The much awaited PC version of Red Faction : Guerilla has finally arrived. So far the game has received mainly positive reviews and it has managed to get an aggregate score of 82% on GameRankings which is a rarity these days. Anyways the purpose of this article is to provide troubleshooting information for the most common problems associated with the game. At a glance, there does not seem to be any showstopper bugs (thankfully) apart from several minor annoyances. Anyways note that this article is a work in progress – a very incomplete one at that. More issues/fixes will be added as they are discovered.

Red Faction Guerilla

PhysX and performance

Like all modern games, Red Faction : Guerilla has plenty of physics effects. However, unlike most recent titles, it does not make use of a hardware based physics acceleration engine such as NVIDIA PhysX. Red Faction’s physics handling seems to be entirely done by the CPU, as opposed to the GPU like in Batman Arkham Asylum. While this will benefit players who own video cards without hardware physics acceleration, the CPU will be tasked with additional processing making the game highly processor intensive. This is probably why the game sometimes slows down when destructions, explosions and particle effects (smoke, dust) occur. All I can say in this case is that having a Quad core processor will really help. Some players have reported lags even with high end Core 2 Duo processors as well – over clocking does not seem help either. ( this is not always the case so it might work for you just fine even if you have a C2D).
EDIT: If you want some performance boost, try turning off ambient occlusion. This should remove some lag. You might also try disabling sun shafts.

Sound issues - cackling, stuttering, noise, etc

Another seemingly common issue but I haven’t found a clear solution for this as well. Some players have reported having stuttering, noisy and cackling issues with in game audio. If it helps, try dumbing it down it 2 speakers if you are using a surround setup (from in game menu and probably from your audio card’s control panels as well).

EDIT: Detailed steps for a possible fix:

  1. Open Control Panel—> Sound
  2. On the ‘Playback’ tab, select ‘Speakers’ and hit ‘Configure’ button below.
  3. In the dialog box that pops up, choose ‘Stereo’. Hit next. Do not tick anything in the next step. Hit next again and hit finish.

Hopefully this will resolve the noisy or windy sound issue. You might want to restore the original speakers settings when playing other games though.

DirectX 9 vs. DirectX 10

According to the developers, this game supports both DirectX 9 and DirectX 10. If you are running Windows XP, the game will always start in DX9. However if you are running in Vista, theoretically it should be possible to switch between DX9 and DX10 (DX9 mode delivers superior performance over DX10 in most cases, with a slight loss in graphics quality). But the problem with this game is that you cannot seem switch between these modes in Vista. There are two command line parameters you can try. But neither of these worked for me.

  1. -nod3d9 – Disable DirectX 9
  2. -nod3d10 – Disable DirectX 10 (and force DX9? )

Speaking of DirectX, please download the latest DirectX monthly update from here to ensure optimal performance and avoid missing .dll file errors.

Saving problems

This is a question that has been asked (and answered) many times before. This game is based on GFWL (games for windows live) and if you do not have an internet connection save progress might not be recorded. In this case, create an offline account and you should be fine. (offline account creation menu can be accessed by pressing the ‘Home’ key while in game ).

The game runs too fast

Some people have noticed the game running too fast. That means, car handling becomes sh1t and enemies become super fast. this does not seem to be happening for all though. We haven’t found a direct solution for this and if we do find one, this space will be updated.

Game doesn't start

Sometimes, you may notice that executing either rfg_launcher.exe or rfg.exe will have no effect. The game will not launch (not even a black screen) but the processes will be visible in task manager. If you have any ZoneAlarm products running on background, try disabling them – this includes ZoneAlarm FireWall. In fact, you can try disabling any of the security products you are running before launching the game.

As mentioned at the start of this article, this is a work in progress. More fixes/solutions will be added as soon as they are confirmed.

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59 Comments

  1. Brainless Bob // 9/12/2009 02:37:00 AM  

    The game won't launch for me.
    Keeps relaunching the rfg.exe in the processes.

  2. TEAM FILEnetworks // 9/12/2009 10:27:00 AM  

    Brainless Bob,
    Disable ZoneAlarm or any other security product you are running.

    Updated the article with a few more fixes.

