The Evil Within

The Evil Within

Developers
	Tango Gameworks
Windows	The Workshop Entertainment
Publishers
	Bethesda Softworks
Engines
	id Tech 5
Release dates
Windows	October 14, 2014
Reception
Metacritic	68
OpenCritic	73
IGDB	75
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase, DLC
Modes	Singleplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Third-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Survival horror
Themes	Horror
Series	The Evil Within

The Evil Within
The Evil Within	2014
The Evil Within 2	2017

The Evil Within is a singleplayer third-person survival horror game in the The Evil Within series.

The game is known as Psycho Break in Japan.

General information

GOG.com Community Discussions for game series

GOG.com Support Page

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		4 DVD discs, counting 44% of the games data.
Epic Games Store		DRM-free when a shortcut is made directly to the executable, with the -EpicPortal command appended to the Target URL.
GamersGate
GOG.com
Green Man Gaming
Humble Store
Microsoft Store		Contains all season pass content. Included with Xbox Game Pass for PC.
Steam
Amazon.com (unavailable)
Amazon.co.uk (unavailable)
Bethesda.net (unavailable)		Digital Deluxe.

Version differences

The Microsoft Store version is significantly different with regards to gameplay, improved performance, and bug fixes. It features:

• First-person mode with an Field of View option and icons for the lantern and sneaking.
• Infinite ammo mode
• Low/medium options for camera bob
• Increased stamina (5 seconds by default instead of 3)

The GOG version and the Microsoft Store version contains the Fighting Chance Pack DLC that was previously exclusive to pre-orders.

Monetization

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
Season Pass
The Assignment
The Consequence
The Executioner
The Fighting Chance Pack	Pre-order bonus. Included in the GOG release.

The Season Pass contains all three story DLCs: The Assignment, The Consequence, and The Executioner.

The Fighting Chance Pack contains exclusive weapons: the Double Barrel Shotgun, Incendiary Agony Bolts, and Poison Agony Bolts. It also deposits a free medical kit and 5,000 Green Gel in Chapter 3.

Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Launch game with +com_skipIntroVideo 1 parameter This command doesn't work on the Epic Games version.

Install No Intro mod Works with the Epic Games version.

To apply the Skip Intro Videos parameter to the Microsoft Store version: Other parameters, such as r_swapinterval 0 and +vt_maxaniso 4, are also functional with the Microsoft Store version of The Evil Within. Navigate to <path-to-game> and then to the \Content folder. Right-click the gamelaunchhelper.exe and create a desktop shortcut. Append +com_skipIntroVideo 1 to the Target Field within the properties of the newly created shortcut.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Saved Games\TangoGameworks\The Evil Within\base\the evil withinConfig.cfg
Microsoft Store	%USERPROFILE%\Saved Games\TangoGameworks\The Evil Within\base\the evil withinConfig.cfg
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/268050/pfx/

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Saved Games\TangoGameworks\The Evil Within\base\savegame\
Microsoft Store	%LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\BethesdaSoftworks.TheEvilWithin-PC_3275kfvn8vcwc\SystemAppData\wgs\
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/268050/pfx/

15 save slots + 1 autosave slot available.

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Epic Games Launcher
GOG Galaxy
Steam Cloud
Xbox Cloud

Video

Video settings

Graphics hardware settings (Microsoft Store)

Graphics feature	State	Notes
Widescreen resolution		2.50:1 letterboxing can be disabled in settings.
Multi-monitor		Use Flawless Widescreen.
Ultra-widescreen		Pillarboxed. Use Flawless Widescreen or the related PCGW community tool.
4K Ultra HD		2.50:1 letterboxing can be disabled in settings.
Field of view (FOV)		Limited to the first person FOV and Microsoft Store version. Use Flawless Widescreen or the related PCGW community tool for more.
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed		No exclusive fullscreen support.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		See Anisotropic filtering (AF).
Anti-aliasing (AA)		FXAA, MLAA or SMAA.
Vertical sync (Vsync)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
60 FPS
120+ FPS		Choice of 30 or 60 FPS. See High frame rate.
High dynamic range display (HDR)		See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

Anisotropic filtering (AF)

Launch game with +vt_maxaniso X parameter where X is between 1 and 4[citation needed]
Notes Default value is 4. The game's engine does not support AF higher than 4x. Forcing anisotropic filtering through video driver causes texture shimmering.

High frame rate

In-game frame rate cap option supports either 30 or 60 FPS. Use this parameter to remove the cap entirely.

