FPS issues - potential workaround (PC v1.2.5)

Bugs
#1

For some days now I tried multiple thinds and tweaks, hoping to squeeze out the maximum from this game, graphic-wise.
I played with user.cfg tweaks, ingame graphic settings, messing around without real improvements.

I still got frequent stuttering and fps drops entering populated areas, but I somehow figured a way to skyrocket my fps (it may not work for you, feedback welcome) ;

  • In the start menu, I got around 20-22 fps stable. Then I lowered the “Lighting” from very high to any lower setting : My fps nearly doubled to a nice 40 fps.

  • Upping other settings to higher levels doesn’t seem to have any effect on my fps.

  • Re-upping the “lighting” quality right after doesn’t seems to lower fps, nor get any impact on lighting quality whatsoever.
    It’s simply like lowering this specific setting “unlocked” something, getting me far better perfs.

  • Sadly, I have to lower the “Lighting” setting each time I start the game to make the magic happen, so don’t hesitate to re-up this setting right after (and check your fps count, it should not change).

Hope this could help some of you, here are my specs :slight_smile:

My Specs :

  • i5 2400 @stock (yes, it’s old :p)
  • 16 Go RAM
  • GTX 1080
  • Samsung 850 pro SSD
  • Running at 2560x1440p

Ingame settings :

  • Nearly everything to very high/ultra, saving water quality and shadows to high, and maybe volumetric effects.

Tweaks :

  • 5-6 reshade effects (MXAO and some color/level changes), drawing around 10% FPS (nothing too heavy).
  • Some user.cfg tweaks, like volumetric fog enabled, LoD augmentations, some ultra-high textures tweaks, and anti-popping param (r_TexturesStreamingMipBias -3)
#2

Edit : I managed to run smoother, eliminating most of stuttering besides loading city areas wich are still pretty computing-heavy.

I installed last nvidia drivers (191.01 whql from yesterday), and lowered physics calculations to “medium” ; it seems to greatly reduce CPU processing load, wich vastly improved fluidity in a 4-cores CPU without hypertrheading.

Then, except for Lighting quality I still have to lower/up each time I launch the game (to “unlock” framerate), setting may be all set on High (ultra for textures and vegetation), and I get a nice 30-50 fps, instead of previous crappy 15-40 fps, with far better visuals.

Disabling Reshade effects add a further 10% to framerate, at the expense of visual quality (MXAO is great, saving some weird hair shadows, and some popping out the mist, when volumetric fog is running).

#3

Can someone please confirm this in cases with no mods especially without postprocessing reshade?

#4

This is probably jsut because the lighting settings requires a game restart to be enabled again, and WH didn’t make a pop-up warning to make you aware of it.
If there was some magic “FPS boost enabler” I think WH woule have used it by now.

Lighting is becoming the most taxing setting in any modern game and CryEngine certainly has a complex lighting engine, this is not surprising that you are experiencing huge FPS boost by using the lowest setting.

#5

I use medium for lighting actually, but still, its strange… I can go into graphic settings, switch lighting quality to any setting and revert back to medium (only to apply once), then poof !

Game doesn’t seems to keep the correct state for lighting, since I have to reset each time I start the game…

Anyway, it doesnt seems to make any difference in visual quality btween medium and very high Lighting setting.

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