How to Fix the Jitter Bug in F.E.A.R. 3

A lot of people have complained about F.E.A.R. 3's jitter bug. It causes the PC first-person shooter to stutter when players strafe. Looking---and even whirling---around doesn't replicate the bug; it's only when a player moves from sideways that it becomes apparent.

While currently there's no proper fix for the stutter bug afflicting F.E.A.R. 3, I've stumbled upon a temporary solution that alleviates the nausea-inducing jitter.


The temporary fix after the jump.

Many gamers have observed that the glitch is not a performance problem per se---in fact, lowering graphics settings WORSENS the problem. Of note is vsync; disabling it increases the jittering found when strafing in the PC first-person shooter.

The last yielded the temporary solution for the bug---it seems the game is having problems with higher framerates. Since enabling vsync sets a ceiling on your framerates equal to your monitor's refresh rate, lowering your monitor's refresh rate and turning on vsync will alleviate the problem.

>>>See my FEAR 3 First Impressions review HERE

To reiterate:

1. Set your monitor's refresh rate to a lower figure (60hz if your eyes can take it; CRT monitor users will have a headache after prolonged use at this frequency)
2. Enable vsync (found under the Options > Video Settings menu).

There's also another fix that might work: forcing the game to run on DirectX 9. It worked for some but under Windows 7, forcing DirectX 9 disables AA.

Here's how to do it:

1. On the Steam menu, right click on F.E.A.R. 3.
2. Click on "Properties" on the resulting pop-up menu.
3. Under the "General" tab, click on "Launch Options."
4. Type "-d3d9" (without the quotes on the resulting field.
5. Click OK.


You might want to try either or both of the above fixes and see if they solve the problem. Lowering my monitor's refresh rate solve the problem for me.

Please take note that I've mentioned the words "temporary" and "alleviate." This won't solve the the jitter bug in F.E.A.R. 3 but it definitely will minimize the stuttering when you strafe.

Hopefully, Day One Studios will release a patch in the coming days.