SteamApps vs AppData Shader Directory/Cache Misses -- An Easy Fix?

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.\Program Files\Grinding Gear Games\Path of Exile 2\

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mklink /j "ShaderCacheVulkan" "%appdata%\Path of Exile 2\ShaderCacheVulkan"

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Mr0ki#0067 wrote:

On a topic of this thread...
Have you noticed how the SHADER bar in the in-game metrics goes absolutely wild every time you load a new instance—even if it’s the same map?

The disk I/O spikes like crazy too. It happens every single time you load a new instance of a campaign map. The madness dies down after a minute or two, but still... it’s pretty intense. It could very well be linked to your small discovery here, right?

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totoin#1666 wrote:

I succesfully did your fix but it didn't changed my specific problem which is the infinite loading screen. I can't enter the game 9 out of 10 times. When I do enter, I have no problems until I get through a portal or a waypoint. Then, same infinite cogs. The game is not stuck, it is simply not getting in to the instance. When it does load 5 minutes later, I start with 4000+ latency that goes on to infinity and can't move. The game is not stuck there either. I get the sense that the game refuses to start the instance because the parameters of F1 goes silent in the first 3 seconds of the loading. no network, no drive, no shader movement. Also my CPU and GPU loads go 3 to 4 ms per frame whch are pretty low considering. If the instance load is a success, They all go alive like going up and down. There I know that it will get it without problem. I tried everything written on the internet about this since the launch of 0.2 patch. Nothing works. This never happened before. Not in POE1 or POE2. Do you have any suggestions? (I tried all combinations of settings that a regular dude can do)

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JafaRykos#4460 wrote:

Regarding making your own link.

It will be different based on if you use steam or not. If you do use steam, then open up a file explorer and navigate to a path like this (this is what it is on my PC) "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Path of Exile 2"

It's in this folder where the PathOfExileSteam.exe file exists that it looks for the ShaderCacheD3D12 or ShaderCacheVulkan folder (based on which renderer you use).

In my personal case, the actual shader caches are in my appdata folder, so press Windows+R and type %appdata% and hit enter, scroll down, go into the Path Of Exile 2 folder.

On my pc, I have the ShaderCacheVulkan folder (and the DirectX 12 one too) where the game actually put the shaders.

When you make the link, you need the _actual_ path to that directory, using %appdata% is a shortcut, but it's pretty easy to find normally:

"%appdata%\Path of Exile 2\"

is the same as

"C:\Users\Jafa\AppData\Roaming\Path of Exile 2"

Notice the Users\Jafa bit, that's my windows login name so yours will differ.

So if you want to trick windows into thinking a folder exists where it really doesn't (the shader cache folder in steam) pointing to the appdata folder, you can make a symbol link.

So again, knowing we are linking from Steam -> Appdata, look at my actual path and substitute your own folders for your Username and Renderer folder (Vulkan or DirectX)

mklink /J "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Path of Exile 2\ShaderCacheVulkan" "C:\Users\Jafa\AppData\Roaming\Path of Exile 2\ShaderCacheVulkan"

If you go back to the steam folder you'll now see a Folder icon with a shortcut on it that will take you to the appdata folder. But windows doesn't treat it like a link where it jumps to that appdata folder, it treats it like that's the for real folder that exists there for any file lookups.

I use directory links like this to force different apps to dump their data to dropbox for work so it's auto backed up, so it's handy to use it like this sometimes.