runtime - the *64* bit one.

Still the same error code, game still didn't make the C:\Users\username\Documents\Stronghold Crusader 2 folder. :S

Had a buddy who got the same version from GOG yesterday too zip up his folder from that directory and send it over, dumped it in, game still didn't launch, same error, tried deleting the options.xml and the stuff mentioned with editing the options.xml settings, still the same error.

Hit the shortcut and the error box pops up instantly.

Yeah, it probably crashes even before creating that directory.
I'm afraid I can't help you any further because I ran out of ideas.

You could either try asking for help to GOG and Firefly support or ask for a refund because you said you have bought the game recently.

@dr.schliemann Thank you for your effort and time :)

I kinda figured I had an oddball problem given what I found initially.

I'll pursue it with GOG and/or firefly and update this post with whatever results.

IT'S FIXED, HERE'S HOW.

So, after I used the GOG error support system to make a ticket, I went on a deeper net dive on 0xc000007b and found https://www.techcrises.com/how-to/how-to-fix-error-code-0xc000007b-in-windows-7-8-8-1/ ... which pointed me at this: https://github.com/lucasg/Dependencies (it tells you what a exe wants and sees if it is there). I have not seen methods 8 and 9 from that link mentioned anywhere else (and I had already done the rest of the methods it listed).

So I put the game.exe into the dependencies checker program and it popped up with msvcr100.dll as being missing even thought it was present in sys32 and syswow64. I presumed that meant that dll was corrupted in spite of multiple dx, .net, & vc uninstall/reinstalls.

Found replacement dll here : http://freewisdoms.com/download-dll-files-commonly-used-by-games/ which replaced the following:
(in windows\System32 folder and in windows\SysWOW64 folder)

sys32: mfc100 , mfc100u , msvcp100 , msvcr100 , msvcr100_clr0400 , xinput1_3
syswow64: msvcp100 , msvcr100 , msvcr100_clr0400 , xinput1_3

And now the game launches and works fine.

Also, this was a useful and neat tool: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/procmon because it tracks the launching of an exe/process and sees what goes on with it - helps you see what may be causing a problem.

:D Works fine now. I'm betting I would have had other games and programs error out from the corrupted .dlls too ...

I'm happy you fixed the issue with the game, but I think I have to strongly suggest you and other users to avoid downloading system libraries from unofficial sources because this behavior is very risky, dangerous and unsafe for your system's security.
That particular library msvcr100.dll is part of the Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Package, which is one of the dependency required by the game, as I told you earlier. If the game didn't run even after having installed this package, then DLL Hell probably occurred and this was the source of your problem.