Gray Zone Warfare: Troubleshooting Guide

08 May 2024Developer post

Source: Steam Community (opens in a new tab)

This guide delves into some of the challenges associated with Gray Zone Warfare (Updated: May 8th)

Hey everyone, check out these potential solutions to tackle some of the known issues and helpful resources to enhance your GZW Early Access experience. We genuinely appreciate your patience as we work through this. Patch 1 is already in the works, and we'll be sure to keep you updated on any incoming updates along the way. Thanks for sticking with us and being part of the journey.

Credits: Virtual Yoda and our lovely community

Fixing general performance issues and crashes

Basic Troubleshooting Steps

Check for graphics driver updates.
Reinstall the Graphics driver.
Check Windows updates - including the optional updates.
Close all apps you are not using.

Minimum Hardware Requirements:

64-bit processor and operating system
OS: Windows® 10 64 Bit (latest update)
Processor: Intel® Core™ i5-8600 / AMD Ryzen™ 5 2600 (AVX2 support required)
Memory: 16 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1080 8GB / 2060 SUPER 8GB / RTX 3060 8GB / RTX 4060 8GB / AMD Radeon™ RX 5700 8GB / RX 6600 8GB / Intel® Arc™ A770 8GB
DirectX: Version 12

Check your hardware compatibility and see if your system is up to date.

Disable Fullscreen optimizations

Right-Click "GZWClientSteam-Win64-Shipping.exe" (located in Common\Gray Zone Warfare\GZW\Binaries\Win64\)
Properties -> Disable FSO (Fullscreen optimizations)

In-game settings

Fullscreen (not windowed fullscreen)
FOV: 55
Frame Rate: 120
Low preset
Increase quality as desired to the system capability

Ensure Gray Zone Warfare is not affected by firewalls or antivirus - you will be surprised.

Control Panel -> System -> Security -> Windows Firewall
Advanced settings -> Highlight Inbound Rules (the left panel)
New Rule -> Program -> This Path - Browse
Add the following: steamapps\common\Gray Zone Warfare\GZW\Binaries\Win64\GZWClientSteam-Win64-Shipping
Open -> Allow the connection -> Domain, Private & Public -> Name - GZW
Repeat for steamapps\common\Gray Zone Warfare\GZWClientEAC

Disable NVIDIA Instant Replay and Overlay

Alt + Z -> Settings -> Turn off Instant Replay
Right-click on the NVIDIA System Tray icon -> Select NVIDIA GeForce Experience -> Log in with your NVIDIA Account -> Settings (top right, gear icon) -> General -> Turn off In-Game Overlay.

Playing with color blind mode ON with the first setting can increase FPS.

Advanced Troubleshooting Steps

[In case you have enough Drive Space] NVIDIA Control Panel -> Manage 3D settings -> Global Settings -> Settings tabs -> Restore -> Change Shader Cache to 10 GB
[If you have spare RAM, 32 GB+] - Change Virtual Memory Control Panel -> System -> Advanced System Settings -> Advanced -> Performance - Settings -> Advanced - Virtual Memory - Change -> Disable "Automatically manage paging file size for all drivers" -> Select the drive where GZW is located -> Select "No paging file" -> Set
- If the steps above fix your crashes but result in the game closing, try setting a limit on the page file based on the free RAM you have when the game is running 1000
Add GZW to Defender and anti-virus allow list [Tutorial Link]
[Advanced] Reset bios and remove OC; this often has a negative effect on UE5 games. Undervolting the AMD & High-end Intel CPUS can also help.
Add GZW to the "Graphics performance preference."
Settings -> System -> Display -> Graphics settings
Add Gray Zone Warfare to the list of applications located in Steam\steamapps\common\Gray Zone Warfare\GZW\Binaries\Win64

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Known Issues w/ Troubleshooting Steps

Missing crucial items, edition upgrades, locker issues.

Symptoms:
No Head, Stash Errors, Secure Container Missing, Progress Resets, Profile save failed, Missing Editions Rewards.

