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Observer

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games

This page is for the original game. For the updated and improved version, see Observer: System Redux.

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Developers
Bloober Team
Publishers
Aspyr Media
Engines
Unreal Engine 4[Note 1]
Release dates
Windows August 15, 2017
macOS (OS X) October 24, 2017[2]
Linux October 24, 2017[2]
Reception
Metacritic 78
OpenCritic 78
IGDB 74
Taxonomy
Monetization One-time game purchase
Microtransactions None
Modes Singleplayer
Pacing Real-time
Perspectives Third-person
Controls Direct control
Genres Adventure
Art styles Realistic
Themes Cyberpunk
Series Observer
Observer on HowLongToBeat
Observer on IGDB
Observer guide on StrategyWiki
Observer on MobyGames
Observer on Wikipedia
Observer
Observer 2017
Observer: System Redux 2020

General information

Official Wiki
Aspyr Media support page
GOG.com Community Discussions for game series
GOG.com Support Page
Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Retail
Icon overlay.png
Special Edition released in Poland
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Amazon.com
Icon overlay.png
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Humble Store
Icon overlay.png
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Epic Games Store (unavailable)
DRM-free after installation through Epic Games Launcher (notes may include more details)
DRM-free when launched directly from executable.[3]
Windows
macOS (OS X)
GOG.com (unavailable)
DRM-free
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Steam (unavailable)
Icon overlay.png
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux

Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Delete or rename startup videos[4]
  1. Go to <path-to-game>\TheObserver\Content\Movies\.
  2. Delete or rename LoadingScreen.mp4, LoadingScreen.ogv, LoadingLoop.mp4 and LoadingLoop.ogv.

Performance enhancement

Set motion blur to off if you notice unexplained frame rate drops. The frame rate will be cut in half in most areas of the game. This affects all versions of the game.[citation needed]

Game data

In-game gameplay settings.
In-game gameplay settings.

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
Windows %LOCALAPPDATA%\TheObserver\Saved\Config\WindowsNoEditor\
%LOCALAPPDATA%\TheObserver\Saved\SaveGames\PlayerPreferences.sav
macOS (OS X)
Linux $HOME/.config/Epic/TheObserver/Saved/Config/LinuxNoEditor/
This game does not follow the XDG Base Directory Specification on Linux.
PlayerPreferences.sav contains key bindings.

Save game data location

System Location
Windows %LOCALAPPDATA%\TheObserver\Saved\SaveGames\
macOS (OS X)
Linux $HOME/.config/Epic/TheObserver/Saved/SaveGames/

Save game cloud syncing

Video

In-game basic video settings
In-game basic video settings
In-game advanced video settings
In-game advanced video settings

Graphics feature State Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor
See Ultra-widescreen.
Ultra-widescreen
See Ultra-widescreen.
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)
See Field of view (FOV).
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed
Disable fullscreen in video settings and select native desktop resolution.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Scales with texture quality preset. To set manually see Anisotropic filtering (AF).
Anti-aliasing (AA)
FXAA, TXAA.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS
120+ FPS
See High frame rate.
High dynamic range display (HDR)
See the engine page to force native HDR output, or the glossary page for other alternatives.
The game engine may allow for manual configuration of the game via its variables. See the Unreal Engine 4 page for more details.

Ultra-widescreen

Hex edit executable[5]
  1. Go to <path-to-game>\TheObserver\Binaries\Win64\
  2. Open TheObserver-Win64-Shipping.exe with a hex editor such as HxD.
  3. Search for 398EE33F and change the value to:
    • 26B41740 for 2560x1080
    • 8EE31840 for 3440x1440
    • ABAAAA40 for 5760x1080
    • B497B040 for 5960x1080
  4. Save the file.

Notes

The Field of view (FOV) fix should also be applied.
The HUD is stretched.

Field of view (FOV)

Change FOV scaling to Hor+[5]
  1. Go to the configuration file(s) location.
  2. Open Engine.ini.
  3. Add the following and save.
[/Script/Engine.LocalPlayer]
AspectRatioAxisConstraint=AspectRatio_MaintainYFOV

Notes

Makes in-game computer screen text hard to read.

