Technical Support Guide

[Spoonparty]

If you've just bought Deadly Premonition: The Director's Cut on Steam and you are having problems with the game, this guide should help improve your experience.

Note: This document is not from the developer of Deadly Premonition. It is a collection of support found on these very forums and advice I have offered to players having trouble with the game as the community manager at RSG. Some fixes include third party software and I cannot assume responsibility for these programs.

Contents
1. "DP.exe has stopped working"
2. If you are using Windows 8
3. "Not A Valid Win32 Application"
4. Random crashing in game
5. Improving framerate/resolution
6. Final Thoughts
7. Special Thanks

1. "DP.exe has stopped working"
A common cause of start-up crashes is to do with Nvidia's PhsyX technology. Here's a quick thing you can try which will resolve this particular problem.

-Go to where Deadly Premonition is installed, easily accessible by right-clicking the game in your Steam library > Properties > Local Files > Browse Local Files
-Open the folder named 'redist'
-Scroll until you find the file "PhyX_SystemSoftware.msi
-Double click
-Run the 'Repair' option
-Now run Deadly Premonition via Steam as usual

Note: You may have to run this repair option again when installing other games that use Nvidia's PhysX software.


2. If you are using Windows 8
Deadly Premonition's requirements are Windows 7 or Vista so if you are running Win8, the first thing to try is starting up the game in compatibility mode. Windows 7 or 98 have given good results for others.

Here is an excerpt from Microsoft's website explaining how you can manually do this:

"Change compatibility settings manually
These steps will not work with programs that are part of Windows, like Paint or Windows Media Player, or with apps you get from the Windows Store.
1. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, then tap Search.
(If you're using a mouse, point to the top-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, then click Search.)
2. Enter the name of the program in the search box, press and hold (or right-click) the search result, and then tap or click Open file location.
3. Press and hold (or right-click) the program icon, tap or click Properties, and then tap or click the Compatibility tab.
4. Select one or more of the settings (see the table below for more info).
5. If you want to apply the settings for that program to all accounts on the PC, tap or click Change settings for all users. You might be asked for an admin password or to confirm your choice.
6. When you've finished, tap or click OK."


3. "Not A Valid Win32 Application" or "An error occurred while attempting to read from the file C:\Program Files(x86)\..."
This usually means something was amiss in the download. Best thing to do is remove the game and re-download.

Right Click Deadly Premonition in your library > "Delete Local Content... ". Once finished right click and install.

Some people have also had success overcoming this error by running the game from the exe found in the folder (easily accessible by right-clicking the game in your Steam library > Properties > Local Files > Browse Local Files) but it is recommended to try reinstalling.


4. Random crashing in game
There are a few things you can do to reduce potential crashes in Deadly Premonition
a.) Disable the Steam overlay (Steam > Settings > In-Game > Untick "Enable the Steam Overlay while in-game)
b.) Use an application to increase RAM allocated to the game (your machine must have 3GB of RAM of more). Here is an example of using said application: http://simswiki.info/wiki.php?title=Sims_3:Large_Address_Aware/CFF_Explorer
Follow the steps but replace TS3W.exe with dp.exe in the Deadly Premonition folder.
c.) Try setting a compatibility mode of Windows 98.
Windows 7 Guide: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/make-older-programs-run#1TC=windows-7
Windows 8 explained above.
d). Windowed mode can sometimes prevent crashes.


5. Improving framerate/resolution
From release, a talented modder by the name of Durante has worked on a fix which allows the resolution to be set as desired and improves the framerate. Over time extra features have been added including improved stability, screenshot functionality and improved shadows and reflections.

This mod can be downloaded here: http://blog.metaclassofnil.com/?p=438

Full instructions how to use the mod can be found in the 'README' contained in the zip which we advise reading first. Installation is as simple as copying the files into the Deadly Premonition Directory and choosing your settings in a supplied text file.

Durante's disclaimer:
"Will it work?
=============
It works for many, however...
*I can not and will not guarantee that it will work for anyone else, or not have any adverse effect on your game/computer. Use at your own risk!*"

Durante's work on this fix has been extraordinary and very much appreciated by the community. You can donate to Durante via the download page.


6. Final Thoughts
As always with PC games, make sure to check your machine meets the required specification for the game and that your graphics drivers are up to date.

We want to make this thread as complete as possible to if you have information to add about improving Deadly Premonition and fixes that have worked for you, be sure to add them in here.


7. Special Thanks
Most of advice here is the result of watching the forums, trial and error and seeing what others have done to improve the game. A huge thank you to all the community members who have been supporting Deadly Premonition and its charms.

Here are some notable members of the community who've played a part in this guide. Please accept my apologies if I've missed the name's of other contributors.

Durante (Author of the DPfix)
Jackpot
Chronicler
NTCore
James D

[MiuzikDriftz]

im using windows 8 but i dont understand what program to type into the search box

[MiuzikDriftz]

Originally posted by Charles Wallace:

Originally posted by MiuzikDriftz:

im using windows 8 but i dont understand what program to type into the search box

the program you would type is "Deadly Premonition: The Director's Cut"

Thank you

[denpanosekai]

Game wouldn't start for me. Reinstalling PhysX (even though I had the latest version already installed) made it work. Unbelievable...

