Questions answered below:

-The game does not start, how can I fix this?
-Alt+tab crashes the game, how can I fix this?
-I can't play online at all, how can I fix this?
-What can I do about network errors and high ping?
-How to get the best matchmaking
-How can I get better framerate and solve hickups?
-What is the difference between High, Medium and Low graphics quality?
-What is VSync?
-How are rankings in the Leaderboards calculated?
-I dropped a lot in the Leaderboards when I lost only one match, why?
-Why did I drop in the Leaderboards without even playing?
-How can I report a cheater or hacker?
-[Mac] Retina display issues
-[Mac] How to enable Xbox 360 Controller support on Mac
-[Mac] Crash on startup and errors about modified files
-[Mac] Steam Overlay not opening
-[Mac] Game often crashes after several matches
-[Linux] Crash on startup or black screen
-I have another problem, what should I do?

The game does not start, how can I fix this?

This can have all kinds of causes. Here are a number of things to try:

A. The files might have been broken by Steam while downloading. So the first thing to do when there are problems is always to let Steam check the files. To do so, right click the game in the Steam menu, choose Properties, go to the Local files tab and click Verify integrity of Steam cache. It is okay if the game says it needed to redownload 1 file.

B. Try switching between DirectX and OpenGL (this is an option in the startup menu).

C. Try switching between running Windowed and Full Screen, and try a couple of different resolutions.

D. Try running on Low graphics quality. Some older videocards (especially Intel cards) can only run the game on Low. Even if you have a newer card, just try this to see whether it makes a difference.

E. Steam might not have triggered the installer correctly, so try running its parts by hand. To do so go to either C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam or C:\Program Files\Steam and run these three files:
Steam\steamapps\common\awesomenauts\Data\VCRedist\vcredist_x86.exe
Steam\steamapps\common\awesomenauts\Data\VCRedist\vcredist_x86 2010.exe
Steam\steamapps\common\awesomenauts\Data\DirectXRedist\DXSETUP.exe

F. If you have it: try turning off Nvidia Surround (Nvidia's multimonitor system).

G. Update your drivers. Incomplete drivers are the most important cause of problems with Awesomenauts. Windows Vista/7/8 might tell you the drivers are up to date, but Windows automatically downloads an incomplete version of your drivers. To get the complete drivers, download them yourself from the website of Nvidia, AMD/ATI or Intel.

H. If none of these steps solve your problem, then please post a topic about it here on the forums and send us both your log-files, so that we can help you find a solution. Here is how to get/send logs.

Alt+tab crashes the game, how can I fix this?

This is a rare issue with videocard drivers on Windows. If you happen to get this, switch between DirectX and OpenGL (you can select these in the Awesomenauts launcher). In all cases we have seen so far, the alt+tab crashes only happened in one of those and switching fixed it.

I can't play online at all, how can I fix this?

A. Set Awesomenauts to be trusted in your firewall / antivirus applications.

B. If that doesn't help. Uninstall all your firewall and antivirus applications. Disable windows firewall. Reboot your PC and try playing Awesomenauts again. If that works, reinstall your firewall, test Awesomenauts. If it's still working reinstall the antivirus, test Awesomenauts. And if it's still working enable the windows firewall and test again.

C. If your operating system MTU setting is set below 1200 you won't be able to play Awesomenauts online. This explains how to change your MTU in Windows.

What can I do about network errors and high ping?

Network errors happen when either you or your opponent have network trouble. If you get lots of network errors, then it is probably your own internet that is problematic.

A. This often happens because someone else in the same house is also using your internet connection. Make sure no one is doing heavy downloading on the same connection while you are playing.

B. The easiest solution we have seen, is to uninstall Adobe Air. When Adobe Air is installed, it sometimes introduces insane lag to the game. This also sometimes happens to other games (DotA 2, League of Legends), and several users have confirmed that uninstalling Adobe Air fixed massive lag problems for them.

C. Turn off other programs that use bandwidth, like Skype, Spotify and Youtube. For example, Skype even uses a lot of bandwidth when you are not actually chatting with anyone. You should only use online services like Skype, Spotify and Youtube while gaming if you have a strong internet connection. Turn them off if you are getting regular network errors and see whether that helps.

D. In most other cases, this is a router problem and can be solved by opening certain ports. Here is an explanation of how to do that: How to configure your network for best online play.

E. Another thing to check, is whether your firewall is blocking Awesomenauts. Steam seems to have some tricks that allow playing online even while the game itself is blocked, but this gives you really bad connection quality. The Windows firewall message might be up in the background while you are running Awesomenauts.

F. If you are on a wireless network try switching to wired. Wireless networks can be very unstable.

G. If you reallyreallyreally cannot switch from wireless to wired, check whether any objects might be interfering. For example, we have received reports from players who had bad network connections in Awesomenauts when they also used their wireless headphones at the same moment. Try turning off other wireless devices and see whether that decreases your connection problems.

H. If you are only having connection problems when playing "Quick Match" or "Battle" check "How to get the best matchmaking" below.

I. Very low framerate can affect the network performance. When the framerate is very low the game has extra delay in sending and handling network packets. The topic How can I get better framerate? below might be useful.

J. If this does not help, then please create a topic about it here on the forum and send us both your log-files. Be sure to check your pings and post those! You have a separate ping to each player in the match and you can see those in the scoreboard (press TAB to open that). Here is how to get/send logs.