This issue has been mitigated in Hotfix 3 (released May 7th).

If you are experiencing any of the issues mentioned above, please try the following steps:

Exit Steam and wait for a minute before launching it again.
Once Deployed to a server, please examine your in-game messenger and check out Handshake's messages.

The OODLE Crash

Symptoms:
The UE5 Crash Pop-up for this Error will say Oodle crash

Affected CPUs

i7-13700 Processors
i9-13900 Processors
i7-14700 Processors
i9-14900 Processors

Fixes for specific motherboards
Video Tutorial and Explanation
This is an Intel UE5 issue; it's being fixed by Intel (Eventually).
Fixes for this issue require advanced knowledge and/or careful following of instructions.

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STEAM AUTH ERRORS/ANTI-CHEAT ERRORS/NETWORK ERRORS

In-game Steam Authorisation Errors are usually caused by connection issues between GZW & Steam or Steam and the GZW Server.

To fix this issue, you can try the following:

Turn off IPv6

Right-click Network Icon -> Open Network & Internet settings -> Change adapter options -> Double-click Ethernet Adapter that you are using for LAN -> Properties -> Scroll down and untick Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6) -> Click OK -> Click Close -> Restart your PC
This might vary on different Windows versions.

From Steam account settings

Manually change your DNS server [Video Tutorial]

Change the DNS server in network settings to manually and use one of these
Google: 8.8.8.8 & - 8.8.4.4
Quad9: 9.9.9.9 & 149.112.112.112
OpenDNS: 208.67.222.222 & 208.67.220.220
Cloudflare: 1.1.1.1 & 1.0.0.1
AdGuard DNS: 94.140.14.14 & - 94.140.15.15
CleanBrowsing: 185.228.168.9 & - 185.228.169.9
Alternate DNS: 76.76.19.19 & - 76.223.122.150
Completely reboot your modem/router

Flush DNS [Tutorial Link]

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"Steam is not running"

The error "Steam is not running" is the game, and Steam is not talking correctly.

From Steam account settings

If that doesn't work, it could be a permissions error on your system.

Locate steam.exe on your computer.
Right-click Properties.
Compatibility tab.
Check "Run as administrator."
More information here.

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Skalla.dll Error

The most common cause for the Skalla.dll missing Error is the system does not support AVX2
Unfortunately, if your system does not have AVX2, you do not meet the minimum specifications required to run GZW.

This will be linked to Windows updates or missing files if you do.

Complete all Windows updates.
Downloaded the latest Microsoft Visual C++ redistributable version
Install & Restart your system

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GPU Crashes Troubleshooting

Ensure that all of your drivers are up to date.
There's a known crash issue due to the outdated AMD GPU Drivers. Install the latest AMD Graphics Drivers (May 4th)
Check you have at least 8GB of VRAM.
Check Windows updates for optional updates.
Freshly reinstall graphics drivers.
Change AA to performance and put A 30 Frame Rate Cap on.
Increase over time till the error comes back.

If you crash with FSR turned on - Turn off hardware acceleration.

Graphics: Right-click the desktop, go to "Display Settings" > "Graphics" > "Change default settings," then turn off "hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling."
Audio: Go to "Settings" > "System" > "Sound" > "More sound settings" > your audio device > "Properties" > "Advanced," and uncheck "Allow hardware acceleration."
If this doesn't work, turn off FSR and use DLSS.

Turn off all BIOS OC.

Turn OFF any OC profiles for CPU and GPU (and possibly RAM profiles). There is a known issue with Overclocking causing instability in Unreal Engine 5 games (including Gray Zone Warfare).

Out of Video memory popup (Nvidia crashed and had performance issues.)

Check your Drivers
NVIDIA Control Panel -> Manage 3D settings -> Global Settings -> Settings tabs -> Restore
Turn off Instant Replay and Overlay

AMD GPU crash

Install/Reinstall AMD Adrenalin

We sincerely hope this guide proved fruitful. We will keep everyone posted in regards to our first patch, server updates and more very soon.

Every Move Matters,

MADFINGER Games Team

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