RULES and FAQs

[SBZ_Tobias]

Welcome to the Bug Reporting Sub forum.

Rules for the bug forum and how to report a bug

1. When posting a bug in the forums, please make sure that it has not been reported before or that a suitable solution has been listed in the rest of this thread. Please use the search function first.
   
2. Check if the bug has been listed in the “Known Issues” thread and the “Confirmed Bugs” thread. Also use the search function to see if it’s already been reported.
   
3. If the issue has been reported, see if you have anything to add to that report. If possible please include a screenshot or a video.
   
4. When writing your report, please be as thorough as possible when explaining the situation, any detail might be helpful. The more information you provide the more likely it is that we can find the problem. We need to be able to reproduce the issue in the office before we can fix the issue.
   
5. A crash is slightly different, they may seem similar but a crash can be caused by so many different reasons that it is better to always post them in their own thread. If your crash is related to another crash we may merge the threads. First try to resolve your problem with the solutions posted in the pinned threads, and if that doesn’t work, post it in your own thread.
   
6. Avoid posting multiple bugs in the same post, please keep each post about one issue. This helps us with both communication and testing. It is also easier when posting in the Confirmed Bugs thread, a thread with a collection of issues are less likely to get a post there.
   
7. Please add a tag to the title on the post to help specify the type of issue. please use the following tags:
   
   • [ART: *LEVEL NAME*] for clipping and texture issues in level as well as placement of props.
     
   • [GAME PLAY: *LEVEL NAME*] for issues related to how the interactions and objectives work.
     
   • [COLLISIONS: *LEVEL NAME*] for clipping and collisions issues related to the player character.
     
   • [WEAPON: *WEAPON NAME*] for art issues on weapons
     
   • [SKIN: *WEAPON NAME*] for art issues on weapon skins please include the skin name in the title.
     
   • [STATS] for issues with stats on weapons
     
   • [SKILLS] for issues regarding the skills
     
   • [PERK DECK] for issues regarding the perk decks
     
   • [CRASH] for crashes
     
   • [ART] Other art related issues, like characters
     
   • [AI] for issues related to AI, for pathing issues please include the level name in the title
     
   • [SOUND] for issues related to sound effects or voice lines
     
   • You can, if you wish, change the tile to include a [Fixed] once the issue has been resolved, this will not be done by forum moderators since it may invoke unwanted attention to the thread.
8. Finally when you do post a bug Make the title as descriptive as possible it helps us understanding the issue and other player finding it.

How we handle posts

1. New issues, This is a bug that has not been reported before and is unknown to us here as Overkill. Once the issue has been tested it will appear in the Confirmed Bugs sticky thread with a short description of the bug and a link to the thread. When a fix has been made and included in a patch a note will be added to the post in the Confirmed Bugs sticky thread saying “This is now fixed”. The next time the game is patched any post in the Confirmed Bugs sticky thread with a “This is now fixed” note will be removed, the associated thread will be locked but will remain in the forum.
   
   
2. Old bugs that resurface, These bugs are best posted in new threads, Referring to the old and/or locked thread is fine if the a user so wishes. The new report should still be treated like a new issue.
   
   
3. Issues that do not require a patch, for example; Crashes related to Hardware, Drivers or other software. Issues confirmed to be mod related. Issues where the thread owner has misunderstood an achievement or game-play element. These issues will not appear in the Confirmed Bugs thread. The threads will be dealt with on a case by case basis. They may be left open for other users to ask questions on how to solve the same or similar issues or that may be locked on the thread owners, moderators or Overkill staff’s request if the issue is resolved.
   
   
4. Known Issues and bugs, Sometimes a lot of reports may be posted about the same issue. These issues will be handled in three different ways. We will try to reply to as many as possible but we might not be able to reply to all of them. We will try to merge threads with new and relevant information. If there is no new information in the thread we will ether ask for more information in case the user has anything more to add to the related issue. Sometimes we may lock threads if we feel there is no need to merge and we have all the information we need. A link to the currently active thread about the issue should be provided.

The only threads that will be deleted will be so with the approval from, or request of the owner of the thread. We will strive for locking rather than deleting, we do reserve our self the right to lock without prior confirmation it cases this was needed. A thread can be deleted without prior confirmation if it's needed due to general forum rules. Threads will be locked with the intention of not having new posts be made in them and new reports should be make instead but the old thread can still be found and referred to.

All this is to keep the forum easy to navigate both for us here at Overkill and the users in the forum. This is not about removing unwanted threads it's about making our work easier and faster.

