For Those Having Performance Issues

vince0018 · 07-16-2012, 05:22 PM

Many people, including myself, have been having performance issues. There have been many threads about ways to improve performance such as reducing shadowmap, etc. You can find instructions on doing this in many places but I thought I might take it one step further.

After tweaking the config a lot I have been able to improve performance in my own game drastically. And so I have uploaded my own config for those to use who might wish.

What I've done in this config is firstly reduce the shadowmap to 256 as well as disabled much of the extra fluff that most people either won't notice, or would prefer the extra performance to that fluff.

I've disabled FXAA because it drains performance heavily, but don't dismay, for those like myself who like their AA, if you force it in the Nvidia Control Panel, (sorry ATI users I don't know enough about your cards whether you can do this or not.) The FXAA forced through the Nvidia Control Panel is a little milder than the one in game but still looks good and doesn't look jaggy.

I've gone for a little balance, in that some of the graphical effects, particularly on characters, have been left, as well as texture detail, so that the game still looks good. My computer is weak-ish and runs it well this way, but if you have a particularly weak computer you might want to change the setting from 'high' to 'medium' or 'low'.

You might ask why it says 'high' when I have claimed to reduce so much stuff. Well the stuff is reduced but the 'high' setting that is shown in the settings reflects other things, such as view distance. So it says high but really it has been toned down.

------

Anyways here are the instructions for those who wish to try it, it is recommended to keep a backup of your old config just in case, and if you run into issues such as not being able to start the game, deleting the config will allow the game to create a new one from scratch.

1)Download my customized config:
http://www.gamefront.com/files/21995...ettings.config

2)Locate your games user directory:
Computer/C:/Users/<yourusername>/AppData/Roaming/Fatshark/Krater/

3)Locate the user_settings.config which you downloaded from my link. It should be in start/<yourusername>/Downloads if you downloaded it to the default location

4)If you wish to backup your original user_settings.config, you can rename it to something else such as user_settingsbackup.config

5)Place the user_settings.config which you had downloaded into the /Krater location mentioned above

6)The resolution set in the downloaded user_settings.config is currently set to my resolution (1680x1050) If you wish to change it you can open it wish notepad and edit the section about halfway down that reads 'screen resolution'

7)Run the game

------

If you come across any issues, have any questions, or wish to make a comment, feel free. Also if I've missed something, especially if it's important, please mention it.

Since I've uploaded to Gamefront, the link will probably not stay forever, if you wish for me to re-upload, send me a PM.

Vince

DigitalJustice · 07-16-2012, 05:27 PM

Nice that you posted this. If you get time, could you please simply post information on the config options and what they do. This will allow users to edit their own configs without having to download and sort though your's - If they do not wish all your tweaks. - Thanks!

vince0018 · 07-16-2012, 05:50 PM

Mostly it has been trial and error. Playing with settings and comparing in-game.

I'm definitely no expert when it comes to this config, but I am cautious not to break anything. I have definitely improved the performance in my game a lot, but some of the settings, particularly the lower ones, I'm not sure exactly what they do; but turning off the environment ones improved performance a lot as well. And I always test in-game between changing anything to keep from breaking anything.

Here's a copy of the config:
-----

adapter_index = 0
aspect_ratio = -1
fullscreen = true
fullscreen_output = 0
graphics_quality = "high"
render_settings = {
debug_rendering = false
fow = true
fxaa_enabled = false
g_tessellation = 0
g_tessellation_detail = 0
g_tessellation_tri_size = 8
gbuffer_albedo_luminance_visualization = false
gbuffer_albedo_visualization = false
gbuffer_fill_albedo = false
gbuffer_glossiness_visualization = false
gbuffer_normal_visualization = false
gbuffer_specular_visualization = false
generate_cubemap = false
lighting = false
nv_dof = false
shadow_map_size = [
256
256
]
ssao_enabled = false
}
screen_resolution = [
1680
1050
]
show_fps = null
sound = {
disabled = null
}
sound_settings = [
85
85
]
texture_settings = {
"texture_categories/character_df" = 1
"texture_categories/character_dfa" = 1
"texture_categories/character_gsm" = 1
"texture_categories/character_nm" = 1
"texture_categories/environment_df" = 0
"texture_categories/environment_dfa" = 0
"texture_categories/environment_gsm" = 0
"texture_categories/environment_nm" = 0
"texture_categories/fx" = 0
"texture_categories/gui" = 0
"texture_categories/weapon" = 1
}
user_settings = true
vsync = true

--------
I've turned of tessellation, which is used in dx11 to make textures more 'bumpy' and textured.
I've turned off the environment options at the very bottom there, leaving the character ones on.
At the top extra stuff such as lighting was turned off.

