Only seems to work on older versions of Proton. Recent versions fail to launch.
DXVK_ASYNC=1 %command%
The game does not run with Proton Experimental, 9, and GE. It does work with Proton 7 and 8 with 8 being the best with DXVK_ASYNC. Proton 7 comes with awful compilation stutters. Proton 8 with DXVK_ASYNC solves most stutter problem and performs well.
Although the game is playable with only minor audio issues, it takes a lot of patience to deal with the shader compilation.
Subtitles and main headers are easily readable but any description texts for items, abilities, or data entries are very small.
Some instances of audio crackling but otherwise nothing major.
When using the steam deck docked, the game does not recognize any resolution other than 720p, even when forcing a higher resolution through game properties. *I'm using the official dock on a 4k screen
Because the game does not compile shaders through the main executable shader compilation stutters can cause upwards to 30 seconds of freezes.
One crash during a particularly long session when I tried to edit steam input.
The game is playable with the current stable Proton branch but with major visual bugs (some transparencies and alpha textures don't load in properly and display as a black void), but shader compilation stutter seems strangely not as bad of an issue.
This report was made from playing 10+ hours on Steam Deck, testing Proton Experimental, Proton Next, Proton Hotfix, and Proton 7.0-5
Playable with pre-downloaded shader cache, recommend DXVK_ASYNC to smooth out remaining issues
DXVK_ASYNC=1 %command%
Playable (but not perfect) without tinkering, use DXVK_ASYNC with Proton GE for to smooth out remaining microstutters
changed graphics settings for smooth performance + improve battery life
in game text, especially the maps, can be difficult to read due to small text
This is a followup update to my previous report.
- performance is WAY better out of the box due to Steam now providing pre-compiled shaders for the game
- Almost all of the shader stutter is now gone, but there's still very occasional tiny microstutters.
- I'd say that the game is now playable without workarounds
- I'd still recommend the DXVK_ASYNC workaround, it takes 5-10 minutes to setup, and will eliminate all remaining microstutters
- you still might need to change in-game graphics settings for a good experience, see my prior report for graphics settings I used
DXVK_ASYNC setup:
- install Proton GE, I used version 7-38. guide here
- In game mode, under compatibility settings for the game, force the GE proton version. Note, you may also want to
delete Proton Filesto clear out any lingering files from the other versions of proton you were using. - under the game's properties, add the following to "Launch Options" for to enable async shader compilation:
DXVK_ASYNC=1 %command%
I ended up not caring for the game so my playtime isn't very high - however the time I did play it worked fine.
gamemoderun DXVK_ASYNC=1 DXVK_ENABLE_NVAPI=1 PROTON_ENABLE_NVAPI=1 PROTON_HIDE_NVIDIA_GPU=0 %command%
Slight performance issues but I think it was the game more than Proton
Controller also worked by default without issues
Initial launch freezes and spawns a dialog with the error "Failed to create DX11 render device!"
__NV_PRIME_RENDER_OFFLOAD=1 __VK_LAYER_NV_optimus=NVIDIA_only DXVK_async=1 %command%
This might be a PRIME offloading issue but this is the first time I've run into it across dozens of games.
DXVK_ASYNC=1 %command%
some text in the menus and field map were too small to read clearly
a lot of shader compilation stutter
- Roughly 2.5-3 hours of battery life on the graphics settings I used
- Out of the box (OOTB), there was really bad shader stutter, see example video here. Valve hadn't built a shader cache for the game yet, and the
compile shadersingame option didn't work. - Enabled async shaders workaround for to smooth out most of the shader stutter, but this lead to a lot of loading pop-in for new areas.
- The loading pop-in was particularly bad in cutscenes + whenever I entered a brand new area of the game for the first time. See example video here at 52 seconds
- Workaround for pop-in during cutscenes was for me to hit the start button to pause the game, and wait for 30 secs or so to let the textures load in.
- Once valve provides a shader cache, this workaround should no longer be needed
- I played through the entire game with
stable 30fps, mix of high and low settings. Settings I used are as follows:- 720p resolution, full screen mode off
- ingame 30fps limit, vsync off
- prioritize image quality, 100% graphics resolution
- anti-aliasing - High
- Texture Filtering - Normal
- Shadows - Low
- Model LOD - High
- Environment quality - Normal
- Fog quality - Low
- Screen Space Reflection - Off
- Bloom - Off
- Character Texture quality - high
- Ambient Occlusion - off
- Precompiled Shaders - off (this setting doesn't work anyways)
- There were occasional FPS dips during some intense battles, large maps, etc, but overall was a fairly smooth experience end-to-end
- ingame text is unusually small, sometimes outright unreadable, but that's an issue regardless of the Steam Deck or not.
With a bit of setup, this game runs at a relatively solid 30FPS. If you have amazing 120% eyesight, you can enjoy this little issue.
