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PROTOTYPE 2

PROTOTYPE 2 > Guides > Petal's Guides
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How to fix Prototype 2 black screen and crashing on startup
By Petal
A short guide on how to make this amazing game work on Windows 10.

Contains other tips.
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Petal
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Category: Achievements, Characters, Classes, Co-op, Crafting, Game Modes, Gameplay Basics, Loot, Maps or Levels, Modding or Configuration, Multiplayer, Secrets, Story or Lore, Trading, Walkthroughs, Weapons, Workshop
Languages: English
Posted
Updated
30 Jun, 2021 @ 2:23pm
1 Jul, 2021 @ 12:55pm
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134 Current Favorites
Guide Index
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Main
Step one:
- Open device manager
- Find "Human Interface Devices"
- Disable "HID-compliant consumer control device" in Human Interface Devices (if multiple are present, disable the first one from the top)
I suggest re-enabling this device once you close the game, but disable it each time you want to play again.

Step two:
- Locate your Prototype 2 directory (D:\Steam\steamapps\common\Prototype 2 by default)
- Find "prototype2.exe", right click on it and choose "Properties" (it's on the bottom)
- Navigate to the "Compatibility" tab in the menu
- Find "Compatibility Mode", check "Run this program in compatibility mode for:" and choose "Windows 7" from the list
- Press "Apply", then "OK"

Enjoy the game!
If you still encounter issues, try verifying the integrity of your game's files.

Optional:
- Check "Disable full-screen optimisations" under "Compatibility" in the properties menu

Additional tips:
- Run the game with V-Sync turned ON
- Locate Prototype 2 in your Steam library, right click on it, open "Properties..." and type "resolution=1920x1080@60" in "LAUNCH OPTIONS" (use any resolution you want, but always use 60 at the end)

The game engine does not function properly if the frame rate exceeds 60 FPS. Mouse movement becomes jittery and the game will stutter. You should limit your frame rate to 60 by using V-Sync or other frame rate limiting methods and software.


Have fun hunting down Alex Mercer!
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41 Comments
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e.chavez331 30 May @ 5:55am 
Update for window 11 you leave the hid on and you go to the .exe file and left click go to the capability tab and scroll to windows 95. That is ironically the only way to run it on windows 11.
FuzzForBrains 10 May @ 6:43am 
UPDATE: Just want to add that it works for Prototype 1 (for me at least)

Again hope this helps
FuzzForBrains 9 May @ 1:11pm 
Also keep in mind you still may need the Prototype2Fix installed for this to work even though it may not work on its own, I did.

You can get it here: https://www.nexusmods.com/prototype2/mods/42
FuzzForBrains 9 May @ 1:03pm 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dt-hrX5uoo

some how I screwed up the links so heres the one for the video that helped, the other links you need are in the description of the linked video. Sorry about that
FuzzForBrains 9 May @ 12:30pm 
Method 15: Change Virtual Memory Settings

1. Search in the windows bar for "View Advanced System Settings" and click on it.

2. A pop up window will appear that says "System Properties" (should be opened to the advanced tab), Click on Settings under "Performance"

3. Another pop up window will appear saying "Performance Options", click on the "Advanced" tab and click on "Change" under "Virtual Memory"

4. In "Virtual Memory" click on "Custom Size" and type these numbers.

Initial size (MB): "24576" (without quotes)
Maximum size (MB): "49152" ((If you have 16GB of RAM) this was mentioned in the video relating to L4D2 so I am unaware if this matters for Prototype 2)

5.Then press OK and restart your PC

Thats it, hopefully this works and helps you get it running after nothing else worked.
FuzzForBrains 9 May @ 12:30pm 
Method 14: Install Visual C++
(https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/windows/latest-supported-vc-redist?view=msvc-170)
I had already did this before but I figured it couldn't hurt doing a repair on both (X64 and X86).
(https://aka.ms/vs/17/release/vc_redist.x64.exe)
(https://aka.ms/vs/17/release/vc_redist.x86.exe)
FuzzForBrains 9 May @ 12:29pm 
Not sure if this helps but I gave up on getting this game to run and moved on to L4D2 (which was also crashing on startup) and see if I had any luck there. I got it running after watching a video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dt-hrX5uoo) with a bunch of fixes to try, so I decided to try opening Prototype 2 to see if it would boot fully expecting nothing to happen but to my surprise it worked! The only 2 methods that I believe worked are #14 and #15.
TheFoxMan94 22 Feb @ 10:47am 
the game doesn't load up at all for me I press a on my controller and loads up for a sec then boom crash.
firefrog 22 Feb @ 6:49am 
Alright, I rated your "guide" - negatively, because it didn't work, but mainly because you're a know-it-all piece of work who thinks just because this worked for you, it HAS to work for everyone else despite knowing nothing about their rig and assuming they're all doing it wrong and are dumb, whereas you're the smartest person to ever have existed.
Voyager2 1 Dec, 2024 @ 9:54am 
Dec 1, 2024 - Followed all instructions and unfortunately does not work. But thanks for the effort/attempt.