Modernizes F.E.A.R. and its expansions with HUD scaling, high-framerate optimizations, controller support, and other quality-of-life enhancements. It aims to be as non-intrusive as possible, applying runtime patches only, with no gameplay changes by default.

How to Install

[!NOTE]
Compatible with F.E.A.R. Ultimate Shooter Edition (Steam) and F.E.A.R. Platinum (GOG).
All features are compatible with Extraction Point and Perseus Mandate.

Download: EchoPatch.zip
Extract the contents of the zip file into the game's folder, in the same directory as the FEAR.exe file.
On first launch, EchoPatch will prompt to apply a LAA patch if needed to prevent loading issues.
This prompt will not appear for the GOG version, as the LAA patch is already applied there.

[!WARNING] The GOG version defaults to a 60 FPS cap.
To unlock higher framerates, modify the dxwrapper.ini file by setting LimitPerFrameFPS from 60 to 0.
This change enables compatibility with the HighFPSFixes optimizations, ensuring smooth performance at framerates up to 300 FPS.

[!WARNING] Windows Defender Controlled Folder Access (rare): If saves or settings are not persisting, Windows Defender may be blocking access to the save folder. Go to Windows Defender > Controlled Folder Access > Add an allowed app and add the game executable.

Steam Deck/Linux Specific Instructions (Windows users can skip this)

[!WARNING] On Steam Deck, change the controller configuration to Gamepad With Joystick Trackpad for controller support.

Features

HUD Scaling

• Dynamically scales HUD elements (texts, crosshair, icons) relative to screen resolution.
• Adjust HUDCustomScalingFactor in EchoPatch.ini to customize overall HUD scaling.
• Adjust SmallTextCustomScalingFactor for independent scaling of smaller text (e.g., subtitles).

Note: The base resolution (1024×768) is used as the reference for scaling, ensuring the HUD retains its original proportions and appearance on all higher resolutions.

High FPS Fixes

Resolves multiple issues at high framerates, designed and optimized for smooth gameplay at up to 300 FPS (particularly when using Slow-Mo):

• Havok ragdoll physics instability.
• Water physics instability.
• Excessive water splash effect repetitions.
• Frozen FX effects.
• Oversized particles.
• Overly dampened velocity when jumping out of water.
• Velocity dampening when jumping and landing.
• Walking animation prematurely reverting to idle, causing camera stutter.
• Inability to perform a jump kick.
• Excessive sliding on sloped surfaces.
• Slow-motion charge and timer desynchronization.
• Degraded AI reactions.

Optimized Save Performance

Dramatically reduces save times by buffering file operations in memory instead of writing directly to disk.
The game performs hundreds of thousands of individual WriteFile calls per save (over 220,000 for a typical 2MB save file), causing multi-second delays even on high-end hardware.

Fast VRAM Detection

Replaces the slow legacy DxDiag VRAM scan with instant DXGI detection, speeding up startup and performance settings access.

Input & Frame Drop Fixes

• FPS Drop Fix: Prevents framerate drops by stopping the game from initializing all HID devices as controllers.
• Input Lag Fix: Disables the SetWindowsHookEx call to reduce input lag.

Nvidia Rendering Fix

Resolves rendering issues such as shadow flickering and inversion on Nvidia GPUs.
This issue appeared in Nvidia drivers released after 2015 and persists in modern drivers, with a small performance trade-off for correct shadow rendering.

Note: Can be disabled by setting FixNvidiaShadowCorruption = 0 in EchoPatch.ini if wanted.

Framerate Limiter

Prevents the game from running too fast by capping the maximum framerate.

• MaxFPS (MaxFPS in EchoPatch.ini): Set the maximum framerate. A value of 0 disables the limiter, any other value enables it. The default value of 300 is recommended, as minor glitches may occur at uncapped framerates.
• Dynamic VSync (DynamicVsync in EchoPatch.ini): When enabled (1), VSync synchronizes frame updates to your monitor's refresh rate, reducing screen tearing. VSync will only be enabled if your monitor's refresh rate is lower than MaxFPS, otherwise it remains off. Set to 0 to disable.

