Cities Skylines 2 Hardware Not Supported for Volumetric Materials Error Fix

Cities: Skylines 2 Hardware Not Supported for Volumetric Materials Error has been troubling a lot of players since the title was released. This specific error might appear while players try to enable ray tracing in Cities Skylines 2 to get higher visuals. Cities Skylines 2 is a highly anticipated sequel that allows players to get into an immersive city-building simulation gaming experience more than anything else. Now, if you’re also facing this error then check out this article.

This particular error prevents players from getting into the menu and that’s why the error message appears “Hardware Not Supported for Volumetric Materials” on the screen. Multiple reports appeared on r/CitiesSkylines Reddit regarding the same issue. It seems that the hype didn’t go well with the Cities Skylines 2 game as a successor and players mostly faced visual issues rather than having crashes or lags. Now, get into brief details of volumetric materials and possible fixes.

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Fix Cities Skylines 2 Hardware Not Supported for Volumetric Materials Error

Fix Cities Skylines 2 Hardware Not Supported for Volumetric Materials Error

Cities: Skylines 2 does offer stunning graphics details and real-life visuals in the city-building experience where the ‘Volumetric Materials’ feature is considered one of the key aspects to provide better appearances. If we take a quick look at the volumetric materials, it basically adds depth of field, real-life-like scenarios, and a better atmosphere to the game to make it more attractive for the players. Obviously, these options are included for better visual effects.

It eventually allows players to create a metropolis city-building experience with a dynamic environment. But it’s quite unfortunate that multiple players are unable to run the game properly due to this specific hardware not supported error. So, what’s the fix? Well, multiple players did claim that the “Hardware Not Supported for Volumetric Materials” error message can be fixed by editing the game configuration file and disabling the volumetric materials settings in the file.

Additionally, issues with the outdated game version, corrupted game files, in-graphics settings conflicts, and more can also be other reasons that need to be fixed. So, make sure to follow all troubleshooting methods until the problem has been fixed. Now, without further ado, let’s jump into it.

1. Restart the PC

First, you can try to restart your PC to clear potential system glitches or cache. Several PC gamers did find this trick useful and you should also restart the system manually. Go to the Start menu > Click on the Power icon > Select Restart.

2. Update the Graphics Driver

Conflicts with the outdated graphics driver on Windows may trigger plenty of issues like game launching crashes, visual glitches, etc. Make sure to check the following steps to update the graphics driver manually.

Recommended Update:

Press the Win+X keys > Click on Device Manager.
Double-click on Display Adapters > Right-click on the active graphics card.

Device Manager Update Display Adapter

Now, click on Update driver.
Choose Search automatically for drivers.
It’ll check for available updates and install the same.
Once done, restart your PC to apply the changes.

Manual Update:

If you can’t find any pending updates, head over to the official website of the respective graphics card brand below and search manually for the latest update. Do remember that you’ll always have to search for the latest driver version and specific for the model you’re using. If a new version is available for the graphics card, download the driver and install it on your PC. You can jump to the link below to do so:

3. Update Cities Skylines 2

Running an updated game patch version might cause multiple issues with the game such as crashes, visual glitches, and more. It’s recommended to update the game to the latest version by following the steps below.

For Steam:

Open Steam > Go to Library.
Click on Cities Skylines 2 from the left pane.
It’ll automatically search for the available update.
Click on Update if an update is available.
Once the update is done, close Steam and reboot your PC to apply changes.

For PC Game Pass:

Open the Xbox app on the PC.
From My Library, select Cities Skylines 2.
Select More options (…) > Choose Manage.
Click on Files > Select Check for updates.

4. Verify and Repair the Game Files

Sometimes corrupted or missing game files on the PC might trigger several issues like startup crashes, stutters, graphical issues, and more. Make sure to scan and repair the installed game files on the PC by following the steps below.

For Steam:

Launch Steam > Click on Library.
Right-click on Cities Skylines 2 from the list.
Click on Properties > Go to Local Files.

Click on Verify Integrity of Game Files.
Now, wait for the process to complete.
Once done, restart your PC.

For PC Game Pass:

Open the Xbox app on your PC.
In My Library, select Cities Skylines 2 title.
Select the More options (…) button.
Choose Manage > Click on Files.
Next, choose Verify and Repair.
Wait for the process and rerun the game.

5. Disable Ray Tracing

Multiple reports did claim that disabling ray tracing in the game menu fixed the volumetric materials error for the Cities Skylines 2 game. Check out the following steps to easily disable ray tracing quite easily.

Launch Cities Skylines 2 > Go to the in-game Options menu.
Open the Graphics menu > Turn On the Advanced mode.
Now, Turn Off Ray Tracing, and save the changes.

6. Try Lowering In-Game Graphics Settings

Another thing you’ll need to do is reduce the in-game graphics settings manually by following the steps below. Sometimes a couple of graphical settings or incompatible options may cause plenty of issues.

Run the Steam client.
Open the Cities Skylines 2 game.
Open the in-game Options menu.
Go to Graphics > Enable the Advanced option.
Turn Off – Anti-aliasing > Turn Off – VSync.
Select Constant in the Dynamic Resolution Scale Quality option.
Set the Display Resolution to 1920 x 1080 @60Hz.
Turn Off the Depth of Field feature.
Set Motion Blur to Off.
Save changes and relaunch the game.

7. Update DirectX

You can also try updating the DirectX version on your system by following the steps below. DirectX is required to run video games on Windows to avoid graphical issues.

