New Vegas stutters

[basileus3]

New Vegas stutters, like it just isn't smooth, I would like suggestions if any of my mods would cause particularly bad performance

my load order is:

FalloutNV.esm

DeadMoney.esm

HonestHearts.esm

OldWorldBlues.esm

LonesomeRoad.esm

TribalPack.esm

MercenaryPack.esm

ClassicPack.esm

CaravanPack.esm

GunRunnersArsenal.esm

YUP - Base Game + All DLC.esm

YUP - NPC Fixes (Base Game + All DLC).esp

Unofficial Patch Plus.esp

Unofficial Patch Plus - Addendum.esp

HeroinZero Weapon Fixes.esp

The Mod Configuration Menu.esp

FOVSlider.esp

Inventory Search.esp

The Weapon Mod Menu.esp

oHUD.esm

DarNifiedUINV.esp

FCOMaster.esm

Simple DLC Delay.esp

VATS Alternative - Bullet Time.esp

JustModsAssorted.esp

Helmet Overlay.esp

Water Overhaul.esp

Mojave Arsenal.esp

JSawyer Ultimate - FCO Patch.esp

JSawyer Ultimate - Mojave Arsenal Patch.esp

JSawyer Ultimate - WO Patch.esp

JSawyer Ultimate.esp

FCO - GlowingOne.esp

FCO - Russell.esp

FCO - Saxons Quest Collection.esp

FCO - The New Bison Steve.esp

FCO - Willow.esp

Karmic Balance.esp

Enhanced NPC Awareness.esp

Economy Overhaul.esp

Simple Reputation and Disguises.esp

ELECTRO-CITY - CompletedWorkorders.esm

FCO - ElectroCity Patch.esp

FCO - YUP English.esp

Distributed Necklaces and Chains.esp

FCO - PathFixing Vanilla.esp

FCO - Spice of Life Clothing.esp

FireRehireWillow.esp

Follower Tweaks.esp

QSMaresLeg.esp

JIP Selective-Fire.esm

Convenient Fast Travel Markers.esp

MiscItemIconsNV.esp

Pipboy2501.esp

FCO + CNR.esp

FCO + LQE.esp

FCO + YUP + JSawyer UE.esp

Lucky38 Climate Fixed.esp

FCO + TOD.esp

NevadaSkies.esm

NS - DLC.esp

LightUpAndSmokeThoseCigarettes_edisleado.esp

lightupandsmokethosecigarettes_dm.esp

Quickthrow.esp

SaxxonsQuestPack.esm

The New Bison Steve Hotel.esm

NVWillow.esp

SomeguySeries.esm

Russell.esp

NewVegasKiller.esp

NewVegasBounties.esp

KingOfTheRing.esp

NewVegasBountiesII.esp

TheInheritance.esp

1nivVSLArmors.esp

ADAM - MERGE.esp

ADAM - Trooper Gloves.esp

ADAM Complete.esp

Book of Steel.esp

WMIMNV.esp

Weapon Retexture Project.esp

LaLongueCarabineMod.esp

357retex.esp

GRA-WRP-Patch-Two_Unofficial.esp

EVE FNV - ALL DLC.esp

RangerHuntingCarbineSequoia.esp

HeavyPlasmaRepeater.esp

RetrievableThrowables.esp

TacticalSurvivalistRifle.esp

Vurt's WFO.esp

Groundcover Overhaul.esp

Desertlurk.esp

Uncut Wasteland.esp

Cazador Queen.esp

TheLozza's_Gasmasks_V2.esp

CAGE 1.9.3.2.esp

Lucky38Reloadedv5.esp

B42Inertia.esp

YamsPinupParade.esp

Lucky38Overhaul.esp

New Vegas Strip ReDone - Walled.esp

HonestHearts2.esp

HonestHearts2b.esp

CNR_Beta.esp

Cowboy Perk Complete - New Vegas Bounties.esp

Legion Quests Expanded.esp

D.E.I.M.O.S..esm

Badlands.esm

NiptonRebuilt.esp

Windows of the Mojave v1.2.1.esp

enclavebunker.esm

NVInteriors_ComboEdition_AWOP.esm

NVInteriors_Core.esm

NCRTrooperOverhaul.esp

TrooperOverhaul-Dragbody.esp

SaltLakeStories.esm

SLS - No Type3 Clothing.esp

AutumnLeaves.esp

domecity.esm

AWOP - Russell.esp

AWOP Interim Fixes.esp

AWOP WRP Patch.esp

AWOP-FCO3.esp

AWOPDeadMoney.esm

AWOPDeadMoneyVendorPatch.esp

AWOPMonsterPatchVanilla.esp

AWorldOfPain(Preview).esm

Radio Free Wasteland.esp

Conelrad 640-1240.esp

Existence 2.0.esp

NVInteriors Addon AWOP.esp

Laurens_Bathroom_poetry.esp

History.esp

The Law Won.esp

CourierCacheWSE.esp

FCO - Eyes.esp

FCO - NPC Changes.esp

also for some reason Nipton Town Hall's lower level was like 10 fps the whole time I was there, but that was the only cell I have encountered such an issue

[M48A5]

An actual load order is needed before anyone can begin to guess what would be causing the problem.

 

Also, have you installed any of the tools that do not show in the load order (NVSR, NVAC, NVSE, etc)?

[dubiousintent]