Weapon Fixes

Addresses several weapon-related issues:

• Fix Aim/Zoom not working when loading a save during a cutscene.
• Automatic weapons stuck in firing animation when loading a save made mid-fire.
• Weapon cycling not working when there's an empty slot between two weapons.
• Weapon model position not updating correctly after reloading a save with the same weapon equipped.

Note: These issues were partially fixed in the Extraction Point and Perseus Mandate expansions.

Controller Support

Supports Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch controllers via SDL3.

Controller Input	Action
Left Analog Stick	Move
Right Analog Stick	Aim
Left Analog Stick (Press)	Use Health Kit
Right Analog Stick (Press)	Toggle Flashlight
South (A / Cross)	Jump
East (B / Circle)	Crouch
West (X / Square)	Reload / Interact
North (Y / Triangle)	Toggle Slow-Motion
RT / R2 / ZR	Fire
LT / L2 / ZL	Aim / Zoom
RB / R1 / R	Melee
LB / L1 / L	Throw Grenade
D-Pad Up	Next Weapon (Hold: Drop Weapon)
D-Pad Down	Next Grenade (Hold: Holster Weapon)
D-Pad Left	Lean Left
D-Pad Right	Lean Right
Back / Share / −	Mission Status (Hold: Quick Save)
Start / Options / +	Pause Menu (Hold: Quick Load)
Share / Capture	Holster Weapon
Right Paddle 1	Center View

Note: Buttons support hold actions for secondary commands. Configure hold bindings and duration via EchoPatch.ini. See COMMANDS.md for the full list of command IDs.

Rumble

Supports controller vibration feedback.
Enable with RumbleEnabled = 1 in EchoPatch.ini.

Gyro Aiming

Enables motion-controlled aiming using the controller's gyroscope for supported controllers (DualShock 4, DualSense, Switch Pro Controller).

Configurable in the [Controller] section of EchoPatch.ini:

• GyroEnabled: Set to 1 to enable gyro aiming.
• GyroAimingMode: Determines when gyro is active (0 = Always On, 1 = Aiming Only, 2 = Hip Fire Only).
• GyroCalibrationPersistence: Set to 1 to save calibration data for automatic loading on reconnect if the controller has a unique serial number.

Note: If you experience gyro drift, place the controller on a stable surface for a few seconds to calibrate.

Additional Feature (PlayStation controllers)

• Touchpad: Mouse cursor control (DualShock 4/DualSense)

Customizable alongside sensitivity settings within the [Controller] section of EchoPatch.ini.

Note: Hotplugging is supported, connect or disconnect controllers at any time without restarting the game.

Some controller settings from EchoPatch.ini can also be adjusted directly in-game via a custom menu accessible from Options → Controls → Configure joystick/gamepad.

Keyboard Input Fix

Corrects key mapping on non-English layouts by using hardware scan codes and fixing misreported DirectInput key names. Prevents "[unassigned]" entries on first launch, after resetting controls, or when reassigning keys.

Widescreen Resolution Support for Extraction Point

Removes 4:3 restriction so all widescreen resolutions are available.

LAA Patcher

Applies a Large Address Aware patch to allow up to 4 GB of memory (default 2 GB), which can resolve loading issues such as the "Disconnected from server" error.
The behavior of this option can be edited by setting CheckLAAPatch in the [Fixes] section of EchoPatch.ini.

Persistent World State

Keeps objects (bodies, blood stains, debris, bullet holes, shell casings, glass shards…) from despawning.

Supersampling (SSAA)

Renders the 3D scene at a higher internal resolution and downscales it to the display resolution, providing high-quality anti-aliasing.
Unlike the in-game FSAA option, which cannot be combined with soft shadows, SSAA is fully compatible with them, allowing both to be enabled at the same time.

• SSAAScale (SSAAScale in EchoPatch.ini): Internal resolution scale factor. The default value of 1.0 renders at native resolution (equivalent to disabled), any other value enables supersampling.

