Dark Souls won't launch, won't work, won't install. Dark And Light guide: how to fix errors, low FPS, a bug during character creation, stuck loading and other problems Why the game dark does not start

When playing the game, many players were forced to face not only pleasant game difficulties, but also technical problems, which made the passage of DARK SOULS 3 absolutely impossible or extremely difficult. This guide will help you get rid of major startup problems. The guide will be updated as solutions to problems with the game become available.

Let me immediately remind you about updating the drivers for the video card. It would seem like such banal advice, but a huge number of people cannot grasp this truism.

DARK SOULS 3 technical requirements

MINIMUM:

OS:
CPU: Intel Core i3-2100 / AMD® FX-6300
RAM: 4 GB RAM
Video card: NVIDIA® GeForce GTX 750 Ti / ATI Radeon HD 7950
DirectX: Versions 11
Net:
Disk space: 25 GB
Sound card: DirectX 11 sound device
Additionally:

OS: Windows 7 SP1 64bit, Windows 8.1 64bit Windows 10 64bit
CPU: Intel Core i7-3770 / AMD® FX-8350
RAM: 8 GB RAM
Video card: NVIDIA® GeForce GTX 970 / ATI Radeon R9 series
DirectX: Versions 11
Net: Broadband Internet connection
Disk space: 25 GB
Sound card: DirectX 11 sound device
Additionally: Internet connection required for online play and product activation

DARK SOULS 3 crashes during tutorial

At the beginning of the game you will have to go through a tutorial in which you will be taught how to easily fight some enemies, including bosses. And it should be noted that this is not so easy, especially when your client crashes during attacks.
The game crashes every 3-5 minutes. If you are the owner of a video card from AMD first of all you should update your drivers because this moment this helps most. If your device is not AMD, then you should wait for the next patch that will fix the problem.

DARK SOULS 3 crashes at high resolution

Another known problem is that the client crashes when using resolutions greater than 1440p, 4K. The solution to this problem is simple: you should reduce the resolution to 1080p.

The controller does not work from PlayStation 4 on PC

If your PlayStation 4 gamepad does not work, you should try installing and configuring free utility Input Mapper, which will be an impromptu bridge between Dualshock 4 and PC
You should also check for other devices in the list of connected Windows devices, as this problem often occurs. if you have more than one device connected.

DARK SOULS 3 spins endlessly during hero creation

If during character creation your character starts spinning uncontrollably, disabling the mouse and keyboard will not help you. To fix this bug you will have to disable your PS4 controller. This will help, but you will have to play on a keyboard and mouse until this bug is fixed in the next update.

Low FPS in DARK SOULS 3 with Nvidia video cards

For many people who own green video cards, at 1080p resolution and maximum settings, the number of frames per second does not exceed 20-25, even taking into account that the computer configuration meets the recommended requirements.
The problem is not in your hardware, it's a flaw in the latest driver from Nvidia.
To fix this problem you should roll back your video card driver before the driver 314.22 .

White screen in DARK SOULS 3

If when starting the game you see a white screen and the client crashes, then you need to go to the root directory of the game (C:\Users\NAME\AppData\Local\NBGI\DarkSouls), find the file DarkSouls.ini, find the line with the resolution and change the resolution to a lower one. This may help you.

The comments suggested another solution to the white screen problem (thanks Sargerock). You should try increasing the page file. For this:

Right-click on the icon Computer and select Properties, further -> Additional system parameters.
Go to the tab Additionally-> Performance section and press the button Options. Next on the tab Performance Options select Additionally and at point Virtual memory, click on the button Change.
Select Specify size and install more memory than you have set.

PS. On Win 10 everything is set in the same way.

Dark Souls 3 PC error 0xc000007b

This error appears if you do not have the .Net framework (C++ Visual) installed or DirectX is not installed correctly. Dark Souls 3 installs them automatically the first time you launch the game. Try reinstalling these programs from the game directory.

Dark Souls 3 crashes with DLL error

If your game crashes with a DLL error, you should install this program. After that, go to “Installing DLL files” and install the missing DLL. after that, restart the game.

Fans of Dark Souls are faced with an unpleasant situation when, after installation, the game does not start. Or errors appear during the installation process. Let's figure out what the reason is and fix the problem. The methods outlined in the article are not only suitable for Dark Souls. If this is not enough, the problem remains unresolved, read other materials on the site.

Dark Souls won't install

If Dark Souls won't install, see if you have enough free space on your hard drive. The distribution requires free space, so a few gigabytes of extra space will not hurt. Many modern games require significant volume.

Dark Souls installation is blocked by antivirus

Often, anti-virus programs, in the fight against viruses, protecting our computer from external threats, for security purposes, block numerous processes performed by the operating system. Sometimes such security is so strong that the antivirus blocks access not only to viruses, but also suspends some normal processes, perhaps by mistake, considering them potentially vulnerable. Disable your antivirus during installation.

Cleaning your computer and rebooting

Sometimes, a simple system reboot can immediately solve many problems that arise both during the installation of games and their subsequent operation. The same goes for programs and applications. There are many reasons: the computer is full of garbage, the system cache is full, the maximum permissible number of simultaneously running processes, perhaps some are frozen and are not running, but they put a strain on the system. Cleaning your computer and rebooting will fix the situation.

No Internet access

Some game clients require an Internet connection during the installation process, providing access to the installation server or update server. Make sure the connection is good, and if there is no Internet, be prepared for problems when installing Dark Souls. It's good if the system displays an error message. And if there is none, you can think for a long time and wonder why the toy is not installed.

