Resonance PC Fixes: Stutter, Black Screens, Vignette & Save Files

Verified September 15, 2026. The only patch so far is the September 3 Game Pass hotfix. Change one thing at a time so you know which step fixed it, and back up your saves before deleting any settings folder.

Black screen after the logo

1. Wait through the first shader pass. A long dark transition is not necessarily a dead process. Give it several minutes once; repeated force-quits can make diagnosis harder.
2. Restart the PC. This clears a stuck driver or half-completed update without changing files.
3. Verify game files. In Steam: Library → right-click the game → Properties → Installed Files → Verify integrity.
4. Disable overlays temporarily. Turn off Steam, Discord, GeForce/AMD and monitoring overlays for one launch attempt.
5. Switch driver branch. If the issue began immediately after a GPU update, install the previous stable driver. Otherwise perform a clean install of the newest stable driver.
6. Reset the settings folder last. On Steam it is %APPDATA%\Resonance A Plague Tale Legacy. Rename it rather than deleting it, so you can put it back if this doesn’t help.

Do not download replacement DLL files from third-party “fix” sites. Windows and the GPU installer are the trusted sources for runtime and driver files.

“The disc has been removed” error at launch

Some players on both Steam and Game Pass get a black screen saying the disc was removed or is defective. Focus support has suggested two things on Steam’s forum:

1. In the NVIDIA Control Panel, set V-Sync to on for the game.
2. If that doesn’t help: delete the Resonance A Plague Tale Legacy folder in C:\Users\[USERNAME]\AppData\Roaming\, turn Steam Cloud off for the game, launch it once, then turn Steam Cloud back on.

A second Focus support reply pointed players to checking Windows for corrupted system files. Copy the folder somewhere safe before deleting it; it holds your graphics settings, not your story save.

Crash to desktop or game will not launch

• Confirm Windows 10/11 is 64-bit and fully updated.
• Check the official hardware floor: 16 GB RAM, 6 GB VRAM, DX12.1/Shader Model 6.6 and an SSD.
• Remove GPU/CPU overclocks for one test, including factory tuning profiles if instability is suspected.
• Close capture tools, RGB suites and hardware monitors that inject an overlay.
• Add the game’s executable to antivirus allow-lists only after confirming the file came from Steam, Epic or the Xbox app. Never disable protection system-wide as a permanent fix.

Stuttering

What’s officially fixed

The Game Pass version launched without the shader-precompile step, and a Focus developer confirmed on Steam on August 28 that they were working on it. On September 2 Asobo and Focus said they had seen the stuttering and shader compiling reports, and on September 3 a hotfix went live that “fixes shaders precompilation problems on PC Gamepass, resolving stuttering issues.” The Steam version hasn’t had a patch. Details are on the updates tracker.

Steam version

CommunityPlayers who compared both versions found that the Steam version compiles shaders in the main menu the first time you launch it. Your CPU sits near 100% for a few minutes, and gameplay afterwards is smooth. Let that finish before you press Continue.

Game Pass version

Update through the Xbox app so you have the September 3 hotfix. Before it, players worked around the stutter by copying the Steam version’s shader cache, packaged on Nexus as “Xbox Game Pass PSO Cache - Stuttering Workaround” by xinelo. The hotfix replaces what that did. To undo it, go to Documents\My Games\Resonance A Plague Tale Legacy (on some PCs it’s under OneDrive\Documents), delete the copied cache folder and rename cache_backup back to cache.

Three other tips from before the hotfix still circulate on the Steam forum: sitting in the menu for 5–11 minutes, raising the NVIDIA shader cache size, and moving the install to the C: drive. A player who logged frame times with CapFrameX found that waiting in the menu didn’t stop the hitching, and the stutter stayed with the game on an NVMe C: drive. The cause was the missing precompile, which is what the hotfix added, so these aren’t worth your time.

CommunityA handful of Game Pass players still report stutter while moving through new areas after the hotfix. There’s no confirmed fix for that yet.

A sensible baseline

Shader compilation can make the first visit to an area rougher than a repeat visit. Start with native 1080p, the preset appropriate for your GPU, a stable 30 or 60 fps cap, and textures that fit inside VRAM. Lowering every option at once hides which limit you actually hit.

