Silent Hill: Townfall Crashing: AMD, NVIDIA and Startup Fixes
Townfall crashing on PC? Start with the September 25 official AMD ray-tracing and NVIDIA driver advice, then check startup display errors and black screens.
Quick answer
Annapurna’s September 25 Steam notice recommends turning off ray tracing for repeated AMD GPU crashes and updating NVIDIA drivers before launching. Patch 1.4.0 is now available, but its notes address frame pacing and streaming stutter without confirming a universal crash fix. For a startup DXGI_ERROR_INVALID_CALL or black screen, the separate display-scale and refresh-rate tests below remain community workarounds.
On this page
Does patch 1.4.0 fix these crashes?
The October 8 notes describe frame-pacing and streaming-stutter improvements, not a confirmed startup or AMD ray-tracing crash remedy. Update through your storefront and record the installed build, then test the original failure again. If the game still closes, follow the matching GPU or display checks below instead of assuming a stutter update resolves the crash.
Start with the official advice for your GPU
The publisher’s pinned Steam post separates these cases. Check your GPU model first; do not apply every change at once.
- AMD GPU, repeated crashes: turn off Raytracing in the game’s Options menu, then retry the same scene. The team calls this temporary and says it is investigating with AMD.
- NVIDIA GPU: update to the latest driver for your GPU through NVIDIA’s official driver tools before retrying. Record your old and new driver versions.
- Cannot reach Options at all: use the startup checks below. The notice does not supply a launch command or configuration-file edit for disabling ray tracing outside the menu.
Match the failure before changing settings
Use the display checks below when the PC game begins launching but closes or stays black before you can play. The Steam thread includes a D3D12Viewport error with DXGI_ERROR_INVALID_CALL; a later reply asks where to find the scaling setting. Different startup errors can have different causes. Record the full error, game version, GPU and driver version before testing.
A grey Play button after preloading is an access question. If the game already runs but hitches during movement, follow the frame-pacing guide instead.
Test Windows display scale at 100%
The September 22 Steam discussion contains a suggestion to use 100% scaling and three follow-up success reports, including the original poster. Fullscreen-optimization changes had mixed results in the same thread. These observations justify a reversible scaling test; they do not establish the underlying cause.
- Close Townfall. Note your current display scale so you can restore it.
- Open Windows Settings, then System, then Display. Select the display used for the game if more than one is connected.
- Under Scale & layout, set Scale to 100% using the available dropdown. This is desktop scaling, not the game’s render-resolution percentage or the separate Text size slider.
- Launch Townfall again without changing another setting. If the same error remains, restore your previous scale. If it works, record the result and reassess the workaround after a game update.
For a black screen, compare a supported 60 Hz mode
In a separate September 22–23 Reddit exchange, a player suggested 60 Hz in NVIDIA settings and the original poster reported success. That is one confirmed follow-up, weaker evidence than the scaling reports. It does not show that every high-refresh display is affected.
If your display offers 60 Hz, close the game and note its current rate. In NVIDIA Control Panel, open Display, then Change resolution, choose the gaming display and select 60 Hz from the Refresh rate list. Windows also exposes supported rates under Settings, System, Display, Advanced display. Select the correct display before changing it. Do not create a custom timing to force a missing option.
Try launching once, then restore the previous rate if there is no improvement. Refresh rate is measured in Hz and is separate from an in-game FPS limit. Lowering it can make the rest of the desktop feel less smooth.
Verify the installation and keep a useful failure record
If the display comparisons do not help, use Steam’s official file check: restart the computer, open Steam, select Townfall in Library, open Properties, then Installed Files, and choose Verify integrity of game files. Let verification finish before retrying. This checks the installation; it is not a promised solution to the reported display error.
For a continuing failure, retain the error text, whether you reached the menu, display resolution/scale/refresh rate, hardware and driver details, and the result of each separate test. Send that information through the game’s support route. This guide does not reproduce advice to disable Windows security controls or install replacement DLLs from a forum.
Common questions
Is this an official Townfall crash fix?
The AMD ray-tracing and NVIDIA driver advice comes from Annapurna’s September 25 official notice. The 100% display-scale and 60 Hz startup tests are community observations. None is a released patch or a guarantee for every crash.
Will these steps fix a crash later in the story?
The official AMD advice covers repeated crashes, including after launch. The display tests concern startup failures. If a particular scene still crashes, record that location, the error and your GPU/driver details for support.
REFERENCE RECORD

