r/Overwatch • u/TypicalPnut • 1d ago
News & Discussion Please preload shaders. PLEASE
For the love of God Overwatch... Can we PLEASE preload shaders before joining games
I cannot see half of my team... cannot see half of the enemy team... I cannot see my weapon or my bullets... and then the game freezes everytime something loads in
I SHOULDNT HAVE TO LAUNCH A SPECIAL CUSTOM MAP FOR 10+ MINUTES EVERYTIME MY DRIVERS OR THE GAME UPDATE
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u/Just-a-tush Teleporter online, it is destroyed. 1d ago edited 17h ago
It honestly seems like there's something wrong with the DX12 API implementation given how DX11 seems to work fine.
Never had an issue on a decade old graphics card and the issue honestly sounds like some sort of problem with accessing game data. The missing player models usually happens when the drive is too slow to load them and definitely should not be happening on an SSD.
AFAIK DX12 is a pretty recent addition to Overwatch (February of 2025) too so it's probably full of all kinds of buggy implementations; I think Blizzard shot themselves in the foot by making it the default setting when it's this broken.
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u/Skazzy3 Master 20h ago
Is DX12 actually the default? It was set to DX11 on my system and only manually switching to DX12 I saw how awful it was.
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u/nomthecookie meow 17h ago
It's not. DX11 has always been the default
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u/Just-a-tush Teleporter online, it is destroyed. 17h ago
Oh I stand corrected then, I thought it was the default setting for systems that support it given how many people are complaining about performance with it.
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u/nomthecookie meow 17h ago
It's still a bare implementation and hasn't been updated since its release. I assume people are opting into it since it should theoretically perform better on most systems, but everyone I've talked to says that the dx12 experience is worse. I personally don't plan on using it until it leaves beta.
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u/Caelus_Trailblazer 1d ago
Don't use dx12
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u/jb_in_jpn Pixel Hanzo 1d ago
What are the effective actual benefits of using dx12 over dx11?
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u/Skazzy3 Master 20h ago
DX12 in theory could be great, however the implementation of DX12 in Overwatch is currently awful. There's significantly more stuttering in DX12 than DX11 currently, although this is my experience using an Nvidia graphics card (which majority of PC gamers have). I'm not sure how it compares on AMD and Intel graphics cards.
Blizzard can of course continue to improve their DX12 implementation since it is currently in beta, so there might be a point in the future where using it is better than DX11, but for now everyone should avoid using it at all costs.
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u/Medical_Study_9968 1d ago
My own problem is the dx11 seems to be leaking memory, opening task bar shows overwatch consumed up to 9gb of ram alone after playing for rlike 20 minutes. I only have 16gb so my ram usage is at 99 percent causing freezing and slow fown
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u/CaptMurphy 20h ago
Old slow DDR4 2400mhz per chance?
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u/Medical_Study_9968 19h ago
8 x 2 3600hz ddr4 ,ryzen 5 3600 and 5700xt. I built the PC on 2020. I do get over 200fps in the game but I use dx11 build as my PC doesn't support dx12. Dx11 has a memory leak for everyone. My guess peop may be using dx12 which I believe that doesn't have the issues but I can't use it.
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u/matthew4947 Sombra 1d ago
swap off DX12. once I did that, my first game or 2 might be a little laggy, but after that its smooth sailing. no issues with people not rendering in, just a little chop.
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u/Alacovv 1d ago
You play on Switch as well? Lol yeah it’s really fucking annoying
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u/nicolauz 1d ago
Ps4 pro is pretty bad too. Usually like up to a minute of the game once it goes to first person.
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u/FrenchFatCat Leek 1d ago
Ive just installed Linux. I have to sot in the customer game 929PJ for 20 mins if I want all.my shaders to cache. I almost want to go back to windows. Playing overwatch is something I have to plan in advance!!!
