Developed by Monolith Productions, Middle-earth: Shadow of War is now available on PC, Playstation 4, and Xbox One. According to early impressions of the PC version, a Skylake i5 coupled with a GTX 1080 should allow you to run the game at Ultra/1440p without any hiccups. Playing the game on 4K, on the other hand, is another question. However, many PC players have encountered Shadow Of War errors and issues while playing it and here we will discuss them and provide a possible fix.
The game is developed using the modified LithTech engine, a game engine developed by Monolith and is comparable to Quake/Unreal engine.
Middle-earth: Shadow of War has a setting called Large Page Mode that needs a Windows account with Administrative privileges. The LPM allows the game to allocate faster memory to improve performance. Graphics settings include Dynamic Resolution, Vegetation Range, Tessellation, Ambient Occlusion, Mesh Quality, and more. However, with almost every PC game, you can expect to run into some unwanted errors and crashes that are not terribly hard to fix as long as you know how to tackle them.
For more help on Middle-earth: Shadow of War, you can check out our Nemesis System Guide, Legendary Gear Farming Guide, and Mirian Farming Guide.
Middle-earth: Shadow of War Errors, Crashes, Workarounds
In this Middle-earth: Shadow of War Guide, we have detailed some of the most commonly occurring errors, crashes, and their potential workarounds.
Middle-earth: Shadow of War
However, before we begin, let us take a look at the game’s official system requirements.
Middle-earth: Shadow of War Minimum System Requirements
- OS: Windows 7 SP1 with Platform Update
- Processor: AMD FX-4350, 4.2 GHz / Intel Core i5-2300, 2.80 GHz
- Memory: 6 GB RAM
- Graphics: AMD HD 7870, 2 GB / NVIDIA GTX 660, 2 GB
- DirectX: Version 11
- Network: Broadband Internet Connection
- Storage: 70 GB Available Space
- Additional Notes: X64 Required
Middle-earth: Shadow of War Recommended System Requirements
- OS: Windows 10 Creators Update
- Processor: AMD FX-8350, 4.0 GHz / Intel Core i7-3770, 3.4 GHz
- Memory: 12 GB RAM
- Graphics: AMD RX 480, 4 GB or RX580, 4GB / NVIDIA GTX 970 4, GB or GTX1060, 6GB
- DirectX: Version 11
- Network: Broadband Internet connection
- Storage: 70 GB Available Space
- Additional Notes: X64 Required
Middle-earth: Shadow of War Errors, Crashes, Workarounds Guide
Shadow Of War – Direct3D 11.1 API Is Not Available
Many PC users have reported that they have been encountering this error while trying to play the game. This Shadow Of War error is mostly occurring for Windows 7 users and is asking players to update the Windows while it is already up to date.
However, the fix for this error is quite simple and unexpected one. All you have to do is download the IE 11(Internet Explorer 11) and restart your system and the issue will be resolved.
Shadow Of War – HD Textures Pack Not Downloading
This is one of the Shadow Of War issues that Shadow Of War that players have been encountering who want to play the game with 4K textures and despite the HD Textures pack being free, the DLC is not downloading for many of them.
This issue is mostly occurring for those who have already downloaded the game but, are trying to download the HD Textures pack separately. For now, the only way to resolve this issue is to uninstall the game and redownload it and the textures pack will be included in your download.
Another thing you can try is going to the game’s store page on steam and add click on the free button for the HD Textures pack. This will still not download the pack but, do it continuously and it will be added to your downloads.
Shadow Of War – High Pitch Sound/Audio Bug
This is another one of Shadow Of War errors that players have been experiencing on PC as reported by players, when they start the game, the audio sounds like squeaking and seems very low quality.
There is a simple fix for this issue, just go to your audio settings by clicking right mouse button on the sound icon in the bottom right of your screen. Select “Playback devices”, then open properties for the device that is enabled and for most it is will be “Speakers”.
In the Properties select “Advanced” and change the default format to 16bit, 48000 Hz. This will fix your audio for the game.
Shadow Of War – Blurry Graphics/Textures
Many players have been experiencing that the game’s textures become blurry as they progress. The issue is because of “Dynamic Resolution” being enabled in the options. This setting drops the game’s resolution to keep a steady FPS, just disable this option the game and the blurriness will be gone but, you will notice FPS drops.
Shadow Of War – Game Not Showing Up On Primary Monitor/ Multi-Monitor Issue
Those who are trying to play Shadow Of War on multiple-monitors have reported that the game always loads on the second screen and doesn’t show up on the primary one.
However, there is a fixe for it. The fix for this issue is to go to the video settings and set the game to “Maximised”. Then press “ALT+Enter” which will put the game in the windowed mode on the secondary screen. Now drag the window to your Primary monitor and then change the video setting to whichever option you like and again press “Alt+Enter” and the game will always start on the primary monitor from now on.
Shadow Of War – Game Freezing At Title Screen
Some users have reported that the game has been freezing on the title screen. This issue in some cases is related to multiple controllers attached to your system via USB. Just unplug the one and it will be fine. If the issue still persists then update your graphics driver to the latest version
Shadow Of War – Low FPS/Stuttering/Bad Performance
This is one of the Shadow of War errors that many PC users have faced. This issue might be related to your GPU drivers which might be incompatible with the game. Update your GPU drivers to the latest version and the issue should resolve.
Another cause of the low FPS or bad performance might be due to the game not using your External GPU and is running on your integrated graphics card. Make sure your system is using the external GPU to fix this issue.
Shadow Of War – Screen Flickering
SOme gamers have reported that they have been encountering this issue from time to time while playing the game. However, the solution is simple just run the game in “Borderless Windowed Mode” and the issue should be resolved.
Shadow of War Errors – – Save Data is Not Compatible
If you are getting this message after downloading an update, you should not pay much attention to it as it’s a false alarm which won’t do anything to your saves. No save loss report has surfaced yet due to this, however, if you are still skeptical, to be on the safe side, make a backup of your save files.
Shadow of War Errors – – The Game has Stopped Working
If you are getting this message, there are a few things you can try to resolve the issue. First, make sure that your GPU drivers are up to date and you have verified your game files. If that doesn’t work, try running the game as admin. Also, if you have any extra third party applications running in the background, stop them and then launch the game. Since Shadow of war uses denuvo, so if you are using a VPN, you may have to disable it to run the game.
Shadow of War Errors – Direct3D 11.1 fix
If you are getting this error, and your DirectX is up to date, you need to install IE 11 from Microsoft’s website. I am not sure how it’s related however, some users have reported resolving the issue by this.
Shadow of War Errors – Black Screen on Launch
If you are getting a black screen on Launch and your system is good enough to handle the game, you could press Alt + Enter and shift the game to windowed mode. If that doesn’t work, you can force the game to run in windowed mode through Steam’s launch options. If the display appears in the windowed mode, try changing the resolution to a point where it won’t affect the full-screen mode.
If it crashes after the black screen, you should disable your second monitor to resolve the issue.
This is all we have in our Middle-earth: Shadow of War Errors, Crashes, and Workarounds Guide. If there is anything else that you would like to add, let us know in the comments section below!
