Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy

Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy

Developers
	Vicarious Visions
Windows	Iron Galaxy Studios
Publishers
	Activision
Engines
	Vicarious Visions Alchemy
Release dates
Windows	June 29, 2018
Reception
Metacritic	76
OpenCritic	80
IGDB	78
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Modes	Singleplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Third-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Platform
Art styles	Cartoon
Series	Crash Bandicoot

Crash Bandicoot
Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy	2018
Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time	2021
Crash Bandicoot (unofficial port)	2023

Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy is a singleplayer platform game developed by Vicarious Visions and published by Activision. It is part of the Crash Bandicoot series.

The game is a compilation of remakes of three Crash Bandicoot games, consisting of Crash Bandicoot, Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back and Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped. Originally released on PlayStation 4 on June 30, 2017, the game was ported to PC by Iron Galaxy Studios and released on June 29, 2018.

General information

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		Download-only; no disc is included in the physical box.
Microsoft Store		Included with Xbox Game Pass for PC.
Steam
Humble Store (unavailable)

All versions except Microsoft Store require Steam DRM.

Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Modify intro video file
Go to <path-to-game>\archives\. Open bumper_atvi.bk2 with a text editor. Delete all contents, and save the file.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	%APPDATA%\Crash Bandicoot(TM) N. Sane Trilogy\
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/731490/pfx/

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	%APPDATA%\Crash Bandicoot(TM) N. Sane Trilogy\
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/731490/pfx/

Saves made before the July 23, 2018 update stored in %APPDATA%\Game\ aren't migrated to the new path.

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Steam Cloud		July 23, 2018 update changed where the save folder and file(s) are set up.
Xbox Cloud

Video

Graphics settings

Game settings

Graphics feature	State	Notes
Widescreen resolution		Anamorphic 16:9. Use Crash Bandicoot widescreen fix.
Multi-monitor		Anamorphic 16:9. Use Crash Bandicoot widescreen fix.
Ultra-widescreen		Anamorphic 16:9. Use Crash Bandicoot widescreen fix.
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		FXAA (Low/Medium/High)
Vertical sync (Vsync)		V-Sync will always be used regardless of the in-game setting, see High frame rate.
60 FPS		See High frame rate.
120+ FPS		See High frame rate.
High dynamic range display (HDR)		See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

High frame rate

The game does not feature a discrete FPS limiter but simulates one through the use of V-Sync and refreshing on the nth vertical blank of the display. The Max FPS and VSync are misnomers. Regardless of settings, V-Sync will always be used. What these settings control is the sync interval of V-Sync — on which nth refresh that a new frame from the game should be presented.

• When the VSync option is enabled, the game will dynamically engage and disengage the appropriate sync interval to keep the game locked to as close to 60 FPS as possible.
• When the VSync option is disabled, the Max FPS option will be populated with appropriate sync intervals that have the frame rate land between 30 and 60 FPS.
  • On a 60 Hz display the Max FPS option will be populated with 60 FPS (Sync Interval: 1) and 30 FPS (Sync Interval: 2)
  • On a 120 Hz display it will be 60 FPS (Sync Interval: 2) 40 FPS (Sync Interval: 3), and 30 FPS (Sync Interval: 4).
  • On a 144 Hz display it will be 48 FPS (Sync Interval: 3) and 36 FPS (Sync Interval: 4).
  • On a 175 Hz display it will be 58 FPS (Sync Interval: 3), 43 FPS (Sync Interval: 4), and 35 FPS (Sync Interval: 5).
  • On a 240 Hz display it will be 60 FPS (Sync Interval: 4), 48 FPS (Sync Interval: 5), 40 FPS (Sync Interval: 6), and 34 FPS (Sync Interval: 7).
  • And so on...
• Any sync interval higher than 1 makes the game illegible for variable refresh rate (VRR).

This can result in multiple different issues depending on the system, such as an extremely fluctuating frame rate, capping to arbitrary framerates, and constantly disengaging/reengaging VRR which itself can cause visual flickers on some displays.

