Overview
Windows 10 acting like a dirty hoe to your beloved Saints Row 3? Wanna fix it? You’ve found your resolution, my friend. Yes, pictures are included, for any of you ‘visual learners.’ If you have trouble with any step of the guide, leave a comment with the picuture number (they are labeled) and your problem. I will work to resolve it with you.Read on, dear Saint…
Clicky Steps
For the more computer-savvy, just do this:
Uninstall the game then reinstall. This is to ensure no issues. Navigate to your Steam Library common folder, open Saints Row the Third, right click game_launcher, run in compatibility mode, recommended (or troubleshoot then select Windows 7), then test program, exit game, save settings.
If you think you might mess it up or don’t know how to follow that- here we go.
To start this dreadfully simple process, if you already have the game installed on your Windows 10 computer, right click it in Steam and hit ‘Delete local content.’ This will uninstall it. Don’t worry, your saves (if you have any) will be unaffected. This is to ensure the process has no issues. Reinstall and do all the following steps.
Now, navigate to your Steam Library folder, and open Saints Row the Third.
For those of you stuck on a D drive like myself, run on over to:
D:SteamLibrarysteamappscommonSaints Row the Third
If you’re on the C drive, head over to:
C:Program Files (x86)/Steam/Steamapps/Common/Saintsrowthethird
If you’re on a Mac or running that Penguin thingy Linux, well…. you can probably find something on the glorious world of Google to aid you.
When you’re in this folder, you’re gonna want to look for an application called ‘game_launcher.exe’ or ‘game_launcher’ if your filename extensions are turned off. It has a little SR icon, for easy finding. Here it is below, about a third of the way down.
–< PICTURE 1 >–
Once you’ve located the sucker, right click it. Navigate with your little mousey to ‘Troubleshoot Compatibility.’ Click it, holmes.
–< PICTURE 2 >–
Now, once in the next screen, you must realize something: Saints Row the Third came out when Windows 8 was still in the beta phase. Windows 10 hadn’t even been thought of yet. Saints Row the Third is meant for Windows 7. This is why we shall fix it.
It will quickly say ‘Detecting issues,’ then you will click ‘Try Recommended Settings.’ I know, I know- “But, Psycho, I never click recommended settings. I always click advanced settings and do it myself.” If you want to be a special little snowflake, go ahead and select ‘Troubleshoot Program’. Just make sure you click run in compatibility mode for Windows 7. For those of you who are doing it the easy way, just click Recommended.
–< PICTURE 3 >–
Now, once in the next screen, click ‘Test the Program’ near the upper-leftish side. This will literally run ‘game_launcher’ in compatibility mode for Windows 7.
–< PICTURE 4 >–
In the prompt for the game, do not select DirectX 10/11, even if you are running one of them. Doing so has not worked for me 19/20 times. On the one time it worked, I crashed when loading a save. Loading in DX 9 has worked for 20/20 times in my tests and I can play the game for as long as I want.
–< PICTURE 5 >–
Finalizing the Fix
If it worked, exit the game. The troubleshoot menu should still be open. You can click ‘Yes, save these settings’ if it worked for you. If not, don’t bother with the other options given. They’re just wordy crap that really don’t help.
–< PICTURE 6 >–
Still stuck? Go onto the next section.
No bueno? Troubleshooting here.
If nothing else helped, read here for more broad troubleshooting and any last measures you should take to get your game to work.
1. Try uninstalling and reinstalling the game again and trying to make a new game, as your saves could be corrupted.
2. Turn the graphics down to the lowest settings possible.
3. Even though I said not to, try DX 10/11 and DX 9 alternately after performing this process, maybe something will go right.
4. Verify the integrity of the game’s cache. This can be done by installing the game, right clicking it in Steam and then clicking ‘Properties.’ Then, go to the ‘Local Files’ tab that shows up in the pop-up box, and click ‘Verify Integrity of Game Cache.’ Follow through. P.S. thanks to commenter Xynite for bringing this to my attention. I don’t know why I didn’t mention this myself.
5. If you’re running a multi-monitor setup on a desktop PC or running a secondary/tertiary monitor through your laptop, just use the main monitor and see if it works there. Sometimes this game gives people issues with more than one monitor. I, for example, have scaling issues on my secondary monitor.
6. I shouldn’t have to say this, but… can your potato PC run the game? Go to the store page and check the required specs. If you don’t know your specs by heart…. well- you probably can’t run the game just off of that.
Bear with me, because I’m about to learn you some knowledge…
Here’s a tip: if you can’t find a ‘graphics processor’ other than Intel Iris Pro #### or Intel HD Graphics ####, just forget about the game on your computer. This means your laptop (or even a really, really bad desktop) is using an integrated graphics processing unit, or IGPU for short. Your GPU is literally integrated into your computer’s CPU, making graphical performance inadequate for most games. You don’t have a literal, dedicated GPU (graphics card) to take the demand of the game, so you can’t run it. I will say, though, that with constantly updating computer technology, many consumer-grade CPUs are now boasting pretty beefy IGPUs that could probably run some decently graphic-heavy games.
If you’re on an AMD laptop, sorry kiddo. Chances are you can’t even get close to running it. Plus, I don’t care too much for AMD anyways, so I won’t talk much on them.
The jist is, if your computer or laptop doesn’t have a dedicated GPU- you most likely cannot run the game. If anyone needs help identifying any of this, please ask and I will update the guide as such.
7. Sometimes installing Steam on one drive and the game on another (like I do) can cause the game to fail for some. I personally install Steam on my laptop’s SSD for a slightly faster boot time and put all my games on my HDD. It really makes no noticeable difference, but- I chose to do it when I first got my laptop, and I’m too lazy to change it. So make sure that if you have more than one storage device (a drive: C:, D:, E:, F:, etc..) you have Steam and S.R.3 installed on the same one.
8. Having an issue with one of the steps or still can’t get it to work after this? Drop a comment with what picture you got to, what you’re stuck on, and I’ll walk you through it.
Also, check out this guide for a much more extensive list of things to do if you still cannot fix it:
[link]
Hope it helps- and if it does, you know what to do:
Thanks,
Psychobagger.
Major Changelog
Any major changes or updates to the guide are listed here, with dates.
Mid-June (Sorry, doing this a lot later.) – Added numbers to each picture for easier identification of commenter issues.
07/10/2016 – Added a ‘Troubleshooting’ section for any player(s) who need more help.
07/11/2016 – Edited and moved some sections, especially the ‘Troubleshooting’ section. Also added this section today xD
07/29/2016 – Edited the ‘Troubleshooting’ section extensively, adding new parts.
08/03/2016 – Linked Der Hexer’s guide at the end of the troubleshooting section.