FPS drops, not Boston-related

[audiodef]

I'm trying to figure out why I get major FPS drops in certain places. I'm not even talking about Boston. Out in the wild, I could be looking one way and the FPS is smooth and 50+. Then I turn around and it drops to 14 in one specific direction. What would cause this? I have a GTX 960, 16 GB, AMD Phenom II X6 Black, and the auto settings always put things on Ultra. This happens even when I turn everything all the way down. I have 107 plugins currently active, and ENB (no preset, I play with my own settings.) Not sure ENB is the culprit because turning off effect makes no difference.

 

I'd appreciate advice on fixing this.

 

I'm inclined to think it's not mod-related, but just in case:

GameMode=Fallout4

Fallout4.esm=1

DLCRobot.esm=1

DLCWorkshop01.esm=1

DLCCoast.esm=1

DLCWorkshop02.esm=1

DLCWorkshop03.esm=1

DLCNukaWorld.esm=1

Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch.esp=1

SimSettlements.esm=1

Homemaker.esm=1

Snap'n Build.esm=1

SettlementKeywords.esm=1

Companion Infinite Ammo and Unbreakable Power Armour.esm=1

ArmorKeywords.esm=1

ConcealedArmor.esm=1

ValdacilsItemSorting-00-ValsPicks-DLCVersion.esp=1

StartMeUp.esp=1

Scrap Everything - Ultimate Edition.esp=1

Scrap Everything - Core.esp=1

Reverb and Ambiance Overhaul.esp=1

Vivid Weathers - FO4.esp=1

Vivid Weathers - FO4 - Far Harbor.esp=1

Vivid Weathers - Nuka World.esp=1

Radiant Clouds and Fogs.esp=1

HideUI.esp=1

CBBE.esp=1

The Eyes Of Beauty.esp=1

Homemaker - Greenhouse and Bunker Disabler.esp=1

Homemaker - Streetlights Use Passive Power.esp=1

Homemaker - Unlocked Institute Objects.esp=1

Northland Diggers New.esp=1

Northland Diggers.esp=1

CraftableAmmo.esp=1

CraftableAmmo_plus.esp=1

LongerPowerLines3x.esp=1

More Armor Slots - All Dlc.esp=1

Armorsmith Extended.esp=1

Armorsmith All DLCs Patch.esp=1

EFF.esp=1

DX Courser X-92 Power Suit.esp=1

SkjAlert_All_DLC.esp=1

FunctionalDisplays-Collectibles.esp=1

FunctionalDisplays.esp=1

FunctionalDisplays-AID-VIS.esp=1

FunctionalDisplays-MISC-VIS.esp=1

FunctionalDisplays-Patch-DLC-ALL-VIS.esp=1

KSHairdos.esp=1

Diamond City Enhanced.esp=1

ReGrowth.esp=1

ScrapUpdate - Ultimate.esp=1

WBO.esp=1

SuperMutantOverhaul.esp=1

WBO-FunctionalDisplays-Weapons.esp=1

My_Minutemen.esp=1

Vivid Waters.esp=1

ImmersiveVendors.esp=1

LooksMenu.esp=1

DD_All_the_COncrete.esp=1

Radstorm Removal.esp=1

Vivid Weathers - FO4 - Summer.esp=1

RichMerchantsLessCaps.esp=1

3dscopes.esp=1

3dscopes-AddToSpawnList.esp=1

TakeCover.esp=1

3dscopes-framework.esp=1

3dscopes-FarHarbor.esp=1

3dscopes-NukaWorld.esp=1

Eli_Armour_Compendium.esp=1

SSEX.esp=1

NanoSuit.esp=1

NanoSuit_AWKCR_AE.esp=1

MovableWorkshop.esp=1

Journal.esp=1

IncreasedSettlerPopulation50.esp=1

Realistic Death Physics - ALL DLC.esp=1

dD-Realistic Ragdoll Force.esp=1

SatelliteWorldMap.esp=1

Campsite.esp=1

Campsite-AWKCR.esp=1

K9TacticalHarness.esp=1

ManufacturingExtended.esp=1

ManufacturingExtendedFH.esp=1

Extended weapon mods.esp=1

WBO-Extended Weapon Mods.esp=1

ConcealedArmor.esp=1

LegendaryModification.esp=1

LegendaryModification2LM.esp=1

LegendaryMod2LMWeaponryOverhaul.esp=1

LegendaryModification2LMConcealed.esp=1

LegendaryModificationMisc.esp=1

LegendaryModificationCSA.esp=1

LegendaryModificationGroknak.esp=1

LegendaryModification - DLC Far Harbor.esp=1

WBO-Automatron.esp=1

LegendaryModification - DLC Far Harbor (2LM).esp=1

LegendaryModification - DLC Far Harbor (2LM Concealed).esp=1

Buildable_PAFrames.esp=1

Buildable_PAFrames_Recipe.esp=1

DeadBodyCollision.esp=1

Dogmeat's Backpack.esp=1

AutoDoors.esp=1

SettleObjExpandPack.esp=1

SettleObjExpandPack-AutoDoorsPatch.esp=1

Conquest.esp=1

Eli_Crafting Shiz 9000.esp=1

mso_sms.esp=1

extendedLightsWS - No shadows.esp=1

[MissingMeshTV]

Did you tweak your custom .ini to disable precombines for your scrapping mod? If yes, that's a likely cause for the FPS drops.

