Fixes & Performance

Critical Client Errors and Their Solutions

Guide to solving the most common critical errors and client issues in Killing Floor.

General Solutions

Clearing Cache

Many problems are solved by clearing the game cache:

  1. Completely close Killing Floor.
  2. Open the game folder and find the Cache folder.
  3. Rename or delete the folder — this will clear the cache and allow downloading all server resources again.
  4. Try launching the game again.

Verifying File Integrity (Steam)

If the game is installed through Steam:

  1. Open Steam library.
  2. Right-click on Killing Floor → Properties → Local Files.
  3. Click "Verify integrity of game files".

Restoring a Broken System Folder

From the "Нужна чистая папка System" ("Need a clean System folder") thread on the killingfloor.ru forum: if the files in System got mixed up or replaced (for example, someone else's folder was copied over it) and the game no longer sees servers and the favourites are gone:

  1. Back up KillingFloor.ini so you can restore your favourite servers from it later.
  2. Delete the whole System folder.
  3. Run the Steam integrity check; the missing files will be downloaded again.

Updating Drivers

Make sure you have the latest driver versions installed:

  • Graphics Card: Update NVIDIA or AMD drivers to the latest version.
  • DirectX: Install the latest DirectX version.
  • Visual C++: Make sure all necessary Visual C++ libraries are installed.

Specific Errors

Error "Failed launching URL Package version mismatch"

This error occurs when package versions don't match between client and server.

Solution:

  1. Completely close Killing Floor.
  2. Open the game folder and find the Cache folder.
  3. Rename or move the folder.
  4. Try joining the server again.

More details: Fix: Package version mismatch

Error "General protection fault"

This error is usually related to memory issues or conflicts with other programs.

Solutions:

  1. Close all background programs, especially those using a lot of memory.
  2. Check if your computer is overheating.
  3. Update graphics card drivers.
  4. Try running the game in compatibility mode.

Cases from the killingfloor.ru forum:

  • A broken map in Maps ("Не открывается игра Killing Floor" thread). The game would not start at all and crashed with General protection fault! and a history starting with ULevel::BuildRenderData. One user had the same crash on the Steam version: verifying the cache and reinstalling the client did not help; the cause was a map he had last dropped into the Maps folder that was broken (not fully downloaded). After deleting that file the error stopped. For a non-Steam installation the installer itself may be broken.
  • A mutator from the server ("Игра падает с критической ошибкой" thread). The crash log mentioned the server's mutator, e.g. FloatProperty MutKillMessageV2.KillsMessage.GetLifeTime.ReturnValue with a serial size mismatch (got 20, expected 12). Advice from the thread: clean the Cache folder in the game root and remove KillMessage from the active mutators; move (do not delete) User.ini and KillingFloor.ini out of System in case they contain junk. Other participants pointed to failing hard drives or RAM as possible causes of critical errors.
  • Windows 7 compatibility ("Ошибки" thread). For random General protection fault crashes of clients on a server with many mutators, the advice was to run the game in Windows XP compatibility mode, and to try a different renderer instead of Direct3D 9. One participant thought alt-tabbing out of the game also matters; another objected that he had minimized the game about 20 times without a crash (on older versions it often crashed this way).

Error "Out of memory"

The game cannot allocate enough memory.

Solutions:

  1. Close other programs using a lot of memory.
  2. Increase Windows page file size.
  3. Reduce graphics settings in the game.
  4. Check if you have enough RAM (minimum 2 GB recommended).

Error "Can't find package"

The game cannot find the necessary resource package.

Solutions:

  1. Clear game cache (see above).
  2. Verify game file integrity through Steam.
  3. Make sure all necessary files are in the game's System folder.

Error "Connection failed"

Unable to connect to the server.

Solutions:

  1. Check your internet connection.
  2. Make sure the firewall is not blocking the game.
  3. Check if ports are not occupied by other programs.
  4. Try connecting to another server.

Endless connecting: KillingFloor://IP/index.rom

If the game endlessly shows a line like KillingFloor://server_ip/index.rom whenever you try to join any server, delete the steam_appid.txt file in the game folder (killingfloor.ru forum, "KillingFloor://айпи_сервера/index.rom (неподключается к серверам)" thread; this fixed it for the thread starter without reinstalling his heavily modded game).

Freezing During Map Loading

The game freezes during map loading.

Solutions:

  1. Increase cache size in KillingFloor.ini (CacheSizeMegs parameter).
  2. Disable PreCaching (see Optimization).
  3. Make sure there is enough free disk space.
  4. Check if map files are not corrupted.

Error "Access violation"

Memory access error, usually related to corrupted files or conflicts.

Solutions:

  1. Verify game file integrity through Steam.
  2. Update graphics card drivers.
  3. Run the game as administrator.
  4. Temporarily disable antivirus during gameplay.

Error "Could not spawn a GUI Controller!" after Changing the Renderer

From the "разрещение экрана" ("screen resolution") thread on the killingfloor.ru forum: a player switched the video settings from Direct3D to the software renderer, after which the game crashed on launch with:

Could not spawn a GUI Controller!

A plain reinstall and a registry cleanup did not help at first. What helped was uninstalling the game, cleaning the registry by hand and installing it again. Another member advised checking that the graphics driver's 3D settings are set to "let the 3D application decide".

Broken Screenshots

From the "Проблема в создании скриншотов" ("Problem taking screenshots") thread on the killingfloor.ru forum: F9 screenshots came out garbled and PrintScreen gave a black screen. Changing the screen resolution in the game settings fixed it for the thread author. Deleting KillingFloor.ini was also suggested.

Error Prevention

Regular Maintenance

  • Periodically clear game cache.
  • Update graphics card drivers.
  • Verify game file integrity.
  • Delete old logs from the System folder.

Settings Optimization

  • Use graphics settings appropriate for your hardware.
  • Don't set too high values for CacheSizeMegs.
  • Regularly check KillingFloor.ini file for errors.

Getting Help

If the problem is not solved by the described methods:

  1. Check game logs in the System folder (files with .log extension).
  2. Describe the problem in detail, attaching screenshots of errors and logs.