Why does this game run poorly?

[Ebolaids]

This game runs at literally 23fps average.

 

Even GrindWars 2 runs at a steady 40fps on low settings on my laptop.

Even skyrim on medium runs at 30fps.

Even runescape WHICH IS MADE IN JAVA runs fine.

 

 

Intel core i5 3317u

Intel HD 4000

4gb DDR3

120GB SSD

 

 

What happened to real programmers? When games used to be optimized?

 

It almost feels like someone paid Obsidian to make the game run like crap to force people to buy new hardware. Im not even joking.

 

Cant EDIT: Title edited.

[solamyas]

This is really unacceptable. Why didn't they add graphics options to the game menu? I don't think it's that hard to disable some of the Unity effects. And having to disable antialiasing through the console every time you enter a location is really a joke. Adding this antialiasng option to the menu would be very easy for them, yet they didn't bother. I'm seriosly quite disappointed.

 

It is otherwise around, Unity engine have built in generic graphic settings and UE can even change asset quality from a PC game to android/iphone game automatically.

[Elettrone]

It looks like the engine at the core of the game is pure crapware.

[Sensuki]

It's not the engine, it's just the way they made the characters (or the way they're rendering them). Hopefully they optimize it post-release.

Edited March 27, 2015 by Sensuki

[ilhdr]

check your driver graphic options, it helped a LOT here.

[solamyas]

You have decent grasp of D and C#? After reading your posts in this topic it is hard to belive you can manage more than "hello world!"   

[Sensuki]

I spoke to their optimization programmer about the slowdowns with lots of characters on the screen, he said that the renderer is what was using up all of the CPU time when they were running the Unity Performance Profiler and that there's not much they could do about it at this point.

 

Unity games can run well. I get solid frame rates in Wasteland 2 and Shadowrun Returns for instance.

[WDeranged]

Runs incredibly smoothly on my five year old i7 desktop PC, far better than Wasteland 2 for me.

[StubbinMyToe]

Unity.

You are clueless, Unity isn't the problem.

[hollowcrown]

Personally my game is unplayable on my integrated graphics which is a shame, so I'm going to have to wait until Monday (when my GTX970 arrives) to play. 

 

It's just weird because I'm playing The Witcher 1 at the same time and I have zero problems running that even though it's a fully 3D game. Would play on my laptop but the game constantly crashes for some reason so I've just gotta hang on til Monday I guess.

[mvanblom]

check your driver graphic options, it helped a LOT here.

Could you elaborate on that a bit? What things did you tweak?

[WDeranged]

Runs incredibly smoothly on my five year old i7 desktop PC, far better than Wasteland 2 for me.

 

I take that back, it ran incredibly smoothly until I hit Defiance Bay 

[mindswayer]

I spoke to their optimization programmer about the slowdowns with lots of characters on the screen, he said that the renderer is what was using up all of the CPU time when they were running the Unity Performance Profiler and that there's not much they could do about it at this point.

 

Unity games can run well. I get solid frame rates in Wasteland 2 and Shadowrun Returns for instance.

How can that be? My CPU doesn't go past 70% load when I'm running the game with other **** in the background, and while I had steady 60fps before I hit defiance bay, now, even when I'm in some underground dungeon (in dyrford village) where nothing is happening at all, I can't even get past 40fps (I'd actually be surprised if I even hit 40fps). Seems like the bigger my savefile gets, the worse the fps is as well.

 

Edit: just went in game to test, and I'm actually getting 27 Fps on the dyrfoord village Inn. I don't really get how this can happen when it ran much better in the beta (which had the same amount of NPCs) unless it is actually related to savefile size.

 

Edit 2: just restarted my pc, now have 45~50 fps on the inn. I had my client open for 9 hours, not sure if that could have something to do with it.

Edited March 31, 2015 by mindswayer

[mindswayer]

 

I spoke to their optimization programmer about the slowdowns with lots of characters on the screen, he said that the renderer is what was using up all of the CPU time when they were running the Unity Performance Profiler and that there's not much they could do about it at this point.

 

Unity games can run well. I get solid frame rates in Wasteland 2 and Shadowrun Returns for instance.

How can that be? My CPU doesn't go past 70% load when I'm running the game with other **** in the background, and while I had steady 60fps before I hit defiance bay, now, even when I'm in some underground dungeon (in dyrford village) where nothing is happening at all, I can't even get past 40fps (I'd actually be surprised if I even hit 40fps). Seems like the bigger my savefile gets, the worse the fps is as well.

 

Edit: just went in game to test, and I'm actually getting 27 Fps on the dyrfoord village Inn. I don't really get how this can happen when it ran much better in the beta (which had the same amount of NPCs) unless it is actually related to savefile size.

 

Edit 2: just restarted my pc, now have 45~50 fps on the inn. I had my client open for 9 hours, not sure if that could have something to do with it.

 

Can't edit my post for whatever reason, so I'll just leave a reply here: After relaunching the client and playing around for 3~4 hours and doing some dyrfoord related quests, I went to Caed Nua and did some bounties. Up until then, it was running at 55-60 in Caed Nua at all times, but when I completed the bounty and came back, fps wouldn't go above 50 (45~50), not in Caed Nua, not in any other map.

Tried restarting the game and when I reloaded back at Caed Nua I had 55~60 again.

Edited March 31, 2015 by mindswayer

[Justinian]

Definitely some memory leak of some sort if the game starts running worse over a play session. Sensuki, you mentioned earlier that the game runs slower and slower after a few map transitions, so mindswayer might be experiencing the same issue?