 

Shadow quality and distance set to Ultra will also cause FPS hits because of how poorly this game is optimized.

[audiodef]

I can rule out precombines and shadow quality/distance. I literally reset my ini's and reduced everything to the lowest settings. Still get FPS drops when looking in certain directions in some areas, whether or not I'm in a city.

[ibldedibble]

First of all: Move Scrap Everything to the bottom. LOOT likes to put it in the middle, but it needs to be at the bottom to function without glitches. (I believe you have the two .esps in the wrong order as well, but someone else might have to correct me on that one.)

 

Second: Do any of your mods clean up anything? Remove clutter items etc? I've noticed that some areas get insanely laggy when I've used "cleaning" mods. I'm guessing it's because precombineds getting RIP'd.

 

Third: It might just be that the area is that badly optimized. Sadly there are a few like that as well. :/

[audiodef]

Thanks for the tip on scrap everything! I will do that. I suspect that it's just the game being badly optimized. I'm just glad that I can throw anything at this game without running into unplayable lag - with the exception of Boston, of course, but that's Boston. (I'm from MA and I'm telling you, that's Boston.)

[Fkemman11]

Thanks for the tip on scrap everything! I will do that. I suspect that it's just the game being badly optimized. I'm just glad that I can throw anything at this game without running into unplayable lag - with the exception of Boston, of course, but that's Boston. (I'm from MA and I'm telling you, that's Boston.)

 

Hmm. I am curious what you think about the Boston layout since you are from the area?

 

About the performance drops in certain areas I am also stumped. But if you check this thread it may explain it some; https://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/5522717-fallout-4-optimization-and-performance-systems-explained/

[bodhisattvah]

Just to jump in as a Bostonian (from "Nordhagen Beach"--man was I psyched it's a settlement), there's a lot right and a lot wrong. Having so few, and not interconnected subways seemed off (yeah, I know about the mod!). And having one in Revere beach was off too (trains run above ground there).

 

Lots of buildings are crap (Quincy Market, Trinity Church, the Airport), and the good ones only highlight how bad the bad ones are (Fenway, the old State House, and Old North Church are solid IMO). Since some of these precede the timeline split by a large amount, it's...immersion breaking.

 

Sometimes things look wrong, but feel right--Revere is full of raiders (not just a reference to the band--growing up it was a high crime area); Harvard Sq. is full of "zombies" (lots of drugged out folks used to congregate near that subway entrance); Nahant is hillier, but lots of nice houses, so...it gets a pass; Slocum's Joe is a stupid name, but the Buzz Bites box is a spot on Munchkins box; Salem should be brickier and needs a far bigger cemetery, but having the witch museum was right.

 

I'm ok with truncation, but it feels...TOO compressed. I can navigate by the landmarks, but the major streets are way off. Storrow Dr. should be an intact route to 93 (was ramps growing up--into a tunnel after the Big Dig). Tremont, Comm Ave, Mass Ave. should all be unbroken routes through the city. The MIT campus felt right...but Mass Ave goes all the way off the map (Nuka World? Because where the eff is that?) Comm Ave. should go all the way through "Forest Grove Marsh". 90 should continue in an artificial trench/ravine like where does at the west edge of the city, until it exits the map. Both the north and south shore are way too squished. And they lost too many of the islands.

 

In fact, I think that compression is why settlement budgets sucked--things are just too close together. Like how Fenway is close to Hangman Alley, which is probably why mods of HA go laggy.

 

Gotta say, I was super impressed when I looked at where Sanctuary should be on a real map...and there's a cul de sac with fancy houses on it!

 

(and I know, totally OT...sorry)

Edited April 27, 2017 by bodhisattvah

[AGreatWeight]

@bodhisattvah,

don't apologize, that was in interesting read. I've a friend from Boston who's currently in Poland studying dentistry and I always meant to ask him about the discrepancies but never got 'round to it.

Even though I'm not a Boston native (or even American for that matter) I've always felt that a huge issue with the game is just how small they made everything, scaled things down.

The Commonwealth feels tiny, although I have been playing the game for over 2000 hours (that might have something to do with it)

Anyway, thanks again!

[audiodef]

I've made some headway on this, and yeah, it's related to the game being less-than. Basically, through one-at-a-time trial-and-error, I've left AA and AF turned off, shadow distance on medium - this was a big FPS killer - DOF on low (I will handle this with ENB anyway), AO off, and weapon debris off (just not interested in this feature.) Since I have an nvidia card, I've set the nv control panel to handle AO, AA, AF, etc. Now when I'm running around Boston Common, FPS bottoms out at 30, as opposed to a microstuttering 12.

 

Actually, the nv control panel says AO isn't available for this game. I hope a driver update fixes this.