I am supposed to climb the ladder at the Crust grain silo, but the game crashes every time I attempt use the ladder. I've noted that there are other points of the game that crash as well, but this is the first time that an important plot point is being held from me by the bug.

I would prefer not to fiddle with a hex editor if I can help it, but if there's no other choice, I need as detailed instructions as possible; I know from experience that those can do more harm than good if anything goes wrong.

Hey Lightice,
I had this exact problem. Also I had crashes in the gallery in the cleric ward, and often in Ragpickers Square.
Apparently its some sort of resolution problem (like its meant to be in 640x480 and I'm playing in 1920x1080).

This forum fixed it for me perfectly:
http://www.shsforums.net/topic/37824-please-report-crashes-here/page__st__160__p__534474#entry534474
This post was also really helpful on the next page:
http://www.shsforums.net/topic/37824-please-report-crashes-here/page__view__findpost__p__535071

I don't know a thing about hex editing, but this is how I fixed it. Also, keep in mind that this worked for my 1920x1080 resolution, you'll need to adapt it to you own resolution by finding the right numbers to input.

NOTE: this worked for me, I have no experience with hex editing other than this, so use at your own risk.

1. download a hexeditor like this one: http://www.chmaas.handshake.de/delphi/freeware/xvi32/xvi32.htm#download

2. run it, and open up the torment.exe file from your PS:T folder in the program

3. search for the following 4 strings one at a time (i.e. copy each string below and paste into the hex editor's search function)
B9 80 02 00 00 F7 F9 89 45 BC 8B 95 D8 FE FF FF 8B 82 F0 00 00 00 99 B9 80 02 00 00
B9 E0 01 00 00 F7 F9 89 45 A0 8B 95 D8 FE FF FF 8B 82 F4 00 00 00 99 B9 E0 01 00 00
B9 80 02 00 00 F7 F9 89 85 68 FF FF FF 8B 55 18 8B 42 04 99 B9 E0 01 00 00
B9 80 02 00 00 F7 F9 89 85 70 FF FF FF 8B 55 18 8B 42 0C 99 B9 E0 01 00 00

4. After each search, replace (simply type over) "80 02" with "80 07", and "E0 01" with "38 04". Note that they occur at the beginning and end of each string.

ALSO NOTE: these number work because I'm using a 1920x1080 setup. If you're using a different setup, you'll need to find the right numbers for you.

5. Save and exit and that should be it.

Late thanks for saving my playthrough Joel.
Extremely helpful post.

Also 2 years after the post, but if you're still out there JoelofDeath, you are my favorite person at the moment.