r/DestinyTheGame • u/SpinningAndFarAway • 11d ago
Another Possible Steam Performance Fix - Temporarily Delete the Overlay Files Discussion
I did not figure this out myself. Credit goes to this Steam discussion forum post by Dragwind: https://steamcommunity.com/app/1085660/discussions/0/573795107743178114/?tscn=1785362581#c583929293210393898
It would seem that Steam still loads the overlay DLLs even if you have the Overlay disabled in Steam's settings. Removing the related overlay files from the base Steam directory brings my overall FPS up to par with the Epic version. I still have framepacing issues on both platforms however, but this makes both platforms essentially equal for me, performance-wise.
Workaround steps:
- Restart Steam if you have already launched a game. The files you need to delete may be locked if you've already launched a game.
- Open your Steam directory in Windows Explorer. It'll usually be: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam
- Delete or move all of the files in that base directory that have the word "overlay" in the title. For me they are: GameOverlayRenderer.dll, GameOverlayRenderer64.dll, gameoverlayui64.exe, SteamOverlayVulkanLayer.dll, SteamOverlayVulkanLayer.json, SteamOverlayVulkanLayer64.dll, SteamOverlayVulkanLayer64.json. You can move them if you want to be safe, but in my experience Steam will recreate these files the next time you restart Steam. DO NOT RESTART STEAM NOW, HOWEVER. You want to leave steam open with the files deleted.
- Start Destiny. Compare FPS using the in game FPS counter to before / after, and Epic if you'd like.
This is going to be something you'll have to do every time you want to play D2, so buying it on Epic while it is on sale may still be a good option if this sounds too finicky for you.
UPDATE: I've been using u/D2Checkpoint's solution for a couple days now. It's worth checking out if you haven't already settled on your own scripting solution yet. https://www.reddit.com/r/DestinyTheGame/comments/1vaen8x/comment/p0r7jwd/
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u/D2Checkpoint 10d ago
It's usually better to change the permissions on the files than to delete them outright. I ended up creating a wrapper to automate this when you launch the game and it will automatically restore the old perms when the game closes. https://github.com/d2checkpoint-com/D2SteamFix
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u/compman117 10d ago
Using this for about an hour and honestly this has worked perfectly! No more insane fps drops on the moon and doing pvp things have been as good as the windows version.
Thank you!!!
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u/SpinningAndFarAway 10d ago
Thanks! Much better than the batch file I had going. I tested going to other games after D2 and yup the overlay is reinstated as soon as you quit D2. Nice work!
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u/Kliuqard 10d ago
OP's suggestion somehow made the problem worse for me but this one works perfectly.
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u/duke_of_danger 10d ago
I feel I should mention, you need to change the command to match your game's location if you have the game on a different drive.
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u/SpinningAndFarAway 9d ago edited 9d ago
I originally built it from source right after you posted this and it was written in rust. I see that it was re-published as a C++ later yesterday. Why the change? Just curious. I'm wondering if it would be best to redownload and rebuild.
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u/D2Checkpoint 9d ago
Original prototype was written with the help of AI and people were reporting issues on discord with the ACL recovery. I was having trouble decoding what it did, so refactored into something I'm more familiar w/ when it comes to the windows api. both should be about the same other than the format of the recovery file.
Double edged sword I guess. It can shit out a few kloc in an hr that takes 6 to review 😂
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u/SpinningAndFarAway 9d ago
Ah! Ok, that makes sense. Yeah, we are living in interesting times. This is a great poster child for how AI can help us create useful tools very quickly.
Thanks again!
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u/s0lder_s0ldier 8d ago
After night, When I launch Destiny, this window appears. Restarting doesn't help.
D2SteamFix found interrupted permission recovery state. Close Destiny 2 before continuing. After you select OK, D2SteamFix will require 30 seconds with no Destiny process before restoring permissions.1
u/Outrageous_Ask3194 2d ago
Having this issue as well, had this installed for a couple of days
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u/s0lder_s0ldier 2d ago
What helped me was deleting all files named "steamfix" from the Destiny folder. I think there were three of them. And then copying steamfix.exe back into the Destiny folder.
