Before trying any of these steps, please check the Soulframe forums for currently known issues. Here, you can post your experience or add to an existing post that will speed up the Dev team's awareness of an issue.
While Soulframe is still in the early development stages, we have listed some of the most common and basic troubleshooting tips. These can help increase stability and hopefully reduce or stop future instances of crashing.
Verify and Optimize Soulframe's Cache Files
Verifying the game cache files can help to ensure that everything is up-to-date. It compares the game files installed on your computer with those on the latest version of Soulframe's content delivery network (CDN). If it detects problems, it repairs or replaces any corrupt files.
You can do this in the Soulframe's stand-alone launcher settings menu. After opening the Soulframe Launcher, please follow the steps below:
- Click on the little gear in the upper right of the Soulframe Launcher
- Click Verify, and then wait until the process is completed
- After you have verified the cache, please click Optimize
Update Your Windows, Video Card Drivers, and Other Drivers
Out-of-date drivers and operating systems can cause a variety of performance and stability issues. The instructions below will help you check and update your drivers:
- Update Windows: Windows will update automatically unless it is turned off or is limited due to bandwidth caps. Making sure Windows is up to date will improve your operating system's security, performance, and stability, especially for new games like Soulframe.
- Update Graphic Card Drivers: Updating your graphics drivers is the most important step for any performance or stability issue when gaming. In order to update your drivers, you will need to refer to one of the three major graphic card manufacturers based on the card you own:
Note: Some laptop manufacturers may offer specialized drivers more optimized for your system. Before proceeding, please check your laptop manufacturer's website to see if they offer updated drivers instead.
If you are unsure what brand of video card your PC has, you can find out by typing "Dxdiag" into the Windows search bar and pressing enter. Then, click on the first Display tab to find the name and manufacturer of it.
- Update Other System Devices: Other than the latest graphic drivers, you might want to install the latest drivers for the rest of your devices as well. Faulty drivers, such as audio drivers and network or wireless adapter drivers, can also cause gaming issues.
Reduce Graphic Settings
Graphics settings, as you might expect, tweak how your computer draws images on your screen in Soulframe. They can make blurry textures sharper, smooth jagged edges, and even let you see further into the distance. However, all these things come at a cost: performance (and sometimes stability). If you have a lower-powered computer, you may want to lower the graphics intensity so your games run smoother.
While in-game, open the Settings Menu and go to the Video Tab to manually tweak the current graphics settings. You can also use the Quality Preset option to set the overall graphics level in Soulframe.
Additionally, you can change the graphics API in the launcher settings menu. Soulframe currently supports DirectX11 or DirectX 12 (Beta).
Even if you have a beast of a gaming PC, you can temporarily lower your graphics to see if it impacts stability or the frequency of crashes. Testing in this way may allow you to find a specific graphic setting that is causing the issue.
Once found, these types of problems can be reported directly on our forums as a bug report : How to report a bug.
Investigate Third-Party Software Conflicts
Any software that modifies or monitors system, disk, or network activity can cause issues while Soulframe is running. You may not even know they are there because a lot of software will try to run bits and pieces of itself as part of your Windows startup process. By temporarily disabling these programs from booting, they can be eliminated as the source of the problem.
This article provided by Microsoft will give you more detailed instructions on how to troubleshoot this kind of problem: How to perform a clean boot in Windows.
Please follow the reverse of the steps above to reset the computer to start normally after testing.
Unplug Non-Essential External Hardware
It's not uncommon for external hardware to be faulty, have outdated drivers, or lack permissions. In rare cases, these issues can impact the performance or stability of your PC software. For example, Soulframe may crash when loading out-of-date controller drivers.
Unplugging any non-essential hardware can remove them as the source of the problem. If hardware is the issue, please reinstall the drivers for it. If that does not fix the issue, contact the manufacturer's support team for assistance.
Run Windows System File Checker (SFC)
Windows SFC is a tool that will show you the general health of your Windows files and, if needed, attempt to repair any corrupt ones.
Please refer to the following link on how to run the System File Checker: Microsoft Windows SFC.
Contact Support
If your problem is still not resolved after trying all these steps above, please contact Support!