Override sync interval with Special K

It is recommended to utilize the in-game windowed fullscreen mode for best results. Use Special K to force a specific sync interval. 0 disables V-Sync and unlocks the frame rate. 1 engages standard V-Sync at the current refresh rate. Enable Multitasking-On-Top to prevent the game window not staying on top at start. Notes: In fullscreen mode it is also necessary to override the refresh rate to prevent the game from running at 60 Hz. RefreshRate=0 won't work in this case, utilize a specific value instead. When using Special K with the in-game fullscreen mode, enabling its frame rate limiter will cause the game to freeze.

Cap the frame rate via the Nvidia Control Panel

Set Max Frame Rate at the desired value via the 3D Settings. Notes: It is recommended to set the game's max frame rate below the current refresh rate if intended to use it in conjunction with variable refresh rate (VRR) (e.g. 140 FPS on a 144 Hz resolution). This measure isn't needed when using the Override sync interval with Special K method since, once VRR engage, Nvidia Reflex will be applied and the frame rate will automatically be capped accordingly.

Alternative method to unlock the refresh rate in fullscreen mode

This will prevent the game being forced to 60 Hz while using fullscreen mode. Navigate to <path-to-game>. Right-click on CrashBandicootNSaneTrilogy.exe and select Properties. Open the Compatibility tab. Check Disable fullscreen optimizations and click OK. Notes: This will force the maximum available Hz resolution instead (e.g. 165 Hz signal on a 165 Hz monitor). It's suggested to utilize the Override sync interval with Special K method instead due to the VSync issues mentioned on High frame rate.

Disable fur

May increase the performance by a lot.

This mod isn't compatible with Special K.

Disable fur via Helix Mod
Download Crash Trilogy 3D Vision fix. Copy the files to the installation folder. Press F6 to disable any fur. Notes Change the value of Fur in d3dx.ini to 1 to let the mod disable it automatically at startup.

Input

Keyboard settings

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
Full controller support
Controller remapping		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration

PlayStation controllers
PlayStation button prompts
Light bar support
Adaptive trigger support
DualSense haptic feedback support
Connection modes	, Wired, Wireless (Bluetooth) Wireless Adaptor not working, V2 works with listed fix.

Generic/other controllers		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback		XInput only. Use Special K to disable it.
Digital movement supported
Simultaneous controller+KB/M		Rapidly changes button prompts

Restore native DualShock 4 V2 support

The game has native support for the DualShock 4 V1.

The game doesn't check for the DS4 V2 which has a different HWID.

Replace the DS4 V1's HWID
This requires the game executable to be unpacked of Steam DRM to work. Per PCGW policy, detailed instructions on how to do so can not be included. Open the unpacked CrashBandicootNSaneTrilogy.exe with a hex editor such as HxD. Search for the text string 05C4. Replace it with 09CC. Save changes and launch the executable.

Audio

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Music, Speech, SFX
Surround sound		7.1
Subtitles		Steam store page incorrectly claims to have subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Brazilian Portuguese				Translation.
Russian				1. Fan translation by «The Miracle» – text 2.1 «FaN&C» Family’s» – audio 2.2 «R.G. MVO» – audio
Slovak				Fan translation by Lokalizacie.sk including custom subtitles [1]
Spanish

VR support

3D modes	State	Notes
Nvidia 3D Vision		See Helix Mod: Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy.

Issues fixed

Game fails to launch, with 0xc0000005 exception code in the Windows Event Viewer

Disable DSR/VSR or connect to a lower resolution display.
The game will crash when enumerating resolutions that are too high on first launch, possibly those above 3840x2160. Disabling NVIDIA DSR or AMD VSR, or connecting to a lower resolution display should allow the game to start. Once the game has started for the first time, you can re-enable DSR/VSR or connect up your high resolution displays and it should continue to work.

Reduce output audio bit depth and sample rate.