Table of contents

Fixing random crashes during game play or if the game won't start
Verify the game
Locate crash logs and render settings
Uninstalling mods
HoxHud
Reinstalling the game after having mods installed
Locating where PAYDAY 2 is installed on your computer
Repair DirectX, PhysX and Vcredist installations
DirectX Hardware acceleration disabled
Changing compatibility mode
Run PAYDAY 2 and/or Steam in administrator mode
Disable the Steam overlay
Restart Steam
Increase Virtual Memory
Opt out of the Steam Client Beta
How to back up your savegame and how to restore it
Clean registry

[SBZ_Tobias]

Fixing random crashes during game play or if the game won't start

The most common reason for seemingly random crashes or if the game does not start, is either mods or incomplete updates. To fix this you should first remove any mods and verify the game. If the crash remains, try reinstalling the game. See below for more help.
Remember that all mods, no matter how insignificant they may seem, can result in unexpected behaviors such as freezing or crashing. Every update we release can sometimes be incompatible with any mods you have installed, resulting in unexpected behaviour. It is recommended to uninstall the mods when new content is released.
If you are using Windows 10, updating to the latest drivers might help with a few crashes or run the game with compatibility settings for an earlier version of Windows.
Other issues and solutions are listed below or in the “Known Issues” thread.

[SBZ_Tobias]

Verify the game

If you have missing or corrupted game files you may need to have Steam verify your game files.

Here you can find a visual guide made by one of our moderators.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=753280666

• Open your Steam Library (you might need to select "Games" form the list when you hover over the button)
  
• Right click on PAYDAY 2
  
• Choose "“Properties"”
  
• Open the tab “"Local Files"”
  
• Click on “"Verify Integrity of Game Cache"
  Wait until the validate progress is done, then close the window and wait until Steam has finished the download of any files you were missing or that was modified.

Steam may miss to redownload a corrupted or modified file, if that happens the verify will not work and the problem will persist. If this is the case you may need to remove the game files before verifying. This will redownload the entire game and will therefore take a long time and require a lot of bandwidth so you may want to try other solutions first. If any other solution do not work, find and delete the game’s assets folder.

• Open your Payday 2 folder (read below if you have trouble finding it)
  
• Right click on the “assets” and choose delete (the mod_override folder is inside the assets folder if you wish to make a backup first)
  
• Follow the steps listed above to verify the game files

[SBZ_Tobias]

Locate crash logs and render settings

There are 3 files that can help us identify the issue, the crash log, the render settings and the dump file.

Crash Logs
If your game crashes, posting your logs is a great help to us when identifying the problem.

• Press Windows Key + R, this will open the “run” window
  
• Type in “%localappdata%\PAYDAY 2” and press ok, this will open a new window

You can also navigate to “C:\Users\(your windows username)\AppData\Local\PAYDAY 2”
You will need to show hidden files to be able to see all the folders.
Once in this folder there will be a crash.txt. Copy all the content of this file and post it along with a detailed description of your issue as a thread in the forum. Make sure the system specifications at the bottom of the files is included.

Please note that the file you should open is crash.txt. There is also a file called crashlog.txt this will contain all log for every crash you’ve had. This file will be very long, please do not post this one unless specifically asked to.

Render Settings
Sometimes you may be asked to provide you render settings file. This file is located in the same folder. The file is called renderer_settings.xml if you are asked to provide these settings open and copy all the content of this file and post it in the thread that asked for it.

Dump File
Finaly you could also locate an include the .mdmp file as well. this might be helpfull on some crashes. To find the file follow these steps:

• Open your Payday 2 folder (read below if you have trouble finding it) it's not the same as the appdata folder.
  
• Find the latest .mdmp file (the name should be something like "payday2_win32_production_2117156_crash_2016_4_8T12_54_21C0.mdmp" the numbers at the end will be different for you, this file was created 12:54:21 on 2016-04-08)
  
• Make sure the file you upload was created at the correct time and date.
  
• You can use a online storage site such as Dropbox to host the file and include the link in the post.

To clarify
The Crash.txt file should be posted as text in the post, the same goes for the render_settings.xml. The Dump file should be added as a file (NOT as text).

[SBZ_Tobias]

Uninstalling mods

Check the associated files that came with the mods you are using for any instructions on how to uninstall them. Afterwards it is recommended to verify the game. Some mods might leave changes to files that can cause crashes even after they are uninstalled, in which case you need to make a complete reinstallation/verify of the game.

