Extreme slowdown and lag from the very beginning. Any solution?

[Alvin the Elf]

Hello. I recently tried this game. From the very beginning, I'm having a ton of issues. When I start the game and load a save, everything runs fine for the first 30 seconds or so. But after that the FPS drops a bit, and the game becomes very slow and laggy. Characters run and animate in a slow motion, making the game practically unplayable. I even tried turning the graphics to lowest, but the issue remains.

My PC is not super high-end, but based on the listed requirements, it should be able to handle this game at least in medium or low settings. I'm using:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 6-Core 3.59 GHz
GPU: AMD RX 470 4 GB DDR5
RAM: 16 GB
And the game is installed on an SSD

I can run Kingmaker pretty decently. I did have some issues with it but turning the cloth physics off fixed it. I just don't know what to do with WotR. Any help would be appreciated.

[D-Black Catto]

AMD RX 470 4 GB

is the culprit

[Alvin the Elf]

Originally posted by D-Black Catto:

AMD RX 470 4 GB

is the culprit

It's possible but I kind of doubt that. It is on per with the GPUs listed as recommended requirements, and if that was the issue, why would the game run flawlessly when I launch it and then get worse when it runs for a minute or so?

[Kornstalx]

SSR in Graphic Options is the #1 offender for 99.9% of people.

[Alvin the Elf]

Originally posted by Kornstalx:

SSR in Graphic Options is the #1 offender for 99.9% of people.

That's not it for me. Like I said, I already tried turning settings to lowest and turning everything off. Turned resolution down too, but nothing.

[Crusader993]

Graphics driver up to date?

( Check the integrity of game files in Steam. )

However, I also bet on the outdated graphics card. There have been many updates since the release, and it is easy to imagine that the previous hardware recommendations are no longer valid.

[skooma addict]

I had the same problem. I fixed it by blocking the game on my firewall. For some reason the game was eating my internet and cpu

[Alvin the Elf]

Okay, I *think* I found a solution. I noticed that the game was pushing the GPU usage to 99%. I actually got a warning from AMD Adrenaline software that the GPU temperature was rising above intended value. I looked it up and apparently it's doing the same to much higher end cards as well.

Anyway, so I fixed the frame rate cap with the Adrenaline software. Kept it between 30 and 57. I played a little while after that. There was no slowdowns, the GPU usage was down 50% and the temperature remained around 80 degrees.

I don't blame my GPU since the game apparently has been doing this to much newer and costlier cards. But I still think I'm gonna wait to play the game till I get a better GPU so that I can enjoy some settings at slightly higher values.

In any case, I hope this helps others who have the same problem. And Owlcat, if you're reading this, I love your games, but please for the love of all the gods, work on your optimization.

[Crusader993]

Originally posted by Alvin the Elf:

And Owlcat, if you're reading this, I love your games, but please for the love of all the gods, work on your optimization.

UNITY is primarily to blame for the issue of high GPU usage and associated FPS capping (I capped mine at 60 FPS). Owlcat can hardly do anything about it.

[Alvin the Elf]

Originally posted by Crusader993:

UNITY is primarily to blame for the issue of high GPU usage and associated FPS capping (I capped mine at 60 FPS). Owlcat can hardly do anything about it.

Maybe. But there are other Unity games that look great and run well. Wastelands 3 comes to mind. So I'm not entirely sure it's just Unity.