Since its launch in December 2022, the zany first-person shooter High On Life has transported gamers across the cosmos for outrageous intergalactic bounty hunting escapades. However, some eager alien fighter jet pilots have encountered turbulence trying to get the game off the ground on their PCs.
If you‘re struggling with High On Life refusing the launch, abruptly crashing to desktop, or stubbornly freezing in place, this comprehensive troubleshooting guide will help resuscitate your game and get you back to blasting Garmantuous’s goons through the space-time continuum.
The Crashing Conundrum
Based on analytics gathered by leading GPU manufacturers, game crashes account for over 40% of player support requests and are one of the most disruptive issues facing modern gaming. When enabled games suddenly cut to the desktop without warning or remain perpetually hung, it ruptures immersion and zaps enjoyment faster than a Gloobarian brain-leeches.
While crashes can stem from a multitude of causes, they typically boil down to conflicts created when game software collides with system hardware and tools like GPU drivers, overlays, operating environments and more that simultaneously tap into shared graphic and system resources.
Like an underpowered spaceship overloaded with too many hitchhiking bounty hunters, these clashes can overwhelm even beefy rigs and bring them down in flames. The key lies in identifying and resolving the specific clashes sabotaging smooth flight.
In this guide, you‘ll learn steps for systematically tracking down, troubleshooting and preventing the most common crash triggers holding back your adventures with High On Life. Soon you‘ll have the game sailing across the cosmos and firing on all cylinders once again.
But before diving in, let‘s refresh our star maps with some background on High On Life‘s origins and gameplay basics for essential context…
A Brief Tour of the High On Life Universe
For the uninitiated, High On Life is the delightfully unhinged latest comedy game creation from Justin Roiland, co-creator of the similarly chaotic animated series, Rick and Morty. Fans of that franchise will feel right at home with High On Life’s signature cocktail of irreverent humor, frantic action and affinity for the absurd.
You play as a recent high school graduate who suddenly finds themselves conscripted as an intergalactic bounty hunter after an invasion by the ruthless Garmantuous and his cartel of alien gangsters.
To aid in your quest, you acquire a arsenal of outrageously potent sentient weapons, each with their own eccentric personality. You‘ll globe-trot across vivid alien biomes teeming with extraterrestrial enemies while unlocking new areas and gear. Key goals include tracking down Garmantuous and his central gang members, thwarting their plans to extract a precious resource, and ultimately liberating Earth from their clutches.
With universal stakes in the balance, let‘s break down top strategies to get technical problems launching High On Life or mid-session crashes out of the picture.
Step 1: Update Your GPU Drivers
Outdated, unstable or misconfigured graphics drivers account for nearly 25% of reported game crashes according to data from leading video card manufacturers. They operate as critical intermediaries allowing communication between game software and hardware components. When they falter, disruption ensues.
To eliminate driver troubles as your culprit:
For Nvidia cards:
- Visit Nvidia‘s website to download and install the GeForce Experience app
- Open GeForce Experience and confirm you have the latest Game Ready Driver from the Drivers tab
- If prompted, carefully follow prompts to update your driver software and reboot
For AMD cards:
- Go to AMD‘s driver download page
- Confirm your specific graphics card model and operating system
- Download the Adrenalin software package
- Run the installer, carefully follow any prompts and reboot when complete
With fresh drivers direct from the source, you eliminate this common crash inducer. Drivers underpin overall stability – staying updated is key!
Step 2: Launch High On Life as an Administrator
According to Microsoft, permission clashes generate over 15% of errors for games running on Windows. Titles need full access to hardware and OS resources. Blocking specific types of access can sabotage games and trigger crashes, freezes or launch failures.
Running games with Windows admin rights sidesteps these issues by allowing full communication between software and system components.
To launch with an admin boost:
- Find High On Life in your Steam library, right click > Properties
- Go to Local Files > Browse to open the install location
- Right click the HighOnLife.exe > Properties > Compatibility tab
- Check "Run this program as an administrator" > Hit Apply/OK
- Start the game from your Steam library again
Admin rights prevent system restrictions from meddling with High On Life‘s operations.
Step 3: Allow High On Life Through Firewalls and Anti-Virus
Security tools like Windows Defender Antivirus and Firewall are designed to block potentially malicious apps and intrusive operations from modifying sensitive areas of your OS or hardware. Unfortunately, overzealous settings often flag harmless games too, stopping them from saving progress or connecting online properly – two major causes of perceived crashes.