Dark Souls won't launch

Before you look for reasons why Dark Souls won't launch, make sure that the installation itself was successful. Otherwise, if there were failures during the installation process, but at the same time the game was installed, it is impossible to guarantee subsequent launch and performance. If it starts, you're lucky. What will happen next is unknown. Review the installation process.

Reinstalling the game

Many gamers have more than once encountered a situation where they had to reinstall games. Apparently this is a case where reinstalling Dark Souls will fix the problem. It is unknown what this is connected with, perhaps the antivirus or firewall “ate” some files or something else during installation, but after installing the game again, it starts and works. Uninstall Dark Souls and reinstall, paying attention to every detail during this process. Perhaps at some point the program will ask additional files and so on.

There are cases when installation on top of already installed game solves the situation. The installer may prompt you to update the files. Thus, there is no need for removal. Well, something like this.

Searching for information by error text

Another option. Problems when starting Dark Souls are usually accompanied by a corresponding system message. Specify the text of the error in the search, as a result of which you will receive the most detailed answer, and, moreover, related to this specific problem. Actually, the solution will not be long in coming. This way you can pinpoint the cause and fix the problem.

By the way, for some reason I always forget about this. Until I turn over the whole computer. But this one the method works 92%. You just need to enter the text into the search and find a useful article. This way you will definitely solve the problem, there is no need to send your PC to a workshop ahead of time and incur additional costs. There is a lot of useful material on the Internet - study it.

Running Dark Souls as Administrator

Run the game as administrator. In our case, to run Dark Souls as an administrator, you need to right-click on the game shortcut and select Run as administrator. Subsequently, if this method helps solve the problem, make it the default. Open the Shortcut Properties, in the Compatibility tab, and check the box Run this program as administrator.

Dark Souls is not compatible with the system

Another obstacle to running Dark Souls may be incompatibility with your operating system. In this case, still there, in the Shortcut Properties, add a checkbox Run the program in compatibility mode, select the desired OS from the drop-down list.

.NET Framework not installed

A very serious problem with running Dark Souls is the lack of the .NET Framework library installed on the computer, which ensures the launch and maintains the functionality of programs and applications, including games. This is a prerequisite and Microsoft .NET Framework must be installed on your PC.

There are different versions of the .NET Framework. The presence of any one of them on the computer cannot sufficiently guarantee the correct operation of the program. If, for example, the library is already installed on your computer, but the game requires it, download and install it. Restart your PC. The previous version will not be deleted or overwritten. They will simply work together.


Use programs that will prepare your computer for the game to run properly and help you avoid many problems and errors.

operating system Software
Windows XP/7/8/10
Windows XP/7/8/10
Windows XP/7/8/10

Availability of DirectX

Perhaps the most important condition, the requirement that must be met for games, including Dark Souls, is the presence of . Without it, not a single toy will work. Almost all distributions that require DirectX installed already include this set.

As a rule, DirectX is installed automatically during installation. If it is not included in the distribution, download and install it. It is not necessary to do this before installation, you can do it after, but it is simply necessary to have it on your computer. Download links are located above.

What to do if Dark Souls doesn't work?

Do not despair if you have already tried all the methods and nothing helps, the game does not work. Perhaps these tips will seem too vague, incomprehensible, errors are still present. Review again, did you do everything correctly? If necessary, download another Dark Souls distribution; if you purchased it in a store, contact the seller (manufacturer) for help. Maybe the disk is damaged or something is missing. This is normal, quite natural, this happens. Use another distribution and install the game again.

As a last resort, there are situations where the operating system is still incompatible with Dark Souls. Update the system using Windows (via Update Center). The game will work. If the manufacturer has indicated compatibility, then he is responsible for it. Update your operating system.

Reinstalling the OS is a last resort. Not sure about statements like "the operating system is pirated... the assembly... will not work..." or "the toy is hacked, pirated - throw it away...". A point that is worth your attention is to remember whether similar problems have arisen with other games, in particular similar to Dark Souls. And if problems were observed, this indicates that it may be time to update or reinstall something in the system. Thank you for attention!

Other materials

Unfortunately, games have flaws: stutters, low FPS, crashes, freezes, bugs and other minor and not so minor errors. Often problems begin even before the game starts, when it does not install, does not load, or does not even download. And the computer itself sometimes acts strange, and then in Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition there is a black screen instead of a picture, the controls don’t work, you can’t hear the sound or anything else.

What to do first

  1. Download and run the world famous CCleaner(download via direct link) - this is a program that will clean your computer of unnecessary garbage, as a result of which the system will work faster after the first reboot;
  2. Update all drivers on the system using the program Driver Updater(download via direct link) - it will scan your computer and update all drivers to the latest version in 5 minutes;
  3. Install Advanced System Optimizer(download via direct link) and enable game mode in it, which will end useless background processes while launching games and improve performance in the game.

The second thing to do if you encounter any problems with Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition is to check the system requirements. In a good way, you need to do this before purchasing, so as not to regret the money spent.

Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition minimum system requirements:

Windows XP, Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 3.0 Ghz, 2 Gb RAM, 4 Gb HDD, Nvidia GeForce 9800 GTX+ Video memory: 512 Mb

Every gamer should have at least a little understanding of components, know why a video card, processor and other things are needed in the system unit.

Files, drivers and libraries

Almost every device in a computer requires a set of special software. These are drivers, libraries and other files that ensure the correct operation of the computer.

