Starting from the beginning. There are several disconnects which can be caused by windows updates, windows permissions, hardware interactions, on top of the ones CA caused removing chat from the game and updating securities.

In the raw, from beginning, to cover you all.

This is for Windows 10 and 11 ONLY including the about to be sent to Manufacturers Windows 11 23H2 RTM and released through Windows update already through the Insider Program in its final version. If you are running an earlier version of Windows, it is time to upgrade to either 10 or 11.

Open File Explorer, depending on how you have your "view" setup this can be slightly different in where and how, but the target is find the options from the top line menu in the window itself. Under the View Options, set to show hidden files.

NOTE: You will commonly need this access as a gamer running older games from now on, so may as well enable.

Now in that explorer window, open C drive, users, the folder for your account, appdata, roaming, the creative assembly.

Pausing for a moment. This should contain a folder by the name Empire. Can be capitalized or all lower case. It will match the case setup in your system of the remaining total war game folders in this folder. If you have none, it should not matter which you use yet capitalized or all lower case for the Empire folder name if it does not exist.

This link is a clean vanilla copy of the generated Empire folder and all of its contents. No saved games to make it bulky, just the generated vanilla text files.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1siM0BLwJljm4ak6OiPxz6lnfBkLD8t2i/view?usp=drive_link

If you have no Empire folder, download and drop into place.

Next, open the empire folder and the scripts folder. Delete anything in this folder other than the preferences script. Open the preferences script, make sure it is populated, has the last line;

number_of_threads 24; # number_of_threads <int>, Set the number of threads <= 0 - automatic, >0 = explicit number #

Windows 10, this can be set to 0, and it is fine, but Windows 11, manually set your number of processor threads.

IF preferences doesn't exist or is blank, you need the folder from above for the included file.

Go back up one file level, open the save_game folder and delete any old saved games as they are now 100% useless AND can cause launch problems for some people.

Next, go to your Steam Empire installation folder most easily accomplished right clicking in games list to browse to the folder, delete the data folder if NOT a new install, and verify your files. New install, just verify to be sure.

Right Click the Empire.exe file, select properties, on compatibility tab, set to XP svc pack 2, tick disable fullscreen optimizations and run as administrator, click DPI, set to application controlled in choices, click ok, and apply to get out of this.

This will solve 75% of launch issues whether new install or old install which has been patched this year of 2023.

NOW, even if you have just successfully launched, I still recommend periodically doing the following for Windows 10 and 11.

Go to your Steam Games list, at the top, click the drop down, hide the games and allow the tools and software to be seen. Scroll down to Steam redistributables. Remove them.

IGNORE many of your games will suddenly need to be updated! Reboot! Now when you launch Steam, reinstall the Steam Redistributables. Go to downloads, queue up all those games needing sudden update, and allow them to try, so they check again and see they no longer need that update. Will go very fast one after the other. REBOOT!

This finishes for 24% of the final 25 remaining.

That last rare 1% needing that last final step, two choices, browse into your empire folder and find the dxsetup file to run or go to Microsoft and download the latest DirectX FULL SDK. If you play older games, go get the SDK! Install, reboot one last time, now you should all 100% be ready to go!

INCLUDING one common issue where video settings are stuck to medium OR when you change resolution the game crashes!

%appdata%/the creative assembly/empire/scripts

Stuck at medium, delete the preferences file, launch to regenerate. If no regeneration, follow the above to get a copy in the Empire generated folder file above to drop into place. Dropping into place without trying to regenerate first will not work.

Changing the resolution and getting a crash when attempting to save the resolution setting, open the script file for preferences, change it manually, save, now launch and you can change any other settings.

More common issues...

Crash loading a saved game, that save is gone no matter what you do. It is usually caused by not enough available virtual memory in the page file. Double your page file maximum size setting it to manual. Empire still requests Page file access as a 32 bit program and doesn't know how too ask in a 64 bit environment to make plenty available as windows will NOT extend the page file to run this game under automatic settings.

Crash during an end turn cycle is an AI faction path finding error caused by a diplomacy change causing a foreign army to shift out of a province to an invalid disconnected tile that should have been marked as invalid in the game engine itself. There are about a dozen of these tiles, but they have to be the closest available point in an army shifting due to diplomacy for them to cause this. Start a new game. Going to an earlier save and if the situation was already set to happen and you are too far away to effect change to stop that diplomacy, there is no way around.

Staggering slowdown during turn cycle or even not responding at times during the turn cycle, build a fleet and park it at the land bridge from Grecia to Anatolia. CA left no way from Grecian lands to Anatolia without going through the city and it causes armies to split into single units making dozens of armies all needing to move for anyone trying to cross though Ottomans are the most commonly known and seen.

I am being lazy and giving someone else's Guide for this for now. I apologize my time is becoming limited and restricted.

https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1349679487

To go with this, I am adding my own description of "How it works!" to be true accurate.

Address space is a temporary file on your hard drives used to drop recurring needed information to make the game faster rather than it digging through the base files over and over again. The "awareness" is how much the game is allowed to see and use. 32 bit apps ask for 2GB of address space, but the 64 bit environment splits that as 32x2 under 64 bit and 32 bit games can only see half of their request. The other half is there, but it is invisible to 32 bit being 64 bit nature. Increasing the "ask" to 4GB (double size), it is still 32x2 in division, but now that one side it can see is 4gb halved so it gets its needed 2GB it can see.

This should mostly be redundant now for Windows 11 if you have the 23H2 feature pack installed. It is supposed to be redundant for Windows 11 23H2. The embedded AI is SUPPOSEDLY able to interpret so this is not needed. That said, it will NOT hurt anything to make your 32 bit application which use address space 4GB aware.

If I find my own written with Microsoft official tools links included or I find the time to invest in rewriting my own, I will.

NOTE: Windows 10, this does still help. Just make sure before using a converter if it is already 4GB or still 2GB. THIS is WINDOWS specific information and communication so for some people, uninstalling a 4GB compatible, when you reinstall later, your permissions remembered can reset to handle 4GB without needing to be changed again.

My most sincere apologies for any confusions. It is much harder than I make it appear speaking Technical in English! I over explain because I want to capture interest and curiosity to learn even more among those who read behind me.

Personal NOTE: Please be aware, I am a service connected veteran with a TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) to the point I was never supposed to have been able to recover at all. It does make me more AI than person. If I ever hurt your feelings, that is your own interpretation and not my intent. To me, everything is just statistics and facts with limited verification through personal experience.