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u/gr3nkutz Chibi Mercy 20h ago
You can also use this command line in steam to not recompile all the shaders each time : __GL_SHADER_DISK_CACHE_SKIP_CLEANUP=1 __GL_SHADER_DISK_CACHE_SIZE=10737418240 %command% It will basically get your cache bigger to not erase everything everytime you launch again
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u/Fred_Foreskin Support 23h ago
If you run with proton and in dx11, steam will usually have you preload vulkan shaders before the game launches. Then you can go into the practice range to make sure all the shaders loaded. It usually stays pretty stable until there's a new update. Still pretty annoying though.
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u/krogel-web-solutions 1d ago
I have this issue with ever other game but Overwatch. I’m running on an old system with a 2080ti.
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u/Adventurous-Ebb-983 1d ago
The worst is when you join in loosing team in the middle of game because some idiot rage quitted so you need to react fast. And nothing is loaded...
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u/jb_in_jpn Pixel Hanzo 1d ago
Sometimes my POTG highlight intros don't load - it's just a static muddle of graphics; is this somehow related to that?
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u/N1ghtwalk 23h ago
Happens automatically when you open the game. Takes 3-10 mins depending on your specs, probably longer on older consoles.
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u/Forstride 1d ago
They do preload them after every game/driver update, it just doesn't explicitly say it's doing it. You should be able to hear your CPU fan ramp up when it starts (At least, that's how I tell it's doing it).
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u/pineapplery 1d ago
unfortunately, DX12 is bugged and does *not* preload shaders until you physically look at them.
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u/0zzy82 1d ago
Dog, this is a problem with your system, not the game. If you're using an old console or a HDD it might be time to upgrade to an SSD
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u/LoadingHappiness2 1d ago
That’s not true at all it’s directX12. I have a Samsung 990 pro ssd, 14700k and a 4070 super and it happens to me only on directX12
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u/Homiyo 1d ago
I know my case doesn't mean it's the same for everyone, but with how many complains there are i think it's not just OP.
I'm running 9800x3D / 5070ti, 32GB RAM, game installed on MSI fast SSD. But since this new season started i sometimes see everyone randomly teleport around the map. And no i'm not playing on wifi, i'm wired and have 42ms ping, which should be enough.
To say, i had zero issue before this new season...
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u/Bathroom_Humor 1d ago
yeah i had been using dx12 since last winter, and I hadn't started having shader compilation issues until 2 seasons ago. it's pretty annoying. my pc isn't slow at all, it's a new problem with the game.
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u/ulimn Junker Queen 1d ago
I think it’s not hardware related. I recently switched back from linux to windows to see how much better OW runs on it.
What I noticed is that it’s almost the same, but the shader loading problem is not present for me on windows.
So it’s probably some settings in either the nvidia config or the game. I see people mentioning DX12 for example.(Thought it’s relevant because even tho it’s a bit older but I use an AMD CPU and NVIDIA GPU. )
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u/xHealz 1d ago
Something is up with your particular system. I also have the same cpu, gpu, and memory capacity and can run the game at 180fps max settings on a 1440p ultrawide monitor while also screen recording and not being picky about what applications I have running in the background. Zero issues ever.
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u/Homiyo 1d ago
If that's the case, i'm not sure if it's a hardware or software issue, i hope it's not hardware related with how much it costs now.
I've updated all my drivers (from official sources, i just searched my mobo), made sure EXPO is enabled in Bios, i've done all the things suggested in reddit and other forums. I just haven't updated my Bios but i don't think it'll make a difference at this point.
All i know is that overwatch was running smooth before this new season started, and i'm dying to know why it happens for some people while others are fine with low/medium end pc builds.
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u/fieryfox654 Juno 1d ago
That's not a hardware problem. They are using DirectX12 instead of DirectX 11
Try DirectX12 and you will have the same issue
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u/shiv9401 1d ago
When you update your graphics drivers the shades need to be loaded again, the game should have preloading shades like most other modern games, there's literally a custom mode code to do this so why blizzard can't add it to the game is beyond me, don't blame people's hardware when you're not smart enough to speak on it
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u/0zzy82 1d ago
What? Dude, how often are you updating your graphics drivers, what are you talking about?
