Biggest mod culprits for low FPS

[elpiggo]

It would be good to see a list of mods that lower fps more than others, so you know which ones to avoid if you have a low end PC. For example, something like Natural Environments is going to affect your game more than a mod that adds a house in the wilderness. Which are the worst?

[Dontino]

It would be good to see a list of mods that lower fps more than others, so you know which ones to avoid if you have a low end PC. For example, something like Natural Environments is going to affect your game more than a mod that adds a house in the wilderness. Which are the worst?

 

Don't touch Adrenaline Oblivion . Although it's horribly entertaining, it'll lag you into the fires of hell.

[Sypron]

I don't find that Natural Environments effects fps at all. All it really does is changes the weather patterns. Some of the parts through (the bit with birds) may slow down the game. I find the worst mods are ones that contain items with high poly counts, and mods that have scripts running continuously in the background.

[The Hippie]

the only mod so far that made my pc lag is qarls tp3 on full

[The Dark Brother]

I don't find that Natural Environments effects fps at all. All it really does is changes the weather patterns. Some of the parts through (the bit with birds) may slow down the game. I find the worst mods are ones that contain items with high poly counts, and mods that have scripts running continuously in the background.

 

Would you be so good as to post a list of mods that have scripts running continuously in the background? Or give me an idea as to what types usually do?

 

Thanks.

[Vagrant0]

Would you be so good as to post a list of mods that have scripts running continuously in the background? Or give me an idea as to what types usually do?

 

Thanks.

Lots and LOTS of mods have scripts running constantly in the background. The key is mostly what those scripts do, and how many of them are running at once. Any mod that attaches scripts to quests of abilities can potentially have that script running continuously. Any mod that attaches scripts to NPCs causes those scripts to be run constantly while that NPC is around, and if they aren't, that script still gets processed occasionally if the NPC does something which causes the script to trigger. By default, within vanilla oblivion, there are litterally hundreds of scripts being processed at certain points in the game, depending on how many quests you've started. Typically, the longer the condition chain within a gamemode block, the more processing the script needs per frame. For instance, a script which detects why is being worn by the player by checking the ids individually, within a single pass would require more processing than checking them in seperate passes.

begin gamemode
if player.getequipped xxx == 1
<something>
elseif player.getequipped yyy == 1
<something>
elseif player.getequipped zzz == 1
<something>
elseif player.getequipped aaa == 1
<something>
elseif player.getequipped bbb == 1
<something>
elseif player.getequipped ccc == 1
<something>
elseif player.getequipped ddd == 1
<something>
elseif player.getequipped eee == 1
<something>
elseif player.getequipped fff == 1
end

 

Verses

short pass

begin gamemode
if pass == 0
  if player.getequipped xxx == 1
  <something>
  elseif player.getequipped yyy == 1
  <something>
  elseif player.getequipped zzz == 1
  <something>
  endif
setpass to 1
elseif pass == 1
  if player.getequipped aaa == 1
  <something>
  elseif player.getequipped bbb == 1
  <something>
  elseif player.getequipped ccc == 1
  <something>
  elseif player.getequipped ddd == 1
  <something>
  endif
setpass to 2
else
  if player.getequipped eee == 1
  <something>
  elseif player.getequipped fff == 1
  endif
setpass to 0
end

 

Although the second script is longer, and technically performs the same changes, it would be less processor heavy since it's broken up into groups. Even then, the first script really wouldn't cause too much slow down on its self. You would really need a bunch of scripts like that to see any noticable change. Even having 10 of those running constantly wouldn't come close to the processor hit caused just by having a companion follow you.

 

However, some scripts, mainly those that are constantly changing positions of stuff, or casting spells can cause some slow down since these scripts perform complicated actions every frame. For instance, an activator which is always being moved to the player's position, casting an area effect spell to detect what is around the player can cause significant loss in performance since it not only runs the scripting which performs outside actions every frame, but also hits everything in the area and tries to make them run additional scripting every time.

