Worldbuilder won't start (FileNotFoundException Error)

[hyacinth]

I've posted this bug to the 2K Forums, as well as calling them to explain it. They informed me that someone would look into it and then reply to the thread, but I am still awaiting any insight. In the meantime, if anyone else has had this bug, and perhaps even found a fix, please add your comments.

Original 2K Games Civilization V Support Post:

I seem to have a serious problem with Worldbuilder that won't let it start. The game itself, as well as the other SDK tools, all work fine. However, if I try to start Worldbuilder, whether from Steam or ModBuddy, I get the splash screen followed by this error:

An error has occured and a report will be sent.
Please add any comments or reproduction steps below.

If I click on the view report button, I get the following report:

Application: World Builder
User: Unkown (Not an in-house user.)
Time: Saturday 10/9/2010 1:05:07 AM

Runtime: 32 bit
OS: Windows 2008 ()
Machine: PLAY

Exception: System.IO.FileNotFoundException
Source: WorldBuilder
Thread: Main Thread
Description: Could not load file or assembly 'PresentationFramework, Version=3.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=XXXXXXXX' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified.

Stack Trace:
   at WorldBuilder.MainMenuScreen..ctor()
   at WorldBuilder.UI.Init()
   at WorldBuilder.MainForm.MainForm_Shown(Object sender, EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Form.OnShown(EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Form.CallShownEvent()
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.InvokeMarshaledCallbackDo(ThreadMethodEntry tme)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.InvokeMarshaledCallbackHelper(Object obj)
   at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.runTryCode(Object userData)
   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.RuntimeHelpers.ExecuteCodeWithGuaranteedCleanup(TryCode code, CleanupCode backoutCode, Object userData)
   at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.RunInternal(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state)
   at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.InvokeMarshaledCallback(ThreadMethodEntry tme)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.InvokeMarshaledCallbacks()

(Note: I redacted the PublicKeyToken... I didn't know if that was sensitive info)

Of course, once I click on 'OK', it tells me:

There is not yet an error reporting system for users outside of Firaxis.
Sorry 'bout that.

OK, so does this count as a submitted report? FYI, I've done a complete reinstall (Win7, Steam, Civ5, Civ5 SDK, VS2010) with no change in behavior. So as you can imagine I'm not happy. Any help with this would be great.

 

[The_J]

Click me

 

[hyacinth]

No good. Unlike the users in that thread, I do not have a registry entry at HKCU\Software\Firaxis\Tools\ToolAssetPath. In fact, there is no Tools entry at all, and a search for ToolAssetPath doesn't turn that up either. That seems very odd indeed. But there is a Firaxis\ModBuddy\ entry, so I will look into that and see what I find.

Note also that the description does not point out a name or path for the file that is claimed to be not found, thus compounding the confusion about this error.

 

[The_J]

I'd suggest that you post in the thread over there, because it's more likely that a modder knows what is going on with the tools than someone in tech support.

 

[JeBuS27]

PresentationFramework is a .NET Framework library. Make sure you have the .NET Framework 3.0 installed.

I'd suggest that you post in the thread over there, because it's more likely that a modder knows what is going on with the tools than someone in tech support.

And how sad is it that this is probably true?

 

[hyacinth]

Thanks for the insight, JeBuS27. I of course installed .NET 4.0, and my impression was that Win7 has the previous versions installed with it. Just in case, I checked the registry (as per the Microsoft instructions for checking version), and InstallSuccess = 1 for 3.0. Also, I tried to install 3.0 redist just as another check, and it wouldn't work (I assume because it is already installed).

Am I getting mixed signals here or do I most likely have 3.0? If I need to install it, is there a way to get around the install abort?

 

[JeBuS27]

That's odd, then.

Check for the following DLLs, this is where they are on my computer:
C:\Program Files\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\v3.0\PresentationFramework.dll
C:\Program Files\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\v3.0\PresentationCore.dll

Also, could you try using this version of WB, to see if it works for you? They should rely on the same dependencies, so it will be interesting to see if it reports the same error.

 

[hyacinth]

The folder:

\Program Files\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\

is empty on my computer (are you XP, perhaps?). A search for PresentationFramework.dll turns it up at:

\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\

So, it does exist, at least for 4.0.30319. However, from the error, it does seem that they are looking for v3.0.0.0.0 and that folder does not exist in either of the Framework directories. The latter one does contain folders for 1.0, 1.1, and 2.0, so I don't know why there is nothing for 3.0 or 3.5. Is this how it's supposed to look?

As a hacky idea, I tried copying the dlls into the folder you mentioned, but that didn't work either (no real surprise).

 

[hyacinth]

As for the other version of WB, that doesn't even make it to the splash screen before getting an application error.

 

[hyacinth]

Well, I think I'm getting closer to the issue. I started looking on .NET forums for errors of this type and realized that the error may be referring to an assembly and not a file. I went to the Windows\assembly folder and, sure enough, there is no assembly named "PresentationFramework". There are four others related to Win7 styles (.Aero, .Classic, etc.), but nothing without an extension. So, does anyone know how I can create or copy the required assembly? My thought was to just copy the one of the style I am using, but the 'copy' command doesn't seem to work.

I also can't explain why this isn't there, except that maybe it isn't supposed to be there. This identical error has occurred on two different computers, one of which I reinstalled Windows twice. If this is how Win7 is laid out, it's surprising that this error hasn't surfaced more.

 

[hyacinth]

Solved.

Well, at least I haven't had any trouble for about 24 hours now. The problem was definitely in the .NET installation, which was somehow troubled. I followed the instructions on this blog post, and was able to fix the missing/borked files.

Thanks again to those who helped. It's amazing how a little info can go a long way.