You should start with the drivers for your video card. Modern graphics cards are manufactured by only two large companies - Nvidia and AMD. Having found out which product drives the coolers in the system unit, we go to the official website and download the latest driver package:

A prerequisite for the successful functioning of Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition is the availability of the latest drivers for all devices in the system. Download the utility Driver Updater to easily and quickly download the latest drivers and install them with one click:

If Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition does not start, we recommend that you try disabling your antivirus or putting the game in antivirus exceptions, and also check compliance again system requirements and if something from your assembly does not correspond, then, if possible, improve your PC by purchasing more powerful components.


Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition has black screen, white screen, color screen. Solution

Problems with screens of different colors can be divided into 2 categories.

Firstly, they often involve using two video cards at once. For example, if your motherboard has a built-in video card, but you play on a discrete one, then Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition may launch for the first time on the built-in one, but you will not see the game itself, because the monitor is connected to a discrete video card.

Secondly, color screens occur when there are problems with displaying images on the screen. This can happen for various reasons. For example, Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition cannot work through an outdated driver or does not support the video card. Also, a black/white screen may appear when working at resolutions that are not supported by the game.

Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition crashes. At a specific or random moment. Solution

You play for yourself, play and then - bam! - everything goes out, and now you have a desktop in front of you without any hint of a game. Why is this happening? To solve the problem, you should try to figure out what the nature of the problem is.

If a crash occurs at a random moment in time without any pattern, then with a 99% probability we can say that this is a bug of the game itself. In this case, it is very difficult to fix something, and the best thing to do is just put Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition aside and wait for the patch.

However, if you know exactly at what moments the crash occurs, then you can continue the game, avoiding situations that provoke a crash.

However, if you know exactly at what moments the crash occurs, then you can continue the game, avoiding situations that provoke a crash. In addition, you can download the Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition save and bypass the departure location.


Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition freezes. The picture freezes. Solution

The situation is approximately the same as with crashes: many freezes are directly related to the game itself, or rather to the developer’s mistake when creating it. However, often a frozen picture can become a starting point for investigating the deplorable state of a video card or processor.

So if the picture in Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition freezes, then use programs to display statistics on component loading. Perhaps your video card has long exhausted its working life or the processor is heating up to dangerous temperatures?

The easiest way to check the load and temperatures for the video card and processors is in the MSI Afterburner program. If you wish, you can even display these and many other parameters on top of the Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition picture.

What temperatures are dangerous? Processors and video cards have different operating temperatures. For video cards they are usually 60-80 degrees Celsius. For processors it is slightly lower - 40-70 degrees. If the processor temperature is higher, then you should check the condition of the thermal paste. It may have already dried out and needs to be replaced.

If the video card is heating up, then you should use a driver or an official utility from the manufacturer. It is necessary to increase the number of revolutions of the coolers and check whether the operating temperature decreases.

Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition is slow. Low FPS. Frame rate drops. Solution

If there are slowdowns and low frame rates in Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition, the first thing to do is lower the graphics settings. Of course, there are many of them, so before reducing everything, it’s worth finding out exactly how certain settings affect performance.

Screen resolution. In short, this is the number of points that make up the game picture. How higher resolution, the higher the load on the video card. However, the increase in load is insignificant, so you should reduce the screen resolution only as a last resort, when everything else no longer helps.

Texture quality. Typically, this setting determines the resolution of texture files. The texture quality should be reduced if the video card has a small amount of video memory (less than 4 GB) or if you are using a very old hard drive with a spindle speed of less than 7200.

Model quality(sometimes just detailing). This setting determines which set of 3D models will be used in the game. The higher the quality, the more polygons. Accordingly, high-poly models require more processing power from the video card (not to be confused with the amount of video memory!), which means this parameter should be reduced on video cards with low core or memory frequencies.

Shadows. They are implemented in different ways. In some games, shadows are created dynamically, that is, they are calculated in real time at every second of the game. Such dynamic shadows load both the processor and the video card. For optimization purposes, developers often abandon full rendering and add pre-rendered shadows to the game. They are static, because essentially they are just textures overlaid on top of the main textures, which means they load memory, and not the video card core.

Often developers add additional settings related to shadows:

  • Shadow Resolution - Determines how detailed the shadow cast by an object will be. If the game has dynamic shadows, it loads the video card core, and if a pre-created render is used, then it “eats” the video memory.
  • Soft shadows - smoothing out unevenness in the shadows themselves, usually this option is given along with dynamic shadows. Regardless of the type of shadows, it loads the video card in real time.

Smoothing. Allows you to get rid of ugly corners on the edges of objects through the use of a special algorithm, the essence of which usually comes down to generating several images at once and comparing them, calculating the most “smooth” picture. There are many different anti-aliasing algorithms that differ in their level of impact on the performance of Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition.

For example, MSAA works head-on, creating 2, 4 or 8 renders at once, so the frame rate is reduced by 2, 4 or 8 times, respectively. Algorithms like FXAA and TAA work a little differently, achieving a smooth image by calculating only the edges and using some other tricks. Thanks to this, they do not reduce performance as much.

Lighting. As with anti-aliasing, there are different algorithms for lighting effects: SSAO, HBAO, HDAO. They all use video card resources, but they do it differently depending on the video card itself. The fact is that the HBAO algorithm was promoted mainly on video cards from Nvidia (GeForce line), so it works best on “green” ones. HDAO, on the contrary, is optimized for video cards from AMD. SSAO is the simplest type of lighting; it consumes the least resources, so if it's slow in Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition, it's worth switching to it.

What to reduce first? Shadows, anti-aliasing and lighting effects tend to take the most work, so these are the best places to start.

Gamers often have to optimize Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition themselves. Almost all major releases have various related forums where users share their ways to improve productivity.

