ME1 Citadel FPS Drops
Hi, I started ME1 earlier and was having a blast...until I got to the Citadel. Now I'm just frustrated. Essentially, the game has been running pretty much perfectly at 144 FPS. However, if I walk o...
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I also have the same problem but, it's not only happening in Citadel; it happens everywhere, on all planets! I'm getting 144FPS and then it drops to 60-80FPS constantly no matter where I am in the game. I can stand still and look towards in the open and get 144 FPS, but if I were to move a bit and change camera angle, it drops to 75 instantly and it stays there, but only in those certain camera angles. Stuttering also is present, like a graphical hiccup without the FPS drops. Despite trying everything suggested in this thread and many others, I couldn't get any improvements.
But isn't that normal?
I can't think of a game I've EVER played that didn't work like that. If you stand still you get high framerates. You "move a bit" or "change camera angle" or positions, and the fps goes down. Moving the scene on screen is taxing to the GPU and will drop fps. That's just the way it works.
It gets even worse with high-resolution textures (>2K) volumetric lighting, anti-aliasing...etc. Old games didn't have all that. That's why they ran great.
@Psychotps
Let me explain.
In League of Legends I get 144 fps constant, no matter what happens, lowest I've seen it drop was to 139 fps. In Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2019 and Cod Black Ops Cold War I get 110-140 fps. All the games mentioned are far more taxing on the PC than MELE.
The issue isn't in itself that the fps vary, that is to say, fluctuate due to many reasons; this is normal. What is not normal is for the entire game to freeze when it does happen. For example, when I play CoD, my fps is stays between 110-140 fps and the fluctuations are very extreme and volatile, however, if I don't have my fps counter enabled, I wouldn't be able to tell when I'm at 110 or at 140 fps by just playing the game.This is normal and this is how games work and it does not affect the quality of the gameplay.
Now, in MELE, ME1, when the fps naturally fluctuates, the game freezes, stutters, it "hiccups" and the frames get very "rugged". It isn't like in other games where fps changes do not affect gameplay at all. Without having a fps counter, in ME1, I literally see with my own eyes the game freezing for like 1 sec, frames stuttering, etc. It's very distracting and it worsens the quality of the game a lot. This happens constantly, no matter the situation. The fps drops in ME1 MELE incur in fps lag and stutters. Fps drops: OK; fps lag and stutters that affect gameplay: NOT OK.
Furthermore, you say: "moving the scene on screen is taxing to the GPU and will drop fps". This is correct in a general context, but no in the context of ME1. I have, alongside with the fps counter, my GPU and CPU temps and % usages. My GPU % usage never goes above 50% while playing ME1, while in other games, is always above 90%.
ME1 MELE is an old game; this graphical remaster doesn't make it a new game. A new game, which demands a very powerful PC, is something like Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition, not MELE.
Lastly, a few dozen players report this fps lag and fps stutters when the fps drops, across platforms too; PC and consoles.This isn't something inherent to how games work normally. This is specific to ME1 MELE optimization.- @Claudio10M Makes sense. I suppose it could be a flaw in the fact that they are remastering an old game that wasn't actually designed to have 4K textures, advanced lighting and all that. The old engine and design is causing lag issues with the attempt to add advanced graphics.
What's odd is your setup sounds more advanced than mine but you're having worse problems. That doesn't make any sense. I've never been able to get over 100 fps on any game. But I can regularly get over 60 on High settings, just not ultra.
May want to look into something else as the issue. My ME1 and ME2 have been running beautifully. No lag at all. And I'm on high settings.Having massive stuttering problems in the Citadel in ME1. I have tried so many things including using different framepacing/limiting programs like SpecialK and Riviatuner Statistics Server and it's always bad in specific spots.
Check out this CapFrameX graph. This is moving the camera around a lot near the embassies. Absolutely awful framepacing.
Edit: I think I found the absolute worst spot in the Presidium.
Look at this graph, completely wild.