How to get the best matchmaking

A. Select the matchmaking search area in game: Help & Options -> Settings -> Matchmaking Search Area.
By default this is set to "Same or nearby region". For most players this is the best setting because this will find quite a few games with decent latency. If you are having many latency issues and if you have checked the topic "What can I do about network errors and high ping?" and you are sure your network is setup correctly you could set it to "Same region only". Now you will find less games, but the ping to the host of the games that are found should be better. If you are living in a place where not many players are playing Awesomenauts, or if you just can't find any matches, it might be a good idea to set the area to "Half-way around the globe".

B. Select the correct region in Steam: Steam -> Settings -> Downloads + Cloud -> Download region Set the region to your region or the region closest to you. The region that is set, is used as the primary region to search for in the matchmaker. If you are living in a place where not many players are playing Awesomenauts, or if you just can't find any matches you could set the region to a different region than your own. You could set it to a nearby region where more players are active.

C. If you tried everything without success. Please send us your log files. Here is how to get/send logs.


How can I get better framerate and solve hickups?

Awesomenauts plays best on 60fps (frames per second). If you are having lots of hickups, try turning off MultiThreading. For most players this is not an improvement, but for some older computers it is a big improvement. If your computer is not fast enough to achieve high framerate, try running on Medium graphics quality. After that, the biggest framerate improvement you can get is running on a lower resolution. If the framerate is still not good enough at that point, try running on Low graphics quality.

What is the difference between High, Medium and Low graphics quality?

High is how the game is intended to be played. However, if your computer is a bit older, then you can switch to Medium or Low graphics quality. Here is what these change:

-High: full graphics quality, everything looks best.

-Medium: backgrounds are flattened and don't have any depth any more, and are less sharp.

-Low: same as medium, but now textures are also half the resolution and there are no post effects (so no greyscale when you die and no colour effects when you are in stealth as Leon). Low graphics quality is our special compatibility mode for older videocards, like the Intel 960. These videocards don't support non-power-of-two textures and/or rendering to textures.

What is VSync?

VSync makes the game run at the exact same framerate as the monitor. This makes the game look most fluent and prevents ugly screen-tearing effects (horizontal lines in the screen). Most modern monitors run at 60fps (frames per second), but some people prefer to run on a much higher framerate. To do so, disable VSync. When you have a fast computer and have disabled VSync, the game might run on 200fps or more. This does not look any more fluent, because your monitor cannot show this, but to some players the controls feel slightly more reactive and fast on the higher framerate.

How are rankings in the Leaderboards calculated?

Our ranking algorithm is more complex than simply looking at the win percentage. We use an algorithm called Trueskill, which is a more advanced version of ELO. What we do is very similar to most other games. If you lose a match, you lose points in your ranking. How many points you lose, depends on the rankings of you, your team-mates and your opponents. If you lose against someone who has a much lower ranking than you, then you lose a lot of points. If you lose against someone who has a much higher ranking, then you don't loose as many points.

We punish leavers. We track how many matches every player actually finishes. If you leave a match before it ends, you lose ranking. This also happens if you have a network error, since we cannot see the difference between a real network error, and someone unplugging their network cable to avoid a loss. So leaving just before you lose is not a good idea for your ranking!

Kills don't matter. It is all about winning or losing a match. This way support heroes and players who focus on destroying turrets instead of killing players don't have a disadvantage.

I dropped a lot in the Leaderboards when I lost only one match, why?

If you have a very high ranking and you lose against an opponent who has a really low ranking, then you might lose a lot of points in a single match. Basically, pros should make sure they don't lose against n00bs.

Why did I drop in the Leaderboards without even playing?

Other people also play the game and they might have passed you in the Leaderboards.

How can I report a cheater or hacker?

By sending us an email. Please check here for the address and what to send us: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3480

[Mac] Retina display issues

If your game appears stretched please check the following option in the System Preferences menu:
Energy saver > uncheck automatic graphic switching

Also, it appears there is a problem where our launcher is choosing a resolution too big for your retina screen to properly show the game. Always make sure to choose your screen's native resolution.

On 13": 2560-by-1600
On 15": 2880-by-1800

[Mac] How to enable Xbox 360 Controller support on Mac

You will need to install a special driver to make the Xbox 360 Controller work on Mac. There are various drivers available for this, below are links to two examples that users have reported worked for them. Just download and install one and if it does not work, uninstall it and try the other:

http://xhd.sourceforge.net
http://tattiebogle.net/index.php/Projec ... river#toc1

Awesomenauts on Mac has not been configured specifically for the Xbox360 controller so you may need to do some small changes in the controls screen for your gamepad!

[Mac] Crash on startup and errors about modified files

Try Steam's "Verify Integrity Of Steam Cache" option on the game. This checks whether all files downloaded correctly and re-downloads them if needed.

[Mac] Steam Overlay not opening

On some Macs we have seen the Steam Overlay (activated with SHIFT-TAB) not activated properly. If you see this problem occur, please restart Awesomenauts.

[Mac] Game often crashes after several matches

We are still investigating this issue, but it seems like someone actually found a solution for this one. Please try the solution suggested here and reply in that topic with whether it helped: viewtopic.php?f=13&t=9209

[Linux] Crash on startup or black screen

This might be because of driver problems. Awesomenauts is a 32bit only game and if you use the propriatary nvidia or ati drivers you need to ensure the their 32bit OpenGL drivers are installed as well.

I have another problem, what should I do?

Create a post describing your problem here on the forum and we will try to help you as soon as possible! Other users might also be able to help you. Please give as much relevant info as you can, so that we can answer your question quickly. If relevant, please also send us your log-files. Here's how to get/send logs: viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2223