One of them is a special program called Advanced System Optimizer. It is made specifically for those who do not want to manually clean their computer of various temporary files, delete unnecessary registry entries and edit the startup list. Advanced System Optimizer does this for you and also analyzes your computer to find ways to improve performance in apps and games.

Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition lags. Large delay when playing. Solution

Many people confuse “brakes” with “lags,” but these problems have completely different causes. Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition slows down when the frame rate at which the image is displayed on the monitor decreases, and lags when the delay when accessing the server or any other host is too high.

This is why lags can only occur in online games. The reasons are different: bad network code, physical distance from servers, network congestion, incorrectly configured router, low Internet connection speed.

However, the latter happens least often. In online games, communication between client and server occurs through the exchange of relatively short messages, so even 10 MB per second should be enough.

Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition has no sound. Can not hear anything. Solution

Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition works, but for some reason it doesn't sound - this is another problem that gamers face. Of course, you can play like this, but it’s still better to figure out what’s going on.

First you need to determine the scale of the problem. Where exactly is there no sound - only in the game or even on the computer? If only in a game, then perhaps this is due to the fact that the sound card is very old and does not support DirectX.

If there is no sound at all, then the problem is definitely in the computer settings. Perhaps the sound card drivers are installed incorrectly, or maybe there is no sound due to some specific error in our beloved Windows OS.

Controls are not working in Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition. Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition does not recognize the mouse, keyboard or gamepad. Solution

How to play if it is impossible to control the process? Problems with supporting specific devices are inappropriate here, because we're talking about about familiar devices - keyboard, mouse and controller.

Thus, errors in the game itself are practically excluded; the problem is almost always on the user's side. You can solve it in different ways, but, one way or another, you will have to contact the driver. Usually, when you connect a new device, the operating system immediately tries to use one of the standard drivers, but some models of keyboards, mice and gamepads are incompatible with them.

Thus, you need to find out the exact model of the device and try to find its driver. Devices from well-known gaming brands often come with their own software packages, since the standard Windows driver simply cannot ensure the correct operation of all functions of a particular device.

If you don’t want to search for drivers for all devices separately, you can use the program Driver Updater. It is designed to automatically search for drivers, so you only need to wait for the scan results and download the necessary drivers in the program interface.

Often, Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition brakes can be caused by viruses. In this case, it makes no difference how powerful the video card is in the system unit. You can scan your computer and clean it of viruses and other unwanted software using special programs. For example NOD32. The antivirus has proven itself with best side and have been approved by millions of users around the world.

ZoneAlarm is suitable for both personal use and small businesses, capable of protecting a computer running Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP from any attacks: phishing, viruses, malware, spyware and other cyber threats . New users are given a 30-day free trial.

Nod32 is an antivirus from ESET, which has received many awards for its contribution to security development. Versions of anti-virus programs are available on the developer’s website for both PCs and mobile devices; a 30-day trial version is provided. There are special conditions for business.

Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition downloaded from a torrent does not work. Solution

If the game distribution was downloaded via torrent, then in principle there can be no guarantees of operation. Torrents and repacks are almost never updated through official applications and do not work over the network, because in the process of hacking, hackers cut out all network functions from games, which are often used to verify the license.

Using such versions of games is not only inconvenient, but even dangerous, because very often many files in them have been changed. For example, to bypass protection, pirates modify the EXE file. At the same time, no one knows what else they do with it. Perhaps they embed self-executing software. For example, when the game is first launched, it will integrate into the system and use its resources to ensure the well-being of hackers. Or, giving access to the computer to third parties. There are no guarantees here and cannot be.

In addition, the use of pirated versions is, in the opinion of our publication, theft. The developers spent a lot of time creating the game, investing their own money in the hope that their brainchild would pay off. And every work must be paid.

Therefore, if any problems arise with games downloaded from torrents or hacked using one or another means, you should immediately remove the pirated version, clean your computer with an antivirus and a licensed copy of the game. This will not only protect you from dubious software, but will also allow you to download updates for the game and receive official support from its creators.

Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition gives an error about a missing DLL file. Solution

As a rule, problems associated with missing DLLs arise when launching Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition, but sometimes the game can access certain DLLs during the process and, not finding them, crash in the most blatant manner.

To fix this error, you need to find the required DLL and install it on the system. The easiest way to do this is using the program DLL-fixer, which scans the system and helps quickly find missing libraries.

If your problem turns out to be more specific or the method outlined in this article did not help, then you can ask other users in our “” section. They will help you quickly!

Thank you for your attention!

Unfortunately, games have flaws: stutters, low FPS, crashes, freezes, bugs and other minor and not so minor errors. Often problems begin even before the game starts, when it does not install, does not load, or does not even download. And the computer itself sometimes acts strange, and then in Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition there is a black screen instead of a picture, the controls don’t work, you can’t hear the sound or anything else.

What to do first

  1. Download and run the world famous CCleaner(download via direct link) - this is a program that will clean your computer of unnecessary garbage, as a result of which the system will work faster after the first reboot;
  2. Update all drivers on the system using the program Driver Updater(download via direct link) - it will scan your computer and update all drivers to the latest version in 5 minutes;
  3. Install Advanced System Optimizer(download via direct link) and enable game mode in it, which will end useless background processes while launching games and improve performance in the game.

The second thing to do if you encounter any problems with Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition is to check the system requirements. In a good way, you need to do this before purchasing, so as not to regret the money spent.

Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition minimum system requirements:

Windows XP, Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 3.0 Ghz, 2 Gb RAM, 4 Gb HDD, Nvidia GeForce 9800 GTX+ Video memory: 512 Mb

Every gamer should have at least a little understanding of components, know why a video card, processor and other things are needed in the system unit.

Files, drivers and libraries

Almost every device in a computer requires a set of special software. These are drivers, libraries and other files that ensure the correct operation of the computer.

You should start with the drivers for your video card. Modern graphics cards are manufactured by only two large companies - Nvidia and AMD. Having found out which product drives the coolers in the system unit, we go to the official website and download the latest driver package:

A prerequisite for the successful functioning of Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition is the availability of the latest drivers for all devices in the system. Download the utility Driver Updater to easily and quickly download the latest drivers and install them with one click:

If Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition does not start, we recommend that you try disabling your antivirus or putting the game in antivirus exceptions, and also check again for compliance with the system requirements and if something from your build does not comply, then improve your PC if possible by purchasing more powerful components.


Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition has black screen, white screen, color screen. Solution

Problems with screens of different colors can be divided into 2 categories.

Firstly, they often involve using two video cards at once. For example, if your motherboard has a built-in video card, but you play on a discrete one, then Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition may launch for the first time on the built-in one, but you will not see the game itself, because the monitor is connected to a discrete video card.

Secondly, color screens occur when there are problems with displaying images on the screen. This can happen for various reasons. For example, Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition cannot work through an outdated driver or does not support the video card. Also, a black/white screen may appear when working at resolutions that are not supported by the game.

Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition crashes. At a specific or random moment. Solution

You play for yourself, play and then - bam! - everything goes out, and now you have a desktop in front of you without any hint of a game. Why is this happening? To solve the problem, you should try to figure out what the nature of the problem is.

If a crash occurs at a random moment in time without any pattern, then with a 99% probability we can say that this is a bug of the game itself. In this case, it is very difficult to fix something, and the best thing to do is just put Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition aside and wait for the patch.

However, if you know exactly at what moments the crash occurs, then you can continue the game, avoiding situations that provoke a crash.

However, if you know exactly at what moments the crash occurs, then you can continue the game, avoiding situations that provoke a crash. In addition, you can download the Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition save and bypass the departure location.


Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition freezes. The picture freezes. Solution

The situation is approximately the same as with crashes: many freezes are directly related to the game itself, or rather to the developer’s mistake when creating it. However, often a frozen picture can become a starting point for investigating the deplorable state of a video card or processor.

So if the picture in Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition freezes, then use programs to display statistics on component loading. Perhaps your video card has long exhausted its working life or the processor is heating up to dangerous temperatures?

The easiest way to check the load and temperatures for the video card and processors is in the MSI Afterburner program. If you wish, you can even display these and many other parameters on top of the Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition picture.

What temperatures are dangerous? Processors and video cards have different operating temperatures. For video cards they are usually 60-80 degrees Celsius. For processors it is slightly lower - 40-70 degrees. If the processor temperature is higher, then you should check the condition of the thermal paste. It may have already dried out and needs to be replaced.

If the video card is heating up, then you should use a driver or an official utility from the manufacturer. It is necessary to increase the number of revolutions of the coolers and check whether the operating temperature decreases.

Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition is slow. Low FPS. Frame rate drops. Solution

If there are slowdowns and low frame rates in Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition, the first thing to do is lower the graphics settings. Of course, there are many of them, so before reducing everything, it’s worth finding out exactly how certain settings affect performance.

Screen resolution. In short, this is the number of points that make up the game picture. The higher the resolution, the higher the load on the video card. However, the increase in load is insignificant, so you should reduce the screen resolution only as a last resort, when everything else no longer helps.

Texture quality. Typically, this setting determines the resolution of texture files. The texture quality should be reduced if the video card has a small amount of video memory (less than 4 GB) or if you are using a very old hard drive with a spindle speed of less than 7200.

Model quality(sometimes just detailing). This setting determines which set of 3D models will be used in the game. The higher the quality, the more polygons. Accordingly, high-poly models require more processing power from the video card (not to be confused with the amount of video memory!), which means this parameter should be reduced on video cards with low core or memory frequencies.

Shadows. They are implemented in different ways. In some games, shadows are created dynamically, that is, they are calculated in real time at every second of the game. Such dynamic shadows load both the processor and the video card. For optimization purposes, developers often abandon full rendering and add pre-rendered shadows to the game. They are static, because essentially they are just textures overlaid on top of the main textures, which means they load memory, and not the video card core.

Often developers add additional settings related to shadows:

  • Shadow Resolution - Determines how detailed the shadow cast by an object will be. If the game has dynamic shadows, it loads the video card core, and if a pre-created render is used, then it “eats” the video memory.
  • Soft shadows - smoothing out unevenness in the shadows themselves, usually this option is given along with dynamic shadows. Regardless of the type of shadows, it loads the video card in real time.

Smoothing. Allows you to get rid of ugly corners on the edges of objects through the use of a special algorithm, the essence of which usually comes down to generating several images at once and comparing them, calculating the most “smooth” picture. There are many different anti-aliasing algorithms that differ in their level of impact on the performance of Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition.

For example, MSAA works head-on, creating 2, 4 or 8 renders at once, so the frame rate is reduced by 2, 4 or 8 times, respectively. Algorithms like FXAA and TAA work a little differently, achieving a smooth image by calculating only the edges and using some other tricks. Thanks to this, they do not reduce performance as much.