Anisotropic filtering (AF)

Set AF sample rate manually[6]
  1. Go to the configuration file(s) location.
  2. Open Engine.ini.
  3. Add the following and save.
[SystemSettings]
r.MaxAnisotropy=16

High frame rate

Unlock frame rate[7]
  1. Go to the configuration file(s) location.
  2. Open GameUserSettings.ini.
  3. Change FrameRateLimit=0.000000 to the desired frame rate cap, e.g. FrameRateLimit=120.000000.

Chromatic aberration

Disable chromatic aberration[6]
  1. Go to the configuration file(s) location.
  2. Open Engine.ini.
  3. Add the following and save.
[SystemSettings]
r.SceneColorFringeQuality=0

Depth of field

Disable depth of field[6]
  1. Go to the configuration file(s) location.
  2. Open Engine.ini.
  3. Add the following and save.
[SystemSettings]
r.DepthOfFieldQuality=0

Input

In-game controls settings
In-game controls settings
In-game controller layout menu
In-game controller layout menu

Keyboard and mouse State Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
Negative mouse acceleration.
Mouse sensitivity
The in-game sensitivity slider may not go low enough for high DPI users.
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
Full controller support
Steam version uses a launcher which doesn't support controller input.
Controller remapping
See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion
Controller types
XInput-compatible controllers
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration
PlayStation controllers
Generic/other controllers
See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
Digital movement supported
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Audio

In-game audio settings
In-game audio settings

Audio feature State Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
Simplified Chinese
French
German
Hungarian
Fan translation
Italian
Japanese
Polish
Brazilian Portuguese
Russian
Fan voice-over by GamesVoice.
Spanish

VR support

3D modes State Notes
Native 3D
Nvidia 3D Vision
See Helix Mod: Observer_ (DX11) or Helix Mod: Observer_ (DX11).
vorpX
G3D
User created game profile, see vorpx forum profile introduction.

Issues fixed

Game crashes during gameplay

See Bypass OpenSSL SHA bug on Intel 10th gen and later CPUs.[8]

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
Direct3D 11
Metal support
Shader Model support 5.0
Executable 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux

Middleware

Middleware Notes
Physics PhysX
Audio Fmod [1]
Interface Qt

System requirements

Windows
Minimum
Operating system (OS) 7
Processor (CPU) Intel Core i3 (3.4 GHz)
AMD A8-6700 (3.1 GHz)
System memory (RAM) 8 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 10 GB
Video card (GPU) Nvidia GeForce GTX 660
AMD Radeon R9 270
DirectX 11 compatible
A 64-bit operating system is required.
macOS (OS X)
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 10.12
Processor (CPU) Intel Core i5 3.2 GHz (4 Cores)
System memory (RAM) 8 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 20 GB
Video card (GPU) Nvidia GeForce GTX 680
AMD Radeon R9 M290
2 GB of VRAM
Other Intel graphics are not supported
A 64-bit operating system is required.
Linux
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 16.04
Processor (CPU) Intel Core i3 (3.4 GHz)
AMD A8-6700 (3.1 GHz)
System memory (RAM) 8 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 10 GB
Video card (GPU) Nvidia GeForce GTX 680
AMD Radeon R9 270
2 GB of VRAM
Other Intel and AMD graphics are not supported
A 64-bit operating system is required.


Notes

  1. Unreal Engine 4 engine build: 4.15.3.0[1]

References

  1. Verified by User:Mastan on 2021-12-04
  2. 2.0 2.1 Steam Community :: Group Announcements :: Observer - last accessed on 2017-10-29
  3. Verified by User:Baronsmoki on 2019-10-17
  4. Observer PC Error - 21:9 Ultra Wide Support, Change FOV, Uncap FrameRate, Skip Intro And More - last accessed on May 2023
  5. 5.0 5.1 wsgf.org - View topic - Observer (>observer_) - last accessed on 2017-11-05
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 Verified by User:Waschbär on 2017-11-05
  7. Steam Community :: Guide :: Uncap fps, change FOV, skip Intro Guide - last accessed on May 2023
  8. Verified by User:Mastan on 2022-04-03