The game will also crash when the default sound adapter outputs audio at bit depth and sample rate higher than 24-bit and 192 kHz respectively, producing the same error code. Open Control Panel. Select the Sound tab. Under the Playback tab, search your audio adapter device. Right click your device and select Properties. At the Advanced tab, open the Default Format dropdown menu. Select 24-bit, 192000 Hz (Studio Quality) or lower. Select Apply to confirm changes. Notes When confirming the changes, Windows may prompt about the device being used by another application. Select Yes anyway. If an application is actively outputting audio when changing configurations, it will stop after confirming the prompt. The affected applications will need to be restarted to fix this issue.

Game stuttering at 60 FPS on high refresh rate monitor if set to Exclusive Fullscreen

See High frame rate.

Run the game at screen refresh rate

See High frame rate.

USB microphone stuttering and other problems with USB devices

Override DirectInput device enumeration with CrashFix
Download CrashFix. Copy dinput8.dll to the installation folder.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	11

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

AMD CROSSFIRE support

In Radeon settings set AMD CrossFire Mode to "AFR friendly" in the game profile.

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Physics	Havok
Cutscenes	Bink Video

Command line arguments

See command line arguments on how to use the following options.

Parameter	Description
-4kf --4k-fullscreen	Forces 4K resolution and fullscreen in the window.
-4kb --4k-borderless	Forces 4K resolution and borderless in the window.
-perf4k --perf4k	Enable perf reporter for levels at a 4k resolution.
-perf --perf	Enable perf reporter for levels at a 1080p resolution.
-gpuWrite --gpuWrite	Enable writing GPU info to file on PC.
-hm --headlessMode	Run in headless mode. (ShowWindow with SW_HIDE arg)
-wd %wd% --windowdatafile %wd%	The window settings datafile to use. Defaults to WindowData.igx.
-pc %d% --primarycontroller %d%	The primary controller to use [1,2,3,4] when launching into a map.
-om %map% --overridemap %map%	Map to use in place of debug map from configuration file.

Detailed syntax

--windowdatafile %wd%

• %d% - The window settings datafile to use. Defaults to WindowData.igx.

--primarycontroller %d%

• %d% - The primary controller to use [1,2,3,4] when launching into a map.

--overridemap %map%

• Warning: -overridemap command is only for testing purposes. Pay attention to lower statistics in Pause menu.
• %map% - Map to use in place of debug map from configuration file, e.g.:
  • Crash%d/Bosses/BossNameWithoutPakExtension/BossNameWithoutPakExtension
  • Crash%d/MapNameWithoutPakExtension/MapNameWithoutPakExtension

Game maps:

• Crash 1 maps: C1xx, L1xx, and B1xx
• Crash 2 maps: C2xx, L2xx, and B2xx
• Crash 3 maps: C3xx, L3xx, and B3xx

Examples:

• --overridemap Crash1/C1_Intro/C1_Intro
• --overridemap Crash1/C1_Outro100/C1_Outro100
• --overridemap Crash1/Bosses/B101_PapuPapu/B101_PapuPapu
• --overridemap Crash1/L101_NSanityBeach/L101_NSanityBeach
• --overridemap Crash2/L201_TurtleWoods/L201_TurtleWoods
• --overridemap Crash3/L301_ToadVillage/L301_ToadVillage

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	7, 8, 10
Processor (CPU)	Intel Core i5-750 2.67 GHz AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz	Intel Core i7-3770 3.4 GHz AMD FX-8350 4.0 GHz
System memory (RAM)	8 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	30 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 AMD Radeon HD 7850 2 GB of VRAM DirectX 11 compatible	Nvidia GeForce GTX 950 AMD Radeon HD 7870
Sound (audio device)	DirectX 9.0c compatible

For the very best performance, Activision recommends an Intel Core i7-3770 3.4 GHz or AMD FX-8350 4.0 GHz processor, an AMD Radeon RX 480 or Nvidia GTX 1070 GPU with 8 GB RAM, and 8 GB RAM.