Fix Stutter, FPS Loss, and Instability Caused By May 13, 2022 Steam Update (And ABC/AFT Fix)

A fix for instability, stuttering, and fps loss issues caused by the May 13, 2022 Steam update, along with the ABC/AFT error fixes

Intro

The May 13, 2022 Steam update has introduced a number of issues into Black Ops 3 including stuttering in the menus, massive fps loss in MP, some fps loss in Zombies, and general instability.

This has been thoroughly documented in this steam thread I started, and we now know the reason is due to a networking change in that update causing Steam to ping for a DLC check too aggressively that is completely unrelated to how strong your hardware is. I have a RTX 3090, Ryzen 5900X, 32GB of RAM, and a Samsung 980 Pro SSD and I still get all the issues on both Windows 10 and 11.
As mentioned in the thread, Steam and Activision have both been notified since the issue started but will not do anything as the game is no longer maintained.

Even if your game is not affected to the degree in the video above, we have had other users in the thread (not affected as severely) report that they have had more crashes and random fps dips than usual since this update as well. This will also fix those issues caused by the Steam update.

The fix is to bypass/disable this DLC check, which you can do with a program called Koalageddon.
Theoretically, this should also work for other games affected by this issue as well.

A Fix for the ABC/AFT error when trying to connect online has also been added to the guide, you can jump to that section if needed.

USE SERIOUS' PATCH

After talking with serious, we managed to fix the fps stutter issue his patch used to have. I recommend everyone use his patch now instead of Koalagedon.

Black Ops 3 will also be getting an update in the near future so using Koalagedon may risk a ban.

You can find his patch here:
https://github.com/shiversoftdev/t7patch

WARNING/DISCLAIMER

Koalageddon is a program typically used for unlocking DLC in Steam games, however the way it works is by disabling the DLC check, which is why it is able to fix these issues.

You will not get banned in Black Ops 3 for using this tool as the game has no built-in anticheat and is no longer monitored by Steam or Activision (and you cannot use the DLC unlocked for BO3 by this tool anyway as you don't have the game files for them downloaded unless you actually buy the DLC), however using this tool for other games, especially games which use Easy Anti Cheat, can cause issues in those games.

This guide will outline steps you can take so that this tool is only activated for Black Ops 3.
However, if for some reason you use it in an actively monitored game, you assume the risks.

I do not condone any form of cheating or piracy, this is purely to fix issues related to Black Ops 3 and Steam's aggressive DLC check from the May 13, 2022 update.

As long as you follow the steps in this guide, there will be no risk of this tool being activated for other games.

Install Steps

BEFORE DOWNLOADING

Koalageddon is an open source tool hosted on Github.
The code is completely open for all to see, so is there is no risk of viruses or infection.

However, when downloading the tool most anti-virus software will mark it as malware because it works through an injection .dll method, and injection software of any kind are often marked as malware as an easy way to protect inexperienced users.

To avoid issues when downloading, either white-list the software or disable your anti-virus temporarily.

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STEPS

1. Download the latest KoalageddonInstaller.exe from Github here
https://github.com/acidicoala/Koalageddon/releases

2. Run the installer and create a desktop shortcut

3. Run Koalageddon on your desktop. Choose Steam, enable the option that says "create desktop shortcut for configuration file" and press "Install platform integrations". It will be installed.



4. Go to the location of the config file using the shortcut created on your desktop called Config (right click > "open file location")

5. Replace your config file with this one I have edited: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tPryx3xj9_pEdbWZPv4hs2ySpO4AOTXU/view?usp=sharing

• What I have done is edit it so that Koalgeddon is disabled for every program except for Steam.

6. From here, you have 2 methods for stopping Koalageddon from working on other games in your library:

• Method 6A is to enable Koalageddon everytime you play BO3 and disable it everytime after. It is easier to do but will require you to do it everytime you want to play BO3.
  
  
• Method 6B is to exclude Koalageddon from running for all of your steam games except for BO3. It is slightly harder to setup but once it is setup you will not need to mess with it anymore.

These methods are detailed in the below sections of the guide.

