Need for Speed PC Errors and Fixes: Crashes, Black Screen Issues, and More

EA and Ghost Games’ reboot of the long running racing game franchise, Need for Speed, is finally here on the PC. The game launched on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 last holiday season- but the extra time taken for the PC version has been largely worth it, as it is being called the best way to play the game for now.

It’s actually been a fairly smooth launch- on the whole, there aren’t a lot of reports out there about any widespread bugs, glitches, and the like. It’s very refreshing, to be honest- but that said, some people will run into some errors. If you happen to be one of those people, you’ve come to the right place, because in this guide, we’ll help you deal with some of the most commonly reported errors with Need for Speed.

First, the requirements:

Minimum:

• Operating System: Windows 7/8/8.1 – 64-Bit
• CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 or equivalent with four hardware threads
• RAM: 6 GB
• Hard Drive Space Required: 30 GB
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB, AMD Radeon HD 7850 2GB or equivalent DirectX 11 compatible GPU with 2GB of memory
• DirectX: 11
• Input: Keyboard and mouse, or dual analogue gamepad, or compatible steering wheel

Recommended:

• CPU: Intel Core i5-4690 or equivalent with four hardware threads
• RAM: 8 GB
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 4GB, AMD Radeon R9 290 4GB or equivalent DirectX 11 compatible GPU with 2GB of memory

Please be advised that the following methods are to be used at the sole discretion of the platform owner. GamingBolt or its staff members take no responsibility for problems that may arise or issues that may occur from trying the below. Always remember that official support is always the best support. 

Disable Film Filter

Need for Speed has a film grain effect that it achieves via a filter. In case you want to disable the effect, follow these steps:

WARNING! Before following these steps, it is recommended that you backup your files.

• Go to Documents\Need for Speed\settings
• Find the PROFILEOPTIONS_profile file and open it with Notepad, or some other text editor
• Change the line that says FilmGrain 1 to GstRender.FilmGrain 0
• Save the file and exit. Now run the game.

Black Screen Workaround

Need for Speed has a black screen crash near the beginning of the game that can make it impossible for users to play the game- fixing this issue is usually a simple matter of making the game run in Windowed mode, but since that requires you to access a Settings menu, and since Need for Speed has this crash right at the beginning of this game, before you even get to a Settings menu, this can be a problem.

A simple workaround to this is:

• When you reach the black screen, don’t quit the game. Alt-Enter into windowed mode, and let the cinematics play. You cannot interact with the game right now.
• Any time the game asks for a button press, Alt-Enter into full screen- the game will turn into a black screen again. Press the button the game asked for, then Alt-Enter back into windowed mode.
• As soon as the tutorial ends, pull up the map. Select PC Settings, turn Fullscreen to off.

The Game Does Not Run (Connection Error Message)

Need for Speed is an online only game, and requires a persistent internet connection to run, even if you plan on playing it entirely by yourself. Make sure you have a stable connection to the internet before you try to run the game.

Game Crashes After Tutorial

This is a widespread issue on PCs running Windows 8 with a dual AMD card setup. On such rigs, the game crashes on the loading screen after the tutorial. To resolve this issue, you can either:

• Update the graphics card driver, OR;
• Disable Crossfire functionality

Increase Render Resolution

If you want to increase Need for Speed‘s render resolution without affecting the display resolution, follow these steps:

WARNING! Before following these steps, it is recommended that you backup your files.

• Right click on Need for Speed in your Origin library. Go to Game Properties.
• Write -Render.ResolutionScale 1.5 or -Render.ResolutionScale 2.0 in the field box.
• Apply and quit.

Note: Given that the wide range of PC hardware out there, the fixes mentioned here may or may not work for you. But it’s worth giving them a shot since these have worked for players who own the PC version of Need For Speed.