Dark Souls: Fix Xbox 360,PS3, & Other Controllers

Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition is a game that is meant to be played with a controller.

While a mouse and keyboard works for most people, many will appreciate the simplicity and setup of using a controller instead.

Because of this, when trying to play the game on a Windows PC, those with a Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 (PS3) will try using their controllers for this game.

And while for some people the gamepads will work right away with Dark Souls, it may not be the case for others.

If you are in category of "my controller is being dumb and not working" -- then continue reading for help!

Keep in mind that even though I mostly talk about Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 controllers for this game, the methods provided here work for ALL controllers. Rumblepad 2, X360 Razr Onza Tournament Edition, etc. Read more »

Dark Souls: How to Fix Falling Through Floor

You open Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition. You load your character. You fall through the ground or floor. You die. DUN, DUN, DUNNNNNNNN!

It is a vicious cycle that has been occurring for some people ever since they have upgraded to the newest Dark Souls patch.

It repeats. And they die: a horrible, horrible death over and over again. Even in their backup saved data this happens to them.

We have a solution for you that may in fact help solve this annoying glitch / bug or collision detection problem...for some of you.

It's pretty annoying considering it either happens every time you load the game OR randomly throughout it -- like when sliding down a ladder, going through a fog gate to fight the boss, or just running around (such as in Firelink Shrine).

First things first -- make a backup of your saved data. Now continue below. Read more »

Dark Souls - How to Fix Lag

The game Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition for PC / Windows / Steam / Origin etc ...is CPU intensive and even taxes your graphics card a bit. For that reason, it's recommended that you use a good computer.

Now, even if you have a great machine, you'll likely encounter lag still because of how the game is designed & ported over from Xbox 360 / PlayStation 3 (PS3). No worries. I am here to help (for a nominal fee of $5000 ;))

If you are experiencing lag, a low frame rate per second (FPS), stuttering / microstuttering, screen tearing, or just frame skipping, then check below. We shall optimize your game!

Solve Dark Souls Lag

I suggest trying the FIRST method listed here, as the success rate is very high for making your game performance increase.

1) Get the latest DSFix. Uncap the FPS and then set a custom cap to 30fps. This works wonders despite the fact you are capping the game back to 30. You should notice a big improvement.
2) Turn off blood (particle) and lower your resolution
3) Disable Anti-Aliasing (AA)
4) Try Windowed Mode instead of Full Screen
5) Install the latest NVIDIA or ATI or Intel drivers (these provide bug & glitch fixes, as well as improve framerate)
6) The newest Dark Souls patch also helps improve the fps (plus fixes the stereo downmix)
7) Close / exit all unnecessary programs and services
8) Don't connect online in the game for multiplayer (...this solution is awful, I would connect anyway)
9) Some TV's cause the appearance of lag / input lag if you don't put them in PC or Gaming mode - so put them in these modes! Works on both PC and Console versions!
10) Open ATI Catalyst Control Center (if you have an ATI card) and go to 3D Settings -> and disable Use application settings for everything, then move all sliders to the left. Be sure that VSYNC is also disabled!

And that's how you stop the Dark Souls game lag! So now you can enjoy playing Dark Souls in its full gaming bountifulness!

Note though that certain areas of the game are prone to lagging anyway (such as Blighttown).

Even with the game fixes, you may lag in SOME parts of the game regardless.

Dark Souls - Micro-Stuttering
Your lag may be something different altogether -- micro-stuttering. This can be caused by DRIVERS for your keyboard and mouse (Logitech is infamous for this). Additionally, if you plug in your game controller and start getting epic lag, then that's even more proof that it could be what's causing your problems. There's two things you can do here!
-- Disable / uninstall the drivers being used by your keyboard / mouse (if they are the offenders) or of your game controller (if it only happens when using a controller)
-- Use a different keyboard / mouse OR controller (but if it is the controller, then the same driver may attempt to use your controller here so the above may be necessary)

You can look at your devices & their driver info by going to Start -> Run -- devmgmt.msc -- This area lets you uninstall or disable/enable what's in-use.