Go to the official Microsoft DirectX download page.
Download and install the latest version of DirectX.
Once installed, reboot the PC.

8. Disable Overclocking

It’s also recommended to turn off overclocking to the factory default state which allows the Windows system to run resource-heavy applications quite smoothly. Even though the CPU/GPU overclocking mode delivers better performance, it can trigger multiple issues with the program running.

9. Edit Graphics Configuration File

You can try editing the graphics configuration file of the Cities Skylines 2 game by following the steps below to disable volumetric options. Luckily, you’ll need to copy-paste the following values inside the config file to complete the task.

Head over to the Cities Skylines 2 installation directory.
- It should be at %appdata%\..\LocalLow\Colossal Order\Cities Skylines II\.
Locate and open the Settings.coc file using Notepad to edit.
Now, copy-paste the configuration value below inside the file:

Graphics Settings
{
"qualitySettings": [
{
"enabled": true,
"upscaleFilter": "EdgeAdaptiveScaling",
"minScale": 0.5,
"@type": "Game.Settings.DynamicResolutionScaleSettings"
},
{
"antiAliasingMethod": "None",
"smaaQuality": "Low",
"outlinesMSAA": "None",
"@type": "Game.Settings.AntiAliasingQualitySettings"
},
{
"volumetricCloudsEnabled": false,
"distanceCloudsEnabled": false,
"volumetricCloudsShadows": false,
"distanceCloudsShadows": false,
"@type": "Game.Settings.CloudsQualitySettings"
},
{
"enabled": false,
"@type": "Game.Settings.FogQualitySettings"
},
{
"enabled": false,
"budget": 0.166,
"resolutionDepthRatio": 0.666,
"@type": "Game.Settings.VolumetricsQualitySettings"
},
{
"enabled": false,
"@type": "Game.Settings.SSAOQualitySettings"
},
{
"enabled": false,
"raySteps": 16,
"denoiserRadius": 0.75,
"halfResolutionPass": true,
"@type": "Game.Settings.SSGIQualitySettings"
},
{
"enabled": false,
"maxRaySteps": 32,
"@type": "Game.Settings.SSRQualitySettings"
},
{
"enabled": false,
"nearSampleCount": 3,
"nearMaxRadius": 2,
"farSampleCount": 4,
"farMaxRadius": 5,
"highQualityFiltering": false,
"@type": "Game.Settings.DepthOfFieldQualitySettings"
},
{
"enabled": false,
"@type": "Game.Settings.MotionBlurQualitySettings"
},
{
"enabled": false,
"@type": "Game.Settings.ShadowsQualitySettings"
},
{
"finalTessellation": 3,
"targetPatchSize": 24,
"@type": "Game.Settings.TerrainQualitySettings"
},
{
"waterflow": false,
"maxTessellationFactor": 2,
"@type": "Game.Settings.WaterQualitySettings"
},
{
"levelOfDetail": 0.25,
"lodCrossFade": false,
"maxLightCount": 1024,
"meshMemoryBudget": 256,
"strictMeshMemory": true,
"@type": "Game.Settings.LevelOfDetailQualitySettings"
},
{
"maxBoneInfuence": "TwoBones",
"@type": "Game.Settings.AnimationQualitySettings"
},
{
"mipbias": 3,
"filterMode": "Bilinear",
"@type": "Game.Settings.TextureQualitySettings"
}
],
"resolution": {
"width": 1440,
"height": 900
},
"cursorMode": "Free",
"depthOfFieldMode": "Disabled"
}

Then save the file by pressing the Ctrl+S keys.
Launch the Cities Skylines 2 game to check for the volumetric issue.

10. Disable Volumetric Materials

In addition, you’ll need to turn off volumetric materials in the Cities Skylines 2 game to check for the issue again. Make sure to follow the steps below from the in-game settings menu.

Run the Steam client.
Open the Cities Skylines 2 game.
Go to the in-game Options menu.
Navigate to Graphics > Enable the Advanced option.
Turn Off the Volumetric Materials option.

11. Turn Off Steam In-Game Overlay

Try turning off Steam in-game overlay from the game client by following the steps below to ensure there is no issue with the program launching and more. Although in-game overlay can help gamers track FPS, record gameplay, take screenshots, and more, sometimes the overlay mode can trigger in-game issues to some extent.

Open the Steam client > Go to Library.
Right-click on Cities Skylines 2.
Select Properties > Go to the General tab.
Set the Enable Steam Overlay toggle to Turn Off.
Once done, launch the game again to check for the issue.

12. Disable Integrated GPU

You can check out the following steps to disable integrated GPU on the computer to allow the system to use the dedicated graphics card (external graphics card). It might help in reducing hardware not supported for volumetric materials error in the Cities Skylines 2 title.

Press the Win+X keys > Open Device Manager.
Double-click on Display Adapters to open it.
Next, double-click on the integrated graphics device.
Then click on Driver > Select Disable Device.
Click on Yes to proceed, if asked by the system.
Once done, restart the PC to apply changes.

That’s it, guys. We assume this guide was helpful to you. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below. For those who are experiencing specific issues like getting stuck on the loading screen, crashing issue, Stuttering, C++ Redistributable Error, or Textures Not Loading in Game, it’s recommended to click on the provided link to get detailed troubleshooting steps and possible solutions. Always ensure your systems are up-to-date, and be patient as fixes and updates roll out.