The loading screen

When you join a server, the launcher shows a full-screen connect view. If the server ships a loading screen (loadscreen/index.html in its resources), it is displayed behind the progress panel as soon as the resources are downloaded.

Every step ends in one of three states: ✓ ok, ! warning (the launch continues), × error (the launch stops and the message is shown). Cancel works at any time, including while the game is starting.

1. Connecting to the server (Connexion au serveur)

The launcher calls GET http://<host>:<port>/info (6 s timeout) and shows the server name and player count.

• Serveur injoignable (…) — the server did not answer: wrong address, server down, or a firewall. The reason is in brackets (connexion refusée, délai dépassé, adresse introuvable…).
• Réponse du serveur invalide (gamePort manquant) — something answered, but it is not a WildM game server.

2. Downloading resources (Téléchargement des ressources)

The launcher fetches the resource manifest, checks what is already in your cache (%USERPROFILE%\WildM\cache\<host>_<port>\), and downloads only what changed. You see:

• Vérification du cache (n/total) while it hashes existing files;
• the number of files and the size to download, a progress bar, the current file, the speed (smoothed over about one second) and the ETA;
• at the end, À jour (up to date) or the number of files downloaded, plus how many old files were removed.

Every file is checked (exact size and sha256) before being kept; files that are no longer on the server are deleted from the cache. A download that receives no data for 20 seconds fails with plus aucune donnée depuis 20 s.

3. Checks (Vérifications)

Finds the game, scans the game folder for anti-cheat, makes sure the game is not already running, removes leftovers of early WildM builds from the game folder, and installs or updates the client. Anti-cheat processes of other games running in the background turn this step into a warning but do not stop it.

4. Launching the game (Lancement du jeu)

Starts Steam (Steam version) and Ubisoft Connect if needed, writes wildm_connect.json, then runs the injector, which opens the game through its platform and loads the WildM client into GRW.exe. Success shows Jeu démarré, client chargé (pid …). This step can take a while: the injector waits up to 3 minutes for Ubisoft Connect to start the game.

5. Loading the world (Chargement du monde)

The launcher now follows wildm_status.json, written by the client inside the game about once a second:

Message	Client phase	Meaning
En attente du client…	— (no file yet)	The game is starting; the client has not written its status yet.
Démarrage du jeu…	booting	The client is loaded; the game is still starting.
Menu du jeu — lance la partie pour rejoindre le serveur	menu	You are in the game's menus. Start or continue your campaign — the WildM session begins when the world is loaded.
Chargement de la carte…	loading	The map is loading.
En jeu — connexion au serveur de jeu…	ingame	You are in the world; the client is connecting to the game server.
En jeu · connecté au serveur (joueur n° N, M en ligne)	ingame + connected	Done. The launcher minimises itself.

Warnings and errors in this step:

• En jeu, mais pas connecté au serveur de jeu — in the world for 20 s without a connection to the game server (TCP game port blocked or server down). You can keep playing; the client keeps retrying.
• Le client WildM n'a donné aucune nouvelle en 3 min — no status file at all after 3 minutes. The game is left running; you can close the screen. See Troubleshooting.
• Le client ne donne plus de nouvelles depuis N s — the status file stopped updating for more than 30 s (game closed or frozen).
• Le client signale une erreur : … — the client reported phase: "error"; the message is shown as is. In Ghost War / Mercenaries this is expected: WildM disables itself there.
• Le jeu s'est fermé avant d'arriver en jeu. — GRW.exe exited during loading.