RX 9060 XT (Windows Vulkan): Blocky/pixelated light bloom, overblown lighting glare, and black textures in opening scenes / Kokiri Forest #606

Closed

opened 2026-11-08 14:16:36 +00:00 by fadedkoala9 · 3 comments

fadedkoala9 commented

2026-11-08 14:16:36 +00:00

(Migrated from github.com)

Hookshot version

hookshot honest-eta (source bd9bcd71)

What kind of problem

Graphics (missing, black or wrong-coloured things, lighting, flicker)

What happened

In the opening scenes and around Kokiri Forest, there are several lighting and texture rendering issues on an AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT (RDNA 4, Windows Vulkan):

Blocky / pixelated light halos (square grid artifacts): Glowing elements and point lights (such as the glowing yellow flowers/butterflies near the ferns and distant lantern/house lights behind trees) render with severe low-resolution square grid / blocky pixelation artifacts.
Overblown bloom / lighting glare: Light sources (such as Navi's glow, glowing flora, and bounced light patches on walls) have excessive bloom/glare and appear blown out.
Black textures / crushed surfaces: Certain terrain and structure surfaces in the opening cutscenes and Kokiri Forest (e.g., the hillside/rock surface on the left, and areas underneath wooden bridges/structures) turn completely pitch black.

Expected: Smooth light attenuation/bloom without blocky mosaic pixelation, and properly lit terrain/structure textures without turning pitch black.

Where in the game

Opening scenes / intro cutscenes and walking around Kokiri Forest

How often

Every time

Graphics card and driver version

AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT (16 GB), AMD Adrenalin 26.10.2 (Windows driver 32.0.32015.12012, Vulkan 1.4, driver 0x8001a0)

CPU, RAM and operating system

AMD Ryzen 5 5600 (6-Core / 12-Thread), 24 GB RAM, Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (22H2, Build 19045)

Changes from the defaults

No hookshot_env.txt.
Options from hookshot_options.ini:
quality_preset=0, fullscreen=1, frame_generation=2, frame_pacing=1, resolution=1, upscaling=2, sharpness=40, game_speed=1

Other software hooked into the game

None

hookshot_log.txt

Full log file: hookshot_log.txt (Gist)

Log excerpt (Vulkan init & shader info)

text [hos host] hookshot honest-eta (source bd9bcd71) update: this folder is honest-eta, the latest release is honest-eta [hos host] boot: image 96 MB at 0x80000000, 9809 MB of memory for the game [hos sead::MainThread] nvn: window of 3 textures (3 active), 2560x1440 format 0x25 [hos host] vk: device 0: AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT, Vulkan 1.4, driver 0x8001a0, type 2 [hos host] vk: subgroups: default 64 lanes, 32-64, pinned to 32 on stages 0xf0 [hos host] vk: robust buffer access on [hos host] vk: matrix multiplies in software (the cooperative matrices lack 16x8x16 f16) [hos host] vk: AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT, Vulkan 1.4, driver 0x8001a0; mesh shaders yes, host memory import yes, pipeline libraries yes [hos host] vk: swapchain 1280x720, 4 images, immediate [hos host] vk: guest memory imported in place (alignment 4096) [hos host] vk: replay ready (window; push descriptors yes (32), extended dynamic state 3 yes, custom border colours yes) [hos host] vk: task and mesh programs built without the driver's optimizer (AMD; RX_VK_MESH_OPT=1: with it) [hos host] vk: precompile: 5182 programs, 1566 graphics and 3845 compute pipelines in 8342 ms [hos host] rx: renderer: Vulkan (hookshot_vk.dll) [hos Presentation Thread] vk: 3480 presents, 30.8 fps; a frame: 3408 draws (0 skipped), 133 dispatches, 181 passes, 156 barriers, 6 submits, 0.2 uploads (0.0 MB), 80 ub updates (56 overlays), GPU-bound wait 0.1 ms; 1582 pipelines (2044 ms), 4 programs (10 failed), 2812 textures (5606 MB)

Screenshots or video

Before you send it

I'm on the newest release, or the problem is still there on it.
I searched the open issues for this problem.
I'm not attaching game files, keys, hookshot.exe, the .bin caches or saves.

