Bad performance in Titan Quest 2 / stuttering

Issues & Assistance
1

Hi all,

first of, I’m new to Linux and CachyOS (tried Bazzite before). I really want to get rid of Windows, but I need some help with performance tweaking. So far I like CachyOS and I hope that this won’t be a show stopper and just needs some tweaking.

I run CachyOS on a Intel I5-13600K and a Nvidia RTX 4070 TI with driver 590.48.01 and 32GB Ram. The installation is on dual boot.

My problem is, that in TQ2 on Steam I have some severe stuttering and frame drops when moving around - I even get slight motion sickness because of this.. I know that this game still is in development and also Unreal 5, which causes a lot of problems, but the game runs excellent in Windows 11.

Yes, I already read about NVIDIA not fixing their drivers, but is there some workaround to get this game playable?

I already tested different Proton versions and different start options that I found in other threads, but it feels like this doesn’t change anything.

I also stumbled about this bug report https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=516221 and was wondering if this causes the problem? I don’t have comparison to older versions, because I just installed it with the current version.

Are there any recommendations about which Proton version I should use and also which start options?

Any help is appreciated :slight_smile:

2

Could be a KDE thing(as usual with new releases). Try GNOME or a gamescope session without a desktop environment.

Install gamescope

sudo nano /usr/share/wayland-sessions/steam-big-picture.desktop

copy this:

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Steam Big Picture Mode
Comment=Start Steam in Big Picture Mode
Exec=/usr/bin/gamescope -e -- /usr/bin/steam-native -tenfoot -console
Type=Application

Now you should have a new option in your login screen.

-console is needed if you want to get back to login screen, because you can only shut down and reboot from the steam menu. You have to type quit in the console.

3

Thank you! I created the file as described but where should I see the new option now?
I did reboot but the login was as usual.

4

In your login manager there should be an option to select desktop environments

5

You mean the screen where I type my username and password? There is no new option
(sorry - as I said, I’m new to Cachy and Linux)

6

there must be somewhere, maybe in some discrete location after you select your name? can you take a photo?

7

4468
44681920×1440 397 KB

My CachyOS is in german, is that a problem?

8

TQ2 is littered with optimization bugs, been happening since the first EA release. I use Proton-GE, use these launch options in Steam:

PROTON_ENABLE_WAYLAND=1 LD_PRELOAD="" %command%

I’m lucky to get a clean 5-10 minutes staying about 45 FPS.

9

I use a different login manager, I don’t know where is it on this one. Are you already logged in? You have to be logged out to select a new session. It should be hidden behind some of the buttons. Idk kde is too autistic for me.

10

I finally found a drop down menu in the bottom left :wink:
But when I login, it just creates a black screen

11

Try the 580 drivers. i drove myself nuts figuring out problems with a few games in Cachy. All was solved when I went back to the 580s. 590s are still beta.

12

Wow - that increased the performance a lot and completely removed the stuttering! It now runs like my Windows version. Many thanks!

13

what does this do?

14

I don’t use the Steam overlay, but without this setting it still loads.

15

Thanks as well - I will try this, if I encounter more problems on other games.

16

sad, it’s a nice steam only experience without a desktop behind it.

this could be an nvidia issue too…

17

Even though the game is listed as “Platinum”, the ProtonDB (Titan Quest 2) page shows many issues related to graphics performance.

18

I bought 6800 XT, the game works like a charm now

19

That’s what I’m considering as well. I have an RTX 4060; runs nice and quiet, very little power usage. But I’m not happy with having to rely on Nvidia drivers/modules.

20

Interesting. I’ve been playing the pre-release on an AMD RX 7600 and it has been smooth on normal Wine. I even got FSR 4.0.3 working on normal Wine too. You can see my TQ2 FSR4 journey here: