Alan wake 2 is a computer game in the survival-horror genre developed by Remedy Entertainment, which is a direct continuation of the first part of the same name. The plot takes place 13 years after the disappearance of best-selling author Alan Wake and revolves around mysterious ritual murders in the small town of Bright Falls. The continuation of the legendary Alan Wake was expected by many players, but was marred by FPS drops, as well as crashes, lags and other problems not only on “average” but also on fairly powerful devices.
In the guide presented below, we will look at solutions to eliminate the most common errors in the game and provide a list of recommendations that will help improve optimization in Alan Wake 2 and increase FPS.
Alan Wake 2 System Requirements
Before proceeding with the analysis of the main solutions to improve optimization in the game, it is recommended to evaluate your device for compliance with the recommended or minimum system requirements of Alan Wake 2. Often, a weak PC can be the main cause of various problems, which include lags, crashes, and others unpleasant crashes.
Minimum (1080p and 30 FPS)
- Processor and OS bitness: 64-bit processor and operating system.
- OS: Windows 10 Home 64-bit, Windows 11.
- Processor: Intel Core i5-7600K or AMD equivalent.
- RAM: 16 GB.
- Video card: GeForce RTX 2060 or Radeon RX 6600.
- DirectX: 12 version.
- Disk space: 90 GB.
- Other: DLSS or FSR on Quality.
Recommended (1080p and 60 FPS)
- Processor and OS bitness: 64-bit processor and operating system.
- OS: Windows 10 Home 64-bit, Windows 11.
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X or Intel Core equivalent.
- RAM: 16 GB.
- Video card: GeForce RTX 3070 or Radeon RX 6700 XT.
- DirectX: 12 version.
- Disk space: 90 GB.
- Other: DLSS or FSR on Performance
Ultra settings (1440p and 30 FPS)
- Processor and OS bitness: 64-bit processor and operating system.
- OS: Windows 10 Home 64-bit, Windows 11.
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X or Intel Core equivalent.
- RAM: 16 GB.
- Video card: GeForce RTX 3060 or Radeon RX 6600 XT.
- DirectX: 12 version.
- Disk space: 90 GB.
- Other: DLSS or FSR on Balance.
Ultra settings (4K and 60 FPS)
- Processor and OS bitness: 64-bit processor and operating system.
- OS: Windows 10 Home 64-bit, Windows 11.
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X or Intel Core equivalent.
- RAM: 16 GB.
- Video card: GeForce RTX 4070 or Radeon RX 7800 XT.
- DirectX: 12 version.
- Disk space: 90 GB.
- Other: DLSS or FSR on Performance.
Video card tests for Alan Wake 2
Before the main release of the NVIDIA project published a post, where I demonstrated how path tracing and ray reconstruction work in the game. An extensive video, as well as additional screenshots, led to the conclusion that path tracing provides a more realistic picture, and ray reconstruction affects increased detail.
Performance testing of Alan Wake 2, conducted at maximum graphics settings, has led to the fact that to use the “high” preset of path tracing settings, it is highly recommended to enable DLSS 3.5 with frame generation function, which, in turn, is only available for GeForce RTX 40 video cards.
Additional tests with the RTX 4090 showed the following:
- at 4K resolution, the video card provides 32.8 and 134.4 FPS with frame generation enabled;
- 1440p - the figures increase to 62.7 and 170.1 FPS;
- 1080p - improvement to 89.2 and 195.6 FPS.
As a result, the frame generation technology allows you to enjoy Alan Wake 2 at 80 FPS on all video cards from the RTX 40 line at 1080p with path tracing enabled.
Additionally, it is worth noting the work of one of the “Reddit” s under the nickname Surnunu, who studied Steam survey data for September and published a study with the following conclusion: in reality, most “average” devices will not be able to provide high performance of Alan Wake 2 at 1080p and 60 FPS on high graphics settings (DLSS upscale is required everywhere).
The video card specified in the paragraph with the minimum system requirements, which is capable of delivering a stable 30 FPS at 1080p is GeForce RTX 2060, putting an end to such popular models as GeForce GTX 10 and lower. According to Surnunu, it is estimated that only 7% of players will be able to enjoy 60 FPS at 1080p on high graphics settings if played without path tracing.
How to increase FPS in Alan Wake 2
Despite the alarming conclusions based on tests of video cards, there are several practical “lifehacks” for increasing FPS that were prepared by the gaming community and involve manipulating Windows settings.
- In the "Graphics Settings" section (System => Display) enable "GPU scheduling with hardware acceleration". So, take some of the load off the U while putting little stress on the GPU.
- Last step - disable overlay in Steam, which negatively affects overall gaming performance. To do this, launch the launcher, open “Settings”, go to the “In game” section and move the slider to the left opposite “Enable Steam overlay in game”.
