Changing resolution in Deadspace causes game crash

After a clean install, some users have reported that changing the resolution to anything but 640×480 will cause the game to crash to desktop on subsequent startups. It some cases this is a silent crash where the game appears to be starting but the silently aborts startup. You can fix this crash by changing some settings in your settings.txt file. The Dead Space settings.txt file is located in:
C:\Users\<YOU>\AppData\Local\Electronic Arts\Dead Space\settings.txt

Keep in mind AppData is a hidden folder so you’ll have to enable show hidden folders in order to see it. To fix this resolution related crash remove the following lines from the settings file:
Window.Top = 0
Window.Left = 0

If that doesn’t work you can also try deleting this settings.txt file to completely reset all the settings for the game back to their defaults.

If you’ve followed the above steps and are still having issues with the Deadspace resolution change crash, please post in the comments below. To increase your chances of a solution being found include as much detail as possible (which version of the game you’re running, what operating system you have, what video card you have and steps to reproduce the issue). Screenshots are also very useful!

sources: link 1, link 2, link 3

    Tom
    March 13, 2014 at 12:38 am

    For some reason, I do not have the ‘C:\Users\YOU\AppData\Local\Electronic Arts\’ folder. Other folders are there in the Local folder, but not Dead Space. I have verified the games files, but I can’t work out why I am missing this folder. Any advice? (I am running Window’s 8.1)

      How did you install the game? Steam, Origin, CD?

      Also make sure you’re replacing YOU in ‘C:\Users\YOU\AppData\Local\Electronic Arts\’ with the user that installed the game. This may not be your currently signed in user!

        John
        April 9, 2016 at 6:29 pm

        I have the same problem but i don’t have that folder. I am running on steam by the way

          Sometimes if the game hasn’t started properly the settings folder isn’t created.

          You can try creating both the folder and the settings.txt file exactly as named in the post. In the settings file add those two lines in the post above and save. Then try starting the game again.

          Might also be worth contacting EA support

    Simon
    March 28, 2014 at 12:54 pm

    Ok so I downloaded Dead Space on Origin cus it’s for free. Instalation went smooth, game start up normally, but it’s on 800X600 resolution. Here’s the problem:
    Whenever I want to change resolution or change game to windowed mode, then game immidiatelly starts lagging (It’s like 5 seconds of lag, 1 without them) and does not stop. This happens to every resolution from 800×600 up to 1920×1080. My PC has no problems with newest titles, all run on highest res with no problems.
    My english is not best but I hope it’s understanable.

      Very understandable :) The most common solutions for Dead Space stuttering issues appear to be:

      • Disable Vsync
      • Disable Anti-Aliasing in your video card settings

      If that doesn’t work, please post your PC specs, namely processor and video card. You can try some more general solution like updating your video card drivers. Also I would check on your hardware temperatures, stuttering could be a sign that something is overheating for one reason or another (dust buildup, fan failures etc.)

        ExDemon
        August 2, 2015 at 3:36 pm

        I am having a similar problem. i got the game running after placing the settings.exe file but now that it runs the game will play for a second then freeze for 5. mouse wont move or anything completely frozen. and it happens the moment the game starts basically rendering the game unplayable. even on the start menu is a hassle because you want to select something its hard because if your moving the mouse as it freezes you end up overshooting what you want and if you carefully highlight something you cant select it during the freeze i took the resolution down to 640 and still does it.

    Jon
    April 14, 2014 at 1:18 pm

    Same issue as Tom no settings file exists on my pc either I dont think the game is getting far enough into playing to even create one .

      If you don’t have a settings file, you can try to manually create it in the right directory. Here is mine, just make sure you save it as settings.txt.

      my settings.txt

      It still has the Window.Top and Window.Left parameters so make sure you remove those first. Try that an let me know how it goes!

    Cody
    April 20, 2014 at 9:38 pm

    I downloaded the Dead Space for free from Origin like most everyone else. Download and installation went smooth, but every time I try to change the resolution from the lowest setting to any other setting the screen goes black for a few seconds and then goes directly to my desktop. The music is still running and the Dead Space icon is still in the task bar, but when I open my task manager Dead Space is displayed as “not responding”. I tried the above mentioned fixes but still nothing works. I’m running it on a Fang-Book from CyberPower PC. I am able to run most newer titles on high graphic settings. Help would be appreciated.

      One thing you could also try is to manually change the width and height values in the settings.txt file. AKA
      Window.Width = 1920
      Window.Height = 1080

      There could be some issue with changing the resolution in game on your specific machine. Once you’ve done that try starting the game again.

      If that doesn’t work you might want to have a look at the list of possible solutions for a wide range of DeadSpace crashes listed here: http://www.thegameengine.org/dead-space/dead-space-exe-has-stopped-working-on-windows-7/

        nj1209
        April 7, 2016 at 12:10 pm

        alexgophermix I know it´s been a while, but your tip about changing the width and height values rly helped me! It worked and now I can finally play dead space 2 in the right resolution. THANK YOU!

          Thanks for the kind words, I’m glad I could help :)

        rob
        September 10, 2016 at 9:00 pm

        THIS WORKED THANKS!

    Frank
    April 29, 2016 at 11:01 am

    I’ll just try my luck , maybe you’re still active in here.

    So I got the game on Steam, same as everyone else it crashes when I try to change the resolution. Now I created settings.txt and deleted the window thingys, but it still won’t change the resolution and its still stuck. I put the settings.txt data into the Dead Space 2 folder where it does belong I guess. :(

      Hi Frank,

      This post is for Dead Space 1 not 2. That being said I’ve seen people run into the same issue on Dead Space 2. Dead Space 2 stores the settings file in a different location though, so if you want to try this fix out you have to place it in the following directory instead:

      C:\Users\<YOU>\AppData\Local\EA Games\Dead Space 2

      Let me know if that works for you.

        Tried ti on Win10 here, seems not to work… neigher for DS2 nor 3, DS 1 though is running stable AF :/

    Isaac
    October 8, 2016 at 6:51 pm

    I can’t seem to run Deadspace 2, and I’ve tried everything that comes up on Google. I’m at my wit’s end. What’s funny is, I can run Dead Space 1 and 3 fine on Windows 10. Dead Space 2 though, I see a black window pop up, then a windows error box pops up that says “Deadspace2.exe has stopped working.” My personal guess is it might have something to do with how many cores I have on my computer. I run dual processors for a total of 12 cores. Sometimes that causes issues with games starting correctly, but I have no idea how to start a game up so it only uses specific cores. I can’t do the “set processor affinity” thing, because the game actually has to be running to do that, and the game crashes within 2 or 3 seconds of that black box showing up. Any suggestions?

    John
    December 24, 2017 at 10:06 am

    I got this game for free from the origin “vault” download and install went just fine but when I start the game a black screen appears for about 3 seconds, then a error pops up and it says “Dead Space.exe as stopped working”.

    I have a GTX 1050 ti and a Core I5 7400 with Windows 10.

      John
      December 24, 2017 at 10:10 am

      I would like to state that I have created a “Settings.txt” file and added the proper info to the file. I have also ran the game in windows compatibility mode, I’m not sure whats left to do..

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