After trying to work with other users to help them resolve issues with crashing, I've since realized that DSFix may not be for everyone. Many other users have reported issues with 16:10 displays, security and directory problems, and AMD or ATI graphics card users. Very sorry for the inconvenience to everyone not able to use DSFix; I'm no miracle worker, but i still want to help each and every person as best I can! Even if you don't solve your problem, I still want to help you guys out!

For people using 16:10 monitors, DSFix may crash your game, even if you've followed the Guide to set the in-game resolution equal to the values in DSFix. One user said that vanilla Dark Souls worked perfectl fine until installing DSFix. If you are using a 16:10 monitor, and wish to use DSFix, use it at your own risk! Ok so one user said he had issues when using a 16:10 display, but it turned out not to be a monitor-related issue. Still, just keep that in mind if you're using a a monitor other than 16:9!

For people using AMD or ATI graphics cards, you may want to think twice about unlocking the framerate with DSFix; one user reported that as soon as he would unlock the Framerate, he would get kicked off of Online Play and would instead be forced to play Offline due to a "Framerate Insufficient for Online Play" error. He was still able to play perfectly fine in Offline Mode, but Online Mode is out of the question. If you are an AMD or ATI user, then please use the "unlockFPS" command at your own risk!

For people using any kind of Razor software, it is highly recommended that you disable ALL of your software related to Razor. Frankly, I don't have a clue what kind of software it is, but one user reported that Dark Souls suddenly worked prefectly a soon as he disabled or uinstalled ALL of this Razor-related software. If you are using Razor software, please diable it or uninstall if necessary!

For people using Windows 10, you shouldn't experience any major game-breaking bugs, although it is certainly not out of the question that you may run into minor W10 annoyances. For example, this program i use to make my PS4 controller playable with PC games, called InputMapper, wasn't working properly, so i had to swap back to my crappy wired Xbox 360 controller before i eventually uninstalled Windows 10 (it caused multiple hard-crashes for me as well). If you're using Windows 10, don't worry about major problems, just keep in mind you may run into minor stuff like this!


A lot of users have had issues with Windows Firewall causing Dark Souls to crash. Not only should you double-check to make sure that Dark Souls is on the exception list for DEP, but also check other Windows programs like EMET, which automatically puts everything under caution for Windows Firewall (...something like that :P). If the game instantly crashes without any warning, doesn't load, etc. then check Windows Firewall and other Windows programs and make sure that Dark Souls is an excpetion for Windows Firewall

Dark Souls' in-game Anti-Aliasing option causes a wide variety of problems regarding the renderDisplay (more on that later though). Also, if the in-game resolution option is not equal to the one you're going to input into the DSFix Text Document, then be sure to change that as well.

Anyways, to disable AA, launch the game in vanlilla form, go to PC Settings, and set "Anti-Aliasing" to "OFF".


However, the catch is is that Dark Souls HATES monitors that arne't exactly 60 Hz (or at least have 60 Hz compatibility). Ironic considering that it is capped at 30 FPS by default...

If you experience crashes when loading the PC Settings menu in-game, all i can suggest is to hook up your PC to another monitor that is 60 Hz comaptible That was the only way i was able to get into the PC Settings menu on my oddjob monitor :/ if i remember correctly, there is an option to change your monitor's refresh rate to a lower value in the Window Control Center. The link below i to a Microsoft Support page detailing how to set your monitor's refresh rate manually:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/311403

Also, be sure to check any external tools such as MSI Afterburner or Lightboost that my be altering your monitor's resolution and refresh rate; remember, if your monitor isnt set to 60hz, then the PC Settings menu will most likely crash!

Below are examples of the crap i had to put up with when Anti-Aliasing was enabled with my specific setup:

http://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=474821305
http://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=534338469

Download DSFix from NexusMod here:

http://www.nexusmods.com/darksouls/mods/19/?

After you have downloaded and extracted the files, you should have these files in your extracted folder:


Then, drag and drop these files as they are into the "DATA" folder (same directory as the "DARKSOULS.exe" launcher).Your Dark Souls directory should look something like this:

Follow this step VERY carefully, as this is the most critical part of installing DSFix!

Open up the "DSFix.ini" text document and edit the following options:

Set your "presentWidth" and "presentHeight" to your monitor's native resolution; same for the "renderWidth" and "renderHeight", I.e. If you're looking to run at 1080p, set both "presentWidth" and "renderWidth" to "1920", etc.

PLEASE NOTE! IF THE IN-GAME RESOLUTION OPTION IS NOT EQUAL TO THE VALUES YOU PUT INTO THE RESOLUTION WILLIST ALSO FORCING FULLSCREEN, THE GAME WILL IMMEDIATELY CRASH! If you aren't able to access the in-game PC Seetings menu, then just set the resolution values to 720p for the time being (Width = 1280, Height = 720), as that is usually what the game defaults to.


This one is very simple: set the "unlockFPS" value to "1" and set "FPSlimit" to "60". This is not a user-by-user or something that needs to be adjusted per user, as setting the FPSlimit higher than 60 causes issues with the engine, such as physics (ragdlls, broken objects, etc.) and collision detection. The text document even warns against sliding down ladders when the framerate is unlocked, although it only has to do with colliding with enemies; sliding down a ladder normally without hitting enemies does not affect the movement, only if you touch an enemy on the way down can it lead to iffy side effects. Nothing game-breaking, but keep that in mind!

Again, AMD and ATI users, use this at your own risk if you wish to play Online!

This setting is EXTREMEMLY important! Set the "fullscreenHz" value to whatever your monitor is, I.e. most people use a 60 Hz monitor, so if you're unsure as what your monitor's refresh rate is, then leave it at 60 for now and find out later. Others have reported that the game crashes on 144hz monitors if they set it to that, so just leave it at 60hz for the time being. Very sorry for the inconvienience.

In the meantime, try changing the monitor's refresh rate and see if you can set it to 60hz. Here is a step-by-step process om Microsoft's Support Page:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/311403

After messing around with these options, feel free to adjust some of the graphical enhancements! I haven't tried any of these yet, so I cannot tell you if they make a difference or create other problems with the game.

Please Note: Dark Souls is NOT very well optimized on PC. The PS3 and Xbox 360 versions were only optimized to run at 30 FPS, and thererfore the PC version doesn't contain any additional optimization to help the game run at a higher framerate than 30. If you get huge drops or aren't able to hit 60 FPS at all times, then it is NOT your fault! Just keep in mind that this PC port was a rushed port and doesn't run very well at all!

Now that Dark Souls is functional on PC, you shouldn't have anymore major issues to deal with in terms of technical problems that plauge the PC version.

If you're still having issues, please leave a comment about the issue, and I will look into it more. I know that the in-game Anti-Aliasing causes some graphical hiccups, but for some users like me, it is impossible to turn it off in-game, as the PC Settings menu inexplicably crashes for some people like me... so yeah :/ Perhaps I will update this guide later with more tips and hints on tweak DSFix.ini, as not one type of setup works for everyone.

But until then, I hope this gude helps out at least one other person, as I was ♥♥♥♥ out of luck and had to figure it all out on my own. This PC port is attrocious at best, and requires patience and the best Modding Community out there to get it to work properly.

Thanks to user Smoinstein for posting this information about running DSFix on Steam Deck:

If you are running DSFix on Linux/Steam Deck, do this extra step:
Right click on the game in steam and open its properties. In the general tab (should be selected by default), paste this in "Launch Options":

WINEDLLOVERRIDES="dinput8.dll=n,b" %command%