Why this release matters
0.2.9 stuttered badly in play: every new effect, model or texture made the game wait, sometimes for a fifth of a
second, and on AMD with Linux the frame rate collapsed. 0.2.10 removes nearly all of those stutters on Windows. If
you're on 0.2.9, please update.
After updating, the game prepares its shaders once more before you play. The shader translator changed, so the
old prepared shaders no longer match. This happens once.
Steam Deck: not playable yet
Frame drops on the Steam Deck are much better, but the frame rate is still too low, and the game isn't in a
playable state there yet. Improving it is the next priority.
Recommended settings for now
- Frame rate: 60 FPS. The game's speed is still tied to its frame rate: like on the Switch, the game advances one
step per frame. When a frame takes too long, the game itself slows down instead of skipping ahead. Fixing that is
being worked on; until then, 60 FPS is the most reliable. - Asynchronous shader building: On (the default). The game keeps running while a shader builds; an object may
appear a moment late, but it doesn't stutter.
What changed
Stutter fixes (game 1.4.1)
- New effects and models no longer stall the game: the game's file decompression no longer keeps a more important
game thread waiting for its CPU core (most of the hitches when hitting things or in busy scenes). - Textures are decoded on the GPU (ASTC compute decoder from PrimeRecomp, MIT) and uploaded
ahead during loading, instead of on the render thread at first use. - The fog's GPU read-back no longer stalls each frame (the very low FPS on AMD with Linux, #32).
- No freeze when switching between keyboard and controller: the button icons are prepared ahead.
- No more 200 ms frames when arriving in a kingdom.
- The shader cache is no longer rewritten every 30 seconds while playing (it was 267 MB each time).
- Shader translations are saved between runs, in a much smaller file (73 MB → 5 MB).
New
- A configuration screen at start (#30): every setting first, then Play or Exit. Turn it off with "Show this
screen at every start", or skip it with--play. - A new look for the menu, the setup, the shader preparation window and the performance overlay: see-through
black, white text, red outlines for the selection. - Asynchronous shader building as an On / Off setting (on by default).
Fixes
- Setup no longer looks stuck at the last shader on slower PCs (#31).
- When MAILBOX isn't available, the game picks FIFO_RELAXED before FIFO, so a late frame no longer waits a whole
extra refresh (#13). The log says which present mode was used. - Stick dead zone 10% by default for new settings (#22).
- "Skip controller tips" is now "Skip the start-up controller screen" (#23).
- Native AA / FSR jitter fixed (#24). Separate stick and mouse camera sensitivity and inversion. Two-player Cappy
controller assignment. - The in-game updater understands four-part version numbers.