I'll help some of you out - From Stalker Discord Pinned Messages - FIXES

[Father Lamb]

While I have no issue, I keep seeing ISSUES left and right from most of you.

Some of you aren't in their discord, but here's pinned solutions to a lot of your problems.
Copied and Pasted, Enjoy.

-SUCCESS LADS!!!!!!

For anyone Experiencing these Key Words Shader Compile Bug Freeze Crash Fix (Mine crashed at about 80% would freeze completely)

heres every thing I did

Verified Steam files
reinstalled driver
3.upped my Pagefile size
Nvidia Control settings 3d settings increase shader cache from driver default to 10 GB make sure you have extra room
Power settings CPU processing Max State set to 99% not 100%
Idk if this helped but I was alt tabbed when I loaded shaders
NEW I also changed affinity and removed the first cpu core that seem to be a classic fix in the old games lol


- @emo673 Temporary solution works.
⁠pc-specs For anyone running Intel 13th/14th Gen CPUS, if you're still experiencing crashes EVEN AFTER updating your BIOS, it likely means your CPU is too far degraded to be helped by the microcode update in the BIOS.

HOWEVER, a temporary solution is to use a program called ThrottleStop. Running this program, check a box labeled "Disable Turbo", then click "Turn On". The game should run without crashing on the Compiling Shaders screen now, as it has for me.


- S2 Optimized Tweaks fixes Shader Compiling crashes on AMD too (check out the VRAM crash versions out too if you're still crashing) https://www.nexusmods.com/stalker2heartofchornobyl/mods/7?tab=files 01 Base 1.01 version

- increase pagefile (explanation below)
validate your files/reinstall
turning framegen off helps with crashing too sometimes
change Shader Cache Size to 10gb or unlimited in Nvidia Control Panel (rightclick desktop)


- Shader Compilation taking too long? https://support.stalker2.com/hc/en-us/articles/30147474588305-Shader-compilation-takes-too-long-what-should-I-do
Intel/Nvidia users, if experiencing Unreal(DX12) crashes often (every 1-5 minutes) while using XESS Upscaling, check to see if getting Error 153 in Event Viewer (likely under System), relating to nvddmkm.sys. If getting these errors, its likely due to running FSR 3 Frame Gen while running XESS Upscaling, disable the FSR and it should work without crashing.

-Collection of possible performance boosts & stutter fixes:
disable nvidia and steam overlay
install newest nvidia drivers !!!
check if xmp is enabled in your bios
reset shader cache?


use Nvidia Control Panel (rightlick desktop) to get rid of weird mouse smoothing/lag, also fixes frame gen horrible input delay too!!! MASSIVE IMPACT!!! DO THIS!
manage 3d settings > program settings (if you can't find stalker2 there, add the executable manually, it should show you recently opened programs) > vsync to fast, low latency mode to on (ultra causes stutters), power management to maximum performance. Global settings > shader cache to 10gb/unlimited


possible launch options for optimization and stutter reduction: -xgeshadercompile -nothreadtimeout -NoVerifyGC -dx12 https://www.reddit.com/r/XboxGamePass/comments/1d23t3v/new_method_to_launch_game_pass_games_with_launch/
the game has memory leaks, restart every few hours, increase Shader Cache Size + cap your fps! increase your pagefile (NOT ON HDD) if you have only 16-32gbs of RAM (I have it on 40gb which uses 40gbs of drive space) on the drive stalker 2 is installed on, helps if you're running out of ram and your computer gets really laggy/crashes

https://www.nolvus.net/appendix/pagefile. Intelligent standby list cleaner (ISLC) might help with that too https://youtu.be/U7Fzqwf6KUk?t=1375
settings with the biggest performance impact for me were foliage, global illumination (don't go below medium), shadow quality, render distance


S2 Optimized Tweaks 01 Basic 1.01 https://www.nexusmods.com/stalker2heartofchornobyl/mods/7 to install mods create a folder called ~mods (yes it's written exactly like that) in Stalker2\Content\Paks\ https://imgur.com/a/CSybbAP


Ultimate Engine Tweaks CRAZY INPUT LAG REDUCTION https://www.nexusmods.com/stalker2heartofchornobyl/mods/17 reduced my input delay by a whole 5ms!
still stutters/ AMD STUTTERING? (trust me on this one it works) disable "Control Flow Guard" in Windows Settings under "Exploit Protection" for Stalker 2 only (this was a problem with Borderlands 3 on DX12 too)

https://www.reddit.com/r/Back4Blood/comments/qgjp2z/psa_disable_control_flow_guard_for_better/

[BerzerkWrath]

Thank you for your supporting input on this problem.