Lighting. As with anti-aliasing, there are different algorithms for lighting effects: SSAO, HBAO, HDAO. They all use video card resources, but they do it differently depending on the video card itself. The fact is that the HBAO algorithm was promoted mainly on video cards from Nvidia (GeForce line), so it works best on “green” ones. HDAO, on the contrary, is optimized for video cards from AMD. SSAO is the simplest type of lighting; it consumes the least resources, so if it's slow in Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition, it's worth switching to it.

What to reduce first? Shadows, anti-aliasing and lighting effects tend to take the most work, so these are the best places to start.

Gamers often have to optimize Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition themselves. Almost all major releases have various related forums where users share their ways to improve productivity.

One of them is a special program called Advanced System Optimizer. It is made specifically for those who do not want to manually clean their computer of various temporary files, delete unnecessary registry entries and edit the startup list. Advanced System Optimizer does this for you and also analyzes your computer to find ways to improve performance in apps and games.

Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition lags. Large delay when playing. Solution

Many people confuse “brakes” with “lags,” but these problems have completely different causes. Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition slows down when the frame rate at which the image is displayed on the monitor decreases, and lags when the delay when accessing the server or any other host is too high.

This is why lags can only occur in online games. The reasons are different: bad network code, physical distance from servers, network congestion, incorrectly configured router, low Internet connection speed.

However, the latter happens least often. In online games, communication between client and server occurs through the exchange of relatively short messages, so even 10 MB per second should be enough.

Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition has no sound. Can not hear anything. Solution

Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition works, but for some reason it doesn't sound - this is another problem that gamers face. Of course, you can play like this, but it’s still better to figure out what’s going on.

First you need to determine the scale of the problem. Where exactly is there no sound - only in the game or even on the computer? If only in a game, then perhaps this is due to the fact that the sound card is very old and does not support DirectX.

If there is no sound at all, then the problem is definitely in the computer settings. Perhaps the sound card drivers are installed incorrectly, or maybe there is no sound due to some specific error in our beloved Windows OS.

Controls are not working in Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition. Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition does not recognize the mouse, keyboard or gamepad. Solution

How to play if it is impossible to control the process? Problems with supporting specific devices are inappropriate here, because we are talking about familiar devices - a keyboard, mouse and controller.

Thus, errors in the game itself are practically excluded; the problem is almost always on the user's side. You can solve it in different ways, but, one way or another, you will have to contact the driver. Usually, when you connect a new device, the operating system immediately tries to use one of the standard drivers, but some models of keyboards, mice and gamepads are incompatible with them.

Thus, you need to find out the exact model of the device and try to find its driver. Devices from well-known gaming brands often come with their own software packages, since the standard Windows driver simply cannot ensure the correct operation of all functions of a particular device.

If you don’t want to search for drivers for all devices separately, you can use the program Driver Updater. It is designed to automatically search for drivers, so you only need to wait for the scan results and download the necessary drivers in the program interface.

Often, Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition brakes can be caused by viruses. In this case, it makes no difference how powerful the video card is in the system unit. You can scan your computer and clean it of viruses and other unwanted software using special programs. For example NOD32. The antivirus has proven itself to be the best and has been approved by millions of users around the world.

ZoneAlarm is suitable for both personal use and small businesses, capable of protecting a computer running Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP from any attacks: phishing, viruses, malware, spyware and other cyber threats . New users are given a 30-day free trial.

Nod32 is an antivirus from ESET, which has received many awards for its contribution to security development. Versions of anti-virus programs are available on the developer’s website for both PCs and mobile devices; a 30-day trial version is provided. There are special conditions for business.

Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition downloaded from a torrent does not work. Solution

If the game distribution was downloaded via torrent, then in principle there can be no guarantees of operation. Torrents and repacks are almost never updated through official applications and do not work over the network, because in the process of hacking, hackers cut out all network functions from games, which are often used to verify the license.

Using such versions of games is not only inconvenient, but even dangerous, because very often many files in them have been changed. For example, to bypass protection, pirates modify the EXE file. At the same time, no one knows what else they do with it. Perhaps they embed self-executing software. For example, when the game is first launched, it will integrate into the system and use its resources to ensure the well-being of hackers. Or, giving access to the computer to third parties. There are no guarantees here and cannot be.

In addition, the use of pirated versions is, in the opinion of our publication, theft. The developers spent a lot of time creating the game, investing their own money in the hope that their brainchild would pay off. And every work must be paid.

Therefore, if any problems arise with games downloaded from torrents or hacked using one or another means, you should immediately remove the pirated version, clean your computer with an antivirus and a licensed copy of the game. This will not only protect you from dubious software, but will also allow you to download updates for the game and receive official support from its creators.

Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition gives an error about a missing DLL file. Solution

As a rule, problems associated with missing DLLs arise when launching Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition, but sometimes the game can access certain DLLs during the process and, not finding them, crash in the most blatant manner.

To fix this error, you need to find the required DLL and install it on the system. The easiest way to do this is using the program DLL-fixer, which scans the system and helps quickly find missing libraries.

If your problem turns out to be more specific or the method outlined in this article did not help, then you can ask other users in our “” section. They will help you quickly!

Thank you for your attention!

Unfortunately, games have flaws: stutters, low FPS, crashes, freezes, bugs and other minor and not so minor errors. Often problems begin even before the game starts, when it does not install, does not load, or does not even download. And the computer itself sometimes does weird things, and then in Dark Times there’s a black screen instead of a picture, the controls don’t work, you can’t hear the sound or anything else.

What to do first

  1. Download and run the world famous CCleaner(download via direct link) - this is a program that will clean your computer of unnecessary garbage, as a result of which the system will work faster after the first reboot;
  2. Update all drivers on the system using the program Driver Updater(download via direct link) - it will scan your computer and update all drivers to the latest version in 5 minutes;
  3. Install Advanced System Optimizer(download via direct link) and enable game mode in it, which will end useless background processes while launching games and improve performance in the game.

