Faster Load, Better Frame Rate, Fewer Surprises

The biggest change:
Dirge now compiles shaders at load instead of during gameplay. That means smoother gameplay and fewer frame hitches.

This is a long needed maintenance update. We're actively working our next title but needed to tend to some performance issues in Dirge. We’ve overhauled shader compiling, improved lighting and mobility settings across all maps, and cleaned up systems ranging from foot IK to flashlight aim. You should generally seen 10-20% improvement in frame rate on low and medium settings as well.

Performance Optimizations

• Added PSO (Pipeline State Object) Collection System — Most shaders now compile before gameplay, which should greatly reduce hitches.
• Reworked Simulated Tick Manager to optimize cloth physics and animation LODs.
• Static armors now converted into static meshes and no longer tick.
• Rebuilt flashlight sapping logic in C++ removed collision-based cones in favor for C++ math.
• Foot IK system rewritten in C++ for better performance.
• Converted sway system logic to C++ and added proximity checks to only tick nearby.
• Converted skeletal meshes to static where possible (e.g., armors, desks, props).
• Reworked almost every static mesh for LODs.
• Enabled Nanite on high-poly meshes.
• Improved lightmap resolutions and set proper mobility flags on hundreds of assets.
• Optimized tick usage across AI, weapons, HUD elements, and spawners.
• Cached common class comparisons in C++ to avoid blueprint performance issues.
• Switched ammo and weapon data systems to lazy-load references.
• Set custom chimney, fixed attic ceiling size, and adjusted mesh lightmaps.
• Rebuilt Hillview leaves using Niagara sprites for better performance.
• Moved car collision boxes to destroy on travel to save on overlap cost.
• Added async variant for actor loading to reduce spikes.
• Disabled tick on furniture and unused props in all maps.
• Downscaled and cleaned up texture settings for curtains, props, and small objects.
• Updated HUD widgets to use conditional logic instead of continuous tick.
• Spawner actors now have no collisions and use soft filters.
• Converted dozens of standalone blueprints into merged or static versions.

Additions

• Added Wakefield alley lighting for better visibility.
• Added new cutscene upon completion of tutorial (Thanks Leandro Cazo).

Changes

• Replaced low poly assets (e.g., safe mesh, deer head, medical skeleton) with better quality assets. (Thanks Evan Tarrio)
• Fixed flashlight aim to better align with the crosshair (Thanks Kenneth for the suggestion!)
• Light switches no longer control lights if those lights are fully static. (Thanks Kenneth for the suggestion!)
• Added crouch transitions and backward movement animations to Revenant.

Fixes

• Ethereal creatures now use correct collision — can be sapped without camera glitches.
• Fixed idle animation bug that blocked player input.
• Reworked tutorial escape paths and added blockers to prevent sequence breaking.
• Reworked lantern text labels and fixed material setups.
• Fixed multiple lighting bugs caused by mismatched mobility settings.
• Fixed bug where dropped items stayed in inventory.
• Fixed issue with artificial lung audio not deactivating properly.
• Fixed foliage culling on all maps and adjusted Nanite Preserve Area flags.
• Reduced fireplace bleedthrough and plant collisions.
• Reorganized armor and tutorial prop positions for clarity.
• Removed all safes in tutorial except the one used for the mask.
• You can now shoot if using the secret bookcase.
• Fixed bug where the toss jerry can message in tutorial would not disappear.
• Fixed background landscape poking through near fallen log in Hillview

Version: 2.2.0
Build: branches/Dirge_v2.2-DirgeSteam-UE_5.4-Shipping-494-9653