Patch 1.0.5.0 Weird graphics problems that make the game unplayable--Fixed!

[waltc]

To break it down, with the previous two hotfixes I had no problem with the game--ray tracing and HDR both worked fine together, and I was enjoying the game. With the 1.0.5.0 patch--well, here are the problems I've run into. First, here's my hardware:

Windows11 26200.7171
Adrenalins 25.10.2 
XFX 9070 XT SWIFT tri-fan  GPU
MSI x870 Tomahawk Wi-Fi, 8-layer, 2 oz copper plane
Gigabyte 850 Gold PSU 
AMD Ryzen 7 7800x3D
GSkill 2x16GB @ 6400MT/s
Boot: Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB NVMe (PCIe4x4)
Samsung 980 EVO NVMe 500GB (PCIe 4x4)
Kingston SNV3S2000G 2TB (PCIe4x4)--drive where TOW 2 is installed
Samsung 960 EVO 250GB (PCIe3x2)
8TB Toshiba x300 HDD
ST4000DM004 S3 4TB
Sound BlasterX G6 USB
Philips 43" Momentum HDR-1000 certified monitor

Using Steam I have validated the files in the install, and then when that didn't work, I uninstalled the game and then reinstalled it, but the problem remains. When I turn hardware ray tracing on, the game displays a kaleidoscope of colors throughout the screen, making the game unplayable because the scenes are barely legible. But when I turn raytracing off (even with HDR ON) the screen reverts to normal + HDR. Turning ray tracing ON but turning Ray-traced shadows OFF does not improve the situation, and when I turn HDR off but turn ray tracing on, the kaleidoscope artifacts remain. And then the AMD driver crashes with a timeout.  Again, this did not happen until after the 1.0.5.0 patch was applied.

I wish there was a convenient way to roll back the Steam patch (like GOG provides), but I don't see one.  Game looks really good when I can play it, but something in the patch has caused a game-stopping problem! It seems like the bug is in the additional ray-tracing code changes in the patch, because it added a "ray traced shadows" toggle that was not there when I ran the pre-1.0.5.0 patch.

Suggestions welcome...;)

EDIT: Wanted to add that running the game from thge "Arkansas" exe or the Normal exe made no difference.

Final Edit (I hope):  I have no idea what happened, but I watched as the shaders compiled immediately after the patch--and that's when the trouble started. Well, I reinstalled the GPU drivers (same as listed above), and I watched the game recompile the shaders (~60-90 seconds), and then went into the program--fully expecting to see the same problems with raytracing I saw before--but what-do-you-know--it's WORKING FINE NOW...;)  Not sure what it was, but a reinstall of the drivers fixed the problem. I hope it stays this way...;)  Time to get back into the game!

 

 

Edited Wednesday at 09:17 PM by waltc
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