I'm most curious about exactly what the acronyms at the bottom stand for (df,dfa,gsm,nm) so I could get better control over exactly what I'm changing there.

Unfortunately, unrelated to this whole config editing thing, I'm having an overheating issue with Krater, and am unable to play for very long before my graphics card starts getting quite hot (~70C) This happens with either a fresh config or my customized one so rest assured it's not my config causing it just something funky going on with the game.
I hope I can get my overheating issue resolved because now that I can run the game well, it sucks I can't play it for very long.

Vince

tkingart · 07-16-2012, 06:42 PM

Thanks for posting your settings. It does tone things down enough to make Krater work even on an Intel HD 4000.

For Mac owners tired of waiting for the OS X release with a new MacBook Air 2012 that's wondering if this game will work or not (in Bootcamp), the config settings posted here makes it "tolerable". The game is interesting and fun enough to recommend a purchase to like-minded post-apoc, cyberpunk/steampunk fans.

If you like post-apoc, cyberpunk and steampunk, then you'll like the atmosphere. Fatshark did a pretty good job on this title, but overshot the technical requirements unnecessarily with dx11, dx9c would have sufficed.

If you cannot find the root drive:\[user]\AppData\Roaming folder:

- Open File Explorer
-- Click on "Organize"
-- Select "Folder and search options"
-- Click on "View" tab
-- Under "Hidden files and folders" select "Show hidden files, folders and drives"

Hope this helps. Thanks again for posting your settings, and hope more Mac users out there find this post.

~t.king

vince0018 · 07-16-2012, 07:54 PM

It's good to know it's at least helping.

If I could figure out what some of the settings towards the bottom of the config did, we might even be able to squeeze more performance out of it.

One thing I can't seem to figure out is how to turn off depth of field. Especially on the world map it's still blurry everywhere in the distance, and I'm not sure specifically for Krater, but for other games dof drains performance fairly badly.

I still have performance issues when looking over towards the 'Krater' on the world map, and it might be depth of field, or maybe just the far view distance loaded with many objects.

Again thanks, and maybe further tweaks could be done to improve performance more as we learn what some of the more confusing settings do.

e:
If you are still struggling to run the game you can change the config 'graphics_quality' in the config to 'low' which will lower the view distance around the camera, but you'll see more object and shadow popping, but it might be worth a try. And the shadowmap could even be set from 256 to 128. I find 256 looks pretty good for how well it runs, while 128 is getting kind of blocky, which is why I had it at 256.

The_Mess · 07-17-2012, 12:26 AM

Stickied.

And thanks, I forgot to check if tessellation could be turned off safely :/

AlexZor · 07-17-2012, 09:11 AM

You'll need to check as I don't have Krater installed where I currently am, but I'm fairly certain the texture options aren't a simple 0/1 value. Instead, it's 0 for best quality up to a value of 3 for low quality. What I would do is make a set of config files to compare to each other.

Make a backup of your custom config, remove it from the config folder. Let Krater rebuild the file by entering the game. While in game select a graphic preset (low, medium, etc). Exit the game and rename the newly created config file to the preset you chose in game for graphics quality. Krater will rebuild the file as long as the original config isn't found, so just keep renaming each config file to the corresponding preset chosen in game until you have all saved. Comparing the values in each config, you'll be able to see what the option system is actually doing and adjust them accordingly for performance/image quality.

Hope this is useful. :)

fatshark_mwd · 07-19-2012, 09:05 PM

Great post Vince

hajimari · 07-19-2012, 10:57 PM

Hi, I just recently picked up this game and was a bit worried about how bad it ran on my machine until I found this post. I'm wondering some things though:

What's the proper way to tweak these options?

