ENVIRONMENT
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 (Palit, GB203)
OS: Arch Linux, kernel 7.2.9 zen
Desktop: KDE Plasma 6.7.5, tested on Wayland and on X11, same result on both
Game: The Crew Motorfest, Steam appid 2698940, DX12 renderer through vkd3d-proton
Display: LG 32GN600-B over DisplayPort, 2560x1440 at 165 Hz
DESCRIPTION
The Crew Motorfest shows constant vegetation, grass and foliage flicker on Linux. Trees and bushes flicker heavily while driving.
The short version of my findings: every NVIDIA Linux driver from the 595 generation onwards flickers in this game, including the latest Production Branch and the latest New Feature Branch. Only the 580 branch, which predates the regression, renders it cleanly. The Windows driver had this same bug, tracked as 5950261, and it was officially fixed on Windows in the 596.36 release. The fix never seems to have reached the Linux driver.
To reproduce, launch the game with any NVIDIA Linux driver from the 595 generation onwards and drive through any area with vegetation. There is no driver choice that avoids the bug.
The Windows fix is documented in the official driver page with the changelog entry “The Crew Motorfest: Grass and vegetation flickering [5950261]”, dated April 28 2026: Driver Details | NVIDIA
DRIVER VERSIONS TESTED
All four versions were tested on the same machine with the same game install. Shader caches were wiped between every test, including the Steam shader cache, the dxvk state cache inside the game prefix, the NVIDIA GL cache and the Mesa cache.
- 580.178.04 open kernel module, NO flickering at all, fully clean rendering
- 595.104.02 open kernel module, flickering present
- 610.57.04 open kernel module, flickering present
- 615.78.08 open kernel module, flickering present
The bug is present on both currently supported branches at their latest versions. The latest Production Branch release, 595.104.02, flickers. The latest New Feature Branch release, 615.78.08, flickers. The 610 series in between also flickers. There is no current driver a Linux user can install that renders this game correctly.
WHAT DID NOT HELP
Protons: Proton 10 default, Proton 10 with VKD3D_CONFIG=descriptor_heap, GE Proton and proton-cachyos 11. Flickering present on all.
Environment variables: VKD3D_DISABLE_EXTENSIONS=VK_NV_raw_access_chains and NVPRESENT_ENABLE_SMOOTH_MOTION=1. No effect.
The raw access chains variable was worth testing because NVIDIA staff confirmed in vkd3d-proton issue 3096 on GitHub that disabling that extension removes a similar foliage flicker in Crimson Desert. Since 610.57.04, which contains that fix, still flickers in this game, the bug reported here looks like a different code path.
In game settings: the game has no ray tracing option on this setup. Lowering reflections, water and shadow quality did not change the flickering. HDR is off.
LINKS
Video by another player showing the exact same flicker: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vyle5W7dxaM
The related NVIDIA root cause for the Crimson Desert case is in vkd3d-proton issue 3096 on GitHub.
The RDR2 report with the same bug class is post 114 of the 615 release feedback thread on this forum.
The bug report log will be shared on request or in a follow up comment, file upload is not available for new accounts.
TLDR, additional context
Similar foliage flicker reports on Linux exist for other games: Enshrouded on 595 and Arma Reforger, which the vkd3d developer flagged as a known NVIDIA side issue on GitHub. The ProtonDB page for this game also describes the foliage flicker as a current NVIDIA issue. A second video of the flicker exists on the game subreddit. I can post all these additional links in a follow up comment if useful, new accounts here are limited in the number of links per post.
Happy to retest with any driver build or capture additional logs on request. Since 580 renders this game perfectly on the same hardware, a comparison between 580 and 595 should be enough to isolate the path that broke.