Far Cry 3 Crashes and Performance Fixes

This guide contains a detailed list of workarounds of performance tweaks and crash fixes for Far Cry 3 to help you enjoy the game

If you were hoping to jump into Far Cry 3 on PC as soon as it released but couldn’t due to a number of issues, we are here to help. This Far Cry 3 Crashes and Performance Fixes guide will help ensure your gameplay experience is smooth.

If you are a PC guy, you will enjoy the stunning graphics. If that’s not the case at your end, it is definitely a technical glitch or a game bug. If you are facing such issues, you can scroll through our list of workarounds to find the one that fixes the problem you are experiencing in the game.

Far Cry 3 PC Crashes and Performance Fixes

Note: If you haven’t yet, you should apply the Day One Patch by the Developer. It tends to solve multiple problems. For the rest, read on below

#1 Graphics Problems/Glitches
If you are meeting the recommended system requirements and having trouble with the graphics, you should try changing HDAO to HBAO in the graphics menu in settings. It should improve the performance.

#2 Performance Issues
If you are unable to get smooth experience even after meeting the recommended system requirements, you should try to lower the graphics settings a bit (From Ultra to High).

Furthermore, try changing the Ambient occlusion from HDAO to HBAO to boost the performance. I know it’s a compromise but for the time being, this is all you can do to improve the performance (if that matters to you).

#3 Far Cry 3 Bug – Can’t Exit the Vehicle
It’s a small bug that can trouble you. To get rid of it, you need to turn controls to default. You can change them again after exiting.

#4 Far Cry 3 Crashes on Startup
The problem seems to be related to Uplay. Try disabling the Uplay In-Game Overlay to fix it. If you want it on, it could be because you are not using the latest version of the Uplay (2.1.2). Exit the software and see if the update message pops-up.

#5 Far Cry 3 Black Screen Issue
It can be due to multiple reasons. You should try running the game in windowed mode first. If you are able to make to the settings in the menu, try lowering the graphics and see if the black screen problem goes away.

#6 Stuttering Fix
Make sure that you have 1.01 version of the game. Apply the patch if you don’t have that version. You can also try updating your drivers. Both Nvidia and AMD users should obtain the latest beta drivers to improve the performance.

If you are experiencing micro-stutters then it is suggested that you use adaptive and dynamic V-Sync.

For NVidia cards you can enable adaptive V-Sync through the driver control panel and set the V-Sync to adaptive. It is also recommended that you set your FPS cap to 60 in NVidia inspector for Far Cry 3.

For AMD cards, dynamic V-Sync can be enabled by using RadeonPro. Add a new profile and find the FC 3 executable on your computer. Now tweak it to set VSync Control to always on; and enable dynamic framerate control and set it to keep up to 60.

#7 Far Cry 3 Error – Disk IO Failure
You can try the following to fix the issue:

  • Verify the cache of the game files.
  • Try disabling your antivirus/firewall temporarily to see if game files are being blocked by the software.
  • In case if some files are corrupt, re-download it and do a fresh installation.

#8 Change UI Language
You might see a UI with weird translation if so you should try and set the language in registry.

Browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Wow6432Node\Ubisoft\Far Cry 3 and set the language to English. Set SKU to US.

#9 Game Crashing On Loading In
If you find yourself crashing whenever you try to load into a saved game then you are going to have to disable the Post FX option which can be found in Options>Video Quality and from here you can set the graphics quality to custom in order to access Post FX; from here simply set it to low.

#10 Game Won’t Start After Splash Screen
For this you are going to have to edit the GamerProfile.xml with a text editor. Find VSync=’value’ and set it to 0. The file can be found in the config files location.

An alternative if the mentioned solution does not work is to delete the file GamerProfile.xml.

#11 Game Won’t Go Beyond The First Skill Tree
Select the takedown skill by double-clicking and select another skill.

#12 Parachute Does Not Open
Make sure that the crouch button and switch sweat button are set to the same key binding otherwise it will display to you the wrong button for opening the parachute.

#13 Multiplayer Weapons Not Levelling Up
Your weapons might not be keeping any XP post-game. For this you are going to have to copy your save file to another path.

Copy folder 46 from C:\Program Files (x86)\Ubisoft\Ubisoft Game Launcher\savegames\0c7ddfbe-d92d-4270-8cf9-3493a81f0c2d\, and go to %PROGRAMDATA% and make a new folder called Orbit if it isn’t made already. Right-click this folder and set it to hidden. Paste the folder 46 into Orbit.

#14 Installation Issues
If you are short on space and the game will not install on a secondary drive, then try copying the temporary files to the secondary drive.

Go to %temp% and find the FC 3 install folder, copy this folder to your secondary drive and start the process.

You can also change the temp folders location to a different drive by preparing a new folder for temp files in another drive.

Right click on the start button and select system and go into Advanced System Settings, go into the Advanced tab and click Environment Variables button. Now in the user variable list change TEMP and TMP to the new folder. Save your changes and restart the computer.

#15 Initial Loading Screen Is Long
Go into the game and when the loading starts go into your task manager and find WmiPrvSE.exe and end the process.

#16 Game Crashing on Windows 10
If your game seems to crash after a little play-time in Far Cry 3 then open Task Manager and click on services, from here stop the service named TabletInputService.

You can also try launching the game in Windows 8 or 7 compatibility mode. If all else fails then simply copy the game to your Windows drive.

If you come across any other issues, let us know in the comments and 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 ...