"Texture packs" don't usually show up in the "load order". (They are replacing vanilla assets; thus they overwrite existing files.) And the issue with them is what size/resolution of the images you are using. Larger/"hi-rez" textures require more pixels, and larger screen display monitors multiply that requirement in a non-linear way. While your hardware may technically be able to handle it, the game was published in late 2010, designed for Windows Vista with maximum screen displays of 1920x1080, with default image sizes of 512x512 pixels. The game engine texture cache tends to be the bottleneck: "leaking memory" and causing "stutter". Please see the wiki "Display resolution versus Image Size" article.

Re: Stuttering or "micro-stutters". All visual stuttering or "frame rate" problems are caused by the video stream having to wait for the "art assets" required to render the display OR the game writing something to disk (such as a save game file or logging). Mostly these are due to the hard disk drive being orders of magnitude slower than VRAM, with System RAM (e.g. "ENBoost") and "solid state drives" (SSDs) being in-between. There are and will always be situations where the higher FPS will drop as you decide to head in a direction the game did not anticipate and "pre-load" into video memory.

Keep in mind that this game was designed for older PC and XBox console systems, and it is now possible for your new "latest and greatest" gaming machine to be faster than it can handle. There are internal design choices that cannot be overcome. This is especially true if you are attempting to run at a "frame rate" higher than 60FPS which can introduce unanticipated problems. (If you haven't already, try locking your video card to 60FPS for FNV.) The "video pipeline" has always been prone to problems.

The following are "mitigations" that have been found to help some people.

The mod FNV Mod Limit Fix has revealed that the "140 plugin limit" existed was because the game was opening 3 file handles for each plugin. The game has a hard coded limit of 512 maximum handles that could be opened at once, AND IT NEVER LETS THEM GO until it closes. (Potentially this applies to ALL files it opens.) This fix simply bumps that up to 2048 to allow for more room for file handles. This obviously has a potential impact upon any file related issues and makes it worth a try for that reason alone.

Please see the following entries under the 'Solutions to Performance problems' section in the wiki Fallout NV Mod Conflict Troubleshooting" guide if you haven't already.
* 'Issue: "Full screen mode" exhibits CTDs and stutters or micro-stutters'
* 'Issue: Lag or "micro stutters" even with "New Vegas Stutter Remover" installed'
* 'Issue: Win10 Screen tearing in "Borderless Windowed Mode"'
* 'Issue: CTD without warning, "Out of Memory error", or stops responding after the Main Menu' for other settings that can indirectly affect micro-stutter.
* There are also some NVSR configuration suggestions under the 'Issue: Game in slow motion' and entries. (These will not help with the "Tick Fix" alternative mod, but the author of NVSR now has a suggested configuration for Win10 linked there.)
* The 'Issue: What's with these Solid Green billboard signs in the distance (LOD)?' entry under the 'Solutions to Mesh (Red "!" icon) or Texture (solid color) problems' section can also help if your problems started after you installed VWD/LOD texture packages.
* If you are using CASM or some similar "auto-save" mod to manage your save game files (recommended), try increasing the "time between saves" set in the "save frequency"; and reducing the number of occasions it saves to the minimum (e.g. disable most "Autosave Events" in CASM) and see how that impacts the game seeming to freeze temporarily.
* If you have "NVSE logging" enabled (see the 'Checklist Item #4' entry in the wiki "Fallout NV Mod Conflict Troubleshooting" guide), disable it until actually needed.
(Reading from or writing to disk for any reason is the slowest thing the game does.)