DXVK_ASYNC=1 %command%
In-game font size is unusually small. I have perfect eyesight when wearing glasses and can read all in-game text, squinting for the smallest font sizes, but I can imagine this being an issue for others.
Occasional crackling after waking the device from sleep mode with the game running, but this issue seems to be widespread as I've encountered it with other games as well.
Like other people have explained, asynchronous shader caching means encountering major graphical glitching/artefacting when first viewing a new area (or a previous area during a new time of day), or for instance when a previously unencountered graphical effect is shown.
This becomes less of an issue the longer you play the game, and I imagine that eventually a shader precaching update will be released, resolving the problem outright. Unfortunately, even with asynchronous shader caching enabled, there is still some minor hitching.
Additionally, the "bloom effect" in-game graphical setting objectively makes the game look worse, so turn that off.
Critically, the game can still stutter if you don't configure it right both in-game and in the steam performance settings. I recommend:
- 30FPS limit (in-game settings and steam performance settings)
- 60hz limit (steam performance settings)
Balance the in-game graphical settings to your own preferences, I'm running most settings on mid or high and get a solid 30FPS.
All in all, I think this game experienced a bit of a pavlovian response from early Steam Deck adopters (understandably) due to it's state when running out of the box. With some low-effort steps, it runs almost like a native game, with the one exception that the native Deck resolution is not supported, so you'll have to deal letterboxing. Otherwise, it shows controller glyphs matching the Deck controller and can target 30FPS (probably even 60FPS if you're willing to scale back the graphics).
30FPS cap with 60Hz
Blurry characters can be slightly fixed by disabling the Bloom Effect in the Graphics menu in-game
The pre-shader cache compilation tool does not work so the game has to compile all the shaders one by one while you play, resulting in a lot of stutter. Stutter does decrease over time
The pre-shader cache compilation tool does not start/function both in-game and pre-game
Settings In-Game:
- 1280x720
- Full-Screen Mode set to ON
- Field of Vision set to 55
- Maximum Framerate set to 30FPS
- VSYNC set to OFF
- Prioritize Image Quality
- 3D Graphics Resolution set to 100
- Anti Aliasing set to High
- Texture Filtering set to High
- Shadow Quality set to High
- Model LOD set to High
- Environment/ Background Quality set to High
- Fog Quality set to High
- Screen Space Reflection set to ON
- Bloom Effect set to OFF
- Character Texture Quality set to High
- Ambient Occlusion set to ON
Settings Steam Deck:
- 30FPS at 60Hz
- Half Rate Shading disabled
- Thermal Power Limit disabled
- Manual GPU Clock Control disabled
- Scaling Filter set to Linear
Notes: All shader compilation will be done in-game rather than pre-game so major stutter and freezes are expected. These will smoothen out over time. My suggested settings will perform best once the shaders have been compiled and the 30FPS cap greatly reduces/ eliminates mini stutters
DXVK_ASYNC=1 %command%
The official Proton version (7.0-4) causes severly increased load times, temporary freezes during loading and graphical glitches like some colors not shown correctly. The stutters improved by switching to the GE version or experimental (still noticable), the other issues mentioned above disappeared. Adding DXVK_ASYNC took care of the worst stutters almost completely (at least as far as i could tell).
With 30+ second cache compilation drops it's just unplayable. Being banned by DRM makes it literally unplayable.
All of the text is small, for me it was on verge of being readable, but I have perfect eyesight. Some of the text is very tiny and almost impossible to read, but most of it is stuff that is not important to read(like party names in the menu, you still can see portraits).
The game syncs settings in the cloud, so if your settings vary between desktop and Steam Deck you'll have a terrible time.
There is no shader pre-cache share downloading in steam yet, and on SD I couldn't trigger the shader builder included in the game. Each time new shader would appear the game would drop to 1FPS, often for 30+ seconds. I think the game saved the info that the shaders are generated as part of its savefile, and now it just won't happen even if I use setting in the menu to re-do it.
If you get blocked by denuvo and try to exit the game it will be stuck in "exiting" forever. The only solution for it is to reset the SD.
I hoped I could trigger cache rebuild on proton experimental. When I switched the Denuvo DRM blocked my Steam Deck.
Massive stuttering without graphics setting adjustments and Proton Experimental
The game can run around 60 FPS but will hang as it tries to compile shaders. I tried "DXVK_ASYNC=1" to see if that may help and it didn't. There is an option in the game to pre-compile shaders but it does not seem to work on steam deck. It may need some more time to become fully playable or someone to get the precompile to work.
Stutters a lot due to shader compilation, you can eliminate most stutter with DXVK_ASYNC + Proton GE 7-38
DXVK_ASYNC=1 %command%
Game has significant shader compilation stutter, you can improve performance with DXVK_ASYNC and Proton GE (I tested with GE Proton 7-38)
DXVK_ASYNC means you'll see temporary visual artifacts and bugs while shaders compile