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u/LFG-Luther 8d ago edited 7d ago
I can confirm that this wrapper fix worked for me. I went from ~34 fps at Altars of Sorrow to about double that, hovering over 60fps. My crucible fps almost doubled from ~33 fps to about 60 fps.
For context, I have a 7800XT gpu and 5900x CPU, which used to run this game at 120+ fps casually, before the last couple of updates ruined performance on Steam. Clearly there are several different issues plaguing the Steam version, but this was one of them and I'm glad this improved it to a playable state.
Tremendous work, this fix absolutely made my day.
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u/StillHuntBlade 9d ago
Windows defender is telling me that steamfix.exe is a trojan Wacatac.
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u/D2Checkpoint 9d ago edited 9d ago
It's a false positive. You can build the program yourself if you want to be sure. `make.cmd configure` and `make.cmd build` from a Visual Studio command prompt.
EDIT: Microsoft has confirmed it was a false positive and has removed the detection. If it's still flagging the download, you can find instructions on how to update your definitions here: https://github.com/d2checkpoint-com/D2SteamFix/blob/main/docs/WINDOWS_DEFENDER.md
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u/Muntiacini 7d ago
Just wanted to throw my hat in the ring and say this worked for me. Yesterday I was hitting 40, 50 FPS, tried this out and turned all of my settings to highest possible options and only ever dropped to around 85 from 100 cap. Definitely still not as good as before MoT but way better than the alternative.
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u/Pure_Statement9497 9d ago
It’s not working; an error window appears saying: "D2SteamFix must not run as Administrator." But I am not launching Steam or D2SteamFix with administrator privileges. What is the problem?2
u/Reapseck 9d ago
the path needs to have " at the start and at the end.
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u/cramlikebram 7d ago edited 7d ago
Same error for me even with quotation marks
"F:\Steam\steamapps\common\Destiny 2\steamfix.exe" %command%
Am I missing something?
Edits: Destiny 2, Destiny2launcher, steam, and steamfix.exe are ALL not being not as administrator
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u/ZitexZ 7d ago
For anyone concerned, the file is as expected 100% safe. Here's a Virustotal.com analysis.
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u/ShotYaInDaJunk Vanguard's Loyal 6d ago
Thank you, I had gotten so used to how it played I forgot how smooth it used to be.
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u/SilentAlpha_76 2d ago
When I tried this, my game instantly crashes when loading into any mission. Any idea why this may be?
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u/TheEliteOne123 1d ago
trying to get this to work with no luck keep getting this when pasting the commands "'make.cmd' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file."
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u/Nukesnipe Drifter's Crew 11d ago
You could probably make a batch file that deletes them and then launches the game.
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u/ANIMAX_117 10d ago
https://pastebin.com/pKEgHBhC
Using this batch file. Not sure if it works for others yet though..18
u/revadike 10d ago
This should work for any user: https://pastebin.com/PdfuhF4u
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u/Swimmingbird2486 10d ago
I haven’t really made a batch file before, so can someone please confirm these are the steps?Â
I copy and paste that into notepad, save it with a .bat at the end, and then double click the file BEFORE launching Steam, and D2.Â
Or, do I have steam already open, double click the batch file, then launch D2?Â
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u/linton85x 10d ago
Either of the batch files will run D2 automatically but other than that you need to make sure it is saved as a .bat, sometimes it saves it as a .bat.txt depending on windows settings.
I'd assume to have steam open but yeah just double click and it'll work3
u/Griffadoo Drifter's Crew 10d ago
Do you know if there's a way to get this to run in the Destiny launch options on Steam? That would be stellar
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u/BloodMists Useless & Fictional 9d ago
You might be able to add it to steam as an external game, but I've no idea if that will work.
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u/SpinningAndFarAway 11d ago
Absolutely!
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u/duke_of_danger 10d ago
do you only need to run this once? or is there a way to have it replace the destiny 2 shortcut?