6A. METHOD 1: Disable Koalageddon each time you play a game other than BO3

The first method is to disable Koalageddon each time you play a game other than BO3.

To do this, open the config file in a text editor like Notepad, and under Steam on line 6, you will see a line that says

"enabled": true,

Change this to

"enabled": false,

anytime you are not playing BO3, save the file, and restart steam.



This will completely stop Koalageddon from working.

Change it back to "enabled": true, save, and restart steam before playing BO3 so it is enabled.

6B. METHOD 2: Add exclusions for all your steam games except BO3 to Koalageddon

The second method is to add exclusions for all your steam games except BO3 to Koalageddon.

To do this, open the Config file in a text editor like notepad.

On line 11, you will see

"app_blacklist":

Below this is a list of steam appids for games which you do not want Koalageddon to be active for.



To add your steam games to this, look up the appid of games you have installed on steamdb
https://steamdb.info/

Type in the name of your game in the searchbar at the top and you should see the game pop up.



Select the game once it pops up and you will be at the game's page where its appid is listed.



For Monster Hunter World, it is 582010. Copy this appid number.

Alternatively, if you have web addresses enabled in steam, you can go to a game's store page and the numbers in the url are the game's appid.

Go back to the config, and add a new line under

"976310", // Mortal Kombat 11

Paste the appid of your game in double quotes, followed by a comma.

"582010",

You do not need to add the name, but if you want to then press space, add two forward slashes, press space again, and type in the game's name.

"582010", // Monster Hunter World

Repeat this process for every installed game in your steam library (including apps like Wallpaper Engine), save the config file, and restart steam.

The last appid in the list should NOT have a comma after it.
In the examples above, you can see that 1172470 for Apex Legends is the last in the list. It only has double quotes around it, no comma at the end.
As long as you use my config file and add all your appids under Mortal Kombat 11 and above Apex Legends, you will not have to worry about this.

7. Disable BO3 DLC You Do Not Own

If you do not own a Black Ops 3 DLC, you will want to disable it, otherwise the game will think you own it and try to put you in lobbies with people who actually have the DLC, causing it to glitch out and kick you when the match starts.

Like I said earlier, you are not able to get the BO3 DLC for free with Koalageddon because you need the actual DLC files, which only download if you bought the DLC on steam.

To disable certain DLCs you don't own, open the config file and you should see a section called "blacklist" where you can add DLC to exclude from Koalageddon. This is different from the "app_blacklist".



This is where you will add the ids for the DLCs in the same way as adding game appids from step 6B.

These are all the ids for BO3's DLCs. Add the ones which you do NOT own to the blacklist below Alien Breed and above Darkness II.

"830460", // Call of Duty: Black Ops III - Gorod Krovi Zombies Map
"830450", // Call of Duty: Black Ops III - Der Eisendrache Zombies Map
"830461", // Call of Duty: Black Ops III - Revelations Zombies Map
"581450", // Call of Duty: Black Ops III - Zombies Chronicles
"366849", // Call of Duty: Black Ops III - The Giant
"366843", // Call of Duty: Black Ops III - Season Pass
"426730", // Call of Duty: Black Ops III - CODE Warriors Personalization Pack
"470190", // Call of Duty: Black Ops III - CODE Valor Calling Cards
"366848", // Call of Duty: Black Ops III - NUK3TOWN Bonus Map

For example, if I do not own Revelations and The Giant, I would add them in like this:



Once you have added all the DLCs you don't own, save the file and restart steam.

8. Getting Koalageddon To Work

The September 21, 2022 Steam update changed things just a bit so that Koalageddon will not properly hook the first time you launch a game after installing it.

The fix is simple:

- After installing Koalgeddon using the previous steps and your preferred method, start up Steam and launch Black Ops 3. You will still have menu stutter for now, THAT IS EXPECTED.

- Go into the zombies menu, then close the game and completely exit/quit Steam

- Start Steam again and play Black Ops 3, stutter and fps drops should be gone now because Koalageddon will be properly hooked.

You only need to do this once after you install Koalageddon to Steam.

Errors

If you get an error when trying to launch steam after editing the config file, then you messed up the formatting somewhere.



