Programming, graphics, games, media, C++, Windows, Internet and more...
Entries for tag "games", ordered from most recent. Entry count: 50.
# Solution to Epic Games Launcher Wizard Ended Prematurely
Tue
04
Nov 2025
I recently stumbled upon a problem while trying to install the Epic Games Launcher on a fresh installation of Windows 11. The installation wizard was showing the message: “Epic Games Launcher Wizard ended prematurely because of an error.” and the launcher wasn’t installing. Trying to install it from the Microsoft Store was also failing, showing the error code 0x8A150049.
Solution: Create a different user account - one without a space in the username. Change its type to Administrator. Sign out, sign in to that account, and use it to install the launcher. After that, you can return to your main account and delete the temporary one. The Epic Games Launcher will remain installed and ready to use.
Full story: I got a new PC with a fresh installation of Windows 11. I started installing all the necessary software and my programming environment. (For the list of Windows apps I recommend, see my older post: My Favorite Windows Apps.) When I tried to install the Epic Games Launcher, I was surprised that after completing the setup wizard, the app didn’t appear in my system. Only on the second attempt did I carefully read the message that appeared on the final page:
Epic Games Launcher Wizard ended prematurely because of an error.
I searched the Internet and tried many solutions, but none of them helped:
msiexec /i PATH\EpicInstaller-18.12.1.msi as Administrator.Finally, somewhere on the Internet I found information that the installer leaves a text log file in "c:\Users\MY_LOGIN\AppData\Local\Epic Games\Epic Online Services\EOSInstaller\Logs\EOSInstaller-DATE-TIME.log". I opened it and found the following messages inside:
[2025.11.04-10.00.56:329][---]Log file opened.
[2025.11.04-10.00.56:329][---]FApplication: Version 1.2.26 ran with extract=C:\Users\Adam Sawicki\AppData\Local\Temp\7a4515cf-dde6-44f9-afb4-b5b1e0dee697
[2025.11.04-10.00.56:348][---]FApplication: Extract mode
[2025.11.04-10.00.56:349][---]FApplication: Extracting bundled MSI
[2025.11.04-10.00.56:349][---]FApplication: Could not create temp directory "C:\\Users\\Adam" system:183
[2025.11.04-10.00.56:349][---]FApplication: Failed to build MSI
[2025.11.04-10.00.56:349][---]Log file closed.
The line "Could not create temp directory "C:\Users\Adam"" gave me a clue that the installer likely fails because of the space in my Windows username, which is “Adam Sawicki”. That’s how I came up with the solution of using a Windows account without a space in the username.
After all, this is clearly a bug in Epic’s code. They shouldn’t rely on whether a username contains spaces or other characters. They probably just forgot to properly escape the path with quotation marks (" ") somewhere in their code. Epic, please fix it!
Comments | #windows #games Share
# Make Your Game Friendly for Graphics Debugging and Optimization - My Talk from Digital Dragons 2019
Fri
07
Jun 2019
I've recently gave a talk at Digital Dragons conference in Kraków, Poland. It wasn't very technically advanced this time. Most of it should be understandable to everyone working on games - artists, programmers, producers... I've published slides on GPUOpen.com blog, along with slides my colleagues presented last month at other events across Europe. See: AMD at Digital Dragons and Vulkanised Conference.
Comments | #productions #graphics #games #teaching Share
# The End of Lag Magazine
Tue
19
Aug 2014
In November 2012 a new paper magazine appeared in Poland called Lag (FB page). I didn't post about it here because I didn't want my little corner of the Internet to carry a negative opinion about this innovative project. But now, after two issues, they announced the end of the project. The editor-in-chief says that it's accounting, packaging, shipping and stuff like that what made it too difficult, so I don't know whether it was a success commercially or many people would share my opinion, but anyway... I think such magazine doesn't make much sense. Here is why:
Lag was an unusual magazine. It was about games, but without any news, game reviews or screenshots. It contained only journalism (plus some illustrations) - essays not even about a particular game, but about games in general and their place in our culture. It felt like being targeted at older, mature readers. Meanwhile, popular stereotype says that games are just for children and teenagers. Some people (and statistics) show something opposite - that they are for everyone. Where is the truth?
