The First Descendant is a free-to-play looter shooter from developer Nexon. The game runs on Unreal Engine 5, and while it looks beautiful, it also has issues common with the game engine. PC users report that they are experiencing long shader compilation times when they play The First Descendant. Here I have compiled a list of errors and issues that PC users are experiencing with fixes to resolve them.
The First Descendant Long Shader Compilation Fixes That’ll Help
Shader compilation is a well-known feature of the Unreal Engine. The game engine relies on shaders for its visual quality and performance, and most devs tend to compile them when the first time the game is launched. The First Descendant is no different, but PC users report that it either takes too long to compile or gets stuck at the shader compilation screen. The following fixes will help PC users resolve The First Descendant’s long shader compilation issue.
Disable and Re-Enable Shader Pre-Caching
Steam has a setting for pre-caching shaders for certain games and it is causing shader compilation issues with The First Descendant. To fix it, disable pre-caching and re-enable it.
- Open Steam settings > Downloads > disable the “Enable shader pre-caching” option.
- Restart Steam and enable shader pre-caching.
- Play The First Descendant
- The first step will take some time and after that, shaders will compile quickly.
Delete Shader Cache
The reason you are experiencing long shader compilation times is because of a corrupt or damaged shader cache. Microsoft frequently rolls out updates for Windows and they can damage the shader cache on your PC. To fix the issues, delete the cache and a new one will be created the next time you launch the game.
- Go to C:\Users\”your username”\AppData\Local
- Delete the D3DSCache folder.
- Play The First Descendant and it will compile shaders in no time.
Increase Shader Cache Size
The GPU driver sets a default shader cache size, which can be adjusted if the PC users wants. The reason you are experiencing long shader compilation in The First Descendant is that the default cache size isn’t enough. To fix the issue, increase the shader cache size.
- Open the Nvidia Control Panel.
- Go to Manage 3D Settings > Global Settings.
- Set the “Shader Cache Size” option to 10GB.
- Launch the First Descendant and the shaders will compile without any hiccup.
Update or Reinstall the GPU Driver
The current GPU driver version on your Windows PC is either corrupt or incompatible with the game. It is causing the long shader compilation times. Install a different driver version to fix the issue. Ensure you do a clean installation so that settings from the previous install won’t interfere with the new one.
That is all for our The First Descendant fixes for the long shader compilation issue. If you are facing errors and issues with other PC games or your PC then also see our hub for commonly occurring PC errors and their fixes.