Note: FSAA is automatically turned off when supersampling is enabled, as the two are incompatible. Supersampling has a significant performance cost, a value of 2.0 renders 4x as many pixels.

HD Reflections & Displays

Improves resolution quality of reflective surfaces and displays.

Aspect Ratio Blur Fixes

Corrects post-process blur effects that were hardcoded for a 4:3 aspect ratio.
On the original shaders the blur kernel size does not scale with the display resolution, so the effect stretches horizontally as the aspect ratio widens, becoming increasingly smeared at 16:9 and severe at ultrawide resolutions. The fixed shaders derive the kernel from the actual resolution, keeping the blur consistent at any aspect ratio.

This applies to:

• Soft shadow blur: the blur pass used to soften dynamic shadows.
• Screen blur: the blur material applied to objects seen through blurred surfaces.

No Model LOD Bias

Disable LOD bias to render models at full quality at any distance.

Improved Mipmap Bias

Improves texture sharpness at a distance by reducing mipmap bias. Certain textures such as characters, FX effects, and vehicles are rendered at higher detail, while textures that appear blurry at a distance like fences are selectively rendered at maximum quality. Other textures use a moderate bias to prevent shimmering artifacts.

Mouse Aim Multiplier

Multiplier applied to mouse aiming to compensate for high sensitivity (does not affect profile settings).
Set MouseAimMultiplier in EchoPatch.ini (default 1.0).

Custom FOV

Overrides the default 70° field of view and applies automatic viewmodel correction to preserve proper viewmodel proportions at wider FOVs.
Set CustomFOV in EchoPatch.ini (0 = disabled).

Disable Letterboxing

Disables cutscene letterboxing when DisableLetterbox = 1 in EchoPatch.ini.

Skip Intro

Bypasses startup content for faster game launch.

• SkipSplashScreen: Skips the developer splash screen.
• SkipAllIntro: Skips all intro videos.

Individual videos can also be skipped via the [SkipIntro] section in EchoPatch.ini.

Save Folder Redirection

Redirects the save folder from %PUBLIC%\Documents\ to %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\.
Disabled by default, set RedirectSaveFolder = 1 in EchoPatch.ini to enable.

Infinite Flashlight

Removes battery limit and hides HUD indicator.
Enable with InfiniteFlashlight = 1.

Developer Console

Restores the in-game developer console with a reimplemented frontend using ImGui, providing access to engine commands and logging messages. Toggle with the Home key.

• ConsoleEnabled: Set to 1 to enable the console.
• DebugLevel: Controls the verbosity of debug messages (0–15).
• LogOutputToFile: Set to 1 to log all console output to a timestamped text file.

EAX Audio Fix

Allows local DirectSound wrappers like DSOAL to load correctly, enabling EAX and hardware audio mixing. The game normally uses COM to initialize DirectSound, which bypasses local DLLs and loads the system version instead. This fix intercepts that call and redirects it to the local wrapper.

Weapon Capacity Editor

Customize max weapon capacity via MaxWeaponCapacity (0–10).
Enable with EnableCustomMaxWeaponCapacity = 1.

Note: Weapon capacity is tied to the save data. Lowering the capacity will not take effect on an existing save. Start a new save file to apply a reduced limit.

Disable PunkBuster Initialization

Disables initialization of PunkBuster, the deprecated online anti-cheat service that shipped with the original game.
This prevents the game from loading unused background components.

dinput8 Chaining Support

Chains another dinput8.dll by loading dinput8_hook.dll for mod compatibility.

Configuration

All features can be customized via the EchoPatch.ini file. Each setting includes detailed comments explaining its function and acceptable values. The patch uses sensible defaults that work for most users, but allows fine-tuning of every aspect.

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Credits

• SDL3 for controller support.

• MinHook for hooking.

• mINI for INI file handling.

• ImGui for the console interface.

• Methanhydrat for identifying the FPS drop root cause.

• Vityacv for identifying the extra latency caused by SetWindowsHookEx.

• CRASHARKI for the logo.