TROUBLESHOOTING K2

A compiled list of issues and fixes that should help you with any problems you may be experiencing.


* Credit goes to PCGamingWiki ( http://pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Star_Wars:_Knights_of_the_Old_Republic_II_%E2%80%93_The_Sith_Lords ) for most of the info. in this community guide!!
Credit also goes to Steam user funewchie ( http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198025632551 ) for his helpful tips, Steam user Lord Revan ( http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198244104976 ) for their solution to the "My character is now called "Arren Kae" and weird things are happening in-game" issue, as well as Steam user Derpcrawler ( http://steamcommunity.com/id/Derpcrawler ) and their Steam guide ( http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=576586490 ) for the adaptive vertical sync fix which is another solution to the "I can't move my character after combat/my game stutters usually after combat" issue.

Issues and Fixes

My game doesn't start-up at all:

Right-click the "swkotor2.exe" file (found in C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Knights of the Old Republic II\) and select "Properties". From there, click the Compatibility tab and tick the "Run this program in compatibility mode for:" box. From the dropdown bar that sits below this box: choose "Windows XP Service Pack 2". Then tick the "Run this program as an Administrator" box, followed by clicking the "Apply" button.

NOTE: If Windows XP Service Pack 2 doesn't help -- try Windows Vista.



Various start-up crash solutions:

• Download this version of DirectX 9 ( http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/confirmation.aspx?id=8109 ).
• Disabling "Steam Community In-game" (the Steam overlay) can sometimes fix this.
• Make sure your dedicated graphics card is being used.
• If applicable - open the "NVIDIA Control Panel" application and select "Manage 3D settings" in the new window (from the left-hand pane). Next select the "Program Settings" tab, click the "Add button" and then click the "Browse..." button.. Now go to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Knights of the Old Republic II\ and "Open" the "swkotor2.exe" file. The game should now be seen in the dropdown bar. From here, go down the list and click on the entry to the right of the "Threaded Optimization" feature and choose "Off". After that, just hit "Apply" at the bottom and you're done!
• 1. Open the "swkotor2.ini" file (found in C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Knights of the Old Republic II\).
2. Under both [Graphics Options] AND [Display Options], change "Fullscreen=1" to "Fullscreen=0".
3. After that, add the following line under just [Graphics Options]:AllowWindowedMode=1
4. Save and close the file.*

* Running the game from the RunGameID icon or Steam desktop shortcut will undo these changes -- so run the game with the "swkotor2.exe" file from now on (found in C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Knights of the Old Republic II\).



My game crashes after the intro logos/videos:

1. Go to the "Movies" sub-folder (found in C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Knights of the Old Republic II\).
2. Rename, move or remove the following files: "leclogo.bik", "Legal.bik" and "ObsidianEnt.bik".



The main menu is not centered:

Right-click the "swkotor2.exe" file (found in C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Knights of the Old Republic II\) and select "Properties". From there, click the Compatibility tab and tick the "Disable display scaling on high DPI settings". Then just click the "Apply" button.



Crash after character creation:

• In the in-game Options menu --> Graphics --> Advanced Graphics Options, untick "Frame Buffer Effects".
• In the in-game Options menu --> Graphics --> Advanced Graphics Options, untick "Soft Shadows".



My camera keeps spinning without me moving it:

• Uninstall all drivers associated with flight sticks, including vJoy (a virtual joystick driver).
• Physically unplug all flight sticks that happen to be plugged in.



Random crashing:

• In the in-game Options menu --> Graphics --> Advanced Graphics Options, untick "Frame Buffer Effects".
• In the in-game Options menu --> Graphics --> Advanced Graphics Options, untick "Soft Shadows".



I can't move my character after combat/my game stutters usually after combat:

• Make a quicksave and then quickload.
• In the in-game Options Menu --> Graphics --> Advanced Graphics Options, tick "VSync".
• If applicable - open the "NVIDIA Control Panel" application and select "Manage 3D settings" in the new window (from the left-hand pane). Next select the "Program Settings" tab, click the "Add button" and then click the "Browse..." button.. Now go to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Knights of the Old Republic II\ and "Open" the "swkotor2.exe" file. The game should now be seen in the dropdown bar. From here, go down the list and click on the entry to the right of the "Vertical sync" feature and choose "Adaptive". After that, just hit "Apply" at the bottom and you're done!

NOTE: If you don't have a Nvidia graphics card, there's a similar feature for AMD users called "Dynamic V-sync" which you can find more info. about from here: http://www.radeonpro.info/features/dynamic-vsync-control/ (you'll need to grab RadeonPro to utilize this feature if you haven't got it installed already).



My character is now called "Arren Kae" and weird things are happening in-game:

This issue is related to corruption of a save game. What worked for one person was using Steam to backup their game files and then restoring them from this backup. Steam has an easy-to-follow article which can help you with this:
https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=8794-yphv-2033



My game crashes/freezes when loading a save file:

• In the in-game Options menu --> Graphics --> Advanced Graphics Options, untick "Frame Buffer Effects".
• If applicable - open the "NVIDIA Control Panel" application and select "Manage 3D settings" in the new window (from the left-hand pane). Next select the "Program Settings" tab, click the "Add button" and then click the "Browse..." button.. Now go to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Knights of the Old Republic II\ and "Open" the "swkotor2.exe" file. The game should now be seen in the dropdown bar. From here, go down the list and click on the entry to the right of the "Threaded Optimization" feature and choose "Off". After that, just hit "Apply" at the bottom and you're done!
• Uncheck the "Read-only" property of the game's main folder (C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Knights of the Old Republic II\).
• Right-click on the "swkotor2.exe" file (found in C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Knights of the Old Republic II\) and select "Create shortcut". Now right-click on the shortcut just created and select "Properties". In its "Target:" box, type in: cmd /C start "SWKOTOR2" /D "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Knights of the Old Republic II\" /high /affinity 1 "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Knights of the Old Republic II\swkotor2.exe"



I have serious texture problems:

Update your Intel/integrated GPU's drivers.

