Game drops to desktop on start

[plaster1975]

Just as the subject line states, the game loads, but drops to the desktop as soon as I "Press any key" to start. Dead Space 2 exhibits the exact same behavior. I thought it was the latest nvidia driver, but I went back 3 versions and it's the same result. I already tried editing settings.txt to change resolution and enable/disable vsync. Anyone else experiencing this?

[taikapoika666]

Apparently it isn't a common problem because there's basically no discussion or info about it other than the topic a few weeks ago on the steam forums where a few people including myself had the exact same issue. I started having this problem on my desktop around 3 months ago, lately I noticed that the game launches normally on my 6 year old almost dead laptop for whatever reason. I have tried the common troubleshooting solutions for this game but so far nothing has worked. Any help would be appreciated for sure ;)

[plaster1975]

It's odd to me that it affects both Dead Space and Dead Space 2. I'm going to install Dead Space 3 and see if I get the same result. So far these are the only two games I own that crash. Running a GTX 2060 6GB and core i7 10700F, so it's more than capable.

BTW, I tried Dead Space via gamepass and got the exact same result.

[Furious Dan]

game wont launch

[taikapoika666]

Someone said on the other topic that the same problem affects all three games. This is also for me the only game with such issues. As I said the game launches fine with my old laptop which barely operates so it might be related to new hardware. My desktop runs a RTX 3080, i9-10900K and 32gb ram. And this game used to run fine until one day it just stopped working.

[Punisher6791]

Game crashes at launch •

Fix settings.txt

Go to the configuration file(s) location.
Open settings.txt (if it isn't present create it manually).
Eventually change both Window.Fullscreen and Window.VSync to false.

Try unplugging or disabling controllers
Open Device Manager.
Disable all HID compliant game controller under Human Interface Devices [HID].

Run the game on a single core
Open Command Prompt.
Type cd "<path-to-game>" and press enter.
Type start "" /Affinity 1 "Dead Space.exe" and press enter, which will tell Windows to run the game on only one core.
If the game is not installed on your C: drive, after step 2 you will need to type the drive letter followed by : and then press enter. For example, if the game is installed on the E drive, you would type E: and then press enter before step 3.
You will likely need to do this every time you want to play the game if this fix works.

this is from pcgameing wiki .com hope it helps.

[plaster1975]

Punisher, those are the fixes I tried. This is why I posted the topic. Both games worked not too long ago. The Settings.txt file does change settings, as I get a higher resolution. It just doesn't solve the game dropping to the desktop and closing with no error message.

[game198782]

Originally posted by plaster1975:

Just as the subject line states, the game loads, but drops to the desktop as soon as I "Press any key" to start. Dead Space 2 exhibits the exact same behavior. I thought it was the latest nvidia driver, but I went back 3 versions and it's the same result. I already tried editing settings.txt to change resolution and enable/disable vsync. Anyone else experiencing this?

I also have the same problem

[game198782]

Originally posted by plaster1975:

It's odd to me that it affects both Dead Space and Dead Space 2. I'm going to install Dead Space 3 and see if I get the same result. So far these are the only two games I own that crash. Running a GTX 2060 6GB and core i7 10700F, so it's more than capable.

BTW, I tried Dead Space via gamepass and got the exact same result.

The dead space 3 works well I already tried it, the problem is only with 1 and 2

[game198782]

The dead space 3 works well I already tried it, the problem is only with 1 and 2

[Terics]

Found a fix in an old steam thread.

Only by setting my desktop resolution 1024 x 768 does the game start.Even after I set my in-game resolution, it wouldn't start unless my desktop resolution 1024 x 768.

From there I turned the resolution back up. Game was running slow so I had to turn of V-sync. Controller dead zone was too high so I used the highest rated Dead Space controller config from Big Picture mode. Minus the screen tearing it ran perfectly fine.

[plaster1975]

Originally posted by Terics:

Found a fix in an old steam thread.

Only by setting my desktop resolution 1024 x 768 does the game start.Even after I set my in-game resolution, it wouldn't start unless my desktop resolution 1024 x 768.

From there I turned the resolution back up. Game was running slow so I had to turn of V-sync. Controller dead zone was too high so I used the highest rated Dead Space controller config from Big Picture mode. Minus the screen tearing it ran perfectly fine.

No luck with this fix, but thank you. It might help someone else.

[TFA_RiderOfAngmar]

Yeah i've tried everything for months. I used to run this just fine, but either it was upgrading from a Ryzen 5/gtx1050 to an I7/GTX1080 that borked something, or the introduction of the Oculus Rift (HID devices) into the system.

I've tried:

changing text settings to run windowed at every resolution, nada
change text settings to v-sync on or off, nada
running with a single core, nada
unplugging all my HID devices, nada

Every single time i boot the game up, as soon as i press a button at the 'Press any key' screen, the animation of leaving the menu screen lasts for 3 seconds, goes black as if it's loading up the game, then bam, back to desktop.

I REALLY wish there was a supported fix for this by EA, but now they have no incentive since they are releasing the REmake of Dead Space. I'll probably buy it, but this game is so awesome and has held up so well over time, i wish this could be fixed. Just none of the few solutions i've spotted online do anything.

[A Crab Named Heller]

I've also had the same issue across all 3 games, be it from steam, or origin. I have scoured and tried literally EVERY single solution to no avail. as another person in this thread has said. these games WERE working fine a few months ago. the ONLY thing I can think of that caused this could possibly be a driver update, as I remember having an update to my driver before the issue started. I just want to play dead space 1 and 2 ffs...

[A Crab Named Heller]

Hey so I figured out what is causing this issue. your save file may be corrupted!. if you delete the save file from your computer, it SHOULD fix the issue as it did for me! the reason it also happens on dead space 2 is because that game checks for a dead space 1 file to unlock a special plasma cutter. which would explain why it does the exact same thing ds1 does. after deleting my save file, all 3 games are running perfectly now. hope this helps!

[Errant+Knight]

I had the same problem on my PC. I then loaded the game on my Shadow and this was no longer an issue. I assume my PC did not have the right drivers for it.