  3. Brainless Bob // 9/12/2009 11:02:00 AM  

    Thx it worked. :yeah:

  4. Neon // 9/12/2009 01:23:00 PM  

    I'm the one with the super fast game problem, but I've noticed that ALL people that have this problem have a E8400 CPU, and I think this is a problem. I'll try messing with BIOS and see if it fixes anything.

  5. Unknown // 9/12/2009 04:25:00 PM  

    The game does not start for me at all, does not run eaven at the processes, jusd stops after it tries to start, and i dont eaven have any ZoneAlarm software or processes on my computer. I tried reinstalling the game, direct x and a bunchload of other programs, but nothing seems to work.
    Every time that i lounch it, it creates a text document named "alkylog", that has this written in it "Log (NuContext): Setup
    Log (NuContext): Setup
    Error (NuCore): Unsupported function called from 008F112F: IDXGISwapChain_SetFullscreenState
    ".
    If anyone can halp, it would be apriciated.

  6. Unknown // 9/12/2009 10:11:00 PM  

    @Neon

    i have the same problem too but i have a phenom II 940.
    what's your gpu? i've seen other guy with the same problem and the same gpu as me (geforce gtx 275)

  7. Unknown // 9/12/2009 11:19:00 PM  

    @esteban

    i have this problem too, C2Q Q9650, GTX285, Win7 Ult (x86)

  8. HikerRemastered // 9/13/2009 01:31:00 AM  

    I've got the speed issue as well.

    E6850@3Ghz, GTX260, 4GB, Win7x64

  9. Unknown // 9/13/2009 01:48:00 AM  

    btw my sistem is:
    phenom II 940
    4GB DDR2
    GTX 275
    Win7 Ultimate x64

  10. Unknown // 9/13/2009 01:48:00 AM  
    This comment has been removed by the author.
  11. Unknown // 9/13/2009 02:06:00 AM  

    Maybe the problem is with windows 7? I have the same issue.
    Ati radeon HD4890
    Quad core AMD Phenom II

  12. Unknown // 9/13/2009 02:17:00 AM  

    maybe, i tried everything... updating to the latest nvidia driver... compatibility modes.. i've installed the monitor driver... but the game sill running the same

  13. Unknown // 9/13/2009 02:34:00 AM  

    I guess we got to wait for a patch :)

  14. Vladan // 9/13/2009 07:02:00 PM  

    I'm having the same problem, e.g. crashing on launch. However I have Vista Ultimate x64, Q6600, GTX 260 and "alkylog" is not created.

  15. Mikko // 9/13/2009 07:14:00 PM  

    I don't have problems with the game running too fast. But after 10 to 30 mins of playing the game shoots me to the desktop and continues running on backround and there's no other way to get ovar with it than killing the program.

    My system is:
    Intel Core 2 Duo E8400@normally 3.0GHz clocked to 3.9GHz
    GF 9800GTX+
    4Gt RAM (1Gt shared with GPU)
    Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit.

    I think the problem with game running too fast is the 64-bit. Windows 7 since there has been only beta drivers for it. But this is only what I think.

  16. Nightshiver // 9/13/2009 07:51:00 PM  

    I have the "game running to fast" problem and I have XP.

    Phenom 9850 Quad
    9800 GTX videocard

  17. Unknown // 9/13/2009 08:09:00 PM  

    Hmm, i'm starting to think it might have something to to with processors. Like maybe some types of processors don't work with red faction...could be?
    Well, the game hasn't officially been released anyway, so we can't complain alot heh.

  18. Unknown // 9/13/2009 09:01:00 PM  

    i've installed vista x64 and the speed problem is solved... also before that i've read about the h4xor trainer that lets you choose the game speed

    http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/7252/asdfd.jpg

    i've found it @ gamecopyworld

  19. maddog // 9/14/2009 12:38:00 AM  

    there is a solution for the super fast game. no need to mess with bios or anything. just download the trainer for the game. there's options for the game to run super fast, slow motion and normal speed. when you start the game, just press the super fast option (which is "+" on numbers part of the keyboard) and normal speed (which is "." also on the numbers part of the keyboard, usually at right). so, this is the best solution i found for the problem.