Finally, it is recommended to restart the PC so that the device starts working with the new settings.
This section will be updated as new methods become available.
Best Alan Wake 2 Settings to Improve Performance
FPS drops in Alan Wake 2 are one of the common problems, which is why it is not surprising that some% of long-time fans of the franchise began searching for optimal graphics settings that can preserve a beautiful picture and improve the performance of the title. Next, we present a list of recommendations from players related to graphics parameters, which will increase optimization in Alan Wake 2.
For weak PCs
- Display Mode: "In full screen". It is strongly recommended that you first terminate any background processes: close the browser, third-party programs, etc., so that the main power of the PC goes to ing the game.
- Resolution scaling: DLSS for NVIDIA s, FSR 2 for AMD.
- DLSS Frame Generation: turned off.
- Vsync: turned off.
- Blur: turned off.
- Film effect: turned off.
- Overall quality: average.
- Post-processing quality: high.
- Texture Resolution: average.
- Texture filtering: low.
- Volumetric lighting: average.
- Light spot quality: low.
- General lighting quality: average.
- Shadow resolution: low.
- Shadow filtering: average.
- Shadow Clarity: average.
- Blocking ambient light on the screen (SSAO): enabled.
- General reflections: low.
- Reflections on the screen (SSR): low.
- fog quality: low or medium.
- Surface quality: low or medium.
- Details of distant objects (LOD): average.
- Accuracy of scattered objects: average.
- Ray tracing settings: turned off.
- Scattering of indirect light rays: turned off.
- Transparency: low.
For powerful PCs
- Display Mode — “No frames” or “Full screen”.
- Resolution scaling: DLSS for NVIDIA s, FSR 2 for AMD.
- DLSS Frame Generation: turned off.
- Vsync: turned off.
- Blur: at personal discretion.
- Film effect: at personal discretion.
- Overall quality: medium or high.
- Post-processing quality: low.
- Texture Resolution: high.
- Texture filtering: high.
- Volumetric lighting: high.
- Light spot quality: average.
- General lighting quality: high.
- Shadow resolution: average.
- Shadow filtering: high.
- Shadow Clarity: average.
- Blocking ambient light on the screen (SSAO): enabled.
- General reflections: low.
- Reflections on the screen (SSR): low.
- fog quality: low.
- Surface quality: high.
- Details of distant objects (LOD): high.
- Accuracy of scattered objects: high.
- Transparency: low.
Alan Wake 2 won't launch on Windows 7/10/11
Crashes that occur at the start of the game take up a good half of all known technical problems. Game s at least version 10 Windows.
Their characteristic features:
- The appearance of a warning window with a description of the error;
- Instant crash after launch;
- Hanging on a black screen, etc.
Despite the large number of factors that cause errors of this type, in practice their elimination does not cause serious labor costs. Let's look at some of the causes of such problems and how to solve them.
Lack of required software
No modern program will work correctly without a set of DirectX executable libraries, the Microsoft Visual C ++ compiler and the .NET Framework 4 software platform. When ing the application from official sources (Steam and other launchers), all the necessary libraries will be installed or updated automatically.
When using a self-installer or unofficial software to install additional software, you need to manually tick boxes opposite the respective items. The executable files of these programs themselves are usually located in the folder with the installer. If necessary, the necessary libraries can be ed from the official Microsoft website:
Missing .dlls
Such a problem is most often the result of incorrect installation of the game or additional software. The error is characterized by the appearance of a window with the name of a specific missing library.
Sample programs and related libraries:
To solve it is necessary reinstall the game itself or components for it. If the problem persists, you should use the free online directories of dll libraries and the missing files manually.
Compatibility Mode
In practice, the compatibility problem occurs when trying to run old games on new systems. To do this, Microsoft has provided a whole range of measures that emulate the work of the OS of previous versions.
How to run an application in compatibility mode:
- Right-click on the shortcut of the game being launched and go to "properties".
- Select the "Compatibility" tab.
In the menu that opens, you can run the automatic compatibility troubleshooter or select the mode yourself, focusing on the year the game was released. A universal option for older products is the mode "Windows XP (Service Pack 3)". In the "Parameters" section, additional properties are set.
Alan Wake 2 lags, freezes, crashes, freezes
This section covers situations where an application starts but does not work properly.
System Requirements Mismatch
Despite the fact that the requirements for systems specified by the developers have never been a reliable guarantee of the performance (or inoperability) of the game, it is necessary take them into at the time of buying.
The lack of performance and, as a result, lags in games can be partially leveled in the following ways.
1. Change game priority
To do this, you need to run the application, open the task manager, right-click on the desired process and increase the value to the maximum.