### Hookshot version `hookshot honest-eta (source bd9bcd71)` ### What kind of problem Graphics (missing, black or wrong-coloured things, lighting, flicker) ### What happened In the opening scenes and around Kokiri Forest, there are several lighting and texture rendering issues on an AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT (RDNA 4, Windows Vulkan): 1. **Blocky / pixelated light halos (square grid artifacts):** Glowing elements and point lights (such as the glowing yellow flowers/butterflies near the ferns and distant lantern/house lights behind trees) render with severe low-resolution square grid / blocky pixelation artifacts. 2. **Overblown bloom / lighting glare:** Light sources (such as Navi's glow, glowing flora, and bounced light patches on walls) have excessive bloom/glare and appear blown out. 3. **Black textures / crushed surfaces:** Certain terrain and structure surfaces in the opening cutscenes and Kokiri Forest (e.g., the hillside/rock surface on the left, and areas underneath wooden bridges/structures) turn completely pitch black. **Expected:** Smooth light attenuation/bloom without blocky mosaic pixelation, and properly lit terrain/structure textures without turning pitch black. ### Where in the game Opening scenes / intro cutscenes and walking around Kokiri Forest ### How often Every time ### Graphics card and driver version AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT (16 GB), AMD Adrenalin 26.10.2 (Windows driver 32.0.32015.12012, Vulkan 1.4, driver 0x8001a0) ### CPU, RAM and operating system AMD Ryzen 5 5600 (6-Core / 12-Thread), 24 GB RAM, Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (22H2, Build 19045) ### Changes from the defaults No `hookshot_env.txt`. Options from `hookshot_options.ini`: `quality_preset=0`, `fullscreen=1`, `frame_generation=2`, `frame_pacing=1`, `resolution=1`, `upscaling=2`, `sharpness=40`, `game_speed=1` ### Other software hooked into the game None ### hookshot_log.txt Full log file: **[hookshot_log.txt](https://gist.githubusercontent.com/fadedkoala9/ae4116fa97bf8c87bfeecb9547d584d7/raw/404cba4341607c8bc5927a015d697d9425699468/hookshot_log.txt)** ([Gist](https://gist.github.com/fadedkoala9/ae4116fa97bf8c87bfeecb9547d584d7#file-hookshot_log-txt)) <details><summary>Log excerpt (Vulkan init & shader info)</summary> ``text [hos host] hookshot honest-eta (source bd9bcd71) update: this folder is honest-eta, the latest release is honest-eta [hos host] boot: image 96 MB at 0x80000000, 9809 MB of memory for the game [hos sead::MainThread] nvn: window of 3 textures (3 active), 2560x1440 format 0x25 [hos host] vk: device 0: AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT, Vulkan 1.4, driver 0x8001a0, type 2 [hos host] vk: subgroups: default 64 lanes, 32-64, pinned to 32 on stages 0xf0 [hos host] vk: robust buffer access on [hos host] vk: matrix multiplies in software (the cooperative matrices lack 16x8x16 f16) [hos host] vk: AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT, Vulkan 1.4, driver 0x8001a0; mesh shaders yes, host memory import yes, pipeline libraries yes [hos host] vk: swapchain 1280x720, 4 images, immediate [hos host] vk: guest memory imported in place (alignment 4096) [hos host] vk: replay ready (window; push descriptors yes (32), extended dynamic state 3 yes, custom border colours yes) [hos host] vk: task and mesh programs built without the driver's optimizer (AMD; RX_VK_MESH_OPT=1: with it) [hos host] vk: precompile: 5182 programs, 1566 graphics and 3845 compute pipelines in 8342 ms [hos host] rx: renderer: Vulkan (hookshot_vk.dll) [hos Presentation Thread] vk: 3480 presents, 30.8 fps; a frame: 3408 draws (0 skipped), 133 dispatches, 181 passes, 156 barriers, 6 submits, 0.2 uploads (0.0 MB), 80 ub updates (56 overlays), GPU-bound wait 0.1 ms; 1582 pipelines (2044 ms), 4 programs (10 failed), 2812 textures (5606 MB) `` </details> ### Screenshots or video ![Kokiri Forest - Blocky pixelated yellow lights and black terrain texture on the left](https://gist.githubusercontent.com/fadedkoala9/ae4116fa97bf8c87bfeecb9547d584d7/raw/404cba4341607c8bc5927a015d697d9425699468/hookshot_7OISuzW7wT.jpg) ![Kokiri Forest - Blocky distant house lights, Navi bloom glare, and black textures under bridge](https://gist.githubusercontent.com/fadedkoala9/ae4116fa97bf8c87bfeecb9547d584d7/raw/404cba4341607c8bc5927a015d697d9425699468/hookshot_UxSI1nessQ.jpg) ![Kokiri Forest - Blown-out light patch, Navi halo, and crushed black wall/structure textures](https://gist.githubusercontent.com/fadedkoala9/ae4116fa97bf8c87bfeecb9547d584d7/raw/404cba4341607c8bc5927a015d697d9425699468/hookshot_AdeK8LNKAp.jpg) ### Before you send it - [x] I'm on the newest release, or the problem is still there on it. - [x] I searched the open issues for this problem. - [x] I'm not attaching game files, keys, hookshot.exe, the .bin caches or saves.

NotRexed commented

2026-11-09 05:50:50 +00:00

(Migrated from github.com)

Tracked in #1004, follow there. That issue collects every report of lighting problems (overexposure, bloom, crushed shadows, black faces), and this one is linked from it with its GPU, version and log details. v2.0.5 fixed dark/black faces and v2.0.6 fixes the bright plant stems, so a retest on v2.0.6 is useful. If it still happens on v2.0.6 (https://github.com/NotRexed/Hookshot/releases/tag/v2.0.6; Update next to Play in the launcher), please add a comment there with your hookshot_log.txt.

fadedkoala9 commented

2026-11-09 20:20:08 +00:00

(Migrated from github.com)

I tested v2.0.6 as suggested and the lighting/texture issues were completely fixed on that version. However, after updating to the latest release (v2.0.11), the exact same regression returned (blocky/pixelated light halos, overblown bloom/glare, and pitch-black textures in the opening scenes / Kokiri Forest) on my AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT (Adrenalin 26.10.2, Windows 10).

Here is my hookshot_log.txt from v2.0.11:
hookshot_log.txt

NotRexed commented

2026-11-09 20:47:18 +00:00

(Migrated from github.com)

@fadedkoala9: thanks for testing both versions. The blocky halo regression is now tracked in #1117, which found the cause (a few samplers filtering as nearest instead of linear); I've noted there that v2.0.6 was clean and v2.0.11 isn't.