Can't start the game after asset conversion due to missing Qt platform plugin on Windows 10
Open
Nobody has claimed this yet.
bug
os: windows
- Dominant language
- Python
- Stars
- 14.4k
- Forks
- 1.3k
- PR merge metrics
- No merged PRs in 30d
Description
While trying to run the game on Windows 10, with this command:
python -m openage --add-dll-search-path C:\Users\Vlasnik\openage\build\libopenage\RelWithDebInfo --add-dll-search-path C:\Users\Vlasnik\nyan\build\nyan\RelWithDebInfo --add-dll-search-path C:\Users\Vlasnik\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python311 game --modpacks aoe2_base
It errors out with:
INFO [py] launching openage v0.5.3-187-g36e39076
INFO [py] compiled by MSVC 19.39.33523.0
INFO [py] running in DEVMODE
INFO [py] openage nyan API modpack is up to date
INFO [py] Found modpack aoe2_base
INFO [py] Found modpack engine
INFO loading configuration files...
INFO [py] loading config file [Union(Directory(C:/Users/Vlasnik/openage\cfg).root @ (b'cfg',), <openage.util.fslike.union.Union object at 0x000002339C953C50>.root @ (b'assets',))]:cfg/keybinds.oac...
INFO launching engine with root directoryPath(Union(Directory(C:/Users/Vlasnik/openage\cfg).root @ (b'cfg',), <openage.util.fslike.union.Union object at 0x000002339C953C50>.root @ (b'assets',)):)
INFO loading configuration files...
INFO [py] loading config file [Union(Directory(C:/Users/Vlasnik/openage\cfg).root @ (b'cfg',), <openage.util.fslike.union.Union object at 0x000002339C953C50>.root @ (b'assets',))]:cfg/keybinds.oac...
INFO Found modpack: aoe2_base
INFO Found modpack: engine
INFO Created game simulation
INFO Activated modpack: engine
INFO Activated modpack: aoe2_base
INFO Using 3 threads (4 available)
INFO [T1] Time loop started
INFO [T2] Presenter: Launching subsystems...
INFO [T2] Presenter: Initializing graphics subsystems...
INFO Loading .nyan file: engine/ability/property/type.nyan
INFO Loading .nyan file: engine/util/lock.nyan
INFO Loading .nyan file: engine/ability/property.nyan
WARN [T2] Could not find the Qt platform plugin "windows" in ""
INFO Loading .nyan file: engine/util/animation_

override.nyan
CRIT [T2] This application failed to start because no Qt platform plugin could be initialized. Reinstalling the application may fix this problem.
Here are some things I have stumbled upon, but still, I can't fix the issue:
- Somebody else had the same issue in a Python project using Qt: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/41994485/how-to-fix-could-not-find-or-load-the-qt-platform-plugin-windows-while-using-m. They suggest setting
QT_PLUGIN_PATHenvironment variable. - I suppose the error is about missing
qwindows.dllfile (as mentioned in one of the answers to the linked StackOverflow thread). If it helps, when installing dependencies in the way described in the docs, that file is found at:C:\vcpkg\buildtrees\qtbase\x64-windows-rel\Qt6\plugins\platforms\qwindows.dll. - Finally, it may not be required, but here I provided a gif that shows the directory structure of another program using Qt (that has
qwindows.dll):
Moved from #1644.
Contributor guide
No contributing guide indexed for this repository
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start with the Windows MSVC build instructions and reproduce the documented launch command after asset conversion. Check how the vcpkg Qt installation, including qwindows.dll under Qt6/plugins/platforms, is made available at runtime. Done means the game starts without the missing Qt platform plugin error.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- cmake, python
- Domain
- desktop, game-dev
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 30/100