FIX Dark Souls - Crashing / Black Screen (Windows 8, 7, etc)

Did you try to run Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition on your Windows 8 computer (including consumer preview edition [32-bit / X86 VERSIONS AND 64-BIT X64]) and run into an annoying problem -- Dark Souls crashes when you load it? This effects Steam versions of the game, as well as Origin and CD / DVD copies as well.

Do not fear, my fellow RPG PC gamer. We are here to help you with that so that you can begin collecting souls in this epic game. Note that this helps all forms of launch failure with the game (including directly loading the EXE and black screen or window mode issues).

If the game is already installed, then follow these steps. If it isn't then install + open Steam, then install + open Dark Souls (to verify crash).

Note that these fixes work on all versions of Windows -- Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP.

How to Fix: Dark Souls Prepare to Die Edition Crashing

1) Open the Control Panel and uninstall GFWL (Games for Windows Live). There are 2 parts -- uninstall both.
2) Download & install the latest version of Games for Windows Marketplace Client
3) Launch the game

It should now work! The reason it may have caused a crash error message (such as "Dark souls Prepare To Die Edition Executable has stopped working") for you previously is because an old version of GFWL was actually installed instead of the newest version.

Still crashing? Then continue below...

Solve Dark Souls Freeze / Error on Load / Crash

-- If you are crashing because of vsfilter.dll, then try renaming this file (locate it through search). If that doesn't work, then make sure to name it back to the original file!
-- Restart your computer
-- Remove ANY game controllers that are plugged in (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, etc).
-- If you installed a mod, such as DSFix, then disable it (rename it or move it). Old versions of this mod are causing the game to crash after updating it!
-- Similarly, the new version of the DSFix is working fine for people. So if you haven't used it yet and are black screening near the intro / opening of the game, then enable the "Skip Intro" feature
-- Install the latest DirectX drivers! This includes the ones that came with the game AND (if that doesn't help) the newest copy from Microsoft's site!
-- Install the latest .NET Framework!
-- Run DarkSouls.exe in admin mode (right click the exe -> run as administrator)
-- Download xlive.dll and put it in your C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32 folder! You should have this file already somewhere though so you should use the included DLL. Run SEARCH for it.
-- REPAIR (via Control Panel) Windows Live Essentials

Boom shocka locka! The game should now work for you if you followed the troubleshooting tips in this guide. If it doesn't, then maybe the planets are aligned in such a way that the world is working against you! Kidding, I think! Feel free to comment if you need additional help to get this awesome game to run without crashing or freezing or error'ing.

Remember folks -- Dark souls isn't just a game. It's a lifestyle!

Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition Update - 12/20/2012

An update was released on 12/20/2012 for the PC / Steam / Origin copies of the Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition.

The new patch solves the broken stereo downmix issue. Basically: if you weren't using a 5.1 or 7.1 (or similar) speaker configuration, you would miss out on a lot of different sound effects. This update brings those sounds to people with a 2.0 or 2.1 speaker configuration.

It also adds some performance tweaks to make the game a bit less CPU intensive.

If you are using DSFix to increase your frames per second (FPS) limit, then the game will crash on startup unless you updat to the new version of DSFix.

Disabling the DLL (rename it or move it) will stop the crashing, as well, but you might as well just update it.

The changelog / updatelog:
-- Performance enhancements
-- Stereo / Audio fixes

So in conclusion: get the update!

Note that this is not the same patch that is available on Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 (PS3), which was 1.07

Dark Souls - Corrupt Saved Data Fix

With the epic game Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition out on PC / Steam (it was only out on console before -- Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 [PS3]) -- you may be pulling out your hair from two things: how hard the game is, and...

When playing the game, you may have encountered one of the most frustrating errors of all time...a [b]Failed to Load Save Data[/b] error

Scary, isn't it? A tip is to exit Dark Souls and reopen it. Do NOT let it attempt to repair itself. If you do, then backup your corrupted data first.

To help prevent this error, make sure to exit the game through the MENU. Beware of crashes, as your saved data can get corrupted easily from that.

It may be too late for you if that doesn't help (and it likely didn't). And if so, you should use the following to make automated backups of your saved data from here: Saved Data Backup

You can recover your Dark Souls saved data this way if any problems happen.