  20. Unknown // 9/14/2009 04:31:00 AM  

    @ maddog

    i agree with you dude ;)

  21. Sawer // 9/14/2009 02:18:00 PM  

    The trainer did not helped with my fast game, hitting super fast does what it actually say, but return it to normal just return the game to a little bit slower game, still the buggy feels like 200Mph, i compared to the Xbox360 version a my game is much faster running :). Non the less i fixed the sound issues by installing the newest drivers from Realtek 2.32, no cracking or mixed up voices whatsoever (i have been hearing truck noises all the time before).

  22. The Mellors! // 9/14/2009 06:07:00 PM  

    I am experiencing slow level loading, etc...due to stuttering video at the main menu and cutscenes. Gameplay is fine, once I get there. I am using xp sp2 with av turned off, latest drivers, etc. I am wondering if anyone else is experiencing this nuisance and for a possible solution...thanks.

  23. Unknown // 9/14/2009 09:35:00 PM  

    The trainer doesn't solve anything, when you press "." it just changes back to the fast speed. Somehow the game is set to run a little faster than normal. I hope it's the crack, and i hope there will be a new one soon.

  24. Unknown // 9/14/2009 10:52:00 PM  
    This comment has been removed by the author.
  25. Unknown // 9/14/2009 10:52:00 PM  

    hy, i have the problem with game not starting and i followed all the tips, i disabled everything, installed the newest directx, applied the command lines but nothing; any infos i might use?
    thnx

  26. Unknown // 9/14/2009 10:59:00 PM  

    Trainer does fix it, just hit the ".". That IS the speed of the game for the PC version. Awaiting the patch - you will wait forever, since if they knew how to do it properly, it would be already in there.

  27. BaconsTV // 9/15/2009 01:27:00 AM  

    same problem as:
    The Mellors! // 9/14/2009 06:07:00 PM

    sticky movies, loaded first level in 10mins, could not load second level as it was takin far longer to load.

    first level was smooth game play too

  28. barneg // 9/15/2009 02:44:00 PM  

    fast game is caused by trainer

  29. BaconsTV // 9/15/2009 03:14:00 PM  

    Ok so I let it load for 15 mins and got to the second level the BIG open map, game play is smooth on my crappy AMD athlon 3500 64 bit with nvida gefore 7800 GTX (256) 2 gig ram
    I noticed my problem is ;
    open map (tab) sticks & slow.
    Misssion breifing STICKS 1 sec movement 1 sec of voice 5-10sec lag.
    Load screen 1 sec sound 10-20 sec lag (15 min load)
    run the game 1st menu same effect as loading screens cant move mouse for 10 secs or any input.

  30. Unknown // 9/16/2009 02:06:00 AM  

    FOund a temp fix for fast speed problem. Dload Cheat ENgine 5.4, First launch the game, then alt tab out, open the program click the flashing icon on top left and select the Red Faction exe. on the right the is a checkbox for Speedhack, check it and set the speed to .75 or your preference. I find that .8 is little on the fast side and 7 is just right. So i keep it at 7.5 to be in the middle. Hoep this works for everyone til Volition gets this fixed!

  31. The Mellors! // 9/16/2009 02:36:00 AM  

    OK...so I fixed the intro, main menu, and cutscene movie stuttering by simply browsing to my game install folder and renaming all of the .bik files and .bik_xbox2 files...in other words I simply added .old to the end of each.

    This of course means no movies, but at least the game loads fine. The problem still lies in loading each level which still takes from 5-8 min to load...argggh...pretty frustrating. I am sure the problem is that while the levels are loading, there are preview images (like a slideshow) again causing some strange slowdown to occur. I cannot find a file that may be associated with this preloading screen otherwise I would rename it as well.

    Gameplay is just fine, once I'm in.

  32. Unknown // 9/16/2009 09:00:00 AM  

    I have the same issue as Thaldor Game runs perfect till about 10 15 mins of gameplay and it crashes to my desktop but i can still hear it in the background the only way to shut it down is ctl-alt-delete. Any one find a fix for this ? im sure its something to do with win 7...

    my system is

    Win 7 32bit
    q9650
    8gigs ram
    gtx285 ocFU

  33. Unknown // 9/16/2009 02:18:00 PM  

    Thanks a lot, this was helpful for fixing the sound problems. :D

  34. Lemunde // 9/16/2009 08:58:00 PM  

    For the random game freezing problem running the game in windowed mode seems to have fixed it for most people. If you're running XP, try lowering the hardware acceleration in your sound settings to fix the audio problem.

