HOW TO FIX THE GAME

Does Ride 3 crash on startup for you? This guide will likely help! Unlike Milestone, which will continue to sell a game that is genuinely unplayable out of the box for the vast majority of modern computers.

Now includes a fix for an infinite loading bug.

(Panigale drawing in the logo based off of ducatiforum.com user Nitrouz's photo)

WHICH FIX IS RIGHT FOR YOU?

Fix 1 addresses the following crash:

You boot up Ride 3. The little popup comes up, and then it goes fullscreen with the Milestone logo, but it very quickly freezes and crashes. Maybe you get that little audio stinger, maybe it doesn't even get to start at all. Either way, it crashes before you actually get into the game.

Fix 2 addresses the following issue:

You boot up Ride 3 and it starts as normal. However, you are unable to load into the game, instead being stuck indefinitely. The game might crash, it might not. If it doesn't, you likely had to force-quit the game.

If you're having other issues, this guide probably won't fix your problem. Refer to the 'OTHER' section.

WHY IS THE GAME BROKEN?

Issue 1:

In 2014, the OpenSSL 1.0.2 beta was released. It is incompatible with certain SHA extensions, which are part of your computer's cryptography. These SHA extensions are far more common now. Chances are, if you buy an Intel processor today, it's going to have the extension.

Normally, this isn't a problem, because games being released now aren't using that old OpenSSL beta. But if a game is still using an old version of Unreal Engine, and the developer hasn't updated it, it's going to be running OpenSSL 1.0.2. This causes a fatal error, and therefore, the crash.

Issue 2:

This issue is much more straightforward. The infinite loading is likely caused by a corrupt game file in your save data. Since it can't load the save, you can't enter the game.

IS THIS SAFE?

Issue 1:

Yes, the fix is safe when done correctly. The fix was created by Intel, specifically for this issue. (link for your reading: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/developer/articles/troubleshooting/openssl-sha-crash-bug-requires-application-update.html ), mainly to be used for testing. It uses an environment variable, so there are no installations and it shouldn't mess with your system. All it does is disable OpenSSL's check for SHA extensions.

The main thing that I can see going wrong would be some online play issues, since anti-cheat systems might get fussy with the variable. It could maybe upset the anti-cheat system for the game, which I can't speak to because I don't play any online modes. The main thing that I could see happening would be crashes, because the anti-cheat might disable the variable. Of course, I don't think anyone is playing in the online at this point.

Issue 2:

In order to get rid of the corrupt file, you'll have to delete your save data. This has the potential to cause issues with the game in the event you delete the wrong thing or make some other error. This risk can be mitigated by backing up the game files through Steam. I have not needed to do this fix for myself, so I cannot personally speak to it.

THE FIX

FIX FOR ISSUE 1 (crash on startup):

1. Press Windows Key + R to open the Run menu.
This is how we navigate to the location where we will place our environment variable.

2. Type SystemPropertiesAdvanced into the entry space, and click 'Okay' or press Enter.
Don't change anything here.

3. Click 'Environment Variables' at the bottom of the window that opens.
Don't change anything here either.

4. Under 'User Variables', click 'New'.
You could put it under System Variables, if you prefer. If you're the only person who uses the device, it doesn't really matter. Doing so will just mean that this environment variable will always run, no matter which user is using the device.

5. For the variable name, set it to OpenSSL_ia32cap

6. For the variable value, set it to ~0x20000000 (that's seven zeros)

7. Click 'Okay', or press Enter.

8. Restart your device, so that the variable will take effect.



FIX FOR ISSUE 2 (infinite loading):

1. In Steam, right-click on Ride 3 on the left sidebar, or click on the settings icon on the right, and select 'General'.

2. Disable the option to keep files in the Steam cloud.

3. Click on 'Installed files' and select the option to back-up the game files. Make a new folder somewhere you can easily access it and save the backup to it.
This backup can be used to restore the game if new issues appear after trying this fix.

4. In your File Explorer, type '%appdata% into the directory navigation bar (not the search bar, but the bar next to it.) Click on 'AppData' in the navigation bar, then select the 'Local' folder. Find the 'ride3' folder.
This is how we get to the game's save files, which aren't accessed through Steam's 'browse files' option.