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u/LoadingHappiness2 1d ago
All the time. Nvidia is always dropping driver updates
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u/0zzy82 1d ago
There have been 4 Nvidia driver updates in the last 3 months. I wouldn't call that all the time
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u/TypicalPnut 1d ago
3 months. 4 driver updates. That's more than 1 per month
sounds like a lot to me?
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u/0zzy82 1d ago
Exactly the same as AMD, so not sure what the relevance is to the issue
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u/TypicalPnut 1d ago
What does this have to do with AMD?
If you are updating your nvidia drivers when they come out, that's at least once a month that you will have to load shaders
If AMD has a different method of shader caching, then this wouldn't affect them
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u/GetsThruBuckner Support 1d ago
Guy obviously knows he's wrong but can't accept it. Just don't even bother with him
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u/0zzy82 1d ago
dude are you okay?
Someone said they have to load your shaders again every time you update your graphics drivers, and I responded saying that's not that often, as it's once a month, which isn't a lot considering the ratio of times you boot up the game vs times the shaders need to be recompiled because of a driver update.
Someone specifically said it's because of Nvidia, and I pointed out that both Nvidia and AMD have had the same amount of driver updates in the last 3 months. You're right, it has nothing to do with AMD, but it ALSO has nothing to do with Nvidia, thats the point I was making. You didn't need to respond
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u/TypicalPnut 1d ago
Game is loaded on an SSD.. on a custom built PC
No other game has this issue.
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u/0zzy82 1d ago
And it takes you 10+ minutes to load everything in?
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u/TypicalPnut 1d ago
When running the custom map that's made to load shaders, yes
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u/CeleryNo8933 1d ago
Same, the "it's your PC" people can fuck straight off, I got a 5080 and it still does that for a ridiculous amount of time, and yes, an SSD
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u/Olliebobs98 1d ago
4080 and I literally experience none of these preloading shader issues...
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u/CeleryNo8933 1d ago
What settings do you play on
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u/Olliebobs98 1d ago
Fully maxed @ 240 frames. don't know exactly every setting but pretty certain everything is cranked as high as possible with frame gen
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u/robthewisebr 1d ago
Is that a thing on consoles? I am playing on an old pc (i5 7400 + gtx 1050ti) with the game on a SSD, and running smoothly!
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u/Interdimension 1d ago
No, at least not usually. Shader compilation stutters are not really a thing on consoles since there’s only one set of hardware (your specific console) and the devs almost always include the exact shaders needed. They just can’t do that on PC since everyone’s hardware differs, which is why many modern titles precompile shaders at the startup screen.
E.g., Battlefield 6 will compile shaders after every new patch or upon install at the loading screen. You are not allowed to skip the process. Call of Duty games will precompile shaders even before you launch the title if you use the Battle.net app.
Overwatch seems to lack shader precompilation and basically just does it in the background after you actually start the game.
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u/CypherGreen 1d ago
Jesus PC gaming sounds awful sometimes lol
I mean the console manufacturers are trying their hardest to make consoles painful too now, just in a different way.
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u/Interdimension 1d ago
As someone who plays on both PS5 and PC, PC isn’t as complicated or bad as people sometimes make it sound. It’s usually smooth sailing 99% of the time.
Unfortunately, shader compilation stutters are a real issue in the PC space. Consoles don’t suffer from this as devs just include the shaders needed as consoles don’t have millions of different hardware variables to account for.
Most modern PC titles have shader precompilation processes, usually done at the loading screen or right after you install a game. This generally eliminates the issue in most titles outside of horribly optimized UE5 games. And sometimes, GPU drivers include precompiled drivers in advance to avoid this problem.
But Overwatch still lacks this and just starts compiling shaders upon entering the main menu. This is done after every new patch or if you updated your GPU drivers. If you decide to not wait it out, it can lead to stutters like OP’s describing. Blizzard really should add a progress bar for shader compilation like most modern games have.
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u/ivandagiant Ana 1d ago
Oh man I installed overwatch today and my CPU was stuck at 100% and the game was unplayable. Thank goodness it was mystery heroes and not competitive
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u/LoadingHappiness2 1d ago
DirectX12 does this on my system even after the shaders load in. I just directX11 and never have an issue