Half-Life 2: Episode 2 not starting

[deadaccount69]

I was having a problem starting HL2:Ep2.(Actually, this was affecting Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode 1, Half-Life 2: Episode 2, and Half-Life 2: Lost Coast. Half-Life 2: Deathmatch ran fine.)

 

Here is the error it spits out:

Failed to load the launcher DLL: The specified module could not be found.

 

I found this Steam help page about it and attempted to follow the steps:https://steamcommunity.com/linkfilter/https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=6897-DMYX-9004

 

I have tried verifying game files. No problems found.

I have tried deleting the bin folder in the "Half-Life 2" folder. Now I get this error in Steam before the game even starts:

 

Failed to start game (unknown error).

 

So I put the bin folder back, and I have the dll launcher error again.

I take a look inside the "ep2" folder inside the "Half-Life 2" folder, and there is no bin folder in it.

I take a look inside the "hl2" folder inside the "Half-Life 2" folder, BINGO there is a bin folder. So I delete it, and no luck. still getting the dll launcher error. So I put back that bin folder too.

I take a look inside the "episodic" folder inside the "Half-Life 2" folder, and there is a bin folder so I delete it, and... you guessed it. Still the same error.

 

So I tried to launch "hl2.exe" on its own and it told me which dll was missing.

 

"steam_api.dll"

 

So I tried to download the dll and placed it in the "Half-Life 2" folder but it just showed different errors.

So I searched the entire steam directory for the steam_api.dll and found one from another game. I copied it into the "Half-Life 2" folder and... it worked! Half life 2 started up and ran perfectly. But obviously this will launch the original game. So I try to launch Episode 2 in Steam and... it still is showing the same launcher dll error. I tried to launch the original Half-Life 2 from Steam, and it also has the dll error so something about the way steam launches the game is not working. It seems as though that dll is not the problem so I deleted it. So I tried one last time to verify game cache except this time I didn't just verify the game cache for Episode 2, but also the original. There was one problem found. It downloaded it and it worked. 

 

This is not really a "Help me" thread, but rather a guide for anyone having similar problems.

 

The moral of the story: If you have a problem with a game, don't only check that game's files, but also any games it is based on or might be dependent upon. you can save yourself a lot of time.

[Pugs501]

How Ironic I'm a Black Mesa Scientist

[deadaccount69]

I had the same problem, I ended up redownloading HL2, EP1 and EP2...

I wanted to avoid that at ALL COSTS. It would take days on our DSL line.

[basslovah]

I just registered to thank you. I've been looking for a way to fix it for days! Thank you very much!

[deadaccount69]

No problem. Glad to help.