Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad Crashes, Errors, Freezing Fix, FPS, Lag, Performance, Stats, Graphics And Fixes

How it feels when you want to play a game but some error or any other related issue is not letting you? Refer to the troubleshooting guide to find the solution of your issue.


Great week for PC users specially the FPS fans as two descent FPS titles have been released this week. Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad is the total opposite of Hard Reset being a much realistic shooting experience. The game also supports a classic themed multiplayer with dedicated server support. Now, if you are facing any issue in running the game, read the following troubleshooting guide to seek the solution of your problem.

#1 Red/Yellow Flashing Menu
Perform a verify cache integrity check in your Steam Library. This can fix the problem.

#2 Internet Problem – Router Restarts Every Time i Enter The Online Multiplayer
This issue can be annoying specially when your internet router is away from your access. It is usually associated with your router and not all routers are reported to have this problem.

  • Download the zip file
  • Extract the contained “MasterServer2.vdf” file into the “config” directory in their Steam folder, by default usually found at “C:\Program Files\Steam”, over-writing the one that is there
  • Mark the file read-only (IMPORTANT!) by right-clicking on it, selecting “Properties”, and ticking the “Read-only”

If this is not working for you, you can also try port forwarding. You can also try the following workarounds:

Connect to a game and when it disconnects you (you see specimens walking into walls) open the console with the ` or ‘ key and type reconnect (you’ll have to do this twice)
Wait for more than 1 minute after refreshing the server list to join the game
Add servers to your favourites and instead of clicking on internet, click favourites and connect from there

#3 Punkbuster Keeps on Installing
If you don’t want punkbuster to be installed and it keeps on asking you to install every time you start the game then try this:

  • Install the punkbuster
  • Play the game once
  • Unmark the punkbuster in options and then uninstall it

#4 Game Crashes While Loading In Multiplayer
If your game crashes while loading the multiplayer map, you should try the following solutions:

Try disabling the hadrware physics
If it is for every server, reboot your system

Open ROengine.ini in My Documents\My Games\UnrealEngine3\ROGame\Config and turn these from false to true:

bInitializeShadersOnDemand=True
PumpWindowMessagesWhenRenderThreadStalled=True

In the same .ini file, try setting “DynamicShadows” and “LightEnvironmentShadows” to False which might solve the random crashes.

#5 Stats Are Being Reset/Not Saved
The issue is at developers end. It should be fixed after the first official update has been applied.

#6 Reset Key Bindings to Default
If your key bindings are messed up and you want them back then navigate to “C:\Users\MyNameHere\Documents\my games\UnrealEngine3\ROGame\Config.” In the config folder delete the file named “roinput.ini”. Launch the game and you will have the keys set to default.

#7 The Game Does Not Respond
If you are facing the issue where you can’t select/use any button access menu and the game’s interface is frozen every time you launch the game then try disabling Steams in-game overlay.

#8 PunkBuster Error/Can’t Join pb Server
You need to update your pb. Follow these instructions. If that does not work for you then you can try this workaround:

Copy “pbags.dll” and “pbcls.dl” files from /Binaries/Win 32/pb and paste these files to /AppData/Local/PunkBuster/HOS/pb.

#9 Can’t See the Menu In Settings
In your video control panel options, set AA to either application controlled or off. This should fix the issue.

#10 Can’t Join the Server Directly – Game Crashes
Many users are facing this issue. Till the issue gets fixed in the next patch, you can try joining in through your friends. You can also join in manually by entering the ip and server port in the console bar (serverip:port).

#11 Game Carshes – ROGame.exe is Not Responding
If you are getting this error and your game was running alright before, quit the game and start it again. Rebooting your PC can also help.

#12 Slow Game Performance/FPS
Many users are facing this issue but there is no solid workaround yet for this issue. One solution that might work for you is “Disabling Steam ingame community”.

#13 Can’t Turn off Game Chat/Muting Voice chat
If you are unable to mute the voice chat from settings then you can do it through the following alternate ways:

In your ROEngine.ini file, look for “bHasVoiceEnabled” which will be “True” by default. Set it to “False”.

Or look for “VoiceVolume” in ini file of the game in Steam Folder. By default, it will have value 1.000000. Set it to 0.000000.

#14 In-game Server Browser Doesn’t Show Servers After Refreshing
It’s another issue that is expected to be solved with upcoming updates by Tripwier. Meanwhile, you should use Steam to browse the server list rather than in-game browser. Or you can follow this procedure to solve the issue.

#15 Constant Lag/Connection Timed Out
The issue can be associated with some ports you need to open. Also make sure that your firewall is not blocking the game. You may have to open following ports:

7757 UDP/IP (Game Port)
7758 UDP/IP (Query Port)
7767 UDP/IP (GameSpy Query Port)
28902 TCP/IP and UDP (Allows your Server to Connect to the Master Server Browser)
8075 TCP/IP (Port set via ListenPort that your WebAdmin will run on)
20610 UDP/IP (Steam Port)

#16 Game Crashes After Launch/Won’t Launch
Try running the Redistributable file in your RO2/Binaries/Windows folder. Or you can do the following steps:

  • Delete this folder \common\red orchestra 2\ROGame\Movies\
  • Go to steam options and set the language to english
  • Now when you launch the game, steam will download localization files (2.2 Gb). This can solve the issue.

#17 Bad Game Graphics/Colors
If you are facing graphics issues like bad colors during single player campaign then you should turn off “depth of field” in ROengine.ini file.

  • Open ROengine.ini with notepad
  • Find “depthoffield” in the text file
  • By default it will be set to true. Change the text that says True into False.

Or head to mydocuments\mygames\redorchestra2\config and delete all .ini files which will be created again when you launch the game.

#18 Long Map Load Time Fix
If maps are taking longer than usual, you can try the following fix:

Navigate to my documents/my games/redorchestra2/ROGame/config/” and open ROEngine.ini
Find “Engine.ISVHacks” and under it, change “bInitializeShadersOnDemand” value to False. This might help.

If you are facing any other issue, mention it in comments. We will try to help you out.

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Ali is a passionate RPG gamer. He believes that western RPGs still have a lot to learn from JRPGs. He is editor-in-chief at SegmentNext.com but that doesn't stop him from writing about his favorite video ...