Stray stuttering on PC? Try these 3 tricks to fix it

digitaltrends.com:

Stray, the recently released cyberpunk cat adventure from developer BlueTwelve Studio, has a stuttering problem on PC. The game is a console launch exclusive for PlayStation, and as you can read in our Stray review, it runs like a treat on consoles. PC is a different story, as shader complication causes stuttering throughout the experience.

I downloaded and played through the first couple of hours of the game, testing various fixes along the way. Although none of them get rid of stuttering completely, they can limit how frequent and severe it is, at least until we wait on a post-launch patch to fix the issue.

Shader compilation causes stuttering in Stray, and it’s a common problem with games built on Unreal Engine 4 (though, as you can read in our writeup on Elden Ring stuttering, it can cause issues in other engines, too). Sam Machkovech, who wrote a review of Stray for Ars Technica, confirmed with the developers that shader compilation is the source of the problem.

The devs of new game Stray confirmed that its PC version currently has shader compilation stutter issues and sent me a statement: "The team is planning a post-launch patch to fix a number of issues. They hope to be able to handle this at that time if possible." No time estimate. https://t.co/0uOYIfOfJw

— Sam Machkovech ☂ (@samred) July 18, 2022

Shader compilation is when the game takes all of the human code that goes into shaders and compiles it into code that can be read by your graphics card. Some games, like Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands and Call of Duty: Vanguard, handle this process when you first launch the game to avoid stutters. Others, like Stray, attempt to compile the shaders in real-time.

In a game like Stray where you’re seeing unique