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Psychonauts

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games
Psychonauts
Psychonauts cover
Developers
Double Fine Productions
macOS (OS X) Ryan C. Gordon
macOS (OS X) TransGaming Inc.
Linux Ryan C. Gordon
Publishers
Former Majesco Entertainment
Current Double Fine Productions
Microsoft Store Xbox Game Studios
Russia Buka Entertainment
Release dates
Windows April 26, 2005
macOS (OS X) (Cider) September 29, 2011
Linux May 31, 2012
macOS (OS X) April 23, 2013
Reception
Metacritic 87
IGDB 85
Taxonomy
Modes Singleplayer
Pacing Real-time
Perspectives Third-person
Controls Direct control
Genres Platform
Art styles Cartoon
Themes Supernatural
Series Psychonauts
Psychonauts on HowLongToBeat
Psychonauts on IGDB
Psychonauts guide on StrategyWiki
Psychonauts on MobyGames
Psychonauts on Wikipedia
Psychonauts
Psychonauts 2005
Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin 2018
Psychonauts 2 2021

General information

Psychopedia - Wiki
Double Fine Action Forums - Psychonauts
GOG.com Community Discussions
GOG.com Support Page
Steam Community Discussions

Availability

A demo version is available.

Essential improvements

Patches

Patch 1.04 is available for the retail version.

Skip intro videos

Delete/rename video files[citation needed]
  1. Go to <path-to-game>\WorkResource\cutscenes\prerendered
  2. Delete or rename DFLogo.bik and (if necessary) MajescoLogo.bik

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
Windows <path-to-game>\[Note 1]
Microsoft Store %LOCALAPPDATA%\Psychonauts\
macOS (OS X) ~/Library/Application Support/Psychonauts/
Linux $XDG_DATA_HOME/Psychonauts/
AudioSettings.ini stores audio settings.
DisplaySettings.ini stores video settings.
This game follows the XDG Base Directory Specification on Linux.

Save game data location

System Location
Windows <path-to-game>\Profiles\[Note 1]
Microsoft Store %LOCALAPPDATA%\Psychonauts\Profiles\
macOS (OS X) ~/Library/Application Support/Psychonauts/Profiles/
Linux $XDG_DATA_HOME/Psychonauts/Profiles/

Save game cloud syncing

System Native Notes
GOG Galaxy
Steam Cloud
Save game files are not cross-platform compatible.
Xbox Cloud

Video

In-game video settings.
In-game video settings.

Widescreen resolution

Fix the HUD, menu, and FMV stretching from 4:3[2]

Install Psychonauts Widescreen Fix.

Set custom resolution[3]
  1. Go to the installation folder.
  2. Open DisplaySettings.ini (or create if it does not already exist).
  3. Add or modify the following text to the desired resolution:
[DisplaySettings]
ScreenWidth=1920
ScreenHeight=1080

Borderless fullscreen windowed

Run in borderless mode
  1. Install Psychonauts Widescreen Fix.
  2. Go to the installation folder.
  3. Create a new file named wndmode.ini.

High frame rate

FPS over 120 may significantly affect physics; doors may open slower, trampolines are less effective, and Raz may not grab onto poles or dismount ladders without issue.[4][5] Capping framerate can help issues.


Limit the Framerate to 60FPS[citation needed]
Enable vsync in the graphics options and set refresh rate on 60hz.

Input

In-game key map settings.
In-game key map settings.
In-game general control settings.
In-game general control settings.
In-game camera settings.
In-game camera settings.

Keyboard and mouse State Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
Cannot be disabled.
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
Native XInput support for all platforms. Install Patch 1.04 for the retail version.
Full controller support
Does not work in options menu.
Controller remapping
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion
Controller types
XInput-compatible controllers
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration
PlayStation controllers
See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Generic/other controllers
Additional information
Button prompts
For Dualshock 4 button prompts See Dualshock 4 Button Prompts mod or 2021 HD AI Upscale
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
See Haptic feedback.
Digital movement supported
Simultaneous controller+KB/M
Mouse aiming can't be used if controller is enabled (Windows only).

Haptic feedback

Set controller vibration[citation needed]
  1. Launch the game and create a profile if not done already.
  2. Go to <path-to-game>\Profiles.
  3. Go into the appropriate Profile # folder.
  4. Open the .ini file with a text editor.
  5. Change EnableRumble=false to EnableRumble=true.
  6. Save the changes.

Dualshock 4 Button Prompts mod

Replaces all (Xbox) input prompts with Dualshock 4 prompts without requiring a separate texture injection program
Only the face button prompts are stylized to match how the original prompts were, the rest are standard DS4 prompts

Audio

In-game audio settings.
In-game audio settings.

Audio feature State Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound
Remove OPENAL32.DLL in game folder; otherwise, it's 2.0 stereo.[citation needed] HRTF with OpenAL Soft library.
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Game pauses on focus lost.
EAX support
Change UseEAX to true in AudioSettings.ini

HRTF

May cause crashes during certain boss fights. Revert file for the fight and then restore after completion.
Use OpenAL Soft
  1. Download the OpenAL Soft binary from here.
  2. Open the downloaded zip file and extract soft_oal.dll from openal-soft-<version>-bin.zip\openal-soft-<version>-bin\bin\Win32.
  3. Rename soft_oal.dll to OpenAL32.dll.
  4. Replace the OPENAL32.dll in <path-to-game> with the extracted dll.

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
French
German
Italian
Fan translation, download.
Polish
Fan translation, download.
Brazilian Portuguese
Fan translation, download.
Russian
Local retail release only. Patch for digital release here.
Spanish
Fan translation, download.

VR support

3D modes State Notes
vorpX
G3D
Officially supported game, see official vorpx game list.