The second thing to do if you encounter any problems with Dark Times is to check the system requirements. In a good way, you need to do this before purchasing, so as not to regret the money spent.

Dark Times minimum system requirements:

Windows 7, Processor: 2.2 GHz, 1 GB RAM, 700 MB HDD, Keyboard, mouse, Video memory: 512 MB

Every gamer should have at least a little understanding of components, know why a video card, processor and other things are needed in the system unit.

Files, drivers and libraries

Almost every device in a computer requires a set of special software. These are drivers, libraries and other files that ensure the correct operation of the computer.

You should start with the drivers for your video card. Modern graphics cards are manufactured by only two large companies - Nvidia and AMD. Having found out which product drives the coolers in the system unit, we go to the official website and download the latest driver package:

A prerequisite for the successful functioning of Dark Times is the availability of the latest drivers for all devices in the system. Download the utility Driver Updater to easily and quickly download the latest drivers and install them with one click:

If Dark Times does not start, we recommend that you try to disable your antivirus or put the game in the antivirus exceptions, and also check again for compliance with the system requirements and if something from your build does not comply, then, if possible, improve your PC by purchasing more powerful components .


In Dark Times, black screen, white screen, color screen. Solution

Problems with screens of different colors can be divided into 2 categories.

Firstly, they often involve using two video cards at once. For example, if your motherboard has a built-in video card, but you play on a discrete one, then Dark Times may launch for the first time on the built-in one, but you will not see the game itself, because the monitor is connected to a discrete video card.

Secondly, color screens occur when there are problems with displaying images on the screen. This can happen for various reasons. For example, Dark Times cannot work through an outdated driver or does not support the video card. Also, a black/white screen may appear when working at resolutions that are not supported by the game.

Dark Times crashes. At a specific or random moment. Solution

You play for yourself, play and then - bam! - everything goes out, and now you have a desktop in front of you without any hint of a game. Why is this happening? To solve the problem, you should try to figure out what the nature of the problem is.

If a crash occurs at a random moment in time without any pattern, then with a 99% probability we can say that this is a bug of the game itself. In this case, it is very difficult to fix something, and the best thing to do is just put Dark Times aside and wait for the patch.

However, if you know exactly at what moments the crash occurs, then you can continue the game, avoiding situations that provoke a crash.

However, if you know exactly at what moments the crash occurs, then you can continue the game, avoiding situations that provoke a crash. In addition, you can download the Dark Times save and bypass the departure location.

Dark Times freezes. The picture freezes. Solution

The situation is approximately the same as with crashes: many freezes are directly related to the game itself, or rather to the developer’s mistake when creating it. However, often a frozen picture can become a starting point for investigating the deplorable state of a video card or processor.

So if the picture in Dark Times freezes, then use programs to display statistics on the loading of components. Perhaps your video card has long exhausted its working life or the processor is heating up to dangerous temperatures?

The easiest way to check the load and temperatures for the video card and processors is in the MSI Afterburner program. If you wish, you can even display these and many other parameters on top of the Dark Times image.

What temperatures are dangerous? Processors and video cards have different operating temperatures. For video cards they are usually 60-80 degrees Celsius. For processors it is slightly lower - 40-70 degrees. If the processor temperature is higher, then you should check the condition of the thermal paste. It may have already dried out and needs to be replaced.

If the video card is heating up, then you should use a driver or an official utility from the manufacturer. It is necessary to increase the number of revolutions of the coolers and check whether the operating temperature decreases.

Dark Times is slow. Low FPS. Frame rate drops. Solution

If there are slowdowns and low frame rates in Dark Times, the first thing to do is lower the graphics settings. Of course, there are many of them, so before reducing everything, it’s worth finding out exactly how certain settings affect performance.

Screen resolution. In short, this is the number of points that make up the game picture. The higher the resolution, the higher the load on the video card. However, the increase in load is insignificant, so you should reduce the screen resolution only as a last resort, when everything else no longer helps.

Texture quality. Typically, this setting determines the resolution of texture files. The texture quality should be reduced if the video card has a small amount of video memory (less than 4 GB) or if you are using a very old hard drive with a spindle speed of less than 7200.

Model quality(sometimes just detailing). This setting determines which set of 3D models will be used in the game. The higher the quality, the more polygons. Accordingly, high-poly models require more processing power from the video card (not to be confused with the amount of video memory!), which means this parameter should be reduced on video cards with low core or memory frequencies.

Shadows. They are implemented in different ways. In some games, shadows are created dynamically, that is, they are calculated in real time at every second of the game. Such dynamic shadows load both the processor and the video card. For optimization purposes, developers often abandon full rendering and add pre-rendered shadows to the game. They are static, because essentially they are just textures overlaid on top of the main textures, which means they load memory, and not the video card core.

Often developers add additional settings related to shadows:

  • Shadow Resolution - Determines how detailed the shadow cast by an object will be. If the game has dynamic shadows, it loads the video card core, and if a pre-created render is used, then it “eats” the video memory.
  • Soft shadows - smoothing out unevenness in the shadows themselves, usually this option is given along with dynamic shadows. Regardless of the type of shadows, it loads the video card in real time.

Smoothing. Allows you to get rid of ugly corners on the edges of objects through the use of a special algorithm, the essence of which usually comes down to generating several images at once and comparing them, calculating the most “smooth” picture. There are many different anti-aliasing algorithms, which differ in the level of impact on the performance of Dark Times.

