Troubleshooting Crashing

What causes crashing?

Crashes can happen for a wide variety of reasons. Everything from file issues to third-party-applications to missing driver updates and even bugs within the game itself. Regardless of what's causing your game to crash, here's a handful of steps you can take to fix up the issue.

 

Minimum Specs

Make sure your PC meets the minimum required specifications to run Spectre. If your PC is below the minimum requirements, then you may experience performance issues and or crashing. You may also be completely unable to launch the game. Review the minimum specifications here.

 

Basic Troubleshooting Steps

Try out these basic troubleshooting steps first to see if they resolve your issue.

Restart Your Computer

When in doubt, restarting your computer can help fix a bunch of one-off technical issues. Make sure to completely restart your computer by doing the following:

    1. Open the Windows start menu
    2. Right-click the Windows icon and hover over Shut down or sign out
    3. Click Restart
Verify Game Files

Verifying local game files can help resolve file corruption issues that may cause crashing.

    1. Right click Spectre in your Steam library and click "Properties"
    2. Click "Installed Files" on the left hand side
    3. Click "Verify integrity of game files"
    4. Try launching the game after this is complete
Update Windows
Windows updates can help fix bugs, compatibility issues, and many other issues that may cause trouble in-game. Make sure your Windows is completely up-to-date by following this Windows Update Guide.
Update DirectX
Missing DirectX runtime versions may cause crashing. You can update your DirectX runtime version from the Microsoft website.
Reinstall Game

Sometimes corrupt files can cause game crashes. Reinstall Spectre to give yourself a fresh start:

  1. Open Steam and go to your game library
  2. Right click Spectre and hover over "Manage"
  3. Click "Uninstall" and click "Uninstall" again when prompted
  4. Go back to your Steam library and click "Install" and go through the prompts to reinstall

Disable Third-Party Applications

Sometimes third-party applications can interfere with the game in unexpected ways. One way that we can test this is to disable third-party applications by doing a Clean Boot in Windows. Microsoft has a great support guide on how to do this on both Windows 10 and 11.

How to perform a clean boot
  1. On the Clean Boot guide click on the tab for your Windows version.
  2. Once you get to step 3 make sure to check "Hide all Microsoft Services" - Necessary Microsoft services will be disabled if this isn't checked.
    Hide All Microsoft Services.png
  3. Make sure to restart your computer once you've completed all of the steps,
    then open Spectre and test if the issue persists.
  4. If that resolves the issue, then you may consider following the section on the Clean Boot guide titled "How to determine what is causing the problem after you do a clean boot" - This will help you determine what specific application or driver was causing the issue.

Graphics Driver Update

Graphics driver updates provide bug fixes, improved performance, and additional graphics driver features, among other important updates. You can update your graphics drivers from your graphics card manufacturer's website.

AMD Graphics Cards

Nvidia Graphics Cards

Intel Graphics Cards

Intel 13th & 14th Gen CPUs

Some players may experience issues with their game crashing when using Intel 13th or 14th Gen CPUs. Intel has made an official statement here with additional information.

System File Check

Operating system files can also cause crashes if there are corrupt or missing files. Follow this Microsoft guide here.

How to complete a system file check
  1. Open the Windows start menu and type cmd - right-click command prompt and click Run as Administrator
  2. Click Yes on the User Accounts Control popup
  3. Copy paste the following and press enter: DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth
  4. Once that is complete copy and paste the following and press enter: sfc /scannow
  5. Wait for the verification to complete. This may take a a bit of time.

Troubleshooting Overheating

Overheating is when your PC is running much hotter than the internal components can handle. If your PC is overheating you might notice your FPS falling lower and lower as a match progresses. In very severe cases your PC might unexpectedly shutdown entirely.

If the above description matches what you're experiencing, then your system may be overheating. You can try out the steps below to help prevent your system from overheating:

  • Temporarily cap your in-game FPS.
    • Settings > Graphics > Frame Rate Limit. Set this limit lower than your average FPS.
  • Make sure your PC's internal fans are spinning.
  • Remove dust and any other debris that might be blocking airflow.
  • Keep your computer in a cool environment, away from sunlight and heating vents.
  • Ensure all cooling fans are working properly.
  • Take breaks between games to give your PC time to cool down.

Your PC shouldn't be overheating under normal circumstances. If the above steps don't resolve the issue then you should consider reaching out to a computer repair professional for further assistance.