I still like games despite being 30, but I like them because I still feel young. I like chasing news, watching trailers and screenshots, sometimes being enthusiastic or even fanatic about some IP and buying a game in the day they release it to the shops. For me it's all part of gaming. All in all, games are entertainment, so it's about emotions and being amused. If I had only such intelectual and analytical approach as the magazine presented, I would rather abandon my interest in games completely.
# IGK-9'2012 - PrisonEscape Game
Mon
02
Apr 2012
Our team (called Rosyjscy wieśniacy - from Russian peasants multiplication algorithm) - that is Krzysztof Kluczek "Krzysiek K.", Karol Kuczmarski "Xion" and me - scored 1st place in the gamedev compo at IGK-9'2012 conference! Thanks for all your votes, I'm glad you like our game. The theme this year was "Escape", so we decided to make an oldschool looking 2D game with pixel art, where a prisoner tries to escape, runs through constantly scrolling map, avoids policemen etc. It is coded in C++ using Direct3D 9. Here you can download binaries:
IGK2012_PrisonEscape.zip (5.83 MB)
Comments | #igk #events #warsztat #competitions #productions #games Share
# Nyan Cat + Angry Birds = Angry Nyan Cat
Sat
09
Jul 2011
If Angry Birds was joined with Nyan Cat, how would it look like? I think it would be something like this:
Note: This is only an image I created just "for the lulz". There is no actual game like that.
Comments | #humor #games #web Share
# Anomaly: Warzone Earth - a game from 11 bit studios
Fri
08
Apr 2011
I had a wonderful time working for Metropolis Software, but the studio was closed so we didn't finish our FPS shooter - They. But then our bosses and some of the employees formed new company - 11 bit studios, developed new technology and today is the release date of their new game: Anomaly: Warzone Earth. It's kind of "inversed tower defence", where you lead a squad through the streets of cities and fight with towers. I've done some outsource programming for this project and also tested it. The game is available on Steam for PC and Mac platforms.
Comments | #games #game industry Share
# The Fate of PC Gamer
Tue
19
Oct 2010
Today I finished single player campaign in the new Medal of Honor on my PC. It's a good game. It's also well optimized because desipte having very good graphics it was running very smoothly on my Radeon HD 5770 in the Full HD resolution and highest quality settings.
When planning to write that, I was thinking many of you could say "who cares?" There are so many types of games these days that the feelings of a PC gamer can be hard to understand for many. Some poeple play only casual/social/online games, some play on consoles... There is also a kind of people who enjoy games, but have no interest in the new positions on the market. Which seems strange to me because have you ever seen a sports fan, let's say a soccer fan, who is not interested in matches his favourite team plays in the current season but only talks about the matches that took place many years ago? :)
That's why (and maybe because I fill a little sick today) I've created a silly drawing: "The Fate of PC Gamer". Enjoy :)
# Game Event, Technology Event
Sun
19
Sep 2010
Another interesting events took place recently. IDF - Intel Developer Forum (Sep 13-15, 2010, San Francisco, USA) is organized by just one company, but they've shown some interesting stuff there. Intel manufactures CPU-s as well as GPU-s, so there was something about hardware, as well as high-performance and parallel programming. Some topics from IDF are covered in recent entries of SoftTalk blog.
After E3 in USA and GC in Europe, this time there was a game event in Japan - TGS - Tokyo Game Show (16-19 Sep, 2010). As always, there is much new information and multimedia data after such event, like trailers and news about games under development. Some of them are specific to the exotic Japanese culture, but most of them is about games that will be available on the West too. I like watching trailers :)