[SBZ_Tobias]

Reinstalling the game after having mods installed

If you ever have had mods installed at anytime in the past, just verifying or removing the game on Steam and reinstalling it again might not work. Steam may only delete the original files and may leave modded files. Same for a verification of the game files. Steam may also miss to redownload a corrupted or modified file. What you may need to do is remove the game completely:

• Open your Payday 2 folder (read below if you have trouble finding it)

Leave it alone for now and go back to your Steam library

• Right click on PAYDAY 2
  
• Choose "Delete Local Content". This will delete any un-modified game file
  
• Go back to the window that opened earlier
  
• Delete any files that may remain in the folder
  
• Go back to your Steam library
  
• Click on PAYDAY 2
  
• Click on the "Install" button
  
• Follow the prompts in the window

[SBZ_Tobias]

Locating where PAYDAY 2 is installed on your computer

To locate the folder where the game is installed do the following:

• Right click on PAYDAY 2 in your Steam library
  
• Choose "Properties"
  
• Click on the tab "Local Files"
  
• Click on "Browse Local Files"
  
• Then a new window will appear showing the game files.

Here is the default location of this folder:

• x64 systems: C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\PAYDAY 2
  
• x86 systems: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\PAYDAY 2

[SBZ_Tobias]

DirectX Hardware acceleration disabled

If the Hardware acceleration has been disabled the game might crash, to resolve this you need to download the following file:
http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/microsoft_directx_control_panel.html
To activate Hardware acceleration do the following:

• Open directx.cpl in administrator mode
  
• Click on the "Direct3D" tab
  
• Make sure "Allow Hardware Acceleration" is checked
  
• Click on the "DirectDraw" tab
  
• Make sure "Use Hardware Acceleration" is checked

[SBZ_Tobias]

Changing compatibility mode

Some issues, especially when running the game on windows 10 or if you have issues with Steam overlay not working correctly, might be fixed by running the game in compatibility mode.

• Open your Payday 2 folder (read above if you have trouble finding it)
  
• Find and right click on "payday2_win32_release.exe"
  
• Choose “Properties”
  
• Click on the “Compatibility” tab
  
• Check the box next to "Run this program in compability mode"
  
• Choose a different version of windows in the list

It’s recommended to try windows 7 and 8 first.

[SBZ_Tobias]

Run PAYDAY 2 and/or Steam in administrator mode

Some issues might be fixed by running the game in administrator mode.

• Open your Payday 2 folder (read above if you have trouble finding it)
  
• Find and right click on "payday2_win32_release.exe"
  
• Choose “Properties”
  
• Click on the “Compatibility” tab
  
• Check the box next to "Run this program as an administrator"

Some issues might be fixed by running Steam in administrator mode.

Default Steam directory:

• x64 systems: C:\Program Files\Steam
  
• x86 systems: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam

If you have not installed Steam in the default location you will have to find where Steam is installd on your computer.

• Go to your Steam directory
  
• Find the file "Steam.exe" (there will be many files with the icon so make sure you find the right one)
  
• Choose “Properties”
  
• Click on the “Compatibility” tab
  
• Check the box next to "Run this program as an administrator"

[SBZ_Tobias]

Disable the Steam overlay

Steam overlay can cause some rare crashes.

• Right-click PAYDAY 2 on your Steam library, and select properties
  
• Go to general, and un-check "Enable the Steam overlay while in-game"

[SBZ_Tobias]

Restart Steam

Some issues might be fixed by simply restart the Steam client

• Right-click Steam icon on taskbar, and select Exit.
  
• Start Steam again.

[SBZ_Tobias]

Increase Virtual Memory

A way to increase the available memory could be to increase the virtual memory.
Virtual memory is RAM located on the Harddrive and will therefore be much slower than regular RAM. This is not a suggested fix and you probably should change back if this does not fix your issue.

• Open the “Control Panel”
  
• Click on “System”
  
• Click on the “Advanced system settings” on the right of the window
  
• Click on the “Advanced” tab
  
• Under “Virtual Memory” you will find “Total paging file size for all drives” this is you current Virtual Memory
  
• Click Change
  
• Uncheck Automatically manage paging file size for all drives
  
• You can now select each drive and check “Custom Size”
  
• Use “Initial Size” and “Maximum Size” to configure how much hard drive size you want to dedicate to the page file.

[SBZ_Tobias]

Opt out of the Steam Client Beta

A Steam beta is an optional version of Steam that might cause crashes. If you are using a beta build you might want to opt out of the beta.

• In the Steam client click on steam in the upper left corner
  
• Select Settings
  
• Click on “Account”, and look for "Beta participation"
  
• Click "Change" and select "NONE - Opt out of all beta programs

[SBZ_Tobias]

How to back up your savegame and how to restore it

Here you can find a guide that a community member has written about how you can find and managed your save files. It is not a guarantee this will help if something has already happen to your safe files but it is worth a try.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=170416480

[SBZ_Tobias]

Clean registry

In some cases a clean up of the registry could help if you are experiencing problems with the game. It's recommended to combined this with a clean re-installation of the game.