Launch game with +r_swapinterval 0 parameter

Steam version Click the cog wheel in the top-right of the game's library page Select Properties On the General tab, under Launch Options enter +r_swapinterval 0 Close the game's properties window and launch the game Windows Store version Open %USERPROFILE%\Saved Games\TangoGameworks\The Evil Within\base\the evil withinConfig.cfg in a text editor such as Notepad or Notepad++. Change r_swapinterval -1 to r_swapinterval 0 Save and close the file Notes The developers have not tested the game above 60 FPS and will not fix issues related to uncapping the frame rate. Enemy attacks that drain health (i.e. strangling attacks) do so significantly faster at higher frame rates. Enemy attack speed appears to be much higher at higher frame rates. This parameter must be used if G-Sync or Freesync is enabled otherwise the frame rate will be capped unusually low. If needed, there are third-party tools, such as RivaTuner Statistics Server, that can cap the frame rate at 60.

Post-processing

Toggle post-process effects
Download The Evil Within 3D Vision Fix. Extract the contents to the installation folder. Start the game.

Hotkey	Effect	Notes
F4	Disable color filter	Enabled by default. Restores colors and contrast to unmodified values, resulting in a more colorful image.
F5	Depth of field toggle	Disabled by default.
0	Vignette toggle	Disabled by default.

Input

Control settings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		↵ Enter cannot be bound to commands.
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
Full controller support
Controller remapping		Four preset options to choose from.
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers
Xbox button prompts		Xbox 360 prompts, despite the manual showing a Xbox One Controller.
Impulse Trigger vibration

Generic/other controllers

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
Digital movement supported
Simultaneous controller+KB/M		Occasionally changes button prompts

Audio

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Master, Music, Voice, SFX
Surround sound		Up to 7.1 output.
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
French
German
Hungarian				Fan translation.
Italian
Japanese
Polish
Brazilian Portuguese				Fan translation.
Russian				Fan voice-over by «Team Raccoon».
Spanish

VR support

3D modes	State	Notes
Nvidia 3D Vision		See Helix Mod: The Evil Within (DX11).

Issues fixed

Launching game or changing resolution results in black screen and disables video output to monitor

Regain video output

Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete and wait for a few seconds. When regaining video signal, click on cancel in the screen that pops up, you should now be back in the game. If you're back on desktop, just click on the game's icon in the taskbar. An alternative (but less functional) method is to enable the "disable full-screen optimizations" compatibility setting for the game's executable and then use a combination of Alt+↵ Enter to force windowed mode and Alt+Tab ↹ to change window focus. Eventually, you will regain a video signal. Go into the game options and change resolution and framerate to your desired settings. To avoid losing video output altogether when changing the resolution, you can set the fullscreen mode to "disabled," change to the resolution you want, apply the resolution setting and then re-enable fullscreen mode in the options.

Game is oddly zoomed in or cropped

Modify the Windows Compatibility settings for the game's executable:

Navigate to <path-to-game> and right-click on the game's executable Click Properties Click on the Compatibility tab Modify the display scaling based on the corresponding Windows OS: For Windows 11, click Change high DPI settings, then check Override high DPI scaling behavior and set it to Application. For Windows 10, check Override high DPI scaling behavior and set it to Application. For Windows 8/8.1 and Windows 7, check Disable display scaling on high DPI settings.

Stuttering/micro stuttering while moving around or during camera movement

Disable the in-game frame rate cap and lock frame rate with a third-party tool

Set the in-game Framelock option to 30 FPS and close the game. See High frame rate to disable the framerate cap. Use a third-party tool like RivaTuner Statistic Server, Nvidia Control Panel, or Nvidia Profile Inspector to lock framerate at 60 FPS. In RivaTuner Statistics Server, setting Scanline Sync to any value should eliminate any remaining stuttering Locking the framerate slightly above 60 (e.g. 61 FPS) may further reduce stuttering.

Enable low latency mode (for Nvidia users)

Set the in-game Framelock option to 60 FPS Vsync and close the game. Open the Nvidia Control Panel Under 3D Settings, select Manage 3D Settings Click on the Program Settings tab Under Select a program to customize, in the drop-down, select The Evil Within Under Specify the settings for this program, navigate to Low Latency Mode and change the setting to On Click Apply Notes If the game is not in the Select a program to customize drop-down list, click Add and browse for the game The Windows Store version of the game is named bethesdasoftworks.theevilwithin-pc_3275kfvn8vcwc

Preserve texture cache between sessions

Does not apply to the Windows Store version of the game, which creates these directories and files automatically. The texture cache folder is not made by the game so the cache is regenerated for each session. This can fix stuttering in the game. Go to %LOCALAPPDATA% and make a folder named TangoGameworks Go into that folder and make a folder named The Evil Within_ng The game will now correctly store the texture cache between sessions. Notes The game creates two files in The Evil Within_ng, one of which, FileCache000.bin, is 1 GB in size. These files are not deleted after closing or uninstalling the game and must be deleted manually. To relocate the cache folder, use one of two options: Add the +fs_cachepath "E:\your_cache_path_here" parameter as a Steam Launch Option. Create an NTFS junction point (mklink /J <link> <target>) to redirect the folder to a different location. Slow storage can prevent achieving high FPS. Consider placing the cache on an SSD or RAM disk (e.g. with free RadeonRAMDisk).

