How To Fix Singularity (PC) Crashes, Sound Issues, Launch Errors & Mouse Problems
Posted by TEAM FILEnetworks | 6/24/2010 | PC Games, Troubleshooting | 1 Comments »
After somewhat of a draught of good PC game releases, Singularity is here to give PC gamers at least something worth playing. I’ve had the chance to play this science fiction first person shooter from Ravensoftware and my first impression with the game was that it was actually pretty good. It was engaging and you could definitely have some fun with the game mechanics introduced with the TMD (time manipulation device). I’m not saying it’s a perfect game but so far it’s been pretty interesting. Either way here’s our routine troubleshooting article for Singularity. The game is pretty well optimized and there don’t seem to be any showstopper bugs (hence there are only some generic fixes mentioned in this article). Hopefully this might help you resolve any nagging issues you are having with the game. Keep in mind that this is still a work in progress and will be updated as we find more solutions– if you encounter new bugs or find fixes, feel free to share them in comments.
Singularity crashes to desktop
If you are running the game by clicking on the executable in game’s installation directory, try running it from the desktop or start menu shortcut. Strange as it may sound, this may actually fix your problem. To ensure optimal crash free performance of your game, follow the steps mentioned in ‘The essentials’ section towards the end of this post.
Nothing happens when I run the game
On some systems, the game might refuse to start up – it might give you a black loading screen or simply do nothing at all. This can be due to a number of reasons but there is a simple fix you can try. Right click the exe, go to properties and select the ‘Compatibility’ tab. Tick ‘Run this program in compatibility mode for’ and select Windows XP Service Pack 2 (this applies for Windows Vista and Windows 7 users).
No sound or low volume in Singularity
Various issues have been reported with the game’s audio and one of the most common problems seem to be the game not having sound or having extremelylow volume. I have seen on some systems (especially those running with on board sound on Windows 7) the game setting itself a very low volume in the mixer. To fix this issue, ALT-TAB to the windows desktop while in game, select the volume icon from the system tray, click on ‘Mixer’ and increase the volume for Singularity application.
If you have other sound issues such as stuttering, noise or distortion, you may try and fix the issue by lowering your sound card’s sampling rate. For a step by step guide look for the ‘Change the audio sampling rate’ section on this article.
Mouse issues with Singularity
You might experience problems with mouse movement in game. These are mostly caused by having a 3rd party controller such as a joystick (that is unsupported by the game) connected to your system. To try and fix this issue, close the game, disconnect anygame controllers and try restarting the game.
The essentials
Following the good practices below will ensure you have an optimal, crash free experience of not only Singularity but with all PC games in general.
* Install the latest DirectX runtime – Latest DirectX should be available in your Steam directory but if it’s not (or if you didn’t buy the game from Steam), you can download the latest monthly runtime from here. This is a standalone installer that will work in offline mode as well.
* Install Microsoft Visual C++ runtime libraries – I’m not sure if this is an absolute necessity for this game but it’s required for most games nowadays (as demonstrated by the case with Dragon Age : Origins). You can download the required files from this link.
* Update sound card and motherboard drivers – Overlooked by many but an essential step to playing games crash free. Please download latest video, audio and motherboard drivers from your hardware manufacturer. If you are too lazy to manually search, Click Here to download 3DP Chip for Windows Vista/XP/7 – This program will automatically detect your hardware and search for updated drivers for them.
Note: This article is a work in progress. It will be updated as new issues are discovered.