So basically update Empires through steam. If you happen to be on XP then check below, Also it is nearly 2013 - Upgrade your OS! ------------------------------------------------------------ I know this is basically a triple post, but I figure it should sit here in Support Thread because the sticky in General Discuss keeps getting knocked off the front page and this should make it eaiser to find: How I fixed my Empires installation today, tested twice. Fixed the error "missing executable" TRY THIS FIRST: Copy "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\[username]\source sdk base 2007" -> "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\source sdk base 2007". Job done, doesn't require a reboot of steam. The folder paths to Steam folder may be different based on your installation. There is a video posted by FlamingPope on how to do this here IF THAT DOESN'T WORK: Chances are it is because you have messed something up trying to apply other fixes. Here is how to start from scratch then apply the fix: Wipe all empires & all sdk 2007 and do the same thing from a fresh installation as below: *Right click Empires in Steam and delete local content (I had to do it twice to get it to disappear) *Library -> Change "All Games" to "Tools" find "Source SDK Base 2007" & again delete local content (probably not required I would guess.) *Exit Steam, double check it has exited from task manager (Control+Alt+Delete) *I navigated to my "steamapps" folder (in my case C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps) & deleted these files: empires_base.gcf, empires_content.gcf, empires_scripts.gcf *I navigated to my "steamapps\common" folder and deleted the "Empires" folder. In my case "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Empires" *I navigated to my "steamapps\[username]" folder and deleted the "Empires" folder & "source sdk base 2007" folders. In my case "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Empires" & "source sdk base 2007" ****I now believe I have a clean slate, no SDk 2007, No Empires**** *Fire up steam & login. *I go back to Library -> Tools and install "Source SDK Base 2007". Right click to install it. Once installed Run it once. (This placed the files from the GCF into "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\azkaii\source sdk base 2007". *Now go to Store & search for "Empires Mod", click "Play Now" to begin installing it. Whilst downloading it temporarilt put the files into "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\downloading\17740" before moving them to "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Empires" *Whilst Empires is downloading Right click on it in Steam, go to properties and the Updates Tab. Change the drop down so it reads "Do not automatically update this game". This way once you get it working it will not receive further updates. NOTE: You should check back on the forums regularly for news because once this issue with valve gets resolved you will likely need to change this back! *Try and run Empires. At this point I get an error message - It tells me that I am missing an executable. ****For me atleast this is because Empires is installed in steamapps\common But Source SDK Base 2007 is installed in steamapps\azkaii & it appears the directory calls are relativistic**** *Now for the fix. Empires seems to be looking for the SDK in the same folder Empires is installed in. For me both times it was installed into the common folder. SO: copy "steamapps\[username]\source sdk base 2007" into "steamapps\common\source sdk base 2007". In my case I copied "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\azkaii\source sdk base 2007" into "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\source sdk base 2007" This may not work for everyone. From my megre understanding there are currently two conflicting ways that steam is delivering the update. However I think(?) that if your Empires folder lands in the common directory then simply copying the "source sdk base 2007" folder into the same location as Empires will fix it. Remember - once you disable updates you need to be mindful that whilst your game then be immune from the conflicting delivery methods you will at some point want to put it back on.
We'll be rolling out a temporary fix once Valve enable an installscript for XP users. It seems like it all works. This isn't a long-term solution, but it'll hold for the time being. Props to Jephir for working on this, especially over the Christmas period.
