Thursday, March 28, 2024

Age of Empires 3 Definitive Edition Crash Fix, D3D11 Error, api-ms-win-crt-heap-l1-1-0.dll Missing, How To Unlock FPS, Crash At Startup, Stuttering Fix

Age of Empires 3 Definitive Edition PC version is facing errors and issues like the crash at launch, api-ms-win-crt-heap-l1-1-0.dll missing, D3D11 Error, locked FPS, Game Not Starting, stuttering, and more. Here I have compiled a list of errors that PC players are experiencing along with their fixes and workarounds.

Age of Empires 3 Crash, Stuttering, And Fixes

Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition has launched on Steam and PC players didn’t waste any time playing the game. However, a lot of PC players are facing errors and issues with the game like the crash at startup, api-ms-win-crt-heap-l1-1-0.dll missing, D3D11 Error, locked FPS, and more.

The following are the errors and issues that PC players are experiencing with the game along with their fixes and workarounds.

Crash Fix

A lot of Age of Empires 3 Definitive Edition players are reporting that the game is crashing randomly on their PC. There are a couple of reasons why the game is crashing and here is how to fix it.

One reason for the Age of Empires 3 to crash in-game could be the use of third-party tools and software like MSI Afterburner. Just disable any third-party tool you are using along with Steam overlay and Geforce Experience overlay. This will stop the game from crashing randomly.

Another reason for the game to crash could be the GPU. Either your GPU is overclocked or is old. If the GPU is overclocked, then revert it back to its default GPU clock.

However, if you don’t want to mess with the GPU clock or your GPU is old, then try capping the Age of Empires 3’s FPS. Open Nvidia Control Panel > Manage 3D Settings > Program Settings > select “Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition”.

Turn on “Max FPS Limit” and set the value to 30. This will lock the game at 30 FPS and will reduce the GPU and CPU load. Do that, and the Age of Empires 3 will stop crashing randomly.

api-ms-win-crt-heap-l1-1-0.dll Missing Fix

This is one of the errors that the Age of Empires 3 PC players are experiencing. According to players, the game crashes at startup with the “api-ms-win-crt-heap-l1-1-0.dll is missing” error.

This can be easily fixed by installing the latest Microsoft Visual C++ redistributable. However, if you are experiencing this error on Windows 7 or 8, then you are out of luck as the game only supports Windows 10.

D3D11 Error Fix

According to PC players, Age Of Empires 3 Definitive Edition crashes at startup with the following error.

ERROR
A D3D11 Error has occurred and the game is forced to terminate. Verify your graphics drivers are up to date. (HRESULT: -2005270523)

First, make sure you have installed the latest GPU drivers. If you have the latest drivers, then I suggest you reinstall them and make sure you do a clean installation. This should fix the error.

Another reason for the D3D11 Error could be that you are playing the game on a laptop with a dedicated GPU and the game isn’t switching to the dedicated GPU. This can be easily fixed.

For Nvidia GPUs, open Nvidia Control Panel > Manage 3D Settings > Program Settings > select the game > select “High-performance Nvidia processor” under preferred graphics option.

AMD GPU owners need to open Radeon Settings > Preferences > Additional Settings > Power > Switchable Graphics Application Settings. Select the game and select the “High-Performance profile” to the game under Graphics Settings. This will fix the D3D11 Error with Age Of Empires 3 Definitive Edition.

How To Unlock FPS

A lot of Age of Empires 3 players are reporting that been through they have high refresh-rate displays and have set the proper options, the game is locked at 60 FPS. There are a couple of fixes to unlock FPS and here is how to do it.

Open Nvidia Control Panel > Change Resolution. Here you’ll see a list of resolutions and the set refresh-rate to the right of the list. Chances are, these settings might have been changed.

Select the proper refresh-rate for your display and hit apply. Launch the game and Age of Empires III Definitive Edition will be running with unlocked FPS.

If the above scenario is not the case with you, then type go to “%USERPROFILE%\Games\Age of Empires 3 DE\Common”. Just paste this path in the Quick Access bar of the File Explorer. Or you can navigate to C:\Users\”your username”\Saved Games\Age of Empires 3 DE\Common.

Open the GraphicalProfile.xml file in notepad and look for to change the number to your monitor’s refresh rate.

It might be set to 60 or 75 by default. Just replace the number with your actual refresh-rate and save the changes. Launch the game and it’ll be running with unlocked FPS.

Game Not Starting, Crash At Startup Fix

Another issue the Age of Empires 3 Definitive Edition players are facing is the game crashing at startup or not launching at all. There are multiple reasons why the Age of Empires 3 crash at launch issue is occurring and here are the fixes.

If you are facing this issue on Windows 7 or 8, then you are out of luck as the game only supports Windows 10 version 18362.0 or higher. You need to upgrade your OS to Win 10 to fix the issue.

Make sure you have installed the game in a folder that has an English name. If the folder has a name in any other language, the game just keeps crashing at startup and won’t work.

Lack of admin rights is also the reason why the Age of Empires III might be crashing at launch. Right-click the game’s exe > Properties > Compatibility tab > check “Run This Program as administrator” and hit apply. This will get the game working without any crash at launch.

If the issue still persists, then go to your Steam library > right-click Age of Empires III > properties > Local Files tan > click “Browse Local Files”. Launch the game directly from the exe and you might get an error similar to “vcruntime140_1.dll Was Not Found or missing”.

The fix for this is quite easy, install the latest Visual C++ Redistributables both x86 and x64 versions and the game will stop crashing at launch. Alternatively, players can just download the missing file from the internet and place it in the game’s install folder.

How To Boost FPS, Stuttering Fix

Even though it’s a remaster of an old game, Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition is facing performance issues like low FPS and stuttering. Here is how to fix these issues.

First, make sure you have installed the latest GPU driver. Open Task Manager and check if there is any process using too much CPU, GPU, or HDD.

Start the game disable in-game v.sync and close the game. Open Nvidia Control Panel > Manage 3D Settings > Program Settings > select “Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition”. Make the following changes.

Power Management – “Prefer Maximum Performance”
Shader Cache – On if you are using an HDD
Texture filtering – Quality – “High Performance”
Vertical Sync – “On”

Apply these changes and not only stuttering will be fixed but players might also see a boost in overall performance.

That is all for our Age of Empires 3 Definitive Edition fixes for errors and issues like an in-game crash, stuttering, D3D11 Error, how to unlock FPS, api-ms-win-crt-heap-l1-1-0.dl Missing, and more. If you are facing errors and issues with other PC games or your PC then also see our hub for commonly occurring PC errors and their fixes.

David
David
David is a highly skilled technical writer with 5+ years of experience in providing fixes for video games and tech bugs. He is an expert in troubleshooting and has helped countless gamers overcome frustrating technical issues.In addition to providing bug fixes, David also specializes in writing technical reviews for video games. His expertise in the industry allows him to provide insightful commentary on gameplay mechanics, graphics, and other technical aspects that are crucial to a game's success.
Ad
spot_img
Ad

What's Hot