Startup Issues

This article covers common problems that occur while starting the desktop pet, including launch failures, error messages, and loading screens that appear to be stuck.

Related appendices:

Appendix 1: No picture on Windows 7 or systems with visual effects disabled
- FIPS / uriString error
Appendix 2: Compile the desktop-pet source code to view the error

Questions and answers

Q1: The game crashes on its first launch, will not open, or is stuck at “Attempting to load game save.”

A1: Try these steps in order:

Delete setting.bkp and setting.lps from the game directory, then restart the game.
Disable Steam Cloud, delete save.lps and the backup folder, and verify the integrity of the game files in Steam.
If the problem remains, compile the source code to view the error and report it through GitHub Issues, or contact the developers by email.

–

Q2: Can the game run without Steam? How do I keep the desktop pet running after Steam closes?

A2: The game can run independently of Steam:

Under the startup settings, disable Launch through Steam.
Start the game by double-clicking VPet.exe. Closing Steam will no longer close the desktop pet.

You can also delete Steam.dll and Steam_x64.dll to disconnect the game from Steam completely.

Note: Some Steam features will be unavailable, but offline Workshop content is supported. Achievements earned while disconnected will be granted automatically the next time the game is started through Steam.

–

Q3: The game displays an update error saying that the executable file is missing.

A3: This is caused by a Steam bug. Uninstall and reinstall the game.

–

Q4: A URI or FIPS error appears.

A4: The required FIPS configuration is missing from Windows. Follow these steps:

Press Win+R, enter gpedit.msc, and open the Local Group Policy Editor.
Go to Computer Configuration → Windows Settings → Security Settings → Local Policies → Security Options. Set System cryptography: Use FIPS compliant algorithms for encryption, hashing, and signing to Disabled, then close the editor.
Press Win+R, enter regedit, and open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa\FipsAlgorithmPolicy. Change the value of Enabled to 0.

For illustrated instructions, see FIPS / uriString error: illustrated steps below.

–

Q5: The game is stuck at “Attempting to load animations” or “Generating cache.”

A5: This is normal and does not mean the game has frozen. Cache generation may take longer on a slower computer, particularly on the first launch or after animations are updated. Wait for it to finish and do not force the game to close.

–

Q6: The game remains on “Loading Steam Workshop” for a long time.

A6: It may wait there for 1–5 minutes during network instability or while Steam downloads Workshop content. This is normal.

If the game still does not start after a long time, try running it without Steam: close Steam and run VPet.exe directly from the game directory.

–

Q7: The game crashes while generating statistics.

A7: This can be caused by a poor Steam network connection. Improve the Steam connection with an appropriate network accelerator and try again, or retry several times.

–

Q8: The desktop pet does not start automatically when Windows starts.

A8: Check whether Start with Windows is enabled in Settings. If progress has been lost, also check whether Steam Cloud is operating normally.

–

Q9: The desktop-pet animation is not visible on Windows 7.

A9: Enable the Aero theme and Desktop Composition:

Activate a Windows 7 Aero theme.
Open Control Panel → System Properties → Performance, then enable Desktop composition and Use visual styles on windows and buttons.

For illustrated instructions, see the Windows 7 instructions below.

–

Q10: The game was not completely uninstalled, and Steam asks me to install it whenever Windows starts.

A10: The game's automatic startup feature creates a shortcut in the Windows Startup folder. If Start with Windows was not disabled before uninstalling the game, this shortcut remains.

Press Win+R, enter shell:startup, and delete the VPET_Simulator shortcut.

–

Q11: A MOD error prevents the game from starting.

A11: Delete the MOD named in the error message. If the game still does not start, delete the entire MOD folder and verify the integrity of the game files in Steam. See MOD Issues for more information.

–

Q12: The game is displayed in English. How do I switch to Chinese?

A12: The game follows the system language by default. To change it manually, open System → Setting → Language and select Zh-Hans.

–

Q13: Steam continues to display “Stopping” after the game exits.

A13: This is caused by Steam losing its connection to one of the game's threads. Wait for a while or restart the computer.

–

Q14: I cannot close the game, but I cannot find its process in Task Manager.

A14: The game has already been forced to close, but a remaining thread is causing an incorrect status display. Restart the computer if you need to clear it completely.

–

Q15: How can I prevent Steam from showing me as “In-Game”?

A15: Delete Steam.dll and Steam_x64.dll from the game directory, then run VPet.exe directly.

These instructions also apply to Windows 10 or Windows 11 when visual effects have been disabled, although the issue occurs most often on Windows 7. (Thanks, PabloV.)

Enable all Windows animation effects: open Control Panel → System Properties → Performance, then enable Desktop composition and Use visual styles on windows and buttons.

Performance Options (Windows 11 Chinese interface shown as an example)

Location of the equivalent options in Windows 7

Video tutorial

Video tutorial

The error usually resembles the images below and occurs when the required FIPS configuration is missing. (By 雷子Ray.)

Press Win+R, enter gpedit.msc, and select OK to open the Local Group Policy Editor.
In the left pane, go to Computer Configuration → Windows Settings → Security Settings → Local Policies → Security Options. In the right pane, find System cryptography: Use FIPS compliant algorithms for encryption, hashing, and signing.
Double-click the policy, set it to Disabled, and close the Group Policy Editor.
Press Win+R, enter regedit, and select OK to open the Registry Editor.
Browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa\FipsAlgorithmPolicy, change the value of Enabled to 0, and select OK.

Reference: 雷子Ray's CSDN blog

It is difficult to diagnose a bug without an error message and location. If you have some computer experience, you can compile the desktop-pet source code yourself, find where the problem occurs, and then report it through GitHub Issues or contact the developers.

Source code: github.com/LorisYounger/VPet

Windows 10 or later
At least 10 GB of free space on drive C

Go to visualstudio.microsoft.com, then download and install Visual Studio 2022 Community.

During installation, make sure to select the .NET desktop development workload, then continue through the remaining installation steps.

On the GitHub page, select Download ZIP and extract the archive. Double-click VPet.sln in the extracted folder to open the source code.

In the upper-left corner of Visual Studio, select X64 and VPet.Simulator.Windows.
Select the dark green Run button to run the desktop-pet source code.
If everything is working correctly, the game will report: Missing module Core, can't start up. This is expected at this stage.
Open the VPet-Simulator.Windows folder under the source-code directory, right-click mklink.bat, and select Run as administrator.
After the result matches the image below, select the dark green Run button again. The desktop pet should now run normally.