Lone Echo 2 - Some Solutions Found.

[Anonymous]

So here is the chronology of my battle with this game.  Trying to troubleshoot this game has been frustrating.  This process was exacerbated by me upgrading my CPU in the mix.  Originally started the process with an AMD 3900X and a 6900XT.  I happened across an amazing deal for a 5950X.  I purchased this for it's rendering of video capabilities, not really for gaming perks if anyone is curious.

1- Started the process with 3900x, 32GB Ram, 6900XT and Windows 11.  Played Lone Echo 1 using Virtual Desktop with NO issues on high settings.  Finished LE1 and bought LE2 and immediately noticed that it was recommending LOW graphics setting and if I selected MEDIUM or HIGH the GPU would go RED in the menu.  I originally ran in MEDIUM and noticed the first 45 minutes played reasonably well.  I would notice some minor video stuttering or audio clipping.  I did notice my first crash when trying to clear security at the beginning of the game. (45 minutes in).

2- Upon reboot I noticed the issues others reported where i could play 20-30 minutes and my screen would freeze.  A quick check on my desktop showed it had rebooted.  Reload the game and same issue.  Tried this on Virtual Desktop, Air Link and Link Cable with no luck.  Actually realized I had an issue with my desktop usb ports recognizing the link cable.  I attributed this to being on Windows 11.  Also reinstalled the Oculus app multiple times... resulting in losing my save games and restarting and doing the same 45 minutes of the game 10+ times.

3- I rolled back from Windows 11 to Windows 10.  I do not know why but this install of Windows 10 was seriously unstable.  It was around this time that I also replaced my CPU from the AMD 3900x to the 5950x.  This probably caused further issues due to the updating of the Motherboard (TUF Gaming 570x wifi +) and was having overheating issues.  Troubleshooting revealed the update to the motherboard disabled the monitoring of my liquid cooled CPU AIO.  Made some bios adjustments and this improved.  However the installation was unstable and I reverted to Windows 11... yes glutton for punishment.

4- When I did this I had a stable build but now when I would run LE2 it would not even load and would immediately crash and launch a bugsplat.  I consulted my 15 year old son/tech expert and he suggested we reinstall Windows 10 as Oculus Tech support tried to assist with my issues but stated they do NOT officially support Windows 11 installs.  We did and took our time to ensure all the hardware and software were working right and all updates done.  This install was much more stable. Reinstalled all the software and was happy to say that everything was operating properly.  LE2 loaded up quickly and I replayed the first 45 minutes on high settings with no issues.

5- Found on this forum that I did NOT need to play through the whole game again... it was getting a bit frustrating.  By following this guide by some developers you can simply replace the current save game with one of the many save games they have listed  on their site.  Follow the instructions and find the save game files here.  This is very easy to do.  Lone Echo II | Replacement Save Files | by Echo Games | Echo Games: Official Mission Logs | Medium

6- Loaded my game at the point where were trying to recreate the anomaly to go back... played at high settings with no issues or degradation of the game for well over an hour.

My take aways:

1- Make sure you have a stable and updated system running Windows 10.

2- The game does not seem to like AMD cards as it would routinely say I could only play at LOW but played fine at HIGH once my other stability issues were ironed out.

3- I made sure to remove all overclocking as I read that this can be an issue as well.

4- Not sure if the CPU upgrade helped the final result... it did however make the troubleshooting a bigger PITA!

5- The save game process and files I posted above were a huge time and frustration saver.

The game is beautiful and fun.  It was a shame that the experience was marred by such a lot of issues... however I hope what I have shared above helps you have a better experience.