Code:

texture_settings = {
"texture_categories/character_df" = 1
"texture_categories/character_dfa" = 1
"texture_categories/character_gsm" = 1
"texture_categories/character_nm" = 1
"texture_categories/environment_df" = 0
"texture_categories/environment_dfa" = 0
"texture_categories/environment_gsm" = 0
"texture_categories/environment_nm" = 0
"texture_categories/fx" = 0
"texture_categories/gui" = 0
"texture_categories/weapon" = 1
}

Do the values only correspond to 1 and 0? Not 0-3 like what AlexZor mentioned?

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexZor

...I'm fairly certain the texture options aren't a simple 0/1 value. Instead, it's 0 for best quality up to a value of 3 for low quality.

Does this also apply to the g_tessellation entries?

Code:

g_tessellation = 0
g_tessellation_detail = 0
g_tessellation_tri_size = 8

What I found was the lower the shadow_map_size number is the 'blob-ier' the shadows are, which seems to help performance. Setting this to 0 and 0 will make the game crash.

Code:

shadow_map_size = [
128
128
]

I would also recommend turning OFF Vertical Sync, it forces the game to refresh and cap framerate based off your monitor. In other words, It won't let your framerate go above your monitors refresh rate e.g., 60Hz = 60 FPS, 85Hz = 85 FPS and so on. When I have this option off in any game I see a huge performance bump.

Code:

vsync = false

Are there any other advanced settings you can put in the config file like turning off dust/particle effects? My system specs are Intel T9300 2.5ghz dual core, 4gb ram, Nvidia 8600M GT, Windows 7 x64 w/ latest updates on graphics/OS.

Thanks!

AlexZor · 07-20-2012, 01:56 AM

I was able to install so I made the config comparison list. Here's what goes on with texture values between graphic presets:

Preset: Extreme/High/Medium/Low

"texture_categories/character_df" = 0/1/1/2
"texture_categories/character_dfa" = 0/0/0/2
"texture_categories/character_gsm" = 0/0/1/2
"texture_categories/character_nm" = 0/1/1/2
"texture_categories/environment_df" = 0/1/1/2
"texture_categories/environment_dfa" = 0/0/0/1
"texture_categories/environment_gsm" = 0/1/1/2
"texture_categories/environment_nm" = 0/0/1/2
"texture_categories/fx" = 0/0/0/1
"texture_categories/gui" = 0/0/0/0
"texture_categories/weapon" = 0/1/1/3

Some values stay the same across and some don't. Interestingly, the 3 value is only used once during the low preset. Inputting 3 into each field doesn't have any effect on performance and seems to make Krater run default texture values instead. This is good to know now, but hopefully Fatshark will patch in a more in-depth options menu.

vince0018 · 07-20-2012, 06:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexZor

Some values stay the same across and some don't. Interestingly, the 3 value is only used once during the low preset. Inputting 3 into each field doesn't have any effect on performance and seems to make Krater run default texture values instead. This is good to know now, but hopefully Fatshark will patch in a more in-depth options menu.

That's very interesting.
I didn't realize the values could be other than 0/1. And it looks like I must have had it backwards then.

So settings the environment settings to 2-1-2-2 respectively should get better performance then right?

And is that just texture? Because I'm still trying to find a way to turn off that depth of field on the world map.
--------
@hajimari
vsync I had left on intentionally, but yes for lower-spec computers it would help performance a fair bit. On higher end computers running with vsync off can be a nightmare because of tearing and general jerkiness. So it depends on your setup.

And for shadows The_Mess I believe has said 128 is about the lowest you can safely set the shadows, but correct me if I'm mis-quoting him or flat out wrong.

Tessellation I haven't played with a lot, and after reading what The_Mess said

Quote:

Originally Posted by The_Mess

And thanks, I forgot to check if tessellation could be turned off safely :/

I did play with tessellation turned off and all seemed well, but I have a graphics card overheating issue only on Krater which has kept me from playing the last few days, it's possible turning off tessellation has caused this, or changing some other setting, or it could be unrelated.

But from what it looks like the
g_tessellation = 0
should turn all tessellation on or off. But I haven't experimented with all the tessellation settings to know if the others affect the game when the top one is off.
------
Anyways, like I said I haven't played the last few days and it's great to see everyone digging in and trying to figure this stuff out. I mean it's us who are playing the game, so all the better to get it running as smooth as possible.

