I picked up Silent Hill Homecoming on Humble/Steam a few days ago. The Silent Hill games past the original 3 ( or 4 ) have a somewhat bad reputation, but it's been many years since I last played any Silent Hill game, so I was curious. Besides, it was only about 3 bucks, so it's no great loss -- or so I thought. In the end I spent several hours trying to make the game run properly, and it's been a highly frustrating and tiresome experience. Lesson learned: If a game is known to be a broken, buggy mess, it's probably not worth bothering, even if it's cheap. The real price tag is the time you'll be wasting on it.

For those not familiar with the game, it is known to crash frequently, has performance issues, and like other last gen console ports it has been optimized for 1280x720 and 30 FPS. I was prepared for a technically outdated experience, but so far it has been outright unplayable. Even at the game's standard resolution and lowest quality settings, the actual framerate is closer to 10-15 FPS. For the record, I can play other last gen games smoothly at 4K resolution and maxed out settings, so there's something fishy going on with this particular game. I'd still like to play it, but I'm running out of ideas what I could try... I've already tried various compatibility mode settings, resolutions/ in-game settings, and GPU settings, as well as some unofficial patches and plug-ins. Has anyone here played it on a modern system? Any idea what might be causing the performance issues?

Edit: I wonder if the performance drop could be related to the compatibility mode settings? Normally the game won't even start on Windows 7 64-bit. With compatibility mode for Windows Vista or XP turned on, it starts up without any problems, but then drops to unplayable framerates once in-game. ( The title screen, menus etc. are fine. )

Actually, with known bad console ports (or older console exclusives!) I feel no regret in:

a) buying the (console!) disk in a second hand store or bargain bin
b) downloading a copy from the webs
c) playing it through an emulator.

Playing Silent Hill 1 on PC was awesome - the image was complete with ePSXe, just run setup, set resolution and have fun. The original package is right behind me in my shelf. Actually if that "out-of-the-box" emulated version would be sold (like... here!) I would actually pay good money for it.

Considered it, but PS3 emulation still needs work and is very performance hungry. ( Would love to play Demon's Souls on my PC, otherwise. ) I wonder if there are decent Xbox 360 emulators? I think Silent Hill Homecoming was released on both consoles.

Of course, at the current rate, trying to emulate it might still lead to better results than what I'm currently getting out of the PC version. No idea what's up with it. I tried to run it at resolutions as low as 640x480, but still got the same low framerates. I was hoping some GOG users might have some ideas, as compatibility issues etc. are a common problem with older games.

Yes, it's a real shame that PS3 emulation really isn't ready yet. I tried one a few months back and whilst it managed to get demon souls running it was t playable and god of war series would t even load. Shame as there are a few ps games like red dead which you can't get on pc.
As for Xbox emulators, as far as I know there has never been one for any Xbox system. As that is M$ they all get released for windows as well anyways don't they?

Just did a quick web search and it seems Xbox 360 emulation is almost non-existent on PC. I'm a little surprised, as I figured it would be easier to emulate than the PS3 architecture.

I haven't tested any PS3 emulators yet, but I know that PS2 emulation is fairly decent, so you could try that for God of War 1 & 2. I imagine that would also be a viable option for the early Silent Hill games.

Yep, never seen an Xbox emulator of any description. Ps1/2 both work great. I have the god of war archives and remasters on the PS3. Great games, but in hurry to play again. Red dead redemtption, is that I should play again!

Oh, man. I've been phasing out my old disc library since I finally got myself a gaming PC. This is one thing I'll keep for my old 360.

I've come pretty close to buying it before for PC & it sounds that it's just as broken as it's always been. Thanks for the warning.

If you got it for steam, have you tried posting on steam forums for help?

Given that you said you've tried unofficial patches and plug-ins, I'm gonna assume you've been using PCGamingWiki. I can't really help you beyond pointing to that site. Out of curiosity, what OS are you trying to run it on? Do you have an Xbox 360, or PlayStation 3?

Some people seem to be able to play it on PC, with mixed success, but the general consensus seems to be that the console versions ( especially PS3 ) are a better choice. I've already looked through the entirety of the Silent Hill forum on Steam. Many complaints about various issues with the game, a handful of useful tips, but so far nothing to fix the performance / low FPS problem I've encountered. ( Besides, I figured GOG users are generally more tech-savvy, especially regarding older games. )

Yes, I think that was one of the first sites I've consulted for help. Has some useful information, but so far none of the tweaks made the game playable for me.

I'm currently on Windows 7, and while I don't have a high-end gaming system, it is still well above Silent Hill Homecoming's system requirements. I figure there must be some kind of incompatibility, or conflicting setting which causes the performance issues.

I do still have a PS3, along with various other old(er) consoles, but they don't see much use these days. Currently I don't even have a screen that's compatible with them. ( My current PC screen only has input via display port, no HDMI etc. )

Just mind, if you do get further in. Near the end of the game in a church do NOT save. You will lose critical items gained there and be stuck forever.

Does it only mess up that particular save slot or all of the slots? Because I tend to alternate between the slots a game provides, just in case. In fact, I also like to keep manual copies of my save games. Normally only for very long and complex games, such as Witcher or Dark Souls, but I guess it's also a good idea for games which are known to be buggy.

Just that slot, if you load it the items are gone. If you keep backups that's fine. Better to be forewarned though.