I somehow stopped my mission loading crashes after trying a lot of things and I’m not sure exactly what fixed it but I’ll list what I did. Crashes happened both on the main and experimental version of the game though I’m now on the main version.
Windows 11, 7900X CPU, 7900 XT GPU and 24.9.1 drivers, 32GB RAM, game installed on an NVMe SSD, 3440x1440@144hz main monitor + old 1080p60 secondary monitor
No mods besides replacing the games XeSS dll file with the XeSS 1.3 version from Intel’s Github page which worked before the update.
I had previously messed around with but still had crashes after trying these things:
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Changing thread count in the launcher
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Changing various in game settings (exclusive/borderless fullscreen, all the graphics quality settings, frame gen on/off, FSR 3.1 or XeSS upscaling, disabling character portraits, lowering ragdoll count/disabling ragdoll interaction)
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Disabling/reenabling the mesh shader in the game settings files
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Messing with direct storage settings in the experimental build
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Disabling Windows fullscreen optimizations for the game (Right click the main Darktide.exe found in the games install folder → properties → compatibility → toggle disable fullscreen optimizations on → change high DPI settings → override high DPI scaling behavior, scaling performed by the application)
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Deleting the games shader cache from the game folder and resetting AMDs shader cache from within the AMD software
What worked for a while but still ended up crashing (both done at the same time):
- A full game reinstall, including deleting the leftover Fatshark folder in Users(username)\AppData\Roaming and temporarily disabling steam cloud for Darktide before reinstalling to not have my old user settings brought back. You can reenable it once you start the game and get your settings saved. I was on the experimental branch when I redownloaded but swapped back to the main one after it was done.
- Wiping my AMD driver with the AMD Cleanup Utility and reinstalling driver version 24.8.1 (the current version at the time). Anti-lag on, all other game settings set to default.
The above worked for a day but still eventually gave me a crash. The next day I tried doing a whole bunch of things and have no crashes since so any one of them may have fixed it.
What eventually fixed it somehow:
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I ran the windows system file checker following instructions from the Microsoft support website. This requires doing two commands in a command prompt (run as administrator!) so follow the instructions carefully. Windows installations get corrupted sometimes so I do this once or twice a year or if a Windows update breaks anything. Note that this article is old and only lists up to Windows 10 but it also works on Windows 11
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I made sure my windows was fully updated. Under Windows Update → advanced options → optional updates I had two driver updates. One for a USB hub and one for my secondary monitor (huh, weird)
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Darktide updated (Hotfix 49, 1.5.2)
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AMD driver 24.9.1 released. I didn’t use the cleanup utility but I did hit the Factory Reset button under the additional options section in the installer. Yes, it says it says optional but it will properly get rid of your old drivers. There’s a toggle to keep your user settings if you don’t want to set it all back up again. It also says it requires a restart even if it doesn’t give you a restart button. You should do this every time, seriously! If you never have you may want to use the cleanup utility first and then remember to factory reset each update from now on.
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I turned on Memory Integrity in Windows Security. If I remember correctly this requires virtualization to be on in your BIOS settings and how to turn it on depends on your motherboard vendor. Open Windows Security → Device Security → Core Isolation Details → Toggle memory integrity on.
I’m aware memory integrity technically hurts CPU performance in games a bit but if you have a Ryzen 5000 series or better, Windows 11 update KB5041587 recently gave you more performance. You can check if you have it by going to settings → system → about. If you have 23H2 OS build 22631.4112 or later or 24H2 OS build 26100.1301 or later you should have it, otherwise update Windows.
Regarding Windows and Driver updates and the system file checker, I also recommend turning fast startup off (on by default of course). Windows will save some system files/data/drivers/etc on shut down to make the next boot up faster but this can lead to files getting corrupted and weird driver behavior carrying over between bootups. A 1 second faster bootup time if you have an SSD isn’t worth it. This isn’t in the new Windows settings app so open control panel → system and security → power options → change what the power buttons do. The fast startup option will be enabled but greyed out. Click change settings that are currently unavailable and you should be able to change it.
I don’t know which of the things I changed that fixed it but I’m crash free for about 20 hours of gametime now. I average around 130fps playing mostly at high settings (no RT) with some screen effects, bloom and portraits disabled + frame gen and XeSS ultra quality (no messing with the mesh shader yet) and that’s with AMD instant replay on for clipping game moments. Hopefully this helps someone else avoid all the trial and error I went through!