Vince

AlexZor · 07-20-2012, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hajimari

Does this also apply to the g_tessellation entries?

I don't believe it does. I haven't seen a change in image quality or framerates whether the value is 0 or 1. I'm not exactly having performance problems either, so I'm not the greatest guinea pig.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hajimari

What I found was the lower the shadow_map_size number is the 'blob-ier' the shadows are, which seems to help performance. Setting this to 0 and 0 will make the game crash.

Shadow maps are the resolution the game renders each dynamic shadow at. It needs to be in multiples of 2 in order to work. If the values are 2, dynamic shadows will appear to be disabled, but really the resolution is just too small to render. However, you will see a performance gain by doing this.

Like I said, I'm not the greatest guinea pig to record fps changes, but here's the lowest settings I could achieve that had an impact on image quality and should boost framerates:

Make sure you have the correct resolution entered!

Code:

adapter_index = 0
aspect_ratio = -1
fullscreen = true
fullscreen_output = 0
graphics_quality = "low"
render_settings = {
	debug_rendering = false
	fow = true
	fxaa_enabled = false
	g_tessellation = 1
	g_tessellation_detail = 1
	g_tessellation_tri_size = 8
	gbuffer_albedo_luminance_visualization = false
	gbuffer_albedo_visualization = false
	gbuffer_fill_albedo = false
	gbuffer_glossiness_visualization = false
	gbuffer_normal_visualization = false
	gbuffer_specular_visualization = false
	generate_cubemap = false
	lighting = false
	nv_dof = false
	shadow_map_size = [
		2
		2
	]
	ssao_enabled = false
}
screen_resolution = [
	1920
	1080
]
show_fps = null
sound = {
	disabled = null
}
sound_settings = [
	85
	85
]
texture_settings = {
	"texture_categories/character_df" = 2
	"texture_categories/character_dfa" = 1
	"texture_categories/character_gsm" = 2
	"texture_categories/character_nm" = 2
	"texture_categories/environment_df" = 2
	"texture_categories/environment_dfa" = 1
	"texture_categories/environment_gsm" = 2
	"texture_categories/environment_nm" = 2
	"texture_categories/fx" = 1
	"texture_categories/gui" = 0
	"texture_categories/weapon" = 3
}
user_settings = true
vsync = false

07-16-2012, 05:22 PM	#1
vince0018 Join Date: Nov 2010 Reputation: 15 Posts: 80	For Those Having Performance Issues Many people, including myself, have been having performance issues. There have been many threads about ways to improve performance such as reducing shadowmap, etc. You can find instructions on doing this in many places but I thought I might take it one step further. After tweaking the config a lot I have been able to improve performance in my own game drastically. And so I have uploaded my own config for those to use who might wish. What I've done in this config is firstly reduce the shadowmap to 256 as well as disabled much of the extra fluff that most people either won't notice, or would prefer the extra performance to that fluff. I've disabled FXAA because it drains performance heavily, but don't dismay, for those like myself who like their AA, if you force it in the Nvidia Control Panel, (sorry ATI users I don't know enough about your cards whether you can do this or not.) The FXAA forced through the Nvidia Control Panel is a little milder than the one in game but still looks good and doesn't look jaggy. I've gone for a little balance, in that some of the graphical effects, particularly on characters, have been left, as well as texture detail, so that the game still looks good. My computer is weak-ish and runs it well this way, but if you have a particularly weak computer you might want to change the setting from 'high' to 'medium' or 'low'. You might ask why it says 'high' when I have claimed to reduce so much stuff. Well the stuff is reduced but the 'high' setting that is shown in the settings reflects other things, such as view distance. So it says high but really it has been toned down. ------ Anyways here are the instructions for those who wish to try it, it is recommended to keep a backup of your old config just in case, and if you run into issues such as not being able to start the game, deleting the config will allow the game to create a new one from scratch. 1)Download my customized config: http://www.gamefront.com/files/21995...ettings.config 2)Locate your games user directory: Computer/C:/Users/<yourusername>/AppData/Roaming/Fatshark/Krater/ 3)Locate the user_settings.config which you downloaded from my link. It should be in start/<yourusername>/Downloads if you downloaded it to the default location 4)If you wish to backup your original user_settings.config, you can rename it to something else such as user_settingsbackup.config 5)Place the user_settings.config which you had downloaded into the /Krater location mentioned above 6)The resolution set in the downloaded user_settings.config is currently set to my resolution (1680x1050) If you wish to change it you can open it wish notepad and edit the section about halfway down that reads 'screen resolution' 7)Run the game ------ If you come across any issues, have any questions, or wish to make a comment, feel free. Also if I've missed something, especially if it's important, please mention it. Since I've uploaded to Gamefront, the link will probably not stay forever, if you wish for me to re-upload, send me a PM. Vince Last edited by wiredhands: 08-24-2012 at 05:48 AM. Reason: unstickied the thread as I have linked from the P/S thread, will restick if people get to confused