However, the game crashed twice on me already
1) when pressing START to access the menu...
2) when alt-tabbing out of the game during a loading screen

POS port. Should have known better. Not even worth the 3$ I paid. Glad I already beat this on 360 or I'd be ultra pissed.

[Vynn]

Nevermind crashes, the game flat out fails to even start.after hitting "PLAY". I don't even. .

[Vynn]

Well I spent ages and finally got it to run. DPFix didn't do crap for the framerate or glitches (description for items messing up and I can't get my crowbar from the toolbox where the image or description doesn't even begin to appear). Honestly, if the game is this broken and was put up for sale in this condition; We seriously need a return policy on Steam or some crap. . (And now that the Steam sale is over you guys want to charge 25 Euro? Lolwut?)

[B4Marc]

In fact, the report from "Event Viewer" should be a better solution to find the "culprit" from a programmer's point-of-view ;)

Main hope is Spoonparty take a look at it:

Log Name: Application
Source: Application Error
Date: 29/10/2014 3:35:58 PM
Event ID: 1000
Task Category: (100)
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: ***
Description:
Faulting application name: dp.exe, version: 0.0.0.0, time stamp: 0x529721dc
Faulting module name: dp.exe, version: 0.0.0.0, time stamp: 0x529721dc
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x002ec50d
Faulting process id: 0xa60
Faulting application start time: 0x01cff3c8b50f215f
Faulting application path: M:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Deadly Premonition The Director's Cut\dp.exe
Faulting module path: M:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Deadly Premonition The Director's Cut\dp.exe
Report Id: f35e476d-5fbb-11e4-862d-bcaec5cb29fc
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="Application Error" />
<EventID Qualifiers="0">1000</EventID>
<Level>2</Level>
<Task>100</Task>
<Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2014-10-29T22:35:58.000000000Z" />
<EventRecordID>130457972</EventRecordID>
<Channel>Application</Channel>
<Computer>***</Computer>
<Security />
</System>
<EventData>
<Data>dp.exe</Data>
<Data>0.0.0.0</Data>
<Data>529721dc</Data>
<Data>dp.exe</Data>
<Data>0.0.0.0</Data>
<Data>529721dc</Data>
<Data>c0000005</Data>
<Data>002ec50d</Data>
<Data>a60</Data>
<Data>01cff3c8b50f215f</Data>
<Data>M:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Deadly Premonition The Director's Cut\dp.exe</Data>
<Data>M:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Deadly Premonition The Director's Cut\dp.exe</Data>
<Data>f35e476d-5fbb-11e4-862d-bcaec5cb29fc</Data>
</EventData>
</Event>

[Schmeden (Ryberg)]

I have windows 8 and run in compability mode as Admin. The game crashes directly after I start the exe. No loading screen or whatever, it crashes directly. I have tried most of the recommended solutions but can't get it to work. The error is "dp.exe has stopped working". I really don't know what to do.

[B4Marc]

Let's hope november will give us a fix/patch/something.

I'm waiting for an answer from Rising Star Games...

Hope's in the air :)

[Pangur Bán]

thanks that fixed it

[Empress of Empty Evils]

Well, that works. Thanks.

[Hot_cornetto]

Thank you, it's very useful

[excelatrate]

Lot of rage babies on here crap-posting. Making a PC Port is a pain, especially for a small japanese developer, they havent touched PC gaming for the better of the last 20 years. That said, I'm hoping this gets some sort of fix-all patch in the near future because a "Director's Cut" shouldn't need user fixes, this stuff can be fixed in a patch guys let's see it happen.

[MajorNoodles]

Uninstall mpc hc specifically the lav filters if you have them installed

Originally posted by Panopticon:

Is there some fix for not having to push buttons before/after Loading screens when it's just a black screen and such? For example I have to push start (I think it is, I've gotten so used to it) or the Title Screen won't load.

I've missed out on cutscenes in the game due to this (and 80% of the ending cutscenes that I had to look up on youtube)

ALSO my main issue right now is the ending cutscene like the final one only shows up as a white then black screen so I can't finish the game properly/acquire new titlescreen.
Is there a fix for this that I've missed? :csdmad::masonfist:

I've done the following:

:target: Tested it windowed
:target: Restarted computer
:target: Disabled the Steam overlay
:target: Verified cache
:target: CCF Explorer > Added more RAM to .exe
:target: Changed DP.exe to Win98 Comp.
:target: Changed DPLauncher.exe to Admin
:target: Updated PhysX
:target: Removed DPfix

...:coffeecup: Awaits for anyone with a solution.

[^7R4^2Z^70R]

My problem is not listed. I go to load my game save file and i just get a black screen, no way out unless I log off windows.

[excelatrate]

Originally posted by RλZOR:

My problem is not listed. I go to load my game save file and i just get a black screen, no way out unless I log off windows.

MAKE SURE you are in fullscreen and MAKE SURE if you're using DPfix you havent modified the ini settings regarding windowed/fullscreen.