Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare - PCGamingWiki PCGW - bugs, fixes, crashes, mods, guides and improvements for every PC game

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
Developers

	Sledgehammer Games
Multiplayer	Raven Software
Publishers
	Activision
Release dates
Windows	November 4, 2014
Reception
Metacritic	78
OpenCritic	81
IGDB	80
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase, DLC
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	First-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, FPS, Shooter
Art styles	Realistic
Themes	Sci-fi
Series	Call of Duty


⤏ Go to series page
Call of Duty	2003
Call of Duty 2	2005
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (series)
Call of Duty: Black Ops (series)
Call of Duty: Ghosts	2013
Call of Duty: Online	2013
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare	2014
Call of Duty: Heroes	2014
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare	2016
Call of Duty: WWII	2017
Call of Duty: Warzone	2020
Call of Duty: Vanguard	2021
Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0	2022

Contents 1 Availability 1.1 Version differences 1.2 DLC and expansion packs 2 Essential improvements 2.1 Skip intro videos 3 Game data 3.1 Configuration file(s) location 3.2 Save game data location 3.3 Save game cloud syncing 4 Video 5 Input 6 Audio 6.1 Localizations 7 Network 7.1 Multiplayer types 7.2 Connection types 7.3 Ports 8 VR support 9 Issues fixed 9.1 No games found in multiplayer when DLC map packs installed 9.2 Multiplayer mouse acceleration 9.3 Low resolution assets 9.4 Stuttering during cutscenes 9.5 Dead bodies stuck in strange poses 9.6 "Couldn't write a file. Hard drive is probably full." error 10 Other information 10.1 API 10.2 Middleware 11 System requirements 12 Notes 13 References

Key points

Multiplayer matchmaking will not work when any DLC map pack except the free Atlas Gorge map is installed. See Issues fixed below, for fixes and workarounds.

General information

Official Call of Duty series site

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		Contains 6 DVDs.
Amazon.com
Steam		Gold Edition.

All versions require Steam DRM.

Version differences

The Gold Edition includes the first map pack, Havoc.

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
Ascendance
Atlas Gorge Map	Included in the Digital Pro Edition
Australia Exoskeleton Pack
Backdraft Personalization Pack
Barong Exoskeleton Pack
Canada Exoskeleton Pack
Championship Personalization Pack
Creature Personalization Pack
Creature Premium Personalization Pack
Extra Armory Slots 1
Extra Armory Slots 2
Extra Armory Slots 3
Extra Armory Slots 4
Extra Armory Slots 5
France Exoskeleton Pack
Germany Exoskeleton Pack
Havoc	Included in the Gold Edition.
Hot Rod Exoskeleton Pack
Italy Exoskeleton Pack
Japan Exoskeleton Pack
Lagoon Personalization Pack
Lightning Personalization Pack
Lightning Premium Personalization Pack
Magma Personalization Pack
Magma Premium Personalization Pack
Nanotech Personalization Pack
Nanotech Premium Personalization Pack
Netherlands Exoskeleton Pack
Panda Exoskeleton Pack
Psychedelic Personalization Pack
Season Pass	Included in the Digital Pro Edition
Spain Exoskeleton Pack
Steampunk Exoskeleton Pack
Tiki Personalization Pack
United Kingdom Exoskeleton Pack
United States Exoskeleton Pack

Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Edit config.cfg file
Launch the game at least once to create CFG files Go to `<path-to-game>\players2\` folder Open `config.cfg` file with a text editor Find `seta intro` string in it and change its value to `"0"`

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\players2\^{[Note 1]}
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/209650/pfx/^{[Note 2]}

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/209650/pfx/^{[Note 2]}

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Steam Cloud

Video

In-game general video settings.

In-game advanced video settings.

Graphics feature	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor		Use Widescreen Fixer to fix stretching from 16:9.^[1]
Ultra-widescreen		Proper Hor+ gameplay. Menus are Vert- and FMVs are stretched. Use Widescreen Fixer to fix any stretching issues from 16:9.^[1]
4K Ultra HD		^[2]
Field of view (FOV)	65-90° in multiplayer onlyUse CODAWSP64 fov fixfor a single player fix
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed
Anisotropic filtering (AF)	Low, normal and high options.
Anti-aliasing (AA)	FXAA, SMAA (1x and Temporal 2x), Filmic SMAA (1x and Temporal 2x) and SSAA (2x, 4x, 8x, 16x)
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS
120+ FPS	Multiplayer is capped at 91 FPS.
High dynamic range display (HDR)	See the glossary page for potential alternatives.
Ray tracing (RT)
Color blind mode

Input

In-game key map/mouse settings.

