Second attempt at looking for a possible fix

[StrongLemonJuice]

Posted about a year ago and wanted to see if any fixes maybe had been found.

Highlights:
- I have the 4 gb patch installed
- I have set the game to run on 1 core each time I start it
- I've set the textures to low, run the games in windowed mode as well

Mods I have installed on the save file are:
-Warden Armour
-Lock Bash for Origins and Awk.
-Character Respec Addon v1.6
-No Helmet 1.5 and 1.6

Now the crash. It always happens on the loading screen back to Redcliff after killing the desire demon in the Fade. Without fail, no matter what party member I send it, the game will show the loading screen, the logo will spin once and then crash. I'm 35 hours in on this file and have never had any of the other crashing problems I've seen posted here, on reddit or in Youtube videos.

Just wanted to try one more time and see if anyone had a similar problem or knew of an issue with killing this boss and loading back to Redcliff.

[CrackeR]

I say this all the time but whenever i have a crash or freeze issue in some Steam games that repeats, i verify game files and most times there was a file(s) missing or corrupted.
Right click game title, choose Properties, then Installed files, and finally choose to verify the game files. It will re acquire any files that may be broken or missing.

[StrongLemonJuice]

Originally posted by CrackeR:

I say this all the time but whenever i have a crash or freeze issue in some Steam games that repeats, i verify game files and most times there was a file(s) missing or corrupted.
Right click game title, choose Properties, then Installed files, and finally choose to verify the game files. It will re acquire any files that may be broken or missing.

If I reinstalled the game this week after deleting it a while back that would be the same as verifying the files correct? Or is it worth it to try it anyway?

[craig234]

It's about enough to get me to reinstall the old PS3 and replay it there where I think I paid about $250 total with all the DLCs back when they were released.

[LEGACY]

never heard of this issue before. you able to test it on a different pc?
if not, maybe share your savefile with someone, see if they experience this crash as well.

[Fictus22]

Beyond the few things I am about to list, another thing to consider is your mod setup for the game. There could be conflicts with how you installed them. Could you share how you went about installing them and we will see if any adjustments need to be made.

1. Go to your game install folder's redist folder to run DXSetup (In the DirectX folder), physx and vcredist exes to install the software on them.

Reason: Sometimes steam misses these or doesn't run them properly during setup.

Note: If your curious on how to get to your game's install folder, go to your steam library, right-click "Dragon Age: Origins - Ultimate Edition", hover over "Manage" in the little drop menu and click "Browse Local Files".

2. Make sure a service like OneDrive isn't constantly syncing or backing up your documents folder.

Reason: This can disturb or prevent the game from making and editing files in the Dragon Age folder located in your documents that are needed to run the game.

3. Go into your start menu, and click "Settings". Once the window for "Settings" appears, type "Graphic Settings" if on windows 10 or "Graphics" if on windows 11 in the "Find a setting" text box, and click the result "Graphic Settings" or "Graphics". Once you are in the window of "Graphic Settings", click the "Browse" if the drop box above "Browse" is labeled "Desktop app", and locate "DAOrigins.exe" in your game install folder/bin_ship. You will see the game now listed below "Browse" where you can also find and click "Options" alongside it. Once the pop-up called "Graphics preference" appears, click on "High performance" and click "Save".

Reason: Despite having your GPU detected by the game it may not actually use it. This ends up making the game not be able to run properly or at all. This forces the game to make use of your device's GPU and correct the issue.

4. Apply the 4GB patch to the game. This is only necessary to redo if you applied the 4gb patch to the daorigins.exe that came with the game which is actually not compatible with 4gb patch due to being encrypted. For the Steam copy of the game, here are 3 options to choose from.

4a. Follow along with this Steam guide below with how to apply the 4GB patch to a Steam copy of the game. I recommend following along with the pre-patch section of the guide.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=233222451

4b. Go to site in the link below and follow along with it's "modding video step-by-step tutorial for DA:O" from the beginning to the 4GB Patch. The tutorial gives visual instructions that some people may appreciate.

https://www.nexusmods.com/dragonage/mods/5989

4c. Go to the site in the link below and follow along with it's tutorial video regarding memory fixes though you only need to replace the game's exe with the one included in the mod.

https://www.nexusmods.com/dragonage/mods/5368

Reason: The game still is limited to using 1 - 2 GB of RAM since it was originally released. Due to newer graphical settings, DLC and various tweaks found in the present version the game requires more RAM than it was designed. The methods shown in the tutorials are the correct ways to apply the 4GB patch on Steam yourself.

Note: The reason either of these methods of applying the 4gb patch to game has to be done in the Steam copy of the game can be explained in the post linked below. If you end up doing this, you can change your graphics/textures settings to whatever you wish.

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Other-Dragon-Age-Games/DAOrigins-exe-Large-Address-Awareness-for-Steam-and-other/td-p/491020

[Hitori]

Get the frosty exe from nexusmods
Dain's Fixes (want to remove the fast walking just delete it in the file)
QUDAO Fixpack (fixes almost 900 bugs and restores cut content)
shouldn't have crashes anymore

[StrongLemonJuice]

Originally posted by StrongLemonJuice:

Posted about a year ago and wanted to see if any fixes maybe had been found.

Highlights:
- I have the 4 gb patch installed
- I have set the game to run on 1 core each time I start it
- I've set the textures to low, run the games in windowed mode as well

Mods I have installed on the save file are:
-Warden Armour
-Lock Bash for Origins and Awk.
-Character Respec Addon v1.6
-No Helmet 1.5 and 1.6

Now the crash. It always happens on the loading screen back to Redcliff after killing the desire demon in the Fade. Without fail, no matter what party member I send it, the game will show the loading screen, the logo will spin once and then crash. I'm 35 hours in on this file and have never had any of the other crashing problems I've seen posted here, on reddit or in Youtube videos.

Just wanted to try one more time and see if anyone had a similar problem or knew of an issue with killing this boss and loading back to Redcliff.

I HAVE FOUND A FIX!
Thanks to a reddit comment from 6 years ago and Salt Factory for mentioning in his video that after the boss fight the game is loading a cutscene.

It appears that due to who I had in my party (Alistair, Wynn and Morrigan) the game was crashing because it was trying to load this cutscene and also have my party member speak to me about their companion quest. This, according to the reddit commentator, was having him crash in a different section of the game.

I reloaded an earlier save, switch all the party members out and the game was fine after I killed the boss. :)

[Fictus22]

Oh nice! I am glad you could figure out the solution to your issue! Thanks for sharing your solution too! I will keep this in mind for anyone who may have this same exact issue in the future.

If anything else comes up though, feel free to post and we will be happy to help!