Failed to find Steam

A while ago, I bought Dex Ex: Game of the Year Edition on Steam. I believe it was way back during the Steam Summer sales.

I just installed it yesterday and tried to play it, but whenever I press the Play button I get an error message that says "Failed to find Steam." Then, when I press "Ok", I get taken to an in-browser Steam shop.

Is there a way to fix this problem?

[bomiboogie]

My problem is exactly the same. Any suggestions?

EDIT:
From here, just download the new "exe" file and it will work from Steam without problems.

http://kentie.net/article/dxguide/index.htm

Originally Posted by bomiboogie

From here, just download the new "exe" file and it will work from Steam without problems.

http://kentie.net/article/dxguide/index.htm

Confirmed, Deus Ex is now up and running without any problems.

Thanks for the help!

[misterbk]

You can fix this without using a hacked .exe.

Here's the guide I posted in an older thread (because it was #1 on a Google search for this issue.)


I believe "Failed to find Steam" happens because the game makes incorrect assumptions about the location of Steam, only looking in the default location for a 32-bit Windows machine:

C:\Program Files\steam

If you have 64-bit Windows or have chosen a custom location, the game will "fail to find Steam" because it's only looking in that location.

Users of 64-bit Windows have Steam located here:

C:\Program Files (x86)\steam

The solution is to add your Steam location to your path. I would love to give thanks to the thread that showed me this solution but it took the mods a day to activate me, and I've lost the link.


Here's how to fix it -without- using copy protection disabling hacked .exe files:


1: Right-click on "Computer" (in XP it was called "My Computer") and click on Properties.

2: in Vista / 7, on the left click on "Advanced System Settings". On XP, Google search for how to change your system path, because I can't quite remember where things were in XP.

3: In the Advanced tab, you'll see a button for "Environment Variables". Click it.

4: In the upper section of that new window, you should see something like "User Variables for [your username]". Scroll through to find the one called "PATH".

5: Highlight the entry for "PATH" and click "Edit...".

6: You'll get a too-small text box that has a field on the top for "Variable Name" and a field under it for "Variable Value". Put your cursor into the "Variable Value" field and hit the [End] key so you know you're not inserting text in the middle of another entry. If you push the right arrow key it should not scroll.

7: Add a semicolon [;] to separate your new entry from the others. This is the key to the right of the 'L' key, without pressing Shift.
Correct -> ;
Incorrect -> :

8: Paste in the path to Steam, which for me on a default-install Windows 7 64 system is:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam

9: Press OK, and re-launch Steam so that it gets the new environment variables. (It might work without re-launching, but hey why not.)

10: Run the game normally!

This should work with any custom location of Steam, for any games that have trouble finding Steam when they launch.

Disclaimer: I do not intend to say that nobody needs to replace the .exe to play Deus Ex GOTY without issues. This solution took me to the point of being able to launch the game via Steam. I may end up needing a patch of some sort to fix other issues, but this solved problem #1.

[descartes888]

The above solution does not work for me. Perhaps I did something wrong. When I went to the environmental variables, there was no "PATH", so I made one. There was no effect.

[IceEagle]

Originally Posted by descartes888

The above solution does not work for me. Perhaps I did something wrong. When I went to the environmental variables, there was no "PATH", so I made one. There was no effect.

Hey Descartes888, I encountered this issue with Deus Ex GOTYE last night and noticed you did fairly recently. When I came to attempt misterkb's fix I too didn't have a "PATH" variable so I made one and it now works. If yours still isn't working maybe just double check the below? I'm not sure of your setup - I actually put Deus Ex onto a Windows XP Professional 32bit install.

My steam folder is located at "E:\Steam" rather than the XP default of "C:\Program Files\Steam"

1. Close steam client.
2. Open "System Properties" ; go to "Advanced" , "Environmental Variables" dialogue box and delete any previous "Path" you added to "User Variables" if you haven't yet.
3. Go to "New" and: a. Under "Variable name" add "PATH" b. Under "Variable value" add the location of your steam folder (NOT your steam executable) c. Ensure you DO NOT use a semicolon prior to your variable if you had done so previously - misterbk emphasised this for users editing current variables, not new ones.
So the entire line for my "Variable value" is:
"C:\Program Files\Steam"
Not "C:\Program Files\Steam\Steam.exe"
Or ";C:\Program Files\Steam"
Or ";C:\Program Files\Steam\Steam.exe"

4. Login to steam and give it a go

Just as misterbk notes, this only fixes the issue of failed to find steam. (Once I had added the new variable Deus Ex loaded initially then crashed to windows; I need to run the Deus Ex executable as "run in compatibility mode for Windows 98".

[petercrab5]

Thanks the solution from misterbk fixed the game "The longest journey" for me. Thanks

[Multisensory]

Originally Posted by petercrab5

Thanks the solution from misterbk fixed the game "The longest journey" for me. Thanks

It fixed Railroad Tycoon 2 for me. Thank you misterbk!

[Sharkalone]

@misterbk thanks, works fine for me on Nexus

[MystMan]

...all I do is restart Steam when I get that message for any game. Works everytime.

[cloudruler116]

this worked perfectly for me! Thanks misterbk i was getting worried I wouldn't be able to play Dreamfall...

[frostay]

Originally Posted by misterbk

You can fix this without using a hacked .exe.

Here's the guide I posted in an older thread (because it was #1 on a Google search for this issue.)


I believe "Failed to find Steam" happens because the game makes incorrect assumptions about the location of Steam, only looking in the default location for a 32-bit Windows machine:

C:\Program Files\steam

(...)

I was having the same problem with "The Longest Journey". Your solution works like a charm! Thank you so much misterbk!