Hello all,

I recently got an Alienware x17 R2 with Intel i9 and Geforce RTX 3080ti, running on Windows 11. I've been having nothing but problems on GOG Galaxy application. None of my games will boot-up. I click the Play button and it goes grey for a few seconds (says Snyc 0%) but then an additional pop-up appears saying it was successfully synced... Whenever I play games on both Steam or Epic Games applications they run and work PERFECT... like a charm. It's only GOG games that aren't playing. Sometimes like for STALKER Call of Pripyat, the game is actually RUNNING IN TASK MANAGER, but nothing appears on screen. Makes no sense. So here are some things I have tried ladies and gentleman

-All graphics drivers are up to date
-I have all the Microsoft visuals and DirectX up to date
-I've edited all compatibility options from the .exe (disable fullscreen optimization. Scaling. Run in older windows, run as administrator, etc.
- I've done a full BIOS scan of hardware, no issues present
- I've also ensured my Nvidia GeForce is set as exclusive MAIN source for games to boot
- I've tried downloading Heroic launcher to see if it'd finally run. No luck
- I've tried downloading the game off a browser from official website. I ran offline installer, game still won't boot
- I've edited my system registry. I've tried changing some of the codes for .exe files to boot.
- I've tried tried checking everything you can think of in Command Prompt
- I've tried disabling all startup and programs (excluding microsoft stuff) on msconfig. Nothing
- I've tried Steam and adding a Non-Steam game through there.

Probably a few other things as well. It perplexes me and amazes me how I cannot virtually get GOG games to work. Am I the only person? To repeat, all other games purchased from Steam and Epic work like a charm. If anybody could help me out and try to get GOG games running it would mean the WORLD to me. I've contacted customer support for GOG and even Alienware customer service. Nobody can seem to figure it out. THANKS in advance people.

-Markus

the moral of this story says windows 11 needs direct play turned on

ussnorway I've heard before that Windows 11 hasn't been very good with games. Also, I'd like to confirm that I do have DirectPlay ENABLED. I made sure in my computer settings.

when you say the game works on Steam or Epic does that mean you own a game on Gog that you also own on them?
[buy something cheep and test it]

I would start running Galaxy with Admin rights, then test that the actual game is also running with admin

Oh I just mean any type of game I purchase from GOG regardless will not function. I've bought all kinds of different games for both Steam and Epic. I've downloaded and tried them and they execute great. I've tried numerous GOG games from my library, absolutely nothing works. It seems to be a problem with the GOG client. I've tried re-installing it, fixing any corrupted registry files, tried other programs to remove it entirely... It just doesn't make sense.

Lastly, I have tried running all GOG games with administrator privileges and even tweaked compatibility settings in its Properties.

Edit: I've seen some people online mention that GOG games don't install properly with the required Microsoft Visual C++ redistributables. I've ensured they've all been updated and even re-installed those as well. No fix.

Have you tried exiting GOG Galaxy, then launching a game directly from the executable in the installation folder? Don't use shortcuts, because when installed via GOG Galaxy, those shortcuts will launch GOG Galaxy. I take it when you tried launching a game installed via offline installer, you had no non-Microsoft applications running (drivers aside)? In particular no game launchers or graphics card utilities like RivaTuner or MSI Afterburner.

see there are two parts to your question
1 games themselves can be run as admin but Galaxy can\ should also be run as admin

2 why = because if Galaxy tries to install a game without admin then 3rd party add on like openal or c++ will be blocked from installing to the system ... by the time you try to run the actual game its too late because the needed extra software isn't there

never have Games or Galaxy installed to the c programes folder reguardless

Thanks for the response. I have also tried exiting GOG and then going to the original executable in the files (not desktop shortcut). Unfortunately, the same thing occurs. Yes, I have ensured to try a "clean-boot" but sadly even with all programs closed (minus Microsoft drivers) I have had no luck. I tried installing today to my one and only C Drive, but I changed it up by NOT putting it in Program Files. You do bring up a good point though, I have yet to INSTALL the application with administrator privileges. I just put it in that mode a little while after. I'll re-install with administrator privileges for the setup, see if this does a difference. Thanks, I'll get back to you if anything happens to rectify.

Sadly, I have tried all recent troubleshooting options. I've been picking at this thing for days on end now with no luck. I'm about ready to give up. It doesn't seem to be any program interfering, not a driver issue, its not a scaling or DPI issue... It just simply doesn't make sense. When I first got the computer I was playing Gothic 3 and STALKER Call of Pripyat with no issues. Then all of a sudden, things magically died for GOG... No games would start up anymore. Very mysterious, very odd. Thanks for the help nonetheless guys, it really means alot.