Issues unresolved

Smart camera option does not work

The smart (automatic) camera stays on, even if you disable it in the game options or through the game's configuration files.[6]

Thermometer bar in wrong location

When using widescreen resolutions, occasionally the 'thermometer' bar for Pyrokinesis will be displayed at the outer-edge of the screen rather than near the targeted object/creature. There are no known fixes to this bug.

Linux version differences

Mouse movement in this game feels entirely different from Windows (no zigzags, smoother; Likely no mouse acceleration).

Fullscreen issues

Fullscreen settings may require the player to disable and enable fullscreen in-game each time the game runs.[citation needed]

Issues fixed

Game uses incorrect refresh rate

The game may default to the lowest supported refresh rate of the monitor.
Override refresh rate with dgVoodoo
  1. Download the latest release of dgVoodoo.
  2. Copy \MS\x86\D3D9.dll, dgVoodoo.conf, and dgVoodooCpl.exe to the game folder.
  3. Open dgVoodooCpl.exe, and enable Enumerate refresh rates.
  4. In the DirectX tab, use the resolution selector combo box to set the desired hertz.
  5. Disable dgVoodoo Watermark to turn off the dgVoodoo logo during rendering.
Override refresh rate with D3Dx
  1. Download D3Dx by Chiri.
  2. Copy d3d9.dll and d3dx.ini to the game folder.
  3. Open d3dx.ini.
  4. Change refresh_rate=60 to desired hertz; e.g. refresh_rate=120.

Object flickering on AMD hardware

All AMD drivers after moving from Catalyst to Crimson (16.1) cause objects to flicker constantly, rendering the game almost unplayable.
Modify Game's Crimson Profile[citation needed]
  1. Right-click your desktop and click "AMD Radeon Settings".
  2. Under the Gaming tab, find or create Psychonauts' profile.
  3. Change the anti-aliasing method of Psychonauts to "Adaptive Multisampling" and apply.

Crashing

Use compatibility mode[7]
NOTE: This may still cause the game to crash if using Reshade.
  1. Run the game in compatibility mode for Windows 95.
  2. If the game still crashes then run the game in compatibility mode for Windows 98/ME instead.
Exit Rivatuner Statistics Server[citation needed]
  1. Despite not having an actual profile with the program, using RTSS while simultaneously running Psychonauts can cause crashing after the first introductory cutscene of the game.
Disable various in-game overlays[8]
  1. Disable any in-game overlays for the game, such as the Steam overlay, GOG Galaxy's overlay, etc.

Crash with 0xc0000005 error message

May be caused by a corrupted/damaged game profile.
Delete save game profile[citation needed]
  1. Delete or move the affected profile under <path-to-game>\Profiles\Profile #.
  2. Start the game and create a new profile.
Copy save game files to a new profile[citation needed]
  1. Start the game and create a new profile.
  2. Copy all save files from the old profile and paste them into the new one (if saves still do not appear or the test profile shows as damaged then copy and paste one save file at a time to ensure any data is still left).
Only the autosave and first save seem to carry over.

Graphics error preventing startup

Error: "The game was unable to find a 32bpp display mode supported by your system in which to run. Your video card and monitor must minimally support 640x480x32bpp."

Create displaysettings.ini[citation needed]
  1. Create a file named displaysettings.ini in the installation folder.
  2. Insert the following into said file:
  3. [DisplaySettings]
    ScreenWidth=640
    ScreenHeight=480
    FullScreen=true
    VSync=true
    FSAA=true
    FSFX=true
    AdvancedShading=true
    Shadows=true
    GammaCorrection=1.000000
  4. Change ScreenWidth and ScreenHeight to the desired display resolution.

Windows 8.1/10 black screen on startup / Freezes loading screen

Use compatibility mode[citation needed]

Run the game in Windows 95 compatibility mode.

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
Direct3D 9
OpenGL 2.0 OS X and Linux only.
Shader Model support 2
Executable 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows
macOS (OS X)
[9] Two versions exist: the Cider version released in 2011 by TransGaming Inc, which is a Wine wrapper in an app; and the 2013 native version by Ryan C. Gordon.
Most digital outlets post-2015 sell the native version, but not all.[citation needed]
Linux

Middleware

Middleware Notes
Audio OpenAL
Cutscenes Bink Video

2021 HD AI Upscale and Cutscenes

Upscales the UI textures for HD.
Upscales the FMVs to 1080p or 4K, increasing the file size by 5 GB or 26 GB respectively.[10]
Requires the widescreen patch in general while the texture portion is handled by uMod.
While the dialog portraits were originally just renders of the ingame models, this mod upscales them to look more painterly.
Features an optional texture pack for replacing Xbox Prompts with Playstation ones.
Said Playstation Prompts pack only replaces the face buttons, for a more complete (but lower resolution) option see Dualshock 4 Button Prompts mod
As of now the AI upscaled Lungfishopolis intro cutscene accidentally lacks audio.

System requirements

Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 98 SE
Processor (CPU) Intel Pentium III 1.0 GHz
AMD Athlon 1.0 GHz
System memory (RAM) 256 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 4 GB
Video card (GPU) Nvidia GeForce 3
ATI Radeon 8500
64 MB of VRAM
DirectX 9.0c compatible
macOS (OS X)
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 10.6.8
Processor (CPU) Intel Core Duo
System memory (RAM) 2 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 4 GB
Video card (GPU) ATI Radeon X1600
Nvidia GeForce 8600GT
Intel HD 3000
128 MB of VRAM
Linux
Minimum
Operating system (OS)
Processor (CPU) 2.0 GHz
System memory (RAM) 2 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 4 GB
Video card (GPU) 128 MB of VRAM
OpenGL 2.1 compatible


Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMDATA%, or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).

References