07-16-2012, 05:50 PM	#3
vince0018 Join Date: Nov 2010 Reputation: 15 Posts: 80	Mostly it has been trial and error. Playing with settings and comparing in-game. I'm definitely no expert when it comes to this config, but I am cautious not to break anything. I have definitely improved the performance in my game a lot, but some of the settings, particularly the lower ones, I'm not sure exactly what they do; but turning off the environment ones improved performance a lot as well. And I always test in-game between changing anything to keep from breaking anything. Here's a copy of the config: ----- adapter_index = 0 aspect_ratio = -1 fullscreen = true fullscreen_output = 0 graphics_quality = "high" render_settings = { debug_rendering = false fow = true fxaa_enabled = false g_tessellation = 0 g_tessellation_detail = 0 g_tessellation_tri_size = 8 gbuffer_albedo_luminance_visualization = false gbuffer_albedo_visualization = false gbuffer_fill_albedo = false gbuffer_glossiness_visualization = false gbuffer_normal_visualization = false gbuffer_specular_visualization = false generate_cubemap = false lighting = false nv_dof = false shadow_map_size = [ 256 256 ] ssao_enabled = false } screen_resolution = [ 1680 1050 ] show_fps = null sound = { disabled = null } sound_settings = [ 85 85 ] texture_settings = { "texture_categories/character_df" = 1 "texture_categories/character_dfa" = 1 "texture_categories/character_gsm" = 1 "texture_categories/character_nm" = 1 "texture_categories/environment_df" = 0 "texture_categories/environment_dfa" = 0 "texture_categories/environment_gsm" = 0 "texture_categories/environment_nm" = 0 "texture_categories/fx" = 0 "texture_categories/gui" = 0 "texture_categories/weapon" = 1 } user_settings = true vsync = true -------- I've turned of tessellation, which is used in dx11 to make textures more 'bumpy' and textured. I've turned off the environment options at the very bottom there, leaving the character ones on. At the top extra stuff such as lighting was turned off. I'm most curious about exactly what the acronyms at the bottom stand for (df,dfa,gsm,nm) so I could get better control over exactly what I'm changing there. Unfortunately, unrelated to this whole config editing thing, I'm having an overheating issue with Krater, and am unable to play for very long before my graphics card starts getting quite hot (~70C) This happens with either a fresh config or my customized one so rest assured it's not my config causing it just something funky going on with the game. I hope I can get my overheating issue resolved because now that I can run the game well, it sucks I can't play it for very long. Vince Last edited by vince0018: 07-16-2012 at 05:52 PM.

07-16-2012, 06:42 PM	#4
tkingart Join Date: May 2010 Reputation: 1 Posts: 9	Thanks for posting your settings. It does tone things down enough to make Krater work even on an Intel HD 4000. For Mac owners tired of waiting for the OS X release with a new MacBook Air 2012 that's wondering if this game will work or not (in Bootcamp), the config settings posted here makes it "tolerable". The game is interesting and fun enough to recommend a purchase to like-minded post-apoc, cyberpunk/steampunk fans. If you like post-apoc, cyberpunk and steampunk, then you'll like the atmosphere. Fatshark did a pretty good job on this title, but overshot the technical requirements unnecessarily with dx11, dx9c would have sufficed. If you cannot find the root drive:\[user]\AppData\Roaming folder: - Open File Explorer -- Click on "Organize" -- Select "Folder and search options" -- Click on "View" tab -- Under "Hidden files and folders" select "Show hidden files, folders and drives" Hope this helps. Thanks again for posting your settings, and hope more Mac users out there find this post. ~t.king Last edited by tkingart: 07-16-2012 at 06:45 PM.