5. Open the 'Save' folder. (It is likely the only folder.) Right click on the 'SaveGames' folders and delete it.

6. Launch the game to test if the problem is fixed.
If it's fixed, you may delete the backup and re-enable Steam cloud saving if you want to.

OTHER

Thank you to Antmerl for contacting Milestone about the infinite loading bug. I was completely off the mark for how to fix it, so it's great to see something that worked. (And surprising to see a response from Milestone! Granted, Issue 1 is still an inexcusable thing to ship a game with.)

If you're still having issues after this fix, make sure that you've spelled everything correctly in your variable, that you have done a fresh install of the game, that you've verified the game files, and that you have restarted your device. If none of those things help, you probably have a different issue. If it's not a hardware problem (like, say, not having enough memory or cpu/gpu available), then I'm afraid I don't have ideas for how to help you.

However, new solutions may come up from people in the community, so please do keep commenting about any issues you have.

It's incredibly frustrating that this broken game is still for sale, without so much as a statement from the developers about the issue. Plus, all of the support sites are dead, and the game's webpage is gone. So, I sincerely hope that this fix worked for you.

Also, I thought this is good to mention: These old programs are vulnerable to backdooring and have bugs that will usually never be fixed--among other things--since they are no longer supported by their creators. So, playing it online is not likely to be safe.

With love, your local FZR Genesis enjoyer

[wyom]

@Antmerl That's great to hear. Thank you for taking the time to comment. I've incorporated the info into the guide.

[Ant Emme]

After a long time I decided to contact Milestone and I completely solved the problem. This is the resolution message I received.

"Have you already tried deleting your saves? It could be a failed load that causes the game to close due to some corrupt file.
To delete them, disable the Steam cloud for Ride 3 from the game properties in the library, then back up the files to C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Ride3\Saved\SaveGames and then delete them. Try launching the game and let us know if it works properly.

Cordially,
The Milestone Team"

[Delta51]

Yikes, imma just refund the game instead

[wyom]

@Antmerl I've done more research into this and the answer is still unclear. This has been an issue since release. The game seems to be built on spaghetti code, and Milestone's only comment on the problem is that it's a problem affecting "only some of the PC players". It's incredibly frustrating to say, but I don't think that there is a user-side solution.

The last thing I can think of is using a VPN to switch your server location to the USA, if you are not located in the USA. In my research it seemed that most of the people having this problem were in France or Italy. If you don't already have a VPN, certainly don't get one for the sake of this game. It's not worth it. (Though I suppose some VPNs offer a free trial, which could allow you to test it, just for the sake of trying.) I'm sorry that I couldn't find a solution.

[Ant Emme]

@wyom I've been playing Ride 3 for a while now. At a certain point the game no longer loaded and it always gets stuck on the second screen with the Panigale, so I close using the task manager. I applied the fix and updated the files but nothing.

[JUNN]

100% works and fix my problem!!!
Thanks for helping me

[wyom]

@Antmerl If you haven't applied the fix in this guide yet, I would recommend doing so, even though it isn't referring to the exact same bug. I'm assuming you have never run Ride 3 on any device before, so it's putting you into the introduction section of the game, where you see the Panigale.

It's possible that your antivirus is removing a file from the game. You could reacquire the file by verifying the integrity of the game's files through the Properties menu. You may have to disable your antivirus while doing so.

The last thing I can think of with the info I have at the moments would be trying to launch the game offline.

Let me know if any of this works. If it doesn't, could you list some more information? Is the game crashing, or just stuck in loading forever? If there are any button prompts, do they work? If the game is crashing, do you receive an error code? Things along those lines.

[Ant Emme]

Hi, I have a PC with FX-8320 and GTX 1080ti 11GB with 32GB of RAM, it is clear that the minimum requirements are met. The problem I have with Ride 3 is that it doesn't start and the screen with the Panigale locked remains. What can I do?

[JUNN]

Thanks for the reply, I think this could fix my problem, mine is startup crash

[wyom]

@JUNN I've always played on a laptop. It depends on the laptop specs. If you're having performance problems then this guide won't fix them. This just refers to a crash on startup that prevents the game from running.