In-game gamepad settings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
Full controller support
Controller remapping		Choice of five presets only.
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration

DualShock 4 controllers

Generic/other controllers

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

In-game gamepad stick layout settings.
In-game gamepad button layout settings.

Audio

In-game audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		There is only a single volume slider though there is native support to turn off the music, announcer, hitmarker sounds and soldier chatter independently.
Surround sound
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
French
German
Hungarian				Fan translation, by bakeronline.hu.
Italian
Polish				Only available in Polish retail release and it's the only language available in this version.^[3]
Brazilian Portuguese				Audio only.^[4]
Russian
Slovak				Fan translation, download.
Spanish				Lacks Latin American translation (available on console version). Only Castillan translation is available.

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Players	Notes
Local play
LAN play
Online play	18	Versus, Co-op Co-op supports up to 4 players.

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer		Hybrid system with dedicated servers.
Dedicated		Hybrid system with P2P listen servers.
Self-hosting
Direct IP

Ports

Protocol	Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP	27014-27050
UDP	3478, 4379-4380, 27000-27031, 27036

Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.

VR support

3D modes	State	Notes
Nvidia 3D Vision		See Helix Mod: Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (DX11).
vorpX		G3D Officially supported game, see official vorpx game list.

Devices
3RD Space Gaming Vest

Issues fixed

No games found in multiplayer when DLC map packs installed

Having any DLC map pack installed except for the free Atlas Gorge multiplayer map DLC, will prevent CoD:AW MP from matching you with anyone that does not have the exact same combination of map packs installed. It will not fall-back to DLC-less matchmaking if it cannot find any such players. For some reason, Activision apparently intended this.^[5]

This will result in a loop of Searching for available games → No games found.

This issue affects most new players, since the default (Gold) edition of Advanced Warfare sold on Steam comes with the Havoc map pack pre-installed.

Workarounds^{[citation needed]}
Workaround which allows you to keep DLC installed: Only the built in matchmaking is broken, you can still join games using Steam's "Join Game" functionality. If you manage to party up with someone without DLC, this will result in matchmaking working for both of you, since if one player in the session does not have DLC, it will put whole party into matchmaking with people who don't have it either (which is not bugged). How to find active players: There's Steam Groups for Advanced Warfare. Just join all the AW Groups in this link: https://steamcommunity.com/search/groups/#text=%22advanced+warfare%22 and also join the chat for all of them (Join Chat button is at the top right for each Group) This way you can quickly see if other players in the Group are online using Friends & Chat (bottom right of the Steam window) There is also a forum topic with almost 2000 replies at https://steamcommunity.com/app/209660/discussions/0/350533172699315196/?ctp=131 Go in reverse chronological order and add everyone that posts there. Then you can join their matches using your friends list. Another workaround: Uninstall all DLC except for the free Atlas Gorge map Play a few matches. This will fill up the Recent Players list which you can find by pressing F1 on the multiplayer main screen. Click the recent players one by one and click Friend Request This will allow you to see when they are in a CoD AW multiplayer session, and join it without going through matchmaking Re-install the DLC, if you want.

Workarounds^{[citation needed]}

Workaround which allows you to keep DLC installed: Only the built in matchmaking is broken, you can still join games using Steam's "Join Game" functionality. If you manage to party up with someone without DLC, this will result in matchmaking working for both of you, since if one player in the session does not have DLC, it will put whole party into matchmaking with people who don't have it either (which is not bugged). How to find active players:

There's Steam Groups for Advanced Warfare. Just join all the AW Groups in this link: https://steamcommunity.com/search/groups/#text=%22advanced+warfare%22 and also join the chat for all of them (Join Chat button is at the top right for each Group)
This way you can quickly see if other players in the Group are online using Friends & Chat (bottom right of the Steam window)
There is also a forum topic with almost 2000 replies at https://steamcommunity.com/app/209660/discussions/0/350533172699315196/?ctp=131 Go in reverse chronological order and add everyone that posts there.
Then you can join their matches using your friends list.

Another workaround:

Uninstall all DLC except for the free Atlas Gorge map
Play a few matches. This will fill up the Recent Players list which you can find by pressing F1 on the multiplayer main screen.
Click the recent players one by one and click Friend Request
This will allow you to see when they are in a CoD AW multiplayer session, and join it without going through matchmaking
Re-install the DLC, if you want.

Multiplayer mouse acceleration

Some users have reported mouse acceleration, which can be fixed by an .ini edit^[6]

Edit the multiplayer config file^{[citation needed]}
First of all you need to locate your COD:AW MP Config file. This can be found at Steam\steamspps\common\Call Of Duty Advance Warfare\players2\config_mp.cfg. Change these 3 inputs to "0" cl_mouseAccel "0" (should be 0 by default) cl_pitchspeed "0" (Default 140) cl_yawspeed "0" (Default 140) Save. (if you notice that the game is resetting this file, right click the config_mp.cfg file and go into properties > Click on "Read Only" and apply.)

