Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobylis another Unreal Engine 5 release that has its fair share of technical issues despite the visual fidelity on display. Many modern releases compile shaders at first launch on PC to ensure that there aren’t stutters during gameplay, but for some reason, Stalker 2 compiles shaders on each launch. Depending on the CPU, this can often take a while, and If you want to skip the shader compilation process in Stalker 2, and the starting videos, here is how.
Skip Stalker 2 Shader Compilation
To skip the shader compilation process, we need to create an “Engine.ini” file for Stalker 2 and add a few commands to skip the process entirely.
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While this will save you the headache of going through the process at each launch, we recommend enabling the process again during the following:
In most games, the shader compilation step is automatically initiated when the above scenarios occur, so you must remove the lines from the Engine.ini file, or set the value ofr.PSOWarmup.WarmupMaterialsto1.
Skip Stalker 2 Intro Videos
You can save a few more seconds at launch by skipping the intro videos and logo splashes at the launch of Stalker 2. To do this, we’ll use the handy STALKER2Tweak tool created by Lyall.
That’s all you need to do, and the next time you launch Stalker 2, you’ll skip through the intro videos. The STALKER2Tweak also adds the following improvements and features:
You can adjust these by editing theSTALKER2Tweak.inifile.
All credits go toLyallfor creating and testing the tool. You can learn more about their work at theirKo-fiandPatreon.
Shader compilation aside, if you’re looking to improve the Stalker 2 PC experience, you can disablemouse smoothing,vignette, and even adjust the FOVbeyond the in-game limit. If you’re struggling to maintain a decent framerate, check out ourrecommendations for the best graphics settings for Stalker 2.
Ali Hashmi
Ali has been writing about video games for the past six years and is always on the lookout for the next indie game to obsess over and recommend to everyone in sight. When he isn’t spending an unhealthy amount of time in Slay the Spire, he’s probably trying out yet another retro-shooter or playing Dark Souls for the 50th time.