Continued...

I have a blank screen after cutscenes finish OR cutscenes minimize/crash my game:

• Simply left click to skip these videos (do this when the fade-out occurs -- this signals the cutscene's about to end).
• Alt-tabbing in and out of the game each time can sometimes fix this.
• In the in-game Options menu --> Graphics --> Advanced Graphics Options, untick "Frame Buffer Effects".
• 1. Open the "swkotor2.ini" file (found in C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Knights of the Old Republic II\).
2. Under both [Graphics Options] AND [Display Options], change "Fullscreen=1" to "Fullscreen=0".
3. After that, add the following line under just [Graphics Options]:AllowWindowedMode=1
4. Save and close the file.*
• Right-click the "swkotor2.exe" file (found in C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Knights of the Old Republic II\). and select "Properties". From there, click the Compatibility tab and tick the following 2 boxes "Disable visual themes" and "Disable desktop composition". Then click the "Apply" button.
• Right-click the "swkotor2.exe" file (found in C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Knights of the Old Republic II\). and select "Properties". From there, click the Compatibility tab and tick the "Run in 256 colors" box. Then click the "Apply" button. DO NOTE: I haven't tested this method and whilst this compatibility option is only meant for ancient programs, some have reported this fully fixes the behaviour of cutscenes in-game.

* Running the game from the RunGameID icon or Steam desktop shortcut will undo these changes -- so run the game with the "swkotor2.exe" file from now on (found in C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Knights of the Old Republic II\).



I have crackling audio:

In the in-game Options menu --> Sound --> Advanced Sound Options, tick "Force Software" (this option no longer seems to exist in the updated Steam version of this game).



Low performance:

• In the in-game Options menu --> Graphics --> Advanced Graphics Options, untick "Frame Buffer Effects".
• In the in-game Options Menu --> Graphics --> Advanced Graphics Options, tick "VSync".

NOTE: For some players, "VSync" has to be unticked to actually improve performance.



My party members can't be found at the Telos Academy OR I get a black screen when entering the Ebon Hawk after the Telos Academy OR Atton, Bao-Dur and Kreia won't talk with my player:

These issues are all related to fighting the Handmaidens in the sparring area and "cheating" before they become hostile (i.e. using force powers, armour and/or items), which causes the game to incorrectly return your party members to you. To fix this: you will have to load a save from before this fight.



Cutscenes/dialogue seem to play very fast:

Using ALT + TAB excessively or your game running out of RAM apparently causes this... but it just seems to be related to long playtime sessions. If you do experience this bug though: simply save, exit, and relaunch the game.



Nothing's worked for me so far:

Aside from your game having incompatible mods being used... there's always the possibility that in-game cheat codes you have used, have ruined your playthrough. If you have used cheats and are out of solutions to try: go back to an earlier save game where you didn't use any cheats.



I have tried everything in this guide and my game still isn't working:

It's likely your PC isn't strong enough to run this game. You'll need to rollback the game to an earlier version before Asypr updated this game in 2015 to have widescreen support, Steam achievements, Steam workshop and so on. Unfortunately this means you'll lose these features but you can still install mods like TSLRCM... you'll just have to install them manually now. If you absolutely want to rollback, here's how you do it:

• right-click the game in your Steam library and select "Properties"
• from the new window, click the BETAS tab
• in the drop-down bar select "legacypc -"

[Therapist]

I only have TSLRCM and community patch
Keeps crashing when I go back to the EHawk after revisiting Telos (to tell about bounties and fuel agreement), after first time on Telos I went to Nar Shadda and completed the main quest there, then travelled back to Telos
I tried changing settings as described here, tried deleting cgi cutscenes, nothing helps. Any ideas?

[waldron288]

my game keeps crashing everytime i try to take the shuttle from the telos base, just keep getting window saying it quit working

[Quirrel]

I have a microsoft visual c++ runtime library error. Nothing really workes to fix it. It just keep crashing after cinematic of the republic ship showing up with this message. How to fix it.

[jack1997ryan]

Also, quick follow-up question, will this way also work with playing KOTOR 1? Because I've had similar troubles with that.

[jack1997ryan]

Question: With this, does this just let you play the game how it was originally released, or with the restored content? Just curious.

[Barachiel]

So my game was working fine until today.

Now, whenever I try to run the game, I just get a black screen and a spinning cursor that goes on until I click the mouse, then I get the "Not Responding" error pop up and the game force-closes.

I have tried these steps so far, none of them have worked.

* Uninstalled the game, deleted any left over files, then reinstalled.
* Turned off Steam Overlay
* Re-downloaded and re-installed the DirectX 9 installer.
* Tried turning off Thread Optmization in Nvidia Control Panel.
* Tried setting the .exe to "WinXP SP2" compatibility mode.

None of these have worked, and I'm completely lost. There are NO mods currently installed. I have no idea why the game will run one day, and become unplayable the next.

[Magnificent Bastard]

And I had another character trapped in Mira's sex dungeon surrounded by 30 Zez-Kai Els... this shit dates back to '04 dammit!

[Magnificent Bastard]

Vrook is STILL stuck in that goddamn force cage :(

[Pulpatiine]

@twitch.tv/kevaanoo same here, still haven't found a fix 9 months later

[WhyULookHere]

Game doesnt do anything for me. Within 60 - 120 seconds of the game even running I CTD or get a Run Time error. That's even with pure vanilla. I tried the Windowed mode, compatibility. V-Sync, Frame buffers, shadows... The lot. nothing. RTX 3070 on Windows 10