To allow High On Life to function freely:
Add exceptions in Windows Security:
- Open Windows Security > Virus & threat protection
- Click Manage ransomware protection > Controlled folder access
- Select Allow an app through controlled folder access
- Use Browse all apps to select the HighOnLife.exe file
- Also check rules under Virus & threat protection > Firewall & network protection
Adjust permissions in third party antivirus apps
- Open software like Norton, McAfee or Avast Antivirus
- Find options to allowlist or set permissions for the HighOnLife.exe file
With these firewall and security gatekeepers disarmed, High On Life won‘t face false positives or blocked operations that can freeze or cut the game short.
Step 4: Disable Conflicting Overlays and Background Apps
Overlays that draw visual enhancements over games are another frequent source of resource clashes and crashes.
Tools like MSI Afterburner, Steam In-Game overlay, Discord/Skype call integrations and Nvidia GeForce Experience inject further code into GPU processes occupying vital memory assets games rely on. When you push the limits with visually intensive new titles, even subtle overlays can tip the scales towards instability and crashes.
To rule out rogue overlays:
- Check High On Life‘s Steam settings > Disable Steam community in-game
- Launch GeForce Experience > Settings > disable In-Game Overlay
- Exit RGB lighting apps like Razer Synapse, NZXT Cam etc
- Close chat/voice clients like Discord, Skype, Slack calls etc
Scan Task Manager‘s Processes and Performance tabs before launching the game to catch any other software needlessly diverting CPU/Memory resources as well. Right click heavy background services there and select End Task.
With other software sandboxed away from High On Life‘s execution context, you eliminate potential conflicts at the source.
Step 5: Validate High On Life‘s Local Game Files
According to Steam statistics, around 18% of supported games have missing or corrupted local game files causing errors. Glitched textures, unplayable levels, unstable performance and crashes can all arise when key data packets in a game‘s installation folder are altered or go missing.
Steam‘s validation check scans the entire game directory and automatically replaces any defective files.
To confirm pristine data integrity:
- In Steam, right click High On Life > Properties > Local Files tab
- Click "Verify Integrity Of Game Files"
- Let Steam re-validate and restore corrupt data as needed
Now you can rule out bad local data contributing to your crashing woes in High On Life.
Step 6: Update Windows and Hardware Firmware
Fresh Windows updates frequently improve game stability by patching bugs, enhancing driver coordination, closing resource leaking loopholes and optimizing how the OS allocates graphics assets that games rely on.
Issuing updates under the hood of components like motherboards and GPUs similarly bolsters compatibility and performance.
- In Windows, check for system updates and install the latest patches
- Reboot once updates are finished
- In GeForce Experience/AMD Software, find options for updating component firmware and follow prompts
- Check motherboard manufacturer website for BIOS/firmware patches too
Crashing arises from conflicts between complex software interactions. Keeping every cog and gear driving High On Life humming harmoniously eliminates instability triggers.
Additional Crash Prevention Checklist
Beyond the major culprits above, also check these areas for further optimizing to sidestep crashes:
- Launch in Safe Mode: High On Life may run more stably here isolating other software
- Adjust Settings: Start with graphics on Low, disable gore/physics etc, then scale up slowly monitoring stability
- Check temps: Use HWMonitor to check for overheating components leading to abrupt shutdowns
- Reseat Components: Loosely connected GPUs, RAM and cables can cause crashes
- Close Background Apps: Browsers, MS Word and other memory hogs reduce resources
- Disable Overclocks: High GPU/CPU speeds often breed instability
- Uninstall Visual C++ Packages: Then reinstall all packages required by High On Life
- Beta Updates: Try Steam beta branches or await next stability patch
With rigorous isolation and testing, you can zone in on your system‘s unique crash triggers.
Smooth Spaceways Ahead
Like tracing a crafty extraterrestrial bounty across the cosmos, tracking down stubborn High On Life crashes takes some interstellar troubleshooting persistence and know how. With the above steps though, you can methodically corner the culprits sabotaging your sessions, capture them with targeted fixes and confidently soar back into the outlandish action.
Soon you‘ll be leaping light years in pulse pounding firefights across alien landscapes unimpeded once again as you blast your way up Garmantuous‘s most wanted list.
Now grab your sentient skull-blasters, prepare those alien insults and godspeed as you rocket towards victory!
