PC version, patch 1.09 - weird fps behaviour

[Areshka121]

Hello everyone! After updating to version 1.09, some things happened to my game that I would like to know if anyone has faced them. I wiil try to describe briefly with a little background.

Basically, I have a laptop 1050 ti, which before the release of this patch run this game with difficulties. To achieve a stable 60 fps (with high-ultra settings), I had to play at a resolution of 1360x768. After the patch, in some "magic" way, 1050 ti can be included in the list of video cards on which this game runs very well even on full HD in ultra settings (except of texture quality, but you know why  ).

The first part of my question is:
I wondered how the developers managed to do this, is it really a simple optimization? The only thing I noticed (because I haven’t played full HD before) is clearly defined places where the textures are very blurry or pixelated. I would like to know if this always was?

The second (main part) of my "issue" (this is not such a critical problem actually, but still):

Fps is a little weird. I check fps through nvidia geoforce experience (or msi afterburner - it doesn't matter, they have a pretty much same fps counter) and in the benchmark itself in the game. So, the benchmark in the game shows 60 fps, but in fact it is displayed somewhere around 55-57, rarely reaching 58-60. It seems that there is some kind of barrier, I don’t know, if for a game 56 fps is 60 fps, and any further change is an error (you know, when fps with vertical sync on can jump to 61 and back). At first I thought that, well, apparently this is the maximum that my laptop gives out. But when I started lowering the graphics settings (for example, turning off the shadows), the picture didn't change at all. The only thing I have noticed is that depending on the arena, the FPS may differ slightly. In some arenas FPS can reach up to 58-60 (but not suddenly, gradually) and stay there for a couple of seconds. 
It is also important to note that v-sync itself began to work somehow wrong. It seems that if you turn it on or off in the game, then nothing changes at all, as if it is already on by default (in nvidia control panel v-sync is set to use 3d program settings). And new option "timed game update" is not needed, because my monitor is 60 hz and it has no effect.

So I was wondering what it is all about? It seems to me that this is some kind of bug, because this has not happened before. If anyone has experienced this please let me know.

 

[Cave Waverider]

The better performance is likely due to "timed game update" being off. The 60 fps action camera setting can make things appear smoother as well during action camera cuts (if enabled).

As for Vsync being forced, it isn't really. Since the game no longer has an exclusive full screen mode and basically runs borderless windowed mode, it's subject to DWM-sync (which isn't exactly Vsnyc), which is what you're seeing. This thread over at the Blurbusters forum should give you an idea about how that works.

As for your actual FPS output being slightly lower than 60, do you have G-Sync/VRR and/or low latency mode enabled in the drivers?

[Areshka121]

3 hours ago, Cave Waverider said:

The better performance is likely due to "timed game update" being off. The 60 fps action camera setting can make things appear smoother as well during action camera cuts (if enabled).

As for Vsync being forced, it isn't really. Since the game no longer has an exclusive full screen mode and basically runs borderless windowed mode, it's subject to DWM-sync (which isn't exactly Vsnyc), which is what you're seeing. This thread over at the Blurbusters forum should give you an idea about how that works.

As for your actual FPS output being slightly lower than 60, do you have G-Sync/VRR and/or low latency mode enabled in the drivers?

Thank you for the reply!

Before the patch  1050 ti on full HD ran this game  at 40-45 fps, and then it suddenly became, in fact, 60. That's odd. There is nothing to do with settings in game. I was just curious how they did it. And I'm wondering, were these pixelated areas always in the game (before the patch)? Maybe because of them ( it's like "optimization") the fps has grown. Here is an example: https://imgur.com/a/hw4SxzT (to see pixelated areas you should zoom).

As for DWM - that's interesting. As I understand it, the problem occurs due to the fact the game is launched in a borderless windowed mode, so my performance may drop a little. I remember I had this in GTA 5, but there FPS drop by 3-4 is not as significant as in this game. Then there are two options left for me, either to understand how to turn off the DWM (I read about it on the Internet, it's difficult and complicated), or to wait for a patch to return the full screen. Maybe do you know how to deal with DWM? P.S. Although, I remember, I somehow played in windowed mode at 720p before the patch, everything was fine there. It's strange somehow...

I don't have G-sync and VRR. I tried to enable low latency mode - nothing changes.

[Cave Waverider]

I guess they made some performance tweaks then. Performance has been the same for me, but I have a high-end PC (and I didn't try it on Steam Deck before the patch) so that's likely why I didn't notice.

You can't turn off WDM. It's the Desktop Window Manager. Without it, the Windows GUI doesn't work. Basically, in Windowed mode (and fake full screen/borderless windowed mode), the DWM settings decide what's being applied to the game, while in proper full screen mode the game can decide, since it's independent of the Desktop.

As for the pixelated stuff, it doesn't look that way hereon my system, so I don't know.

[Areshka121]

1 hour ago, Cave Waverider said:

I guess they made some performance tweaks then. Performance has been the same for me, but I have a high-end PC (and I didn't try it on Steam Deck before the patch) so that's likely why I didn't notice.

You can't turn off WDM. It's the Desktop Window Manager. Without it, the Windows GUI doesn't work. Basically, in Windowed mode (and fake full screen/borderless windowed mode), the DWM settings decide what's being applied to the game, while in proper full screen mode the game can decide, since it's independent of the Desktop.

As for the pixelated stuff, it doesn't look that way hereon my system, so I don't know.

Yeah, that's sucks. I mean why they don't leave us a choice to decide which resolution setting is the appropriate like in many modern games. They, as developers, should also understand that depending on the settings (full screen, windowed or borderless mode), the game can behave differently on different configurations. Ideally, the user should have a choice of settings where their game doesn't crash, shows good performance and doesn't have screen tearing. If everything is okay for the user in full-screen mode, then why deprive him of this? A very strange decision on their part, I hope they fix it. Although, if they don't fix anything, then it will be "okay". Playing a stable 55-57 fps at 1080p is better than 60 but at 768p.

And in addition, on laptops there is such a common problem with a conflict between an integrated video card and a discrete one (especially in my case with nvidia 1050ti and intel processor + 60hz laptop monitor). This can also contribute to slightly poor performance in borderless windowed mode.

With regards to textures, I watched a couple of videos on YouTube, how things are with other users. In general many of the same pixels are visible on standard textures. Apparently at 1080p resolution the picture is the same as on PS4. It turns out that this is fine, but I think it could have been better.