If a newer Nvidia driver introduces flicker or instability, a clean rollback to the last stable driver is more useful than repeatedly reinstalling the same branch. Record the driver version before changing it so you can reverse course.

Remove vignette, film grain and chromatic aberration

The game reads these effects from a plain text file you can edit. The settings below are Communitydocumented by PCGamingWiki and mod authors, not by Asobo.

1. Quit the game.
2. Open %APPDATA%\Resonance A Plague Tale Legacy (the Steam version’s config folder).
3. Copy ENGINESETTINGS somewhere safe. This backup is your undo button.
4. Open ENGINESETTINGS in Notepad. Under PostProcess, change these values from 1 to 0:
   • Vignette — the dark edges
   • FilmGrain — the grain
   • Dirt — the smudges on the camera lens
5. For chromatic aberration and lens warping, set Fringe 0 and LensDistortion 0. Those two keys come from luxor8071’s notes on the Luxor’s Reshade page on Nexus.
6. Save and launch.

To undo any of it, copy your backup over the edited file.

Sharpness. Under Video, SharpenAmount controls the sharpening pass. PCGamingWiki’s note suggests 0.6 at 2560×1600 with DLAA; 1.0 is the maximum.

Prefer a mod?

• Resonance - Advanced Configurator by Gametism adds an in-game menu on F1 with toggles for depth of field, motion blur, film grain, lens flare, lens dirt, chromatic aberration, vignette, sharpening and color grading, plus a field-of-view slider. The author lists it as verified on Steam and Game Pass. Turning an effect back on in the same menu reverses it.
• Disable forced Post Processing and Enable Hidden Settings by QuantumC0re is a ready-made ENGINESETTINGS that switches off sharpening, depth of field, lens flare, grain and vignette. It replaces your whole file, so your own graphics choices give way to the author’s, including hidden settings such as ray-traced shadows. Back up your own file first, and restore it to undo.

Download them only from those Nexus pages.

Can you turn off TAA?

No. Anti-aliasing is always on: the menu offers TAA, DLAA or FSR anti-aliasing, but no off switch. For the cleanest image, use DLAA, or set TAAU or DLSS to Ultra Quality, which renders at native resolution, then adjust SharpenAmount as above. No TAA-removal mod has confirmed results yet; the one Nexus config that claims to switch anti-aliasing off was uploaded on September 14 and had no endorsements when we checked.

Save file location and backups

Steam, synced with Steam Cloud:

PC Game Pass / Xbox app, synced with Xbox cloud saves:

Both paths match what Focus support gives players on Steam’s forum. If Steam is installed somewhere else, start from your own Steam folder. Graphics settings live separately, in ENGINESETTINGS.

To back up a Steam save:

1. Quit the game and wait for Steam to finish syncing.
2. Copy the whole 2713000 folder somewhere outside the Steam directory.

To restore one, turn Steam Cloud off for the game first (Properties → General). Otherwise the cloud copy can overwrite the files you paste back. Launch once, check your progress, then turn Steam Cloud back on.

Steam Deck freezes

Valve rates Resonance Verified on Steam Deck, and its tests found the default settings perform well. CommunityLaunch-week player reports still flag traversal stutters and isolated freeze/crash points; a 30 fps cap and the Low preset reduce load. Verify files and retest on the current stable Proton build before experimenting with launch flags. We do not recommend copying unknown commands from videos that do not explain what they change.

If none of this works

Capture the exact failure point, GPU driver version, CPU/GPU, Windows build and whether the game is on Steam, Epic or Game Pass, then report it through Focus Support. “It crashes” is hard to reproduce; “black screen after the Asobo logo on driver X with overlays disabled” is actionable.

Check updates before repeating the whole checklist—a later patch may supersede a workaround.

Fixes FAQ

Does Resonance use Unreal Engine?

No. It runs on Zouna, Asobo’s in-house engine, which is why Unreal Engine.ini tweaks don’t apply. The equivalent file is ENGINESETTINGS.

Should I run the game as administrator?

Use it only as a temporary diagnostic if permissions are clearly involved. It is not a universal performance fix and should not be required for normal Steam installs.

Should I delete the shader cache?

Only after simpler steps fail. Clearing it forces compilation again, so the next launch may stutter more before it gets better.