Technical Report: Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands Official support for Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
(2010) has largely concluded, but several critical "game-stopping" bugs remain prevalent for modern players. This report details official and community-sourced fixes for the most common issues. 1. High Refresh Rate & Physics Bugs
Running the game on modern monitors with refresh rates above 60Hz causes physics glitches, such as levers (like the Astrolabe switch) failing to appear or the Prince falling through floors.
Primary Fix: Limit your display refresh rate or in-game FPS to 60 FPS or 59 FPS.
Tools: Use the NVIDIA Control Panel or AMD Software to cap framerates. Alternatively, community members recommend RivaTuner Statistics Server.
Config Adjustment: In your game directory, locate Hardware.ini (or GameSettings.exe) and set AllowDisableVSync to 0 to help stabilize frame-related artifacts. 2. Game-Breaking Progression Bugs
Several scripted events are known to fail, permanently soft-locking the player's progress.
The Prison Gate: A pressure switch leading out of the Prison often fails to open the gate.
Fix: Lower the game difficulty to its lowest setting before stepping on the switch; this often resets the script successfully.
The Astrolabe Lever: The lever used to rotate the platform may fail to rise.
Fix: If limiting FPS does not work, you must replace your save file with a "fixed" save provided by the community on sites like PCGamingWiki or the Steam Community Forums.
The "Axe Room" Loop: Players may get stuck in a respawn loop in a room with swinging axes near the end of the game.
Fix: Revert to your Backup Autosave file located in the save utility menu on consoles or the storage folder on PC. 3. Launch & Installation Issues (PC)
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands often requires manual adjustments rather than a single official patch, as Ubisoft has largely ceased official support for this title. Most game-breaking issues, like stuck doors or broken triggers, are caused by modern hardware running at high frame rates. 1. Fix Game-Breaking Progress Bugs
The most notorious bugs involve a pressure switch at the end of The Prison not opening a gate or the Astrolabe switch failing to rise. Lower Difficulty
: Changing the game difficulty to its lowest setting in the options menu can sometimes fix the script for the Prison gate pressure switch. Limit Frame Rate (Critical)
: Many physics-based triggers break if the game runs above 60 FPS. in the in-game options. If that fails, use an external tool like the to manually cap the refresh rate to 60Hz. Use a Backup Save
: If you are already stuck in a room with no way out, navigate to the game's save folder and try loading the Backup Autosave file instead of your primary save. Steam Community 2. Fix Graphical and Visual Glitches prince of persia forgotten sands bug fix patch
Guide :: Widescreen resolution - controller setup - BugFixes
Introduction
"Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands" is a critically acclaimed action-adventure game developed by Ubisoft. However, like many games, it's not immune to bugs and technical issues. To address these problems, Ubisoft released a patch that fixes various bugs, glitches, and performance issues. In this guide, we'll walk you through the patch and provide solutions to common problems.
Patch Overview
The "Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands" patch is designed to fix various issues, including:
Patch Installation
To install the patch, follow these steps:
Common Issues and Fixes
Here are some common issues and their fixes:
Patch Notes
Here are some specific patch notes:
Troubleshooting Tips
If you encounter issues after applying the patch, try these troubleshooting tips:
Conclusion
The "Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands" patch is designed to fix various bugs, glitches, and performance issues. By following this guide, you should be able to install the patch and resolve common issues. If you encounter any further problems, don't hesitate to consult the game's support resources or contact Ubisoft support. Happy gaming!
While Ubisoft has not released an official patch for Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands in many years, the community has developed several reliable workarounds and "manual patches" to fix the game's most notorious technical issues on modern systems. Essential Launch & Connection Fixes
Many players encounter the "Service Unavailable" or "lostconnection" errors due to the game's retired online services. Technical Report: Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
Offline Mode Strategy: Launch Ubisoft Connect, go to Settings, and select "Always start Ubisoft Connect in offline mode". Restart the client and then launch the game. If you receive a "load save error," clicking "OK" should still allow the game to proceed.
Steam/Ubisoft Sync: For the Steam version, ensure the Ubisoft Connect client is running and minimized in your system tray before hitting play in Steam.
Administrator & Compatibility: Right-click Prince of Persia.exe in your installation folder, select Properties, and under the Compatibility tab, check "Run this program as an administrator" and "Run this program in compatibility mode for Windows 7". Critical Performance & Physics Fixes
Physics in The Forgotten Sands are tied to your framerate. Running above 60 FPS can cause the Prince to get stuck on walls, doors to stay closed, or the "Ice Block" freeze bug where he stays stuck on the floor. Steam Community Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands General Discussions
I know its been a long time but i had the same issue. Disabling v sycn solved the issue for me. Go to game file ( steam/steamapps/ Steam Community
Forgotten Sands not launching :: Prince of Persia - Steam Community
Since its 2010 release, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
has become notorious for a handful of game-breaking bugs, particularly on PC. Because Ubisoft has not released official patches for years, the community has developed several workarounds to keep the game playable. 1. Critical Progression Fixes The "Door Won't Open" Bug
This is the most common issue, often occurring at the end of The Prison or in areas with pressure switches. The Fix: Lower the game's difficulty in the options menu.