  35. BaconsTV // 9/16/2009 10:24:00 PM  

    the mellors, i did get a no intro fix, which changes 3 of those files you mentioned. although the main menu was still sticking for 10secs at a time. Did you rename ALL of those files? and did you have the 1st menu after intro movie stick ? and now its fixed you say ?

    but still slow loading hmmmm well mate I think you should stick to it as you seem to be making some progress. perhaps if we can cut the background images/(whatever it is ) at load screen we might be happy players

  36. Unknown // 9/17/2009 05:42:00 AM  

    I was having problems with sound, hearing every sound in the scene I'm currently in as it is right on top of my character (100% volume of each little sound) and fixed it by changing Speaker Configuration in my Audio Control Panel from 5.1 to 2.1.
    Speed problem still remains for me, and it looks like game slows down if framerate drops, and speeds up if it goes up, annoying.

  37. TEAM FILEnetworks // 9/17/2009 08:33:00 AM  

    Please dont post links to trainers.

  38. The Mellors! // 9/18/2009 12:28:00 AM  

    Replying to Jonathon.....

    Yes, you have to change all of the files with the extensions noted in my post. Please note that there are several folders where they are located...always in a "Cache" folder..I believe in 4 folders to be exact.

    This will remove the background menu animation as well...yes, now if we could fix the slow loading screens...

  39. Unknown // 9/19/2009 02:29:00 AM  

    I have problems with saving game. I am loged in and when i try to save (it writes saving content) it practicaly save game but i dont see any save file in load or even save menu... But when i look into save game directory on HDD it is there... any1 can help?

  40. Unknown // 9/20/2009 12:09:00 AM  

    @The Mellors
    @Johnathans

    I have the same issue as yours.

    Loading screens lags, and it takes about 10 minutes to load. After that, the game plays smooth. Renaming *.bik files repairs menus, but loading still lags.

    I am trying my best, please post a solution if you find out something. I'll to the same.

  41. BaconsTV // 9/20/2009 04:11:00 AM  

    @adam, so far nothing else I think can be done about our loading problems, are you running this on a single core like me and the mellors ?.
    Been reading and posting at RFG forums and so far I'm just gonna blame poor optimization and a crap port. I cannot play a game that takes 20 mins to load and for sure will not be dishing out money on upgrading a pc when this game is just a port off a crappy piece of plastic console we had other ports as like GTA IV that used to be a s**t to run until patches came out. I will not and never believe that they cannot fix this issue.

  42. Unknown // 9/20/2009 12:19:00 PM  

    @Johnathan

    Yes, i do have a single core processor: Athlon XP 3000+. More of this i saw some other peoples having our problems, and they had single core too.


    I have heard, that those load screens are laging becouse of those rotating pictures in the backgroud. Here is the interesting thing: Some people say, that changing RFG file "binkw.dll", to the same file, from Wolfenstein game repairs this problem. Wolfenstein were made of the same Engine like RFG - "havoc" engine.

    This is what i am trying to do today. I hope it works.

    Problem is: where can i found "binkw.dll" from wolfenstein, since i dont have it :/

  43. TEAM FILEnetworks // 9/20/2009 12:38:00 PM  

    Here is something else you might try to get rid of performance issues during building destruction:

    Launch game, right click the game exe on task manager (alt tab if you have to) and set priority to low.

  44. Unknown // 9/20/2009 12:51:00 PM  

    Yes. There is a solution for long-loading problem.

    You can set back all your *.bik files to normal name/folder.

    You need to start the game with Windows 98 compatibility. Right click on exe -> "bottom option" -> compatibility -> Run with compatibility with windows 98.

    The loading are fast. They still little laggy ( but less ) and they are simply normal times. It load for about 10s, when i die.

    But i think the game runs a little worst. Anyway, its still better, than waiting half an hour to load.

    ~• Still waiting for a magical patch / fix.

