Deus Ex: Invisible War

Deus Ex: Invisible War

152 ratings
Updates and common fixes (Still updated into 2023)
By Alexis
In this guide I itemize a few generic updates to make the game run on modern systems and some fixes for common occurences when running this game on modern systems.

Since updated with how to make it work on Linux (by extension, Steam Deck), unified community patch links, and with dead Steam forums links removed.
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Introduction
Hello!

The Deus Ex community has been extremely active since the first game was announced and it's subsequent release in 2000. Because of Ion Storm's use of the Unreal engines the Deus Ex games have been extremely easy to modify. In this guide I'll link you through how to install the texture update and widescreen fix for DX:IW first but really before anything else you should try launching the game yourself to see what you might need to fix.
Run the game first
Run the game without changes or mods at least once to see what problems we have.
Running the game once without any modifications allows us to see what issues we are fighting before we complicate it further with patches and compatability settings. If you have an issue that you want help with in the comments, make sure you include whether you could get the game running unmodified at all first. If you are having trouble with mods, try applying only one modification at a time rather than several at once.

Once you click Play we should have an Eidos and an Ion Storm logo and it take you to the main menu. From there either try and change the resolution in Options or go straight into New Game. Changing the resolution might reveal that bug if you have it, launching a new game takes us to the final level load check.

If at any point you find youself at the desktop, don't panic. Look at the taskbar and see if DX:IW is still running, if it is just alt+tab back in. The effect isn't immediate, it takes no more than around 30 seconds for the game to load back up on a fast machine. It can take much, much, longer to tab back in on a slow machine. I've had 5 minutes before.

Either way, click New Game and you should get another intro video for the story and then the character creation screen. Just click Accept for now as you'll create a new game after you have the texture pack and widescreen mode installed.

If all goes well you should be in a small room with a swinging light. If you are, quit out and go to the Patches section, if you aren't then take the details of your crash and go to the Crash Fixes section.
Game overlays
Recently a lot more games have been using overlays that DX:IW has trouble working with. In this section I'll go through a few things that might work to get the game running.

1. Logitech Setpoint
As seen here
It appears a macro recording software from Logitech called "Setpoint" interferes with the game. Killing setpoint.exe via Task Manager might do the job. If you can't do it via the main tab, switch to the detail tab and set it to alphabetical, scroll to setpoint.exe and end it.

If that's too much of a nause, you can uninstall it to prevent it from starting every time.

2. Logitech Arx
As seen here[https//steamhttps]
Another overlay is that the Arx listener under Logitech Gaming Software for Discord may affect the game. Load up Logitech Gaming software, hit Settings (cog logo) and under the General tab under "Game integration" heading enable "Show game integration customisation".

Click "OK" and use the left hand bar at the bottom to scroll to the keyboard-and-tablet logo. In there select "Discord" and tell it to "Never launch".

3. Overlay wrap up
There are a few other overlays. From when I started this guide X-Fire is no longer with us sadly as is Raptr. That leaves Overwatch, Steam, Discord, nVidia, ATI overlays. Go through all your overlay programs and make sure they aren't running for DX:IW

Interestingly, I noted that though I have enabled the Steam overlay for DX:IW it isn't accessible ingame.
Update packs
More recently you might see that a few community patches have come out that wrap up a number of fixes, texture updates, FOV and setting controls into single beautiful packages.

Make sure you followed the section above and ran the game once first to set the registry values that the patches will rely on.

From the forum of Through The Looking Glass is their "Visible" patch;
http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=147423

ModDB mirror;
https://www.moddb.com/mods/deus-ex-2-visible-upgrade
Texture upgrades
  • Make sure you can run the game once into a a level (As opposed to just the main menu) before attempting to modify it!
  • The community Visible patch includes the latest texture upgrades based on the texture packs linked below and here; DX:IW Visible upgrade.

The unified HD texture pack:
http://www.fileplanet.com/182707/180000/fileinfo/Deus-Ex:-Invisible-War---Deus-Ex-Unified-Texture-Pack

A Nexus mod texture upgrade, separate from the rest;
https://www.nexusmods.com/deusexinvisiblewar/mods/1?tab=description

An old in depth guide to tweaking:
http://forums.eidosgames.com/showthread.php?t=29653

Another old in depth guide:
http://forums.eidosgames.com/showthread.php?t=29653
Crash Fixes
  • Multi core fix is included in the Visible community patch linked above and here; DX:IW Visible upgrade.

Flicker to desktop when loading game
This appears to be caused by Desktop Composition, a form of layering that uses alpha blending as seen extensively in Windows Vista and 7. It has now become the de facto standard desktop composition system as of Windows 10 which means you cannot turn it off. As seen here[linustechtips.com].