The size of your image files also has an impact. Larger/higher resolution is not always "better". Please see the wiki "Display resolution versus Image Size" article.

The 'Issue: What INI edits seem to be most beneficial to performance' entry of the wiki "Fallout NV Mod Conflict Troubleshooting" guide) may also be some help. However, the above mitigations are more likely to have a fundamental beneficial effect with or without any INI adjustments, so consider them as the last resort.

As you can see, there are a number of things that can underlie your problem. If one of these doesn't fix it, I would be interested to hear about any eventual solution that does.

-Dubious-

[T0M7]

Don't know if this will help you, but, what version your NVSE right now?

There's 5.1b4 which is on the silverlock's site, and there's 5.1b6 that's right now maintained at github.

Your best bet would be getting the github's since I get better response using newer one. Then again, tread carefully.

[dubiousintent]

Please provide links if you are going to refer people to "offsite" mods. (As long as "adult content" is age-gated, and the site doesn't host pirated material Nexus terms permit it.)

 

Presumably you are referring to "xNVSE", the fork maintained by korri123, lStewieAl, iranrmrf, maletsna (c6), and carxt (aka karut)? The "x" prefix is important to avoid confusion with the original.

 

Interesting info. I was not aware of the fork, so thanks for that.

 

Edit: Aha! Just found the announcement on today's "Nexus Mods" notifications, which does include that link. (That's why I missed it: checking the forum first.)

 

-Dubious-

Edited June 3, 2020 by dubiousintent

[basileus3]

An actual load order is needed before anyone can begin to guess what would be causing the problem.

 

Also, have you installed any of the tools that do not show in the load order (NVSR, NVAC, NVSE, etc)?

yeah I have NVSE, NVAC, Onetweak, and NV Tick Fix, also idk what you mean actual load order, I just copied that from a loadorder.txt under \ModOrganizer\Fallout NV\profiles\Default

Edited June 3, 2020 by abcaqwerty

[basileus3]

"Texture packs" don't usually show up in the "load order". (They are replacing vanilla assets; thus they overwrite existing files.) And the issue with them is what size/resolution of the images you are using. Larger/"hi-rez" textures require more pixels, and larger screen display monitors multiply that requirement in a non-linear way. While your hardware may technically be able to handle it, the game was published in late 2010, designed for Windows Vista with maximum screen displays of 1920x1080, with default image sizes of 512x512 pixels. The game engine texture cache tends to be the bottleneck: "leaking memory" and causing "stutter". Please see the wiki "Display resolution versus Image Size" article.

 

Re: Stuttering or "micro-stutters". All visual stuttering or "frame rate" problems are caused by the video stream having to wait for the "art assets" required to render the display OR the game writing something to disk (such as a save game file or logging). Mostly these are due to the hard disk drive being orders of magnitude slower than VRAM, with System RAM (e.g. "ENBoost") and "solid state drives" (SSDs) being in-between. There are and will always be situations where the higher FPS will drop as you decide to head in a direction the game did not anticipate and "pre-load" into video memory.

 

Keep in mind that this game was designed for older PC and XBox console systems, and it is now possible for your new "latest and greatest" gaming machine to be faster than it can handle. There are internal design choices that cannot be overcome. This is especially true if you are attempting to run at a "frame rate" higher than 60FPS which can introduce unanticipated problems. (If you haven't already, try locking your video card to 60FPS for FNV.) The "video pipeline" has always been prone to problems.

 

The following are "mitigations" that have been found to help some people.

