The issue is that the `substance_linker.dll` gets inserted into to path from the Houdini install before the one compiled against Maya.
You can confirm this and see that Houdini is listed first, so it attempts to load that .dll:
import os
print(os.getenv('PATH'))
The module files for Houdini Engine and Substance add to the system path with `PATH+`:
+ PLATFORM:win64 substance2 2.2.3 C:\Program Files\Allegorithmic\Adobe Substance 3D for Maya\2023
PATH+:=lib
+ houdiniEngine 1.0 C:/Program Files/Side Effects Software/Houdini Engine/Maya/19.5.303/maya2023
PATH += C:/Program Files/Side Effects Software/Houdini 19.5.303/bin
Unfortunately, you can't force the load order for modules, so I reorder the windows path in `userSetup.py`:
print('reorder substance path')
import os
path = os.getenv('PATH')
path_items = path.split(';')
houdini_path = ''
substance_path = ''
for p in path_items:
if 'Substance' in p:
substance_path = p
continue
if 'Houdini' in p:
houdini_path = p
continue
if substance_path:
path_items.remove(substance_path)
if houdini_path:
path_items.remove(houdini_path)
path_items.append(substance_path)
path_items.append(houdini_path)
path_reorder = ';'.join(path_items)
os.environ["PATH"] = path_reorder