Edit the multiplayer config file^{[citation needed]}

First of all you need to locate your COD:AW MP Config file. This can be found at
Steam\steamspps\common\Call Of Duty Advance Warfare\players2\config_mp.cfg.
Change these 3 inputs to "0"
cl_mouseAccel "0" (should be 0 by default)
cl_pitchspeed "0" (Default 140)
cl_yawspeed "0" (Default 140)
Save. (if you notice that the game is resetting this file, right click the config_mp.cfg file and go into properties > Click on "Read Only" and apply.)

Low resolution assets

Fix impact.

Disable shadow caching^{[citation needed]}
Shadow caching options require a large amount of video memory (At least 4 GB according to the description in the options menu), prioritizing shadow maps over textures, leaving you with very low resolution assets regardless of your texture settings. Go to the main menu and click `Campaign`. Press `Space ␣` to enter the options. Click `Video Options`, then `Advanced Video` and scroll down to `Shadow Options`. Under `Shadow Options`, disable `Cache Sun Shadow Maps` and `Cache Spot Shadow Maps`. Apply settings. Reduces gameplay stutter if you're using a GPU with 8 GB of VRAM.^[7]

Disable shadow caching^{[citation needed]}

Shadow caching options require a large amount of video memory (At least 4 GB according to the description in the options menu), prioritizing shadow maps over textures, leaving you with very low resolution assets regardless of your texture settings.

Go to the main menu and click Campaign. Press Space ␣ to enter the options.
Click Video Options, then Advanced Video and scroll down to Shadow Options.
Under Shadow Options, disable Cache Sun Shadow Maps and Cache Spot Shadow Maps.
Apply settings.

Reduces gameplay stutter if you're using a GPU with 8 GB of VRAM.^[7]

Stuttering during cutscenes

Run the game in borderless windowed mode^{[citation needed]}
Running the game in borderless windowed mode will reduce stuttering during cutscenes, though there will still be slight hiccups from time to time, due to the game loading in the background. Go to the main menu and click `Campaign`. Press `Space ␣` to enter the options. Click `Video Options`. Toggle `Display Mode` to `Windowed (No Border)`. Apply settings. Notes Players have reported smoother gameplay in addition to cutscenes when turning on `Sync Every Frame` in conjunction with `Windowed (No Border)`. `Sync Every Frame` is found under `Advanced Video Options` in the `Video Options`. Toggle the option to say `Yes`, then apply the settings.

Run the game in borderless windowed mode^{[citation needed]}

Running the game in borderless windowed mode will reduce stuttering during cutscenes, though there will still be slight hiccups from time to time, due to the game loading in the background.

Go to the main menu and click Campaign. Press Space ␣ to enter the options.
Click Video Options.
Toggle Display Mode to Windowed (No Border).
Apply settings.

Notes

Players have reported smoother gameplay in addition to cutscenes when turning on Sync Every Frame in conjunction with Windowed (No Border).

Sync Every Frame is found under Advanced Video Options in the Video Options. Toggle the option to say Yes, then apply the settings.

Dead bodies stuck in strange poses

Enable Ragdoll^{[citation needed]}
Go to `<path-to-game>\players2` Edit `config.cfg` Search for `seta ragdoll_enable "0"` Change to `seta ragdoll_enable "1"`

"Couldn't write a file. Hard drive is probably full." error

Run the game as administrator^[8]^{[citation needed]}

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	11
Shader Model support	5

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Physics	Havok
Audio	Miles Sound System
Cutscenes	Bink Video	1.992c
Multiplayer	Demonware, Steamworks

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	7, 8
Processor (CPU)	Intel Core i3-530 AMD Phenom II X4 810	Intel Core i5-2500K
System memory (RAM)	6 GB	8 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	55 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce GTS 450 ATI Radeon HD 5870 DirectX 11 compatible	Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 4 GB of VRAM

A 64-bit operating system is required.

Notes

↑ When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMDATA%, or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data (use Wine regedit to access Windows registry paths). Games with Steam Cloud support may store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/209650/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (209650) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 View topic - COD Advanced Warfare | WSGF
↑ Real 4K: Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare - YouTube - last accessed on May 2023
↑ SteamDB: Every depot associated with Polish Retail Product Key - last accessed on May 2023
↑ TriboGamer - last accessed on May 2023
↑ Activision support page - last accessed on 2019-07-07
↑ Steam community guide on fixing mouse acceleration - last accessed on 2019-07-07
↑ The game uses 12 GB of VRAM at 4K resolution with maximum settings, cache options included. - last accessed on 2023-04-10
↑ Verified by User:Mars icecream on 2016-12