 

The mod FNV Mod Limit Fix has revealed that the "140 plugin limit" existed was because the game was opening 3 file handles for each plugin. The game has a hard coded limit of 512 maximum handles that could be opened at once, AND IT NEVER LETS THEM GO until it closes. (Potentially this applies to ALL files it opens.) This fix simply bumps that up to 2048 to allow for more room for file handles. This obviously has a potential impact upon any file related issues and makes it worth a try for that reason alone.

 

Please see the following entries under the 'Solutions to Performance problems' section in the wiki Fallout NV Mod Conflict Troubleshooting" guide if you haven't already.

* 'Issue: "Full screen mode" exhibits CTDs and stutters or micro-stutters'

* 'Issue: Lag or "micro stutters" even with "New Vegas Stutter Remover" installed'

* 'Issue: Win10 Screen tearing in "Borderless Windowed Mode"'

* 'Issue: CTD without warning, "Out of Memory error", or stops responding after the Main Menu' for other settings that can indirectly affect micro-stutter.

* There are also some NVSR configuration suggestions under the 'Issue: Game in slow motion' and entries. (These will not help with the "Tick Fix" alternative mod, but the author of NVSR now has a suggested configuration for Win10 linked there.)

* The 'Issue: What's with these Solid Green billboard signs in the distance (LOD)?' entry under the 'Solutions to Mesh (Red "!" icon) or Texture (solid color) problems' section can also help if your problems started after you installed VWD/LOD texture packages.

* If you are using CASM or some similar "auto-save" mod to manage your save game files (recommended), try increasing the "time between saves" set in the "save frequency"; and reducing the number of occasions it saves to the minimum (e.g. disable most "Autosave Events" in CASM) and see how that impacts the game seeming to freeze temporarily.

* If you have "NVSE logging" enabled (see the 'Checklist Item #4' entry in the wiki "Fallout NV Mod Conflict Troubleshooting" guide), disable it until actually needed.

(Reading from or writing to disk for any reason is the slowest thing the game does.)

 

The size of your image files also has an impact. Larger/higher resolution is not always "better". Please see the wiki "Display resolution versus Image Size" article.

 

The 'Issue: What INI edits seem to be most beneficial to performance' entry of the wiki "Fallout NV Mod Conflict Troubleshooting" guide) may also be some help. However, the above mitigations are more likely to have a fundamental beneficial effect with or without any INI adjustments, so consider them as the last resort.

 

As you can see, there are a number of things that can underlie your problem. If one of these doesn't fix it, I would be interested to hear about any eventual solution that does.

 

-Dubious-

I'ma go through all those, thanks for such an in depth reply!

[Radioactivelad]

The Tick Fix recently had some buggy releases that were quickly patched.

 

One of them I recall did cause odd performance issues, mostly related to the D3D9ex feature.

 

That'd be the first one I'd check.

[dubiousintent]

... idk what you mean actual load order, I just copied that from a loadorder.txt under \ModOrganizer\Fallout NV\profiles\Default

He's referring to a "sorted load order" such as produced by "LOOT"; to include the main game and DLC files. (Screenshots don't work so well for the purpose, and I at least don't know if that MO file is equivalent as I don't use MO that list is not sorted as all the ESM files should be at the top at a minimum.) With modded games its the sequence, not merely the list of mods, which is the cause of many problems. LOOT's sort gives a good first approximation, correcting the most obvious issues and is sufficient for most players. You can make minor adjustments to the order and tell LOOT how to remember them. It's in the on-line documentation under "Metadata". Instructions on how to copy it's list for posting are in the "How to ask for help" article, and "Checklist Item #11' entry in the wiki "Fallout NV Mod Conflict Troubleshooting" guide.

 

I recommend anyone read the entire "FNV General Mod Use Advice" article to understand the differences between this game and others you may have experience with; especially if this is your first attempt to play a modded FNV or it's been more than a year since you last did so. It is designed for someone who has never played a modded PC game before, so it tries to avoid making any assumptions, is kept "up-to-date", and covers years of "lessons learned".

 

-Dubious-

Edited June 4, 2020 by dubiousintent