  45. Unknown // 9/20/2009 07:46:00 PM  

    OK am I the only one with following problem lol?!

    I can't get past Loading Screen (when I launch game), it completely locks up my PC!

    The only thing I can do then is to force restart my PC...

    Btw I managed to run game when i was running it for first time, and it was doing fine on first mission but it froze at the end of mission, and as I already said, now I can't even get pass the loading screen...

    I tried reinstall, I have latest drivers, DirectX etc...

    Running Windows 7 RC x64

    I meet minimum system requirements by far...

  46. Unknown // 9/20/2009 07:48:00 PM  

    Oh and I also tried ''Compatibility'' modes and running it as Administrator...

  47. Unknown // 9/20/2009 08:06:00 PM  

    @Igor

    Is it a pure FREEZE, or is it VERY LAGGING loading ?
    You know... mine load times are about 10-15 minutes without compatibility.

    Anyway, try out renaming or moving all *.bik files from \Red Faction\build\pc\cache
    It wont speed up loading though.

    There are so many issues with this game, so i expect a patch/fix in 7 days max.

  48. Unknown // 9/21/2009 07:06:00 AM  

    Adam, thank you, but in the meantime I found solution.

    Btw it was total freeze, complete PC lockup...

    Anyways, what solved the problem for me is forcing V-Sync through my GPU control panel... Now it works great! :D

  49. BaconsTV // 9/22/2009 02:16:00 PM  

    did that new .dll do anything? and setting my cpu to low helps a tiny tiny tiny bit

    giving up on this crap port till a patch comes out

  50. Flamethrower Hawk // 9/26/2009 04:34:00 PM  

    my game launches but when i start a new game it shows the first movie but then when it tries to load it goes to the main menu without giving any error.....every time i start a new game it happens..........oh another thing in the main menu the character standing right looks whole black..........any suggestions.........thanks in advance......

  51. Unknown // 9/27/2009 06:27:00 PM  

    I am Logged into Windows Live (offline account) , but still when i press the escape button , the save game button is diabled , can anyone help me with that??

  52. BaconsTV // 9/27/2009 09:42:00 PM  

    Ryan make sure you are not
    in a mission
    your alert level is green

  53. Unknown // 10/01/2009 07:27:00 PM  

    well guys my rig is 8600gt (low end i know) + amd phemon q-core 9500 + 2 gb ddr2 + i experience few problems


    1 . no sound ,can change the settings but does'nt help

    2 in vista and 7 it loads the intro movie but returns to the menu quickly every time i try it

    3 need some tips guys plz plz plz i am crazy for it!!!!!!!!1

  54. Alex // 10/18/2009 04:16:00 PM  

    Im having trouble with saving... I have updated GFWL and made an offline account, but it still doesn't work... what's wrong?

  55. Unknown // 12/12/2009 05:25:00 PM  

    I have found a solution to the speed problem! Download "Cheat Engine 5.5" and install it etc. Then open Red faction Guerilla, and minimise it. Open Cheat engine 5.5 and click the little picture of a computer with a magnifying glass over it, this allows you to search for processes to "cheat" with. select "RFG.exe" and then in the main cheat engine box click "Enable speed hack" and set the speed in the little box that appears to 0.7. Then minimise the Cheat Engine, open Red Faction again, and go in to the options to make it full screen again if necessary. Now play with the correct speed! NOTE: you will have to do this every time you play.

  56. Unknown // 1/07/2010 09:52:00 AM  

    My rfg.exe has stop working on my computer I might need new game or file on game is faulty.

  57. Unknown // 2/06/2010 12:33:00 PM  

    im having a problem with the save it saves but i cant load it im up to the 5 stage but i cant load or save it saves automatic but i load the game again and it asks to sign in i do that and it signs in but i cant load the save game

  58. Unknown // 2/06/2010 12:35:00 PM  

    im having a problem with the save it saves but i cant load it im up to the 5 stage but i cant load or save it saves automatic but i load the game again and it asks to sign in i do that and it signs in but i cant load the save game

  59. Anonymous // 10/16/2011 06:34:00 PM  

    im having a problem as in the game startes but when im click NEW GAME then casual or and difficult then it plays the 1st cut scene then crashes to the main page, but dosent crash the game