Red Faction Armageddon FAQ

This page provides fixes to commonly encountered issues, and answers to frequently asked questions.

It would be impossible to list absolutely every issue and question that may come up on this page. If you're facing an issue or have a question that doesn't appear on this page, please feel welcome to join the Red Faction Community Discord and ask it. It's extremely likely that someone there knows the answer and would be happy to help you.

Join the Red Faction Community Discord

Where can I get a copy of Red Faction: Armageddon?
Red Faction: Armageddon is available digitally at the following storefronts:

Steam

GOG

Humble Bundle

For console:

Xbox

PlayStation (Link no longer viewable in browser, find game on your PS3 directly.)

Additionally, retail copies for PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 can be purchased secondhand.

Will Red Faction: Armageddon run on my computer?
System Requirements:

MINIMUM:

OS: Windows® XP

Processor: 2GHz Dual Core Processor (Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon™ X2) or higher

Memory: 2GB System RAM or more

Graphics: 320MB Video RAM, GPU w/ Shader Model 3.0 support, NVIDIA® GeForce® 88xx series or better, ATI Radeon™ HD30xx series or better

DirectX®: 9.0c

Hard Drive: 7.5 GB

Sound: 100% DirectX® 9.0C compliant sound card or equivalent onboard sound

RECOMMENDED:

OS: Microsoft® Windows® 7

Processor: Any Quad Core Processor(Intel® Core i5 or AMD Phenom™ II X4) or 3.0+ Dual Core CPU

Memory: 4GB System RAM or more

Graphics: 1GB Video RAM, GPU w/ Shader Model 4.0 support, NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 400 series or better, ATI Radeon™ HD5000 series or better

DirectX®: 11

Hard Drive: 7.5 GB

Sound: 100% DirectX® 9.0C compliant sound card or equivalent onboard sound

To fix issues with running Armageddon on modern systems, please read the "Common Issues" section of the FAQ below.

I have an old disc copy of Red Faction: Armageddon from when it first came out. Can I activate it on Steam?
(Needs confirmed)

Can I play Red Faction: Armageddon in first person?
There are mods available for playing in first person:

RFA First Person Mod by SlaveOfSelf

MartianMadman's 1st Person mod

Can I make custom maps/levels for Red Faction: Armageddon?
There are currently no tools available for creathing custom maps/levels for Armageddon.

Where can I find Red Faction: Armageddon mods?
Mods for Red Faction: Armageddon are available on Faction Files, Nexus mods, and Moddb.

How can I install and use Red Faction: Armageddon mods?
Follow the installation instructions included with each mod for instructions.

The campaign won't start and boots back to the main menu or crashes
This is a Steam only issue caused by a Steam update. THQ Nordic pushed a beta build To fix it. Go to your library and right click Red Faction: Armageddon. Click the properties tab and go to the Betas section. Click the arrow on the dropdown box and select "publicbeta" without quotes, then close the properties window. Red Faction: Armageddon should now have "[publicbeta]" next to the title, without the quotes. It will download the required files, and the campaign should now launch properly. The Steam version may still require the fixes listed below to work properly, as does the GOG version.

This problem can also be caused in any version by having a CPU that has more than 16 cores. If you have more than 16 cores and have an AMD CPU: Enable "legacy compatibility mode" using AMD Ryzen Master, AMD also provide a pre-made profile called "Game Mode" which enables legacy mode.

Unknown if Intel chips are affected by this issue at the moment. Process Lasso may be a potential fix by limiting the amount of cores Armageddon can access.

My game is crashing constantly or otherwise not running smoothly
Here are the recommended compatibility settings for Armageddon on modern systems:

Windows 7 Compatibility Mode OR Windows XP (Service Pack 3) Compatibility Mode

Check "Disable Fullscreen Optimizations" (Fixes brief freezing when using alt-tab)

Additionally, patching the game executable to be large address aware, giving it an extra 2GBs of memory, has been found to consistently fix crashing and general stability issues alongside the outlined compatibility settings. You can find a simple tool to help patch the executable here, or manually patch it using CFF Explorer. This should not trigger VAC in Infestation Mode in the Steam version as it is not a cheat. (Use at your own risk in online.) The GOG version does not use VAC. https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/features/anticheat/vac_integration

My game is lagging and no controller input is being detected
This happens when you have multiple controllers connected, or your current controller is being detected as any controller other than the first controller. Please unplug all extra controllers or have your current controller connected as the first controller to fix this issue. Alternatively, play with keyboard and mouse input after disconnecting all controllers.

No mouse or keyboard input is being detected even after unplugging all controllers
Virtual Joystick/Controller drivers can cause issues with keyboard and mouse input detection in Armageddon. Please uninstall or disable any drivers related to it before attempting to play Armageddon with keyboard and mouse input. This issue only applies to virtual Joystick/Controller software and not standard XInput (such as Xbox 360 or Xbox One controllers).

All text in the game is broken and audio is silent
Your player_options.rfao_pc file was corrupted. Delete it and the game will generate a new one on startup, fixing this problem. This will erase your Infestation and Ruin Mode progress. Campaign progress will be unaffected except all upgrades will be erased.

You can find this file at:

Steam - \userdata\\55110\remote\

GOG - %LOCALAPPDATA%\GOG.com\Galaxy\Applications\51153456908161049\Storage\

Video settings won't save
According to pcgamingwiki.com the issue may be caused by newer versions of Windows. To fix it, set rf4_launcher.exe to run in Windows 7 Compatibility Mode OR Windows XP (Service Pack 3) Compatibility Mode.

Player falls out of minecart during fight with Adam Hale
Users have reported that limiting framerate to 60 fixes the issue.