 

Aside from graphic card issues, really, most of the slow down you run into from mods is caused by their not being enough ram to run the 100 or so mods you have loaded along with everything else that needs to happen. You have to remember, .esp data is stored in ram, so if you have alot of mods, and less than 2 gig of ram, you're going to see some slow down as the buffer gets filled up and has to swap out information more often. If you're noticing some slow down, you can usually lessen the effect by removing a large mod that you don't even use.

[Sypron]

I'll tell ya what slows down your game. Grass. Its pretty for about 5 minutes. Then its annoying.

[The Dark Brother]

Would you be so good as to post a list of mods that have scripts running continuously in the background? Or give me an idea as to what types usually do?

 

Thanks.

Lots and LOTS of mods have scripts running constantly in the background. The key is mostly what those scripts do, and how many of them are running at once. Any mod that attaches scripts to quests of abilities can potentially have that script running continuously. Any mod that attaches scripts to NPCs causes those scripts to be run constantly while that NPC is around, and if they aren't, that script still gets processed occasionally if the NPC does something which causes the script to trigger. By default, within vanilla oblivion, there are litterally hundreds of scripts being processed at certain points in the game, depending on how many quests you've started. Typically, the longer the condition chain within a gamemode block, the more processing the script needs per frame. For instance, a script which detects why is being worn by the player by checking the ids individually, within a single pass would require more processing than checking them in seperate passes.

begin gamemode
if player.getequipped xxx == 1
<something>
elseif player.getequipped yyy == 1
<something>
elseif player.getequipped zzz == 1
<something>
elseif player.getequipped aaa == 1
<something>
elseif player.getequipped bbb == 1
<something>
elseif player.getequipped ccc == 1
<something>
elseif player.getequipped ddd == 1
<something>
elseif player.getequipped eee == 1
<something>
elseif player.getequipped fff == 1
end

 

Verses

short pass

begin gamemode
if pass == 0
  if player.getequipped xxx == 1
  <something>
  elseif player.getequipped yyy == 1
  <something>
  elseif player.getequipped zzz == 1
  <something>
  endif
setpass to 1
elseif pass == 1
  if player.getequipped aaa == 1
  <something>
  elseif player.getequipped bbb == 1
  <something>
  elseif player.getequipped ccc == 1
  <something>
  elseif player.getequipped ddd == 1
  <something>
  endif
setpass to 2
else
  if player.getequipped eee == 1
  <something>
  elseif player.getequipped fff == 1
  endif
setpass to 0
end

 

Although the second script is longer, and technically performs the same changes, it would be less processor heavy since it's broken up into groups. Even then, the first script really wouldn't cause too much slow down on its self. You would really need a bunch of scripts like that to see any noticable change. Even having 10 of those running constantly wouldn't come close to the processor hit caused just by having a companion follow you.

 

However, some scripts, mainly those that are constantly changing positions of stuff, or casting spells can cause some slow down since these scripts perform complicated actions every frame. For instance, an activator which is always being moved to the player's position, casting an area effect spell to detect what is around the player can cause significant loss in performance since it not only runs the scripting which performs outside actions every frame, but also hits everything in the area and tries to make them run additional scripting every time.

 

Aside from graphic card issues, really, most of the slow down you run into from mods is caused by their not being enough ram to run the 100 or so mods you have loaded along with everything else that needs to happen. You have to remember, .esp data is stored in ram, so if you have alot of mods, and less than 2 gig of ram, you're going to see some slow down as the buffer gets filled up and has to swap out information more often. If you're noticing some slow down, you can usually lessen the effect by removing a large mod that you don't even use.

 

So the best upgrade to solve this is more RAM? At the moment, I have 1gb, how would 2gb do? Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3000+

[Vagrant0]

So the best upgrade to solve this is more RAM? At the moment, I have 1gb, how would 2gb do? Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3000+

Yes, 2gb could smooth things out significantly and improve load times.