Steam and PC performance issues

Follow the steps in this guide to help correct performance, crashing or hardware issues with Puzzle Quest 3 on the PC when playing the game through steam.

Note: Please ensure Puzzle Quest 3 is closed before doing any of the following. 

1. Verify game files

This process will make sure they're all up to date and correct; this will tell you if anything has corrupted in your installation & repair it.

1. In Steam, right click Puzzle Quest 3 in the list on the left (Library)
2. Select Properties
3. Select the Local files
4. Click Verify Integrity of Game Cache

 2. Reinstall Puzzle Quest 3

If possible, ensure your account is linked. Next, open Steam Library and right click on Puzzle Quest 3. Select Uninstall, and select "Delete" to confirm the option. Once this is complete, select "Install Game" on Puzzle Quest 3 by right-clicking on the Game in your Steam Library. 

3. Check graphics card compatibility 

If the game will not open or it still crashes, it may not be able to find the right compatibility for your graphics card. Try the following:

1. Click on the Start menu, then "Run".
2. In the "Run" box type "dxdiag" (without the quotes) and click "Ok". This will open up the DirectX Diagnostic Tool.
3. In the System tab, listed under the "System Information" heading you should see a "DirectX Version" listed.
4. Check your DirectX version is DirectX 10.0 or Above. 

4. Set launch options

If you are experiencing a still black/purple screen, or if the game crashes after sitting on an infinitely loading screen, you can try the following at your own risk. Ensure the game is closed before performing the following:

1. Open Steam and right click on Puzzle Quest 3 in your Library
2. Select Properties > General > Set Launch Options....
3. Type and enter "-force-opengl", then click OK and Close the dialogue

If the game continues to crash you can try any of the following texts (after deleting the text that was there before) in the dialogue box:

• -force-glcore
• -force-gles
• -force-d3d11

5. If you're receiving a black screen

The game may begin to load but will show a black screen. You may or may not hear the game music as it launches. You may even receive a crash error.

Try the following:

1. Turn off the computer and monitor
2. Unplug the power for few minutes (this is so that all the capacitors drain in the circuitry of the monitor). You may want to unplug the video cable as well.
3. After few minutes, re-plug cable and power cord, turn on monitor and reboot computer. 
   
   • Resetting the monitor completely or updating the monitors driver should assist in getting back into Puzzle Quest 3.
4. If this does not work, try changing 'Maintain display settings' to 'Main aspect ratio' in your Settings. The goal is to select the aspect ratio/resolution that is recommended for your monitor,
   • This setting may look different depending on your device. It may also be under "Resolution" and have the word "(Recommended)" in brackets next to the Recommended. 

8. Send Technical Support some logs

Before accessing crash logs please try to make the crash occur again, or, if it has just happened, do not open the game. This will create new data in the file that will remove the data showing what went wrong.

General crashing, freezing and performance issues

For all other crashes or freezing that occurs:

1. Open File Explorer
2. Copy and paste %APPDATA%\..\LocalLow\Pipeworks\PuzzleQuest3 into the search field
   • If this does not locate a folder, manually search 
     C:\Users\[User Name]\AppData\LocalLow\Pipeworks\PuzzleQuest3
3. Find the output_log file and attach this to your support ticket.

Alternatively:

1. Open File Explorer
2. Copy and paste %APPDATA%\..\LocalLow\505 Games\Puzzle Quest 3\into the search field
   • If this does not locate a folder, manually search 
     C:\Users\[User Name]\LocalLow\505 Games\Puzzle Quest 3\
3. Find the player.log file and attach this to your support ticket.

Game crash with "Oops!" error

If the game crashes and you receive a pop-up with the following error: 

Please locate the crash.dmp, error and output.txt files.

1. In Steam, open Library and right click on Puzzle Quest 3
2. Select Properties > Local Files > Browse Local Files
3. In the new window that opens, locate the file with the most recent date on it
4. Open this folder, and copy and paste crash.dmp and error files
   • Attach these to your support ticket or email response to support.
5. Next, locate paste %APPDATA%\..\LocalLow\Pipeworks\PuzzleQuest3 into your search bar
   • If this does not locate a folder, manually search 
     C:\Users\[User Name]\AppData\LocalLow\Pipeworks\PuzzleQuest3
6. Find the output_log file and attach this to your support ticket.