Starbound running poorly? Try running the 32bit client

Try running Starbound in the 32bit client if the 64bit client is running poorly for you.
Try running Starbound in the 32bit client if the 64bit client is running poorly for you.

The first day of a big patch for most games brings both a slew of new stuff and issues, and Starbound is no exception. You really shouldn’t have expected it to be.

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The biggest problems reported on the game’s Steam Discussions forum lie in the 1.0 update’s lack of optimization, which is causing slowdown and general poor performance for many of the game’s owners regardless of their computer specs. Low end, high end — doesn’t matter.

I’m not running a monster rig and Starbound 1.0 is running terribly.. in the 64bit client.

Chucklefish removed the OpenGL option, hopefully temporarily, making this issue even worse for players who stuck to OpenGL on Windows. So what are you to do? Try ditching the CPU-devouring 64bit client.

There are any number of reasons the 32bit client could run more smoothly on your computer and at the moment I (and probably you) don’t care what any of them are. I care that the game runs smoothly, and it does a much better job of just that at the moment via the 32bit client.

How to launch the 32bit Starbound client

First and foremost: If you’re running a 32bit operating system, this isn’t going to work for you since you should already be launching the 32bit client by default.

You can only do this if you’re on a 64bit operating system, and you probably are. So first let’s find our way to the game’s folder, which will be in the following directory unless you installed the game to a custom destination, in which case you should go to your personal specified install directory:

C:Program Files (x86)SteamSteamAppscommonStarbound

From here there are a few folders to choose from, but the one you want is the win32 folder. The win32 folder is more cluttered than win64, but it doesn’t matter. All you’re looking for is the Starbound application file. It’s easy enough to find thanks to the penguin icon.

Hopefully this will make playing Starbound a little more bearable and at a higher FPS for you, like it did for me. Happy exploring! And be sure to check out the rest of our Starbound guides for more troubleshooting and general tips:


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Ashley Shankle
Ashley's been with GameSkinny since the start, and is a certified loot goblin. Has a crippling Darktide problem, 500 hours on only Ogryn (hidden level over 300). Currently playing Darktide, GTFO, RoRR, Palworld, and Immortal Life.