Alternative: Ensure the game is capped at 60 FPS. Physics in this game are tied to the frame rate; running higher than 60 FPS can cause scripted events and doors to fail. The Observatory / Astrolabe Lever Bug
In the Observatory, the lever required to rotate the astrolabe may fail to spawn if you die or restart the game in the middle of the puzzle.
The Fix: Restart the level from a Backup Autosave. The game usually keeps two save files; loading the older one can reset the puzzle state.
Manual Fix: If your saves are both corrupted, you may need to download a community save file from sites like Lorehound to bypass the broken section. 2. Technical & Performance Fixes "LostConnection" or Launch Errors
With Ubisoft's legacy servers offline, players often see the !!! Game.LostConnection.Resume !!! error.
Offline Mode: Open Ubisoft Connect, go to settings, and select "Start Ubisoft Connect in offline mode." Log in and then launch the game. This bypasses the broken DRM check.
Administrator Rights: Right-click the game’s .exe file, go to Properties > Compatibility, and check "Run this program as an administrator" and "Disable fullscreen optimizations". Refresh Rate & FPS Cap
The game does not natively support refresh rates higher than 60 Hz, which causes flickering or physics glitches. Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands - PCGamingWiki PCGW Crashes and freezes Graphics and rendering problems Audio
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands remains a fan-favourite entry in the legendary series, but as modern hardware evolves, players often face frustrating technical hurdles. Because Ubisoft has not released an official modern update, players must rely on community-developed workarounds and specific configurations to achieve a stable experience. Essential Bug Fixes and Patches
There is no single "one-click" official patch that solves all issues. Instead, players typically use a combination of software and manual file edits:
Launch Error (LostConnection.Resume): One of the most common issues is the "!!! Game. LostConnection. Resume !!!" error. This is often due to legacy DRM or server checks.
Fix: There is no permanent software patch, but players often find a "lucky window" by relaunching the game multiple times until it passes the check. Some users have success by logging into Ubisoft Connect in offline mode before launching.
Physics and Collision Glitches: High frame rates (above 60 FPS) often break the game’s physics engine, causing the Prince to fall through floors or fail to grab ledges.
Fix: Use the NVIDIA Control Panel or similar software to limit the game's max frame rate to 59 FPS.
The "Gate Won't Open" Bug (The Prison): A notorious game-breaking bug where the final gate in The Prison area refuses to open.
Fix: Lower the game difficulty to "Easy" in the settings menu; this often resets the trigger and allows the gate to open.
Screen Refresh Rate Fix: The game often defaults to the lowest possible refresh rate.
Fix: Install Special K or ReShade to force a higher refresh rate by editing the configuration files (d3d9.ini or ReShade.ini). Technical Optimization for Modern Windows
Compatibility Mode: Running the game on Windows 10 or 11 can cause random crashes. Right-click the game’s executable, select Properties, and set Compatibility Mode to Windows 7.
Graphical Artifacts: If you see strange colours or "scratch marks," disable V-Sync in the in-game settings or modify the Hardware.ini (often found in the game folder or under GameSettings) to set AllowDisableVSync to 0.
For further detailed technical guides, many players consult the Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands PCGamingWiki page for the latest community-discovered fixes. Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands General Discussions
Upon release, The Forgotten Sands garnered decent review scores (averaging 75-80 on Metacritic). Critics praised the fluid parkour and the new "Sands of Time" powers, such as freezing water and solidifying platforms mid-air. But beneath the polish was a minefield of technical problems.
Players on the official Ubisoft forums and NeoGAF reported the following critical bugs:
Even after 1.01, the following bugs were never officially resolved:
| Bug | Description | Workaround | |------|--------------|-------------| | Malik freeze | Malik stops moving during the final climb sequence. | Restart checkpoint, reduce FPS to 60. | | Infinite loading screen | After certain deaths, game loads forever. | Restart from main menu; avoid dying in specific transition rooms. | | Wall run reversal failure | Prince refuses to reverse direction on walls (keyboard only). | Use a controller or remap keys away from default. | | Prison glitch (The Prison) | Gate doesn’t open after killing all enemies. | Reload earlier save, kill enemies in a specific order. | | Water freeze power crash | Using Water Freeze in heavy combat crashes the game (rare). | Avoid using it in crowded fights. |
Even after all official patches, several bugs remained:
For these, the community had to create its own fixes – which we will cover next.