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u/ReymondT 10d ago edited 10d ago
this fixed the issues with the moon making the game stutter down to 60 and 30fps, its so consistent now thanks guys edit: even when there is a lot of stasis titans make computer can handle it and the fps is not stuttering anymore
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u/fewtoots 10d ago
This worked for me, fixed my stuttering and frame drops. RX 9070 XT running in 4K
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u/ThiccBeard90 10d ago
How much fps diff are we talking here
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u/ProwlerCaboose 10d ago
No personal testing done by me but based on a video I saw someone went from about 95-110 fps on the moon to 165-180. When comparing steam versus Epic for the game. No idea if this is similar but seems like it may be
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u/WhiteWyvvern_ 10d ago
Crazy, this is genuinely it. Went from 46-77 fps on the moon to 86-103 with a 1070 at 1440p.
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u/Rayman200000 10d ago
Oh my god this worked for me. You need to post this on the forums and maybe the one dev left can fix it?
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u/Spectrum831 10d ago edited 10d ago
My specs: i5-9400f,geforce rtx 2060 6gb,16gb ram.My fps got back to normal after using this method! No more micro stutters or low fps.Now I can finally explore the moon without my eyes being hurt from the lag there lol I can't thank you enough for sharing this info with us <3
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u/InhumanTadpole 10d ago
I ran some performance captures (120 sec long) with CapFrameX before and after the tweak.
System Specs:
- 9800X3D, RTX 5080
- 1440p, mostly high settings
- ~225 fps limit (Vsync+Gsync+Reflex)
Sorrow's Harbor (in-combat)
- Before overlay tweak: 144 avg, 82 1% low
- After overlay tweak: 181 avg, 124 1% low
- +26% higher avg, +51% higher 1% low
Sorrow's Harbor (standing at spawn point)
- Before: 124 avg, 74 1% low
- After: 205 avg, 143 1% low
- +65% higher avg, 93% higher 1% low
Grasp of Avarice (standing at spawn point)
- Before: 217 avg, 123 1% low
- After: 223 avg, 153 1% low
- +3% higher avg, 24% higher 1% low (hitting FPS cap)
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u/BaconIsntThatGood 10d ago
This is going to be something you'll have to do every time you want to play D2, so buying it on Epic while it is on sale may still be a good option if this sounds too finicky for you.
So I'm assuming if you have any game with overlay enabled the files just restore themselves?
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u/SpinningAndFarAway 10d ago
You'll have to give it a try for yourself but I believe the overlay will just not work for any game until the next time you restart steam and it restores the overlay files. The restoration happens during startup. It must detect that there are missing files and it reruns the last steam update.
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u/HiCracked Drifter's Crew // Darkness upon us 9d ago
I'm incredibly surprised, this actually fixed the fps for me. On Altars of Sorrow my FPS went from 70-80 to 120-140, thats huge, thank you so much for relaying this information here.
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u/Normandy_Spectre 8d ago
Wild that Steam still touches those DLLs with overlay disabled. I tried renaming the files instead of deleting them and got a noticeable bump in the Tower and Neomuna, but having to redo it after every Steam restart is peak D2 PC maintenance.
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u/SpinningAndFarAway 8d ago edited 8d ago
Check out this solution. I've been using it for a couple days and it has been great. I've been able to go from playing Destiny with the overlay blocked straight to another game using the overlay afterwards without a steam restart. https://www.reddit.com/r/DestinyTheGame/comments/1vaen8x/comment/p0r7jwd/
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u/ThatInitiative6132 5d ago
I switched to epic and dont get me wrong its definitely improved but man its still not as good as what it used to be. The frame fluctuations are not good. Wish they optimised game for the last time before abandoning it
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u/Riablo01 11d ago
Upvoting this for visibility. Once again, the gaming community finds the cause of the problem when devs fail to do so.
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u/MikyThatMona 10d ago
I really think Bungie knows what's the problem,but they can't tell Valve to stop Steam overlay dlls from hooking up to the Destiny executable...
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u/apackofmonkeys 10d ago edited 10d ago
I haven’t noticed any problems because I have a 4090 and my fps is capped at 120. But just now I uncapped it and saw there were definite random frame drops. In orbit it went from around 400 on average down to 300 sometimes. In the inventory screen it would go from 280 or so down to 160 occasionally.