For example, MSAA works head-on, creating 2, 4 or 8 renders at once, so the frame rate is reduced by 2, 4 or 8 times, respectively. Algorithms like FXAA and TAA work a little differently, achieving a smooth image by calculating only the edges and using some other tricks. Thanks to this, they do not reduce performance as much.

Lighting. As with anti-aliasing, there are different algorithms for lighting effects: SSAO, HBAO, HDAO. They all use video card resources, but they do it differently depending on the video card itself. The fact is that the HBAO algorithm was promoted mainly on video cards from Nvidia (GeForce line), so it works best on “green” ones. HDAO, on the contrary, is optimized for video cards from AMD. SSAO is the simplest type of lighting; it consumes the least resources, so if Dark Times is slow, you should switch to it.

What to reduce first? Shadows, anti-aliasing and lighting effects tend to take the most work, so these are the best places to start.

Gamers often have to optimize Dark Times themselves. Almost all major releases have various related forums where users share their ways to improve productivity.

One of them is a special program called Advanced System Optimizer. It is made specifically for those who do not want to manually clean their computer of various temporary files, delete unnecessary registry entries and edit the startup list. Advanced System Optimizer does this for you and also analyzes your computer to find ways to improve performance in apps and games.

Dark Times lags. Large delay when playing. Solution

Many people confuse “brakes” with “lags,” but these problems have completely different causes. Dark Times slows down when the frame rate at which the image is displayed on the monitor decreases, and lags when the delay when accessing the server or any other host is too high.

This is why lags can only occur in online games. The reasons are different: bad network code, physical distance from servers, network congestion, incorrectly configured router, low Internet connection speed.

However, the latter happens least often. In online games, communication between client and server occurs through the exchange of relatively short messages, so even 10 MB per second should be enough.

Dark Times has no sound. Can not hear anything. Solution

Dark Times works, but for some reason does not sound - this is another problem that gamers face. Of course, you can play like this, but it’s still better to figure out what’s going on.

First you need to determine the scale of the problem. Where exactly is there no sound - only in the game or even on the computer? If only in a game, then perhaps this is due to the fact that the sound card is very old and does not support DirectX.

If there is no sound at all, then the problem is definitely in the computer settings. Perhaps the sound card drivers are installed incorrectly, or maybe there is no sound due to some specific error in our beloved Windows OS.

Controls don't work in Dark Times. Dark Times does not recognize the mouse, keyboard or gamepad. Solution

How to play if it is impossible to control the process? Problems with supporting specific devices are inappropriate here, because we are talking about familiar devices - a keyboard, mouse and controller.

Thus, errors in the game itself are practically excluded; the problem is almost always on the user's side. You can solve it in different ways, but, one way or another, you will have to contact the driver. Usually, when you connect a new device, the operating system immediately tries to use one of the standard drivers, but some models of keyboards, mice and gamepads are incompatible with them.

Thus, you need to find out the exact model of the device and try to find its driver. Devices from well-known gaming brands often come with their own software packages, since the standard Windows driver simply cannot ensure the correct operation of all functions of a particular device.

If you don’t want to search for drivers for all devices separately, you can use the program Driver Updater. It is designed to automatically search for drivers, so you only need to wait for the scan results and download the necessary drivers in the program interface.

Often Dark Times brakes can be caused by viruses. In this case, it makes no difference how powerful the video card is in the system unit. You can scan your computer and clean it of viruses and other unwanted software using special programs. For example NOD32. The antivirus has proven itself to be the best and has been approved by millions of users around the world.

ZoneAlarm is suitable for both personal use and small businesses, capable of protecting a computer running Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP from any attacks: phishing, viruses, malware, spyware and other cyber threats . New users are given a 30-day free trial.

Nod32 is an antivirus from ESET, which has received many awards for its contribution to security development. Versions of anti-virus programs are available on the developer’s website for both PCs and mobile devices; a 30-day trial version is provided. There are special conditions for business.

Dark Times downloaded from a torrent does not work. Solution

If the game distribution was downloaded via torrent, then in principle there can be no guarantees of operation. Torrents and repacks are almost never updated through official applications and do not work over the network, because in the process of hacking, hackers cut out all network functions from games, which are often used to verify the license.

Using such versions of games is not only inconvenient, but even dangerous, because very often many files in them have been changed. For example, to bypass protection, pirates modify the EXE file. At the same time, no one knows what else they do with it. Perhaps they embed self-executing software. For example, when the game is first launched, it will integrate into the system and use its resources to ensure the well-being of hackers. Or, giving access to the computer to third parties. There are no guarantees here and cannot be.

In addition, the use of pirated versions is, in the opinion of our publication, theft. The developers spent a lot of time creating the game, investing their own money in the hope that their brainchild would pay off. And every work must be paid.

Therefore, if any problems arise with games downloaded from torrents or hacked using one or another means, you should immediately remove the pirated version, clean your computer with an antivirus and a licensed copy of the game. This will not only protect you from dubious software, but will also allow you to download updates for the game and receive official support from its creators.

Dark Times gives an error about a missing DLL file. Solution

As a rule, problems associated with missing DLLs arise when launching Dark Times, but sometimes the game can access certain DLLs during the process and, not finding them, crash in the most blatant manner.

To fix this error, you need to find the required DLL and install it on the system. The easiest way to do this is using the program DLL-fixer, which scans the system and helps quickly find missing libraries.

If your problem turns out to be more specific or the method outlined in this article did not help, then you can ask other users in our “” section. They will help you quickly!

Thank you for your attention!

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