<header class="guide-hero"> <h1>Troubleshooting & Performance</h1> <p class="lede"> Napoleon: Total War is a 2010 game running on modern Windows, so the usual gremlins appear: crashes on launch, graphics stuck on Medium, sound drop-outs and slow battles. These are the fixes players report most often. </p></header><section> <h2>A pre-troubleshooting checklist</h2> <p> Before diving into specific fixes, run through the basics — most "broken" installs are one of these. Update your graphics drivers. Confirm the Definitive Edition is fully downloaded and not mid-patch. Close overlay and recording software that hooks the game executable. And launch once as administrator so the game can write its preferences and cache files. If the problem survives all four, move on to the specific fixes below. </p></section><section> <h2>Game won’t launch / crashes on start</h2> <ul> <li><strong>Run as administrator.</strong> Right-click the game → Properties → Compatibility → “Run this program as an administrator”.</li> <li><strong>Verify the files.</strong> In Steam: right-click the game → Properties → Installed Files → “Verify integrity of game files”.</li> <li><strong>Disable mods.</strong> A half-installed mod is the most common crash cause. Rename or empty the <code>data</code> mod folder and test vanilla.</li> <li><strong>Compatibility mode.</strong> Setting Windows XP (Service Pack 3) or Windows Vista compatibility can stop launch crashes on some systems.</li> </ul></section><section> <h2>Graphics stuck on Medium / Ultra locked</h2> <p> On many modern PCs the in-game options cap at Medium and the Ultra setting is greyed out. The workaround players use: </p> <ol> <li>Open <code>C:\Users\<you>\AppData\Roaming\The Creative Assembly\Napoleon\scripts\preferences.script.txt</code>.</li> <li>Find the graphics lines and raise them, e.g. <code>graphics_quality "ultra";</code>, <code>shadow_quality "ultra";</code>, <code>texture_filtering "ansi_max";</code>.</li> <li>Save the file and set it to <strong>read-only</strong> so the game can’t reset it on launch.</li> </ol> <p> For CPUs newer than ~11th-gen Intel (including 12th-gen+ hybrid cores), launch crashes are frequently fixed by limiting the game’s CPU affinity or using a community launcher flag — search your specific CPU if you still crash after the steps above. </p></section><section> <h2>Sound issues</h2> <ul> <li>Verify the game files (above) — corrupted audio is the usual culprit.</li> <li>Lower “Sound Quality” in options; the highest setting can stutter on some setups.</li> <li>Set the game’s sample rate to match your system, or try the “disable surround” option if you have no surround hardware.</li> </ul></section><section> <h2>Save games and cloud sync</h2> <p> If your saves vanish or fail to load, the usual cause is a conflict between Steam Cloud and a local save folder that has grown too large or corrupt. Disable Steam Cloud for the game temporarily, move your old saves out of the save folder, and let the game create a fresh one — then re-enable Cloud once a clean save exists. Also avoid keeping dozens of autosaves from different mods in the same folder; modded and vanilla saves do not always load cleanly into each other. </p></section><section> <h2>Controller and input</h2> <p> Napoleon is designed for mouse and keyboard, and many controllers are not natively mapped. If your inputs feel wrong or a device is being misread, unplug extra gamepads and steering wheels, and confirm the game is not picking up a disconnected controller as player one. For the campaign map, a mouse with a scroll wheel makes zooming and unit selection far smoother than trackpad input. </p></section><section> <h2>Install / download problems</h2> <ul> <li>Buy or install the <strong>Total War: NAPOLEON – Definitive Edition</strong> on Steam — it is the current build and bundles every DLC, so there is no separate “complete edition” to hunt for.</li> <li>If a download stalls, pause and resume, or clear the Steam download cache.</li> <li>Ensure ~21 GB of free space (the original minimum requirement) before installing.</li> </ul></section><section> <h2>Slow battles / low FPS</h2> <ul> <li>Drop “Unit Size” and “Vegetation” first — they cost the most FPS.</li> <li>Large 40-unit armies are heavy; the “large army” mods look great but hit performance.</li> <li>Turn off anti-aliasing and V-sync if you’re CPU-limited on an older machine.</li> </ul></section><section> <h2>Reinstalling without losing saves</h2> <p> If you need a clean reinstall, you do not have to sacrifice your campaigns. First, copy your save folder (under the game's AppData directory) to a safe location. Then uninstall through Steam and delete any leftover game folder. Reinstall, launch once to create a fresh save directory, then copy your old saves back in. If you use Steam Cloud, let it sync first so the cloud copy is current before you do anything, then disable Cloud during the reinstall if you want to control exactly which saves return. This sequence preserves both vanilla and modded saves as long as you keep them in separate folders. </p></section><section> <h2>Specific error messages</h2> <p> A few messages recur. A "script error" on launch usually points to a corrupt or half-installed mod — disable mods and verify files. A "failed to initialise" or black- screen on start is often the graphics-preferences lockout or a newer-CPU crash addressed above. A crash to desktop mid-battle is frequently unit-size or vegetation related, so dropping those settings is the first thing to try. In almost every case, the combination of "verify files, disable mods, run as administrator, fix the preferences file" resolves it; the remaining issues are hardware-specific and worth a forum post with your exact CPU and GPU listed. </p></section><section class="related"> <h2>Related</h2> <ul> <li><a href="/guides/editions/">Editions & DLC</a> — the current Definitive Edition build</li> <li><a href="/settings-help/">Setup & Help</a> — controls, language and options</li> <li><a href="/guides/cheats/">Cheats & Console Commands</a> — the <code>-enable_console</code> launch flag</li> </ul></section>