Steam players of the classic fighting game Mortal Kombat 1 have stumbled upon a significant issue that’s been stealthily consuming their hard drive space. It was discovered that the game’s crash logs, which are meant to record data when the game fails, have been unusually large, taking up more than 1GB of storage for each crash instance. This revelation has raised concerns among the gaming community, as these logs are typically small files and should not occupy such substantial amounts of disk space.
Understanding Crash Logs
Crash logs are essential diagnostic files that are automatically generated when a game or application encounters an error that causes it to close unexpectedly. These logs provide developers with critical information, such as the time of the crash, the actions leading up to it, and what other processes were running concurrently. This data is invaluable for developers to troubleshoot issues and enhance the stability of their software.
Typically, crash logs are relatively small, simple text files that are not easily decipherable to those without programming knowledge. However, in the case of Mortal Kombat 1 on Steam, players have reported that the crash logs are consuming an unusually large amount of storage space. Reports indicate that each crash log file is taking up around 1GB, which is a stark contrast to the norm and can lead to significant storage issues for users experiencing frequent crashes.
Community Reports
The issue with the oversized crash logs for Mortal Kombat 1 first came to light when a Steam user named LouRagou brought attention to the problem in the Steam community forums. LouRagou reported that each automatically generated crash log was consuming about 1GB of drive space. This alarming discovery went largely unnoticed until LouRagou made a subsequent post about another separate crashdumps folder that was also using up a significant amount of storage, exacerbating the issue.
The situation gained more visibility when it was shared on Twitter by a user named X_Azeez, which led to other players checking their systems and confirming the same problem. Here is the tweet that brought the issue to a wider audience:
Everytime MK1 crashes on PC, it creates a report automatically, and stores 1GB of space for each report LOL.Images provided by @divine_hat pic.twitter.com/VjGC0a5lZ6
— X_Azeez @X_AZEEZ3.twitter.com (@X_AZEEZ3)
October 17, 2023
Another Twitter user, SirrafuS, highlighted the extent of the problem with a screenshot showing the massive amount of space taken up by these logs:
What the …
— SirrafuS @SirrafuS.twitter.com (@SirrafuS)
October 17, 2023
The community’s reports have been crucial in raising awareness about this storage issue, prompting other players to check their systems and take necessary action to manage their crash logs effectively.
Managing the Crash Logs
For players affected by the oversized crash logs of Mortal Kombat 1, there is a straightforward solution to reclaim the lost drive space. The crash logs, which are not essential for the game to function, can be managed manually. Players can navigate to the folders where these logs are stored and delete them. Here are the steps to locate and manage the crash logs:
- Navigate to the following folder path where the Steam crash logs are stored:
- C:\Users\[UserName]\AppData\Local\MK12\Saved\Steam\Crashes
- Locate the crash logs, which may be taking up a significant amount of space.
- Delete the files to free up space. As a precaution, you may choose to move them to an external drive or a different location on your PC instead of permanently deleting them.
Additionally, check the following folder for separate crashdumps that may also be consuming storage:
- C:\Users\[UserName]\AppData\Local\CrashDumps
By regularly monitoring these folders and managing the crash logs, players can prevent unnecessary loss of storage space and keep their systems running more efficiently.
In response to the reports of oversized crash logs for Mortal Kombat 1, Warner Bros. community manager Cory Taylor acknowledged the issue on Twitter. He stated that the problem had been reported to the development team and that they were looking into it with urgency. As of the latest updates, there has been no further word on a resolution, leaving players to handle the situation on their own for the time being.
Given the current status, it is advisable for players to remain vigilant about monitoring their crash logs. Regular checks can help prevent the unexpected loss of storage space and ensure that their gaming experience is not hindered by such technical issues. Until an official fix is released, managing the crash logs manually is the best course of action.
