new update:
i deleted the files and repaired them. tried launching the game but it shows up "dark", and when i get to the character screen it's all black, except for the character slot and the UI on the left. character not displaying. when i try to launch it from there it gives me an error message:
debug assertion failed!
file: dbgdel.cpp
line: 52
expression _BLOCK_TYPE_IS_VALID(PHead->nBlockUse)
for informatiom on how your program can cause an assertion failure, see the visual C++ documentation on asserts