 

Besides the memory leak issue, there's a couple more instances where the framerate tends to tank:

 

1. When many NPCs are on screen - CPU related

2. When many NPCs are on a map - CPU related

3. When spells effects are on screen/lots of alpha effects - GPU related.

 

I really hope Obsidian continue optimising the game. I agree with the OP that a game like this shouldn't be resource intensive at all.

[AstralWanderer]

If there is a memory leak, it should be clearly visible as increasing memory usage in Task Manager.

 

It might be worthwhile for posters to report whether they have the Steam or GOG versions - Steam is going to impose a greater overhead due to the need to have its client running.

 

FWIW, no issues so far - maximum memory usage I've seen is 1.5GB (virtual memory usage as reported by Process Hacker) and GPU memory usage of 600MB (reported by MSI Afterburner) at 2560x1600 resolution with near-constant 60fps (using a 1.5GB 580GTX). Running the GOG version of PoE on WinXP SP3 (32-bit).

 

Those using an Intel HD4000 will almost certainly find it to be the weak link and might want to try overclocking it to get better performance, but note that this will increase power consumption and reduce battery life.

[mvanblom]

Well, I have the GOG version, so it's not the overhead. Also, judging from other forums, my rig should be able to run the game smoothly... instead, I get less than 10 fps in crowded areas.

 

So I reeeeaaaaallllyyy hope the patch will amend it. I stopped playing soon after the first areas because it just hurt the eyes.

FYI: I am not what you would call a 'performance gamer', and I am not above scaling back details. Also, I have zero issues with other games, including Skyrim, Wasteland 2 or Deus Ex Revolution. Somehow, Pillars is just not working for me right now.

[mindswayer]

If there is a memory leak, it should be clearly visible as increasing memory usage in Task Manager.

 

It might be worthwhile for posters to report whether they have the Steam or GOG versions - Steam is going to impose a greater overhead due to the need to have its client running.

I don't think it's a memory leak either, I have never seen the game use above 1.8~1.9GB of RAM (I have 8 ).

Some wilderness/interior areas run terribly for me (35~40fps) and both cities are even worse (30), while other wilderness areas run perfectly well with constant 60fps. I don't know what it is, but it really annoys me. I'm hoping they can alleviate the problem somehow, but I don't think they'll be able to do anything. This is unity 4 after all.

Edited March 31, 2015 by mindswayer

[AstralWanderer]

Well, I have the GOG version, so it's not the overhead. Also, judging from other forums, my rig should be able to run the game smoothly... instead, I get less than 10 fps in crowded areas.

 

You mentioned in an earlier post using an HD4870 - is that the 512MB VRAM model? If so, it might be lack of VRAM (I've seen GPU memory usage reach 600MB at 2560x1600) - try installing MSI Afterburner to check on your usage.

 

If your system is maxing out on VRAM, check you're not forcing any graphics enhancements like AA in Catalyst Control Centre and try running the game at a lower resolution with MSAA disabled (open console with ~, press Enter, type msaa 0, press Enter again).

 

Another option might be to try overclocking your HD4870 if you're not already doing so (MSI Afterburner should be able to do that, but keep an eye on temperatures) but that won't help much if lack of VRAM is the problem.

[Sanquiz]

It's true, this game runs really bad on my athlon 1 Ghz with my ATI 3D Rage Pro.

 

What the hell happen here?

[Raventhull]

I'm a bit below specs for my video card and processor but my system is optimized pretty well.Sometmes game runs fine,then all of a sudden my fps will just nosedive not even with a lot of map transitions.Other than msaa is there anymore console commands to disable other in-game graphic settings?

[AstralWanderer]

It's true, this game runs really bad on my athlon 1 Ghz with my ATI 3D Rage Pro.

 

Serves you right - should have stuck with 3Dfx's Voodoo.

[Justinian]

I'm a bit below specs for my video card and processor but my system is optimized pretty well.Sometmes game runs fine,then all of a sudden my fps will just nosedive not even with a lot of map transitions.Other than msaa is there anymore console commands to disable other in-game graphic settings?

 

This sounds like a memory leak to me.

[dorkboy]

 

I'm a bit below specs for my video card and processor but my system is optimized pretty well.Sometmes game runs fine,then all of a sudden my fps will just nosedive not even with a lot of map transitions.Other than msaa is there anymore console commands to disable other in-game graphic settings?

 

This sounds like a memory leak to me.

 

Or throttling due to insufficient cooling/dust? (I'm no computer expert, though.)

[WDeranged]

I kept a close eye on my CPU and GPU usage while wandering around laggy areas, neither is hitting 100%.

[mvanblom]

 

Well, I have the GOG version, so it's not the overhead. Also, judging from other forums, my rig should be able to run the game smoothly... instead, I get less than 10 fps in crowded areas.

 

You mentioned in an earlier post using an HD4870 - is that the 512MB VRAM model? If so, it might be lack of VRAM (I've seen GPU memory usage reach 600MB at 2560x1600) - try installing MSI Afterburner to check on your usage.

 

If your system is maxing out on VRAM, check you're not forcing any graphics enhancements like AA in Catalyst Control Centre and try running the game at a lower resolution with MSAA disabled (open console with ~, press Enter, type msaa 0, press Enter again).

 

Another option might be to try overclocking your HD4870 if you're not already doing so (MSI Afterburner should be able to do that, but keep an eye on temperatures) but that won't help much if lack of VRAM is the problem.

 

Thanks. Nope, it's the 1GB version, so on-specs, so to speak. Thing is: it is handling effects pretty well so far. It just is the models that my rig has a hard time with.

 

BTW: the character creation screen is also a pain; somehow, my clicks are 'lagging' and the cursor is trailing. Not a big deal though, the crowded areas is more of a gamebreaker for me

 

I'll look into Afterburner though...