2. Closing inactive programs and background processes that are not related to the operation of the system
To do this, in the task manager, you need to select an unused application, right-click and select "End task". If the program involves several processes, you must go to the "Details" tab and click "End Process Tree".
3. Fine tune graphics settings
Modern games are equipped with a flexible settings menu that allows you to choose the perfect balance "performance-quality". In addition, we often publish collections of graphic settings for computer assemblies from different price segments.
An alternative to manually adjusting settings is to automatically set the settings based on a performance test that should be performed before the first launch of the game.
Similar functionality is provided by the GeForce Experience companion application, which automatically optimizes the game.
4. Defrag HDD
In the process of using a hard disk, the information contained in its partitions is subject to fragmentation (split into separate parts). This slows down the speed at which the system accesses files and can adversely affect the performance of the game.
With free tools like Wise Disk Cleaner, you should run the defragmentation process to organize the file location and speed up your PC.
5. Overclocking the frequencies of the processor and RAM
This process deserves special attention, since it is associated with great risks. Frequency overclocking is carried out by increasing the voltage supplied to the processor and increasing the clock frequency of its operation. Utilities of the type allow you to engage in such manipulations. MSI Afterburner.
6. Update PC parts
A radical but effective way to deal with lags, freezes and brakes in games. If the upgrade was made relatively recently, we recommend starting small: adding RAM sticks or changing the HDD to an SSD.
If the system requirements of the game correspond to the PC configuration, and the above methods for improving performance did not have the desired result, you need to look for the problem further.
Legacy video card software
Statistics show that the release of each sensational game is accompanied by the release of a special driver for NVIDIA GeForce and AMD Radeon video cards. Initially developed for the novelty, it is designed to provide the highest possible performance in the early days of the post-release period.
To install the latest graphics driver, you need to the companion software from your graphics card manufacturer:
Sometimes a new driver version can degrade the performance of both the game itself and the entire PC as a whole. In such a situation, we recommend using older versions of the software ed from the official archives. NVIDIA и AMD.
Conflict with antivirus or firewall
Some programs that provide protection on the Internet can destabilize the operation of online projects. To avoid this, we advise you to initially add new applications to the antivirus exclusion list and allow them to fully function in the firewall the first time they are launched.
The procedure for adding a game process to the Windows Defender ignore list:
Start - Settings - Update and Security - Windows Security - Open Windows Security - Virus and Threat Protection - Allowed Threats.
If Windows Defender detects an unwanted or potentially dangerous program, an entry will appear in the protection log and you will be able to change the actions applied to the file.
Adding a file to the list of programs allowed by the firewall is carried out in the "Windows Security" service in the "Firewall and network security" tab. The main functionality is hidden under the "Allow applications through the firewall" button.
Bad optimization
This is one of the consequences of the mismanagement of time, misjudgment of one's own strengths, management problems and crunch that studios, young and old, have been guilty of over the past few years. The players can only hope for a conscientious attitude of the developers towards their own audience and expect the timely release of fixes and patches.
Insufficient cooling
Exceeding the temperature of a video card graphics chip or processor die above the values declared by the manufacturer not only has an extremely detrimental effect on performance, but also reduces the life of all equipment. The appearance of artifacts, flickering and image freezes are the first overheating syndrome.
A bunch of utilities MSI Afterburner и RivaTuner allows you to not only monitor temperature indicators and the degree of PC workload in real time, but also influence on the rotation speed of the coolers to improve the performance of the cooling system.
General recommendations
To prevent incorrect operation of games and applications, you must about OS features when installing new games.
Run as
By giving the application unrestricted access to the system, the player automatically gets rid of a number of unwanted problems.
Time and date
Due to the incorrect display of the date and time, the work of some games that track this parameter may be disrupted. To prevent this from happening, it is recommended to set up automatic time synchronization with the Internet.
The name of the root folder of the game
Spaces and Cyrillic characters in the name of the root folder of any program or game often cause problems with their launch. It is important to check the correctness of the path to the executable file before installing the software.
Malicious software
There is always a possibility of a negative impact of potentially dangerous programs on a computer. Therefore, it is so important to periodically initiate anti-virus checks, clear the cache, control autorun, and scan the registry for invalid entries.
Drivers for external devices
For the correct operation of third-party devices (gamepads, mice, keyboards), specialized drivers are still needed. IN Windows 10 most of this software is installed automatically. If this did not happen, and the equipment did not work, we advise you to visit the official website of the manufacturer or look for a disk / flash drive with an installer in the box from under the device.
We hope our recommendations helped you fix errors and increase FPS in Alan Wake 2. comments You can write about the problems you encountered during the game - the author or players will try to help. In the corresponding section of our website, follow guides for other projects gaming industry.