White lines on some objects

Change Texture Filtering setting in NVIDIA Control Panel

Open the Nvidia Control Panel Under 3D Settings, select Manage 3D Settings Click on the Program Settings tab Under Select a program to customize, in the drop-down, select The Evil Within Under Specify the settings for this program, navigate to Texture filtering - Quality and change the setting to Quality or lower. Click Apply Notes If the game is not in the Select a program to customize drop-down list, click Add and browse for the game The Windows Store version of the game is named bethesdasoftworks.theevilwithin-pc_3275kfvn8vcwc

Reduce VRAM-related stuttering

Machines with a small amount of VRAM (less than 2GB) may have stuttering significantly reduced with this tweak.

Launch game with +vt_pageimagesizevmtr 2048 parameter
The default value is 8192.

Final cutscene does not start

Users may experience issues with the final cutscene of the game not playing and falling into the sky.

Update or try another version of your display drivers

Blurry image in Chapter 5

Users playing with Anti-Aliasing other than FXAA will experience an issue where the game image gets blurry as they enter a puzzle room in Chapter 5. The problem will persist until the player leaves the room.

Change the Anti-Aliasing type to FXAA

Extreme slowdowns/stuttering on high refresh-rate monitors (75Hz or higher) with AMD GPU

Disable FreeSync for this game in AMD Radeon Software

Texture bugs or crashing on certain AMD cards

Use DXVK 2.0

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	11	Game is internally using OpenGL
Shader Model support	5.0

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Physics	Havok
Cutscenes	Bink Video	4K Upscale files here: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2430942746

Mods

4K Upscaled Pre-Rendered Cutscenes (including DLCs)

Steam Guide
Upscaled the Pre-Rendered Cutscenes to 4K, improving frame details and minimizing compression artifacts.

Console commands

Add parameter
Right-click the game in the Steam client and choose Properties. Click Set Launch Options and add +com_allowconsole 1 Click OK and run the game. Press Insert to open the console in-game.

Notable Console Commands

Command	Effect
god	Makes the player effectively invincible, and certain enemy kill moves will not be used against the player.
noclip	Allows the player to walk through walls.
g_infiniteammo	Unlimited ammo (Provided the player has at least 1 bullet when it is enabled).
g_stoptime 1	Stops time. Re-enable time with g_stoptime 0.
toggledebugcamera	Separates the camera from Sebastian so the player can freely move the camera around.
startslowmotion2	Slows down time. To disable, run stopslowmotion
r_skipglare 1	Disables all post-processing, including anti-aliasing. Will make the color temperature warmer and disable depth of field. This will also increase the frame rate. Can also be set in the launcher using +r_skipglare 1.
r_modelsCastShadow 0	Disables player model shadow.
megashadow_resolutionScale x.x	Custom shadow resolution scale. Recommended values: 0.12 up to 1.5.
vt_lodbias x	Increases LOD distance. in-game highest value is 5. lower values increase the distance up to 0.
m_smooth 0	Disables mouse acceleration.
m_sensitivity x	Custom mouse sensitivty. In-game highest value is 5. With this variable you can go beyond that.
pm_thirdPersonSimple 1	Simplified third person camera.
pm_thirdPersonHeight x
pm_thirdPersonRange x
kill	Suicide.

Enable SLI

While SLI is not officially supported, custom bits might used for a performance increase.

Modify game profile[citation needed]

Open the The Evil Within game profile via Nvidia Profile Inspector. Change SLI compatibility bits (DX1x) to 0x000000F5. Change NVIDIA predefined SLI mode on DirectX 10 to SLI_PREDEFINED_MODE_DX10_FORCE_AFR. Change NVIDIA predefined number of GPUs to use on SLI rendering mode on DirectX 10 to SLI_PREDEFINED_GPU_COUNT_DX10_FOUR. Apply changes. Notes SLI scaling may be severely limited due to very high CPU usage in certain areas. SLI scaling may be confirmed through increasing graphical settings, unlocking frame rate, and/or testing in corridor/non-open area type locations where CPU usage will be lower.

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	7, 8, 8.1
Processor (CPU)	Intel Core i7 or an equivalent 4+ core
System memory (RAM)	4 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	50 GB (41 GB installation size)
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce GTX 460 or equivalent 1 GB of VRAM	Nvidia GeForce GTX 670 or equivalent 4 GB of VRAM

A 64-bit operating system is required.