[SOLVED] Games crashes on startup when HDR (in Windows) is enabled

[GODzilla]

Originally posted by GODzilla:

I wish I could mark my own answer as solution, but here goes: One of the last patches must've made some changes to how HDR works and I missed it, as game options did move to other sub menus. HDR is no longer found under "Display", but under "Graphics" and MOST IMPORTANTLY:

HDR now also works with Vulkan!

So this is the obvious solution. DirectX 12 with HDR might be crashing, but it works just fine with Vulkan. All is good. As long as they don't break another thing with the next patches lol.

Original post:

So, this is new. Game has been running ever since. Vulkan, dx12, HDR, everything worked just fine.

Today after a long absence I started the game again and it crashed on startup.

- erased all the settings files
- installed the latest Nvidia driver, fresh installation

When I enable HDR in Windows, which you have to do for this game in order for the HDR option to show up, the game crashes on startup without any notification whatsoever.

Every other game runs perfectly fine, even those using HDR, either without the need to enable it in Windows (like Doom Eternal) or those that do (like Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition).

Without HDR or when I set the game to Vulkan it starts just fine.

I feel like this comes down to the game. Anyone else?

[GODzilla]

Oh well...

https://steamcommunity.com/app/1174180/discussions/0/2439210041536938617/?ctp=2

https://www.reddit.com/r/RDR2/comments/h02l6i/anyone_else_having_sudden_crash_issues/

Problem is only new for me since I haven't played in a while it seems. All of the above threads ended in failure it seems.

Many of the things noted there also do not apply to me. I tried closing all background apps that could possibly mess with display settings and only keyboard and mouse were attached when I last tried it.

Too bad, game is broken. Well I had a nice time with it, time to move on and really to really consider future purchase decisions...

[GODzilla]

I wish I could mark my own answer as solution, but here goes: One of the last patches must've made some changes to how HDR works and I missed it, as game options did move to other sub menus. HDR is no longer found under "Display", but under "Graphics" and - MOST IMPORTANTLY:

HDR now also works with Vulkan!

So this is the obvious solution. DirectX 12 with HDR might be crashing, but it works just fine with Vulkan. All is good. As long as they don't break another thing with the next patches lol.

[Vegtro]

Tried it and it semi-works. The calibration tool is missing on Vulcan so you can't really calibrate the HDR.

[GODzilla]

Well that's strange, the calibration tool does show up for me when using Vulkan...and it's essential, because without tweaking the paperwhite value (cranking it up to way above what the game recommends) it looks far too dim, despite having a near 1000 nits TV.

Just to be clear: Vulkan, as far as I know, still requires you to first enable HDR in Windows 10. Then start the game, use Vulkan, restart if it was set to directx12 before, check for the HDR option way down the advanced graphics options, enable it, calibration should show up.

[huiop2]

Yep. Ever since the last update or two using HDR with DX12 has been causing the game to crash to desktop right after I see the double barrel shotgun animation and without any error message. Switching the API to Vulkan and it works flawlessly just as before.

Thankfully in my case the difference between frame rate in DX12 and in Vulkan is negligible so I can still enjoy the game with HDR. With that said R* MUST fix this CRAP.

[Vegtro]

Originally posted by GODzilla:

Well that's strange, the calibration tool does show up for me when using Vulkan...and it's essential, because without tweaking the paperwhite value (cranking it up to way above what the game recommends) it looks far too dim, despite having a near 1000 nits TV.

Just to be clear: Vulkan, as far as I know, still requires you to first enable HDR in Windows 10. Then start the game, use Vulkan, restart if it was set to directx12 before, check for the HDR option way down the advanced graphics options, enable it, calibration should show up.

I swore it HDR was in the display settings and not graphics. So yep, HDR works with Vulkan. Thanks for noticing it.