Either you added an extra space, used a wrong character, didn't put a comma somewhere, etc.
The program is very particular about formatting.

"Will downloading all the DLC fix the issue for me?"

No.

Myself and several others who own all the DLC have tested this before. Depending on the system, if we install everything (including the Campaign and Multiplayer files), you MIGHT have the menu stutter reduced/go away, but the fps drops in zombies, massive fps loss in multiplayer, and general instability will not be fixed.

And even then, if you only play Zombies (which is most people), it's kind of dumb to install another 70-100 gb of gamedata just to reduce menu stutter without fixing anything else. That's right, installing campaign, MP, and all its DLC is around 70 gb, and if you decide to install the MP Trial Pack just to make sure you've downloaded EVERYTHING, it will bring the download up to 100 gb. And thats not including the space Zombies and all it's DLC already takes up.

You are better off using the Koalageddon method as it is the only true "fix" (and won't take up 100 gb of space lol.)

Fix for ABC/AFT error

If you or a friend are getting the ABC or AFT error all of a sudden when the game tries to connect Online, apparently the content servers for certain parts of the game are down (this has nothing to do with the Koalageddon fix from this guide)

Serious has also created a fix for this.

Download this zip and extract it to your root directory (main game folder) of BO3 for a fix:
https://t.co/o5aV0bJMWo

To get to the root directory, you can right click the game on Steam and select Manage - Browse local game files

If it asks if you want to overwrite the files, click YES. It might not, depending on what mods you have installed (which is fine).

If it doesn't work right after putting the files in, you may need to restart your computer and then it should work. Don't ask me why, it doesn't make any sense to me either, but that got it working for some of my friends.

So it should look like this when done:

Root Folder
.

Inside LPC Folder

Uninstall

If you want to completely uninstall Koalageddon, first run the Koalageddon program and choose "Remove Platform Integrations" for Steam, then restart steam.

After that, you can uninstall it normally though your program control panel or Windows app list.

If it doesn't show up there for some reason, go to the folder where Koalageddon is installed.

Right click the Koalageddon program on your desktop and choose "open file location". If you didn't keep the program shortcut, Koalageddon is installed in a hidden folder in AppData.
You can find it here:

C Drive > Users > [your username] > AppData > Local > Programs > Koalageddon

To get there, either enable viewing of hidden files and folders in windows or open a RUN command (just search RUN in windows search and it will pop up), type appdata, and hit ok.

In the Koalageddon folder, run unins000.exe to completely remove it from your system.

Conclusion

That's it. Please rate it thumbs up if it worked for you.

Enjoy a fixed Black Ops 3.

And if you want, checkout this zombies workshop mod I partially manage that adds a TON of features and some bug fixes to the game. The guide for it was also written by me.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2631943123

[DIVINIUM115]

I have found an efficient and quick solution without having to do anything strange by using the AAE (All Around Enhancement) mod. If you enter MP, Activision capped the FPS at 40 in the latest update, but if you load the AAE mod and then remove it before joining MP, your FPS will return. It will also fix your performance issues in the menus.

[ConchGames35]

sadly doesnt work for me, even on lowest settings and everything im still stuttering every 3 seconds on zombies. even with steam offline so if anyone has a way to help ill try it

[MayonaiseOnCrack]

@bigjoe i can only find linux download

[bigjoe]

T7Patch supports Linux/Steam Deck now Go get the newest release

[Nico]

@Goblin Mulcher, its not malware, as stated in the github page its obscurified as for security, most antivirus will complain about things they cannot see.

[Fentanyl Prime]

this is malware btw!

[Damian]

The patch is not working for me. Still massive fps drops to below 30 on my new laptop (RTX 3060, 16 GB RAM, Ryzen 7 5800) Any clue?

[Knuckles]

Is this Patch safe to run on your pc ?
A friend checked it and said its building connections with some weird servers

[NikkMann]

As stated at the top of the guide, the best fix now is to use Serious' t7 patch, which has been updated since the guide was made with even more fixes.

[JustToasty]

Is this still an active fix for the game? Or is there a new fix for the stuttering issues?