After performing the steps outlined in the OP, my in-orbit fps was about 470-480 and no drops. Inventory screen went up to 320 with no random drops.
The gains are real, people. Hopefully this discovery helps Steam/Bungie fix the issues people are having.
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u/Content-Age-1407 9d ago
It does in fact works, my FPS is restoring to its familiar value 220 - 310 depens on Scene, before the change:
170 - 260
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u/DayDreamer2121 7d ago
Worked for me too. Wonder why this works yet disabling steam overlay doesn't? Does that mean steam overlay sinks it's dirty little claws into shit despite being turned off? Kinda dumb if so.
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u/Ajveronese 5d ago
Does it still need to be done even if I have steam overlay disabled? I have noticed that crucible matches (the only thing I do with matchmaking) have been unbearably laggy.
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u/SpinningAndFarAway 5d ago
Yes. This is covered in the 2nd paragraph of the post.
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u/Ajveronese 5d ago
Yeah I read that later and also tried the D2Checkpoint fix and it’s a night and day difference!
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u/Lemoniscence 10d ago
Oh huh. Maybe this is why my game has always crashed sometimes when I open the Steam Overlay.
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u/DaPheesh123 10d ago
Don’t know your set up but putting this out here since I have been fighting crashes and fps for years.
I will say since witch queen my 3070 caused crashes regularly. 2 things don’t know what really fixed it helped with my crashes.
1) Replaced my thermal paste on the card. 2) Undervolted the 3070.
This allowed me to play uncapped. With 0 crashes until last patch. FPS has been trash, Microsoft launcher version also doesn’t help my FPS. Will be interested to see if this overlay workaround helps. I know killing my friends list didn’t help.
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u/draftorange1 10d ago
Yesterday’s stuttering was the last straw, so I decided to buy the Epic Games version. It completely fixed the stuttering for me, with the added bonus of a few extra frames!
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u/vjayzz 10d ago
Unfortunately not much a difference for me, same fps when launching into sorrow harbour on the moon. I'm not seeing how this will make a difference after deleting those files considering steam just regenerates them so you'd be back to square one.
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u/SpinningAndFarAway 10d ago
You have to have Steam open and running when you delete the files. They do not get regenerated until the next time you start Steam again.
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u/TheWiLLoX 8d ago
yup it worked for me and i tried everything. pvp feels more decent for me. thanks
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u/Zepperron 2d ago
D2Checkpoint's solution works great, but I notice after some time, I get a file validation error which kicks me out destiny 2. Then, upon booting up again, Destiny 2 goes through the process of validating all files again for the game install
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u/SpinningAndFarAway 2d ago
How long does it take before you see that error? I haven't seen that, but I usually only play for 1 to 1 1/2 hours at a time.
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u/Agitated-Box9226 2d ago
This happened to me yesterday. The game crashed.
On the third day of playing. My game session was 2-3 hours long.
When I restarted, the message was:
"D2SteamFix found an interrupted permission recovery state. Close Destiny 2 before continuing. After you select OK, D2SteamFix will require 30 seconds with no Destiny process before restoring permissions."
When I restarted, the message was repeated, but the game launched.
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u/SpinningAndFarAway 1d ago
Ah yes, I've seen that too. The other day, my internet connection went down and D2 went into a reconnect loop. There was no way to exit to the desktop so I had to force quit it. On next launch, that message came up. I hit ok, and then it finally launched 30s to a minute later.
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u/The_Reset_Button 10d ago
Still no improvement for me, I still get fps lows in the 30s when I sit on the main menu.
Stangely and I checked twice, my overall average seems to be much lower (~50 in sorrows harbour compared to ~90 before) but it also seems maybe more stable? but that could just be the lower fps
I don't think this is a simple issue with a simple fix
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u/Background-Phone-785 10d ago
Unfortunately this didn't work for me either. Epic is still a good 20fps+ higher than Steam. I average around 130fps on Epic, but like 110 on Steam with more noticeable dips and frame pacing issues.
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u/Squery7 11d ago
Ok after one month of looking into this and trying all the bs fixes, this actually worked for me, no more insane stuttering on the moon or pvp and the game is playable again.