Failed to create D3D9 Device!

Question

I was playing A Hat in Time, and suddenly the game crashed. When trying to load the game up again I get the following message:

Failed to create the D3D9 Device! This can happen if the desktop is locked. Exiting...

I have ran dxdiag which says everything is hunky-dory.

Answer 1

You can try the standard fixes:

• Reboot your computer.
• Verify Integrity of Game Files.
• Update your drivers.

People have reported the following fix the issues.

• Setting Game Launch Options to -dx9.

• Browse Local Files.
  Right click A Hat in Time; press Properties...; select Local Files tab; select Browse Local Files...
  This will open an explorer window to steamapps\common\HatinTime. From here navigate to HatinTimeGame\Config and open HatinTimeSystemSettings.ini

  Edit game config.
  steamapps\common\HatinTime\HatinTimeGame\Config\HatinTimeSystemSettings.ini

  From here there are two reported fixes:

  • Edit ResX and ResY to smaller values.

    ResX=1600
    ResY=900
    

  • Set Fullscreen to false.

    Fullscreen=False
    

For me setting fullscreen to false worked.
The game set my vertical monitor as the default, and then positioned the game on a different monitor.