Stutter/FPS Fix - Guide

[Penumbra1979]

@@@@ Problem @@@@

If you are experiencing what feels like stuttering in your mouse/character movement. Like the game doesn't feel smooth or fluid. Even though you may not be seeing any fluctuation in your FPS, or even if you are. Hopefully, this will help you as it did for me.

@@@@ Important @@@@

This guide also applies to other games and I will post in their respective forums. Amnesia, Penumbra, and Soma have slight differences. So reference the correct guide by searching their forums for my post. Please read what I have written so you have an understanding of the issue and the fix.
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Games List:

Amnesia: Dark Descent
Amnesia: Custom Stories
Amnesia: Machine For Pigs
Penumbra: Overture - @This Guide Covers!@
Penumbra: Black Plague - @This Guide Covers!@
Penumbra: Requiem - @This Guide Covers!@
Penumbra: Necrologue "Amnesia Mod"
Penumbra: Twilight Of The Archaic "Amnesia Mod"
Soma
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@@@@ Applying Fix @@@@

Now in my situation. I am trying to get 60 FPS solid in-game with no screen tearing at 1920X1080.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing

Since I don't have a G-Sync monitor which is supposed to have V-Sync built-in. I need to make sure it is on to limit the FPS to 60 and prevent the screen tearing. You can either turn V-Sync on in the game or you can force it on through your graphics card. I chose to force it on through my graphics card with Nvidia Control Panel. This way I can also force on Triple Buffering. This setting can help with input lag "mouse/keyboard" when playing an OpenGL game, which all the games on this list are. Pick a V-Sync method just don't use both together.

So good right?.. almost. So for me, I get into the game. FPS counter I am using shows 60.0. I move the mouse around and no screen tearing. Sweet! When playing the game I would find at random times and random locations it felt like I was lagging. The FPS was 59.9 or 60.0 though. This has plagued me for years with Amnesia and Penumbra mainly. Even as I run these games on a brand new computer with an RTX 2070.

So what I tested and found is that my FPS is not completely being locked to 60. I went into Penumbra and just moved the mouse around really fast. Making Philip freak out on the screen and I watched my FPS. I noticed it would go to 60.1 and 60.2. So then I thought I will force an FPS Limiter on through Nvidia Inspector, another program I have. I looked back into Penumbra's settings file, located here...

@@@@ Settings File Location @@@@

Overture:

\Users\YOUR USER NAME\Documents\Penumbra Overture\Episode1

Black Plague:

\Users\YOUR USER NAME\Documents\Penumbra\Black Plague

Requiem:

\Users\YOUR USER NAME\Documents\Penumbra\Requiem
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settings.cfg
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I found a setting in there called... Engine LimitFPS="true". Nice, the game provides the function. Make sure it is on. You can also enable or disable V-Sync directly in here if you want based on the method of V-Sync you want to use above. Just look for... Vsync="false"

So back in the game, you should not see your FPS go above that 60.0. You should also not be having that laggy/jittery mouse movement. At least not as much. I noticed a 100% improvement in the fluidity of the movement.

So in conclusion... I think V-Sync is broken, even forcing it outside of the game. I think the game engine just doesn't care... lol. That .1 or .2 for me in FPS spiking was enough to cause gameplay issues. As stated, please take the time to read through the guide completely. This will have varying levels of success for people. I will try and help you further if you have issues. Just comment on here. Hope it helps these games stay running well for the future.

@Note: If you are having audio configuration issues, please see my guide for that here...@

https://steamcommunity.com/app/22180/discussions/0/2790495976027552564/

@@@@ Update @@@@

I would also recommend that after trying all this stuff in the guide. If you are still having the problem with the game.

-Try and run the game outside of Steam. Close Steam if it is open and/or running. Then just go into the games installation folder and look for it's ".exe".

"\Steam\steamapps\common"

-You can even right-click the ".exe" and choose "Run As Administrator".

@@@@ Recommended Mods @@@@

There is really no reason to not try these...

-Penumbra: Overture Texture Upscale Mod - All textures upscaled
-Penumbra: Black Plague Texture Upscale Mod - All textures upscaled
-Penumbra: Requiem Texture Upscale Mod - All textures upscaled

All three games Texture Mods can be downloaded from here...

https://www.moddb.com/downloads/penumbra-overture-texture-upscale-mod

Amnesia: The Dark Descent - Remaster - This upscales all textures and applies better shaders, etc. Totally recommend!!!

https://www.moddb.com/mods/amnesia-the-dark-descent-remastered

The Mods listed at the end of the guide are not mine. Only this written guide is. Please give proper thanks to the Texture modders if you like their work.

-END

[Mkilbride]

Sadly none of this works for me and I could never get it smooth.

[Penumbra1979]

Sorry this didn't help you.
Since writing this, I have put this game out on my YouTube channel.
Check out my videos there as you might find some more information.
Look for the "Config & Tech & Modding" videos, I hope it helps you further. :)

- Penumbra: Overture - Playlist Link -

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtAuVEcmb05CxtuxUiL5n3LjQou227_ji&si=G170fPQX8IpPiC5s