Multi core issues.
If for some reason you have exessive stutter or crashing even after you've applied the community patch or maybe because you don't want to apply the community patch. Set processor affinity for the DXIW.exe and associated .exe-s in the following manner:

Realtek audio causes problems.
Either disable the device while you play, set another device as default, or uninstall the Realtek drivers and run with generic windows drivers.
http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2009940
Save and configuration files
As highlighted by apocox, various things can block your access to the save file directory so that old games like DX:IW are automatically blocked by malware protections.

Copied from pcgamingwiki[www.pcgamingwiki.com] we have a table of the config file and save file locations for DX:IW;

Item
Operating system
Location
Save game
Steam Linux
<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/6920/pfx/
Configuration
Steam Linux
<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/6920/pfx/
Save game
Windows
%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Deus Ex - Invisible War\SaveGames\
Configuration
Windows
%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Deus Ex - Invisible War\user.ini

You'll want to confirm you have access to these files and that they aren't corrupted, you can do this by opening user.ini in a text editor like Notepad++. You should see plain text entries in the .ini.

apocox discovered that enabling Controlled Folder Access[docs.microsoft.com] blocks DX:IW from accessing the save file folder because it exists within the default protected folders.
I reccomend either disabling CFA entirely or adding DX:IW to the allowed programs.
You will also be able to add blocked programs retrospetively from the Block History.

To find CFA easily press Win+S and type "Controlled folder". Personally, I have it disabled and have my Administrator account separate from my games account.
Linux
In order to support the content in Linux we will want to open the Wine prefix that Steam uses to run the game in.

With Protontricks scroll down to "Deus Ex: Invisible War"


Select "Select the default wineprefix"


Select "Run explorer"


Navigate to your patch file location and point them in the right direction.

For Proton I use whatever is going, they are all up to date enough.
Thanks and acknowledgements
Thank you all to everyone that's contributed thus far in making this guide. Whilst the game isn't stand-out it is still an important game in what it represents as a technological step and what it tries to do otherwise.

Thanks to:
Mike Stoklasa stumbles
Sullium
apocox

And everyone that's commented with either things to fix or fixes in this guide :)
85 Comments
Kano 29 Mar @ 2:25pm 
I had the issue of long load times even after disabling overlays and logitech software. The work around was to hit windows key + D to bring me to the desktop every time there is a loading screen. I noticed that there's another program that's open that has to minimize or complete and then Deus Ex loads back up right away.
/|l13n 5 Mar @ 11:42am 
SignalRBG, Armoury Crate, 3rd partie softs like this may do the black screen at loading... though Armoury Crate SE of the ROG Ally not conflicts :D
Alexis  [author] 7 Feb @ 3:17pm 
Which Operating System are you using Pat Fussy? If you're on a Linux distro you can use libstrangle [github.com] to cheaply reduce FPS without resorting to VSYNC or idle loops.

With respect to Windows, it looks like you have to edit the config files a little to get it to work according to Steam Community; https://gtm.you1.cn/app/6920/discussions/0/5738190785827053890/
I better include that in the guide somewhere

PCGamingWiki is an amazing resource that speaks more about the issue; https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Deus_Ex:_Invisible_War#Physics_Are_Sped_Up_at_High_Frame_Rate
UsagiYojimb0 2 Feb @ 6:10pm 
Super quick question. Installed the recommended fixes, capped the fps to my refresh rate in game, turned on vysnc and ended up doing the same in nvidia control panel as well and my game refuses to run at less than 1000+fps. Any way to address this, and is this a common issue?
Calamitous Big Rat 30 Dec, 2023 @ 2:33pm 
Disregard, figured out what was causing this. For anyone else experiencing a similar issue, changing the resolution from within the VisibleTweaker was causing the image to show all messed up. Upon setting it to default and changing the resolution from within the game, it was sorted. Hope this works for y'all
Calamitous Big Rat 6 Dec, 2023 @ 8:23am 
I'm getting an issue where, after installing the Visible Upgrade pack (with and without installing the texture pack), my screen is just a bunch of scanlines (as if it were an old fucked up VHS tape). The game works if I launch regularly without the patches installed but I'd much rather be able to play this at at least 1080p, any insight you can give on this?
Rolan 13 Sep, 2023 @ 1:22am 
Будут ли новые версии и почему разработчики не обновят свои игры искусственным интеллектом, который улучшит графику и эффекты?)

https://glashkoff.com/ylychshaem-grafiky-v-igrah/

https://reshade.me/
Alexis  [author] 15 Dec, 2022 @ 9:12am 
Nice! I'll try and update that to include it. For what it's worth Proton handled this without any commands but the game was pre-patched under Windows before running under Linux
balearadu 28 Sep, 2022 @ 1:50pm 
Alexis  [author] 9 Jul, 2022 @ 2:54am 
Sounds more like Winblows assuming some settings. Check resolution and display scaling