07-16-2012, 07:54 PM	#5
vince0018 Join Date: Nov 2010 Reputation: 15 Posts: 80	It's good to know it's at least helping. If I could figure out what some of the settings towards the bottom of the config did, we might even be able to squeeze more performance out of it. One thing I can't seem to figure out is how to turn off depth of field. Especially on the world map it's still blurry everywhere in the distance, and I'm not sure specifically for Krater, but for other games dof drains performance fairly badly. I still have performance issues when looking over towards the 'Krater' on the world map, and it might be depth of field, or maybe just the far view distance loaded with many objects. Again thanks, and maybe further tweaks could be done to improve performance more as we learn what some of the more confusing settings do. e: If you are still struggling to run the game you can change the config 'graphics_quality' in the config to 'low' which will lower the view distance around the camera, but you'll see more object and shadow popping, but it might be worth a try. And the shadowmap could even be set from 256 to 128. I find 256 looks pretty good for how well it runs, while 128 is getting kind of blocky, which is why I had it at 256. Last edited by vince0018: 07-16-2012 at 07:57 PM.

07-17-2012, 12:26 AM	#6
The_Mess Fatshark Volunteer Mod Join Date: Jun 2012 Reputation: 29 Posts: 230	Stickied. And thanks, I forgot to check if tessellation could be turned off safely :/ __________________ Lightly Seared on the Reality Grill

07-16-2012, 05:27 PM	#2
DigitalJustice Join Date: Oct 2011 Reputation: 12 Posts: 119	Nice that you posted this. If you get time, could you please simply post information on the config options and what they do. This will allow users to edit their own configs without having to download and sort though your's - If they do not wish all your tweaks. - Thanks!

07-17-2012, 09:11 AM	#7
AlexZor Join Date: Jun 2012 Reputation: 0 Posts: 3	Config Presets You'll need to check as I don't have Krater installed where I currently am, but I'm fairly certain the texture options aren't a simple 0/1 value. Instead, it's 0 for best quality up to a value of 3 for low quality. What I would do is make a set of config files to compare to each other. Make a backup of your custom config, remove it from the config folder. Let Krater rebuild the file by entering the game. While in game select a graphic preset (low, medium, etc). Exit the game and rename the newly created config file to the preset you chose in game for graphics quality. Krater will rebuild the file as long as the original config isn't found, so just keep renaming each config file to the corresponding preset chosen in game until you have all saved. Comparing the values in each config, you'll be able to see what the option system is actually doing and adjust them accordingly for performance/image quality. Hope this is useful. :)

07-19-2012, 09:05 PM	#8
fatshark_mwd Fatshark AB Join Date: Mar 2010 Reputation: 75 Posts: 639	Great post Vince

07-20-2012, 01:56 AM	#10
AlexZor Join Date: Jun 2012 Reputation: 0 Posts: 3	Texture Options Comparison I was able to install so I made the config comparison list. Here's what goes on with texture values between graphic presets: Preset: Extreme/High/Medium/Low "texture_categories/character_df" = 0/1/1/2 "texture_categories/character_dfa" = 0/0/0/2 "texture_categories/character_gsm" = 0/0/1/2 "texture_categories/character_nm" = 0/1/1/2 "texture_categories/environment_df" = 0/1/1/2 "texture_categories/environment_dfa" = 0/0/0/1 "texture_categories/environment_gsm" = 0/1/1/2 "texture_categories/environment_nm" = 0/0/1/2 "texture_categories/fx" = 0/0/0/1 "texture_categories/gui" = 0/0/0/0 "texture_categories/weapon" = 0/1/1/3 Some values stay the same across and some don't. Interestingly, the 3 value is only used once during the low preset. Inputting 3 into each field doesn't have any effect on performance and seems to make Krater run default texture values instead. This is good to know now, but hopefully Fatshark will patch in a more in-depth options menu.

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