Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart crashes on PC? Doesn't start? Hangs when exiting the game? - problem solving

 

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is the latest PlayStation Studios game to be released on PC and the third PlayStation exclusive from Insomniac Games ported by Nixxes Software. Bugs and bugs are common in video games, and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is no exception. Regardless of the optimization, some gamers have started to experience issues with the launch and during gameplay. In this guide, we have provided actionable solutions to various crashes and errors.

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart won't launch, black screen - how to fix it?

It is almost impossible to immediately determine the exact reason why the game does not start. Some players find it helpful to disable certain graphics settings such as DLSS or ray tracing, while others will need to reinstall their graphics driver or download additional software on their PC.

System requirements

First of all, we recommend making sure that Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart meets the recommended system requirements. If your device does not meet even the minimum system requirements, the rest of the tips will certainly not help solve launch problems and various crashes that will definitely occur during the gameplay.

Minimum Requirements

• Operating system - Windows 10 64-bit;
• Processor - Intel Core i3-8100 @ 3.0GHz;
• RAM - 8 GB;
• HDD/SSD - 75 GB;
• Video card - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 2 GB / AMD Radeon RX 470 2 GB;
• Keyboard, mouse.

Recommended Requirements

• Operating system - Windows 10 64-bit;
• Processor - Intel Core i5-8400 @ 3.0GHz;
• RAM - 16 GB;
• HDD/SSD - 75 GB;
• Video card - NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB / AMD Radeon RX 5700 6 GB;
• Keyboard, mouse.

Check the integrity of game files

First of all, it is recommended to check the game files. This can be done in both the Steam Launcher and the Epic Games Store.

For Steam:

• Open the Steam client and go to the library ;
• Find the game Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart and click on it "RMB" ;
• Select "Properties" - "Installed files", then click "Verify integrity of game files" ;
• Wait for the end of the check.

For Epic Games Store:

• Launch the EGS launcher and go to the library ;
• Find Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart and click on the three dots next to the game;
• Select "Manage" and click "Check files" ;
• Wait for the end of the check.

Check for Windows Updates

Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart will require Windows 10 version 1909 or higher to run. If you haven't updated your system in a while, now is the time to do this:

• In the search, enter "Update" and open "Windows Update Settings" ;
• Click on the button "Check for updates" ;
• Wait for the download and installation of the files, and then check the performance of the game.

Update your GPU driver

You should also make sure that your device has the latest Nvidia and AMD GPU driver installed:

• Nvidia users - download from the link;
• AMD users - download here.

Increase the swap file size

If your PC is made up of weak or average components, chances are that the Windows page file does not offer enough space to allocate virtual memory. You need to increase the swap file size:

• Open "Computer", click "RMB" on an empty space and select "Properties" ;
• Go to the "Advanced" tab and select "Options" in the "Performance" section ;
• Here, open the Advanced tab and select Change under Virtual Memory ;
• Set the virtual memory size for Windows.

Update the DirectX and Visual C++ Redistributables

Make sure you have the latest versions of DirectX and the Visual C++ Redistributables installed.

• Download DirectX from the official Microsoft website ;
• Download Visual C++ from the official Microsoft website.

Add the game to the antivirus exclusion list

It is not uncommon for antivirus software to flag various games and other applications as a threat. To check this, you can completely disable protection or add Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart to the antivirus exclusion list.

Disable Nvidia DLSS and ray tracing

Some players have reported that activating the DLSS graphics options and ray tracing results in various crashes in most cases. This is rather strange since DLSS is designed to improve performance. It is recommended to refuse these functions and check the performance of the game.

For the same reason, the game may not launch, but you can disable these features through the GeForce Experience menu:

• Open GeForce Experience;
• Select the game Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart;
• Click on the "Custom Settings" wrench icon next to the "Optimize" button ;
• Drag the slider to "Performance" to disable the features you want, and click "Apply".

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart crashes to desktop, freezes, FPS drops sharply - what to do?

In addition to the above problems, many gamers encounter various crashes and errors during the gameplay. These can be bugs, a sharp drop in frame rate, crashes to the desktop, and others. Typically, the failure rate depends on the system. Some users hardly experience them, while others experience crashes every 10-15 minutes. Unfortunately, at the moment we cannot identify the specific reason for their appearance, however, we have collected all the existing methods that will help correct the situation and enjoy the game.

Install the game on a solid state drive (SSD)

Some PC players have reported that the game was causing frequent freezes and errors during installation to the hard disk drive (HDD), and transferring files to the solid-state drive (SSD) helped resolve the crashes. Given that the game is optimized to take full advantage of the SSD, playing on a regular HDD can be problematic.

Disable Nvidia Reflex

Nvidia Reflex is a special feature that aims to reduce input lag. PC players are reporting that enabling Nvidia Reflex often results in game crashes. Just disable it to get rid of crashes to the desktop.

Disable in-game overlays

In-game overlays are useful for accessing certain features that would otherwise not be available in the game. But they can also cause crashes, performance issues, and FPS drops. We have previously discussed why it is best for some players to stop using various game overlays. In the same manual, you will find detailed instructions on how to disable them.

End background processes and third-party programs

PC gamers have the right to use various tools and software that help during the game. However, some third-party tools such as Discord, MSI Afterburner, and others can create unnecessary system load and consume an increased amount of system resources. Before starting Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, it is recommended to disable third-party software and other processes running in the background.

Textures are not loading

Another problem that can spoil your experience is the long loading of textures during the game. The error is observed even on high-performance PCs with a large amount of video memory and RAM. When it appears, character models and various objects in the environment appear blurry or have low resolution for a while. Unfortunately, at the moment we have not found effective solutions to this problem - it remains only to wait for a patch with a fix from the developers.

Artifacts, flickering, black spots in reflections

Users report visual artifacts such as flickering and black spots appearing in water reflections. This primarily occurs when switching ray tracing reflection settings, but can also occur when changing ambient shading modes.

The black spots disappear after reloading the area, and switching to SSAO can help stabilize reflections in the water. Turning off ray-traced reflections also avoids artifacts, but removes the enhanced visuals.

Launcher conflicts with screen scaling

By using multiple monitors, the application window can scale automatically, effectively changing the screen resolution. This makes it impossible to access or change game parameters. Try changing the permissions in the Steam launcher.

For this:

• Open the Steam launcher ;
• Click "RMB" on the name of the game Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart and select "Properties" ;
• On the tab "General" find the section "Launch options" ;
• In the input field, paste the parameter: "-w 1920" or "-w 1280" without quotes.

In one of the cases, the game will start correctly without changing the resolution, and you can go to the screen settings and change it.

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart freezes when exiting the game

A small number of gamers have encountered this problem, and almost all of them used Nvidia's Resizable BAR technology on 3000-series graphics cards. At the moment, the game does not officially support this performance enhancement technology, so you will have to wait until the developers add this feature.

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At the moment, these are all the problems and their solutions that we managed to find on Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. If none of the presented methods helped you, then be sure to describe your problem in the comments.