Tips for those experiencing crash to desktop issues...

[ChaoticInfinityX]

Whether playing the custom map or spawning in as a special infected, L4D2 has the habit of crashing at the worst times. I've done a few things to my own game after getting fed up and I haven't had any crashes or disconnects (unless the servers themselves were reset) in a few weeks now.

 

For the custom map, the consensus has been that disabling addons is usually enough to get it working.

 

For overall performance improvements, what I've done on my own system is the following:

- Disabled all addons (except custom maps if you're playing on those nights)

- Disable mutlicore rendering and Anti-aliasing in video settings.

- Add -lv to launch options (Right click L4D2, Properties, Launch Options) Please note: This removes all gore from the game

 

If that's not enough, here's the link to steam forums post with other steps you can take if you're having other problems: http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1029427

 

Hope it helps.

Edited August 10, 2014 by ChaoticInfinityX

[crasx]

Thanks! I need to check this out when I get my pc back, I had random crashes on l4d2

[oakgyrl510]

already did those things long ago. no work. I just deal. lol

[VladPiranha]

As I understand it, Realtek audio drivers will also cause problems and there isn't much you can do about that.  The best you can do is hope that they aren't the source of your crashes.

[scubiedoobie]

Word of caution: disabling Multicore rendering might be more detrimental than it is advantageous, specifically for those who have computers advanced enough to use all their cores (any computer made after 2005 really). I made up the year obviously, but if you know your computer has multi-cores, it's best to keep this feature enabled.

[ChaoticInfinityX]

Word of caution: disabling Multicore rendering might be more detrimental than it is advantageous, specifically for those who have computers advanced enough to use all their cores (any computer made after 2005 really). I made up the year obviously, but if you know your computer has multi-cores, it's best to keep this feature enabled.

 

Generally the case, but this game doesn't optimize multicore usage as well as more recent games do. Not saying it will work for everyone, but I haven't CtD in weeks since making the changes on my machine and I've had a more consistent framerate while playing too.