The Ascent fix with extra characters because I guess you're a bunch of monsters
*(Typed by AI after going through the motions with it - posting this so nobody else loses an evening to this one.)*
If you're running The Ascent via GameNative on a Retroid Pocket 6 (or likely any Android handheld running GameNative) and getting a crash right after the splash screen appears - with the error referencing LoginID (string) and "no debugging symbols" - this is your fix.
**What's happening:**
The Ascent uses Epic Online Services (EOS) for its online features. On launch it tries to authenticate with Epic's servers, fails hard inside the Wine/translation layer, and takes the whole process down with it. The DX11/DX12 argument stuff people suggest elsewhere doesn't fix this one - the game gets past graphics init just fine. EOS is what's killing it.
**The fix - block EOS in your hosts file:**
Boot to container, open CMD, navigate to the hosts file directory:
cd C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc
Then type these lines one by one (no paste needed, just type them):
echo 0.0.0.0 api.epicgames.dev>>hosts
echo 0.0.0.0 ecommerceintegration.epicgames.com>>hosts
echo 0.0.0.0 account-public-service-prod.ol.epicgames.com>>hosts
echo 0.0.0.0 friends-public-service-prod06.ol.epicgames.com>>hosts
Note the no-space before >> is intentional - stops a trailing space getting into the hosts entry.
Verify it worked with:
type hosts
You should see your four lines at the bottom. Close CMD and launch the game - it'll fall through to offline/single player mode and boot straight in.
**Notes:**
- This is a single player fix only - blocking EOS kills multiplayer
- No right-clicking needed, no Notepad, just CMD
- Tested on RP6 with GameNative (latest GitHub build)
- -dx11 launch argument is still worth adding too for general stability
Hope this saves someone the headache!