Best graphics settings for subnautica

[yeah that fits]

sup y'all, I have been playing subnautica for a while now with pretty good graphics, but when I opened subnautica one day all my graphics were set to low. This wasn't a problem because I could easily find my old settings back, but I was wondering, what are the best settings to have? I don't really know how much ambient occlusion and things like that will affect my game, so could anyone tell me? I have a GTX 1050 2gb with an i5 2320 3ghz. My settings previously:

Water quality: high
anti aliasing: FXAA high
bloom and lens dirt on, depth of field off
motion blur and ambient occlusion both on low
screen space reflections medium
dithering on

This might be a dumb question because i could just find out myself, but i just would like to know how some things make the game look and run.
-Gulag

[miklkit]

Every system is different and you really have to experiment to find the best settings for YOUR system.

[Pizzaboy]

I want to say my computer is so good but my game only get a ♥♥♥♥ graphic
the texture quality is low
when I was using my intel computer it's lag when you set to high graphics level
but when i set to high graphics level now it's not lag but the graphics quality didn't change much only some sun rays and some other effects but when I set the graphics to low it's lower than the intel rubbish computer not even the old 1
I'm using AMD computer

[Pisaro]

Originally posted by imthebestpizzaboy:

I want to say my computer is so good but my game only get a ♥♥♥♥ graphic
the texture quality is low
when I was using my intel computer it's lag when you set to high graphics level
but when i set to high graphics level now it's not lag but the graphics quality didn't change much only some sun rays and some other effects but when I set the graphics to low it's lower than the intel rubbish computer not even the old 1
I'm using AMD computer

And what for a computer? Processor? Graphic card?

But yeah, subnautica hasn't the best texture quality.

[miklkit]

I have a 3 year old all AMD system. Could you be more specific?
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2261782836

[MCivilization]

Screen-space reflections and ambient occlusion really give the world a more realistic look, but have a big impact on performance. The motion blur quality you don't really have to worry about. Ambient occlusion adds more shadows that aren't under direct sunlight. It makes objects have shadow effects on each other. Also, the biggest thing impacting your performance is the water. I know, medium quality sucks, but that will be your main impact on performance. Let me know if I can help any more.

[MCivilization]

Oh also screen space reflections give metallic/glass objects a nice shiny look, same for the water. They reflect the light, looking like mirrors a bit more.

[admiral1018]

Old thread, but still relevant. Here are some thoughts.

First off, if you're trying to maximize FPS, the experimental patch offers a significant performance boost over the stable build. Almost everyone should be able to get higher framerates with the same hardware, particularly in areas like large bases that are notorious for slowdowns. However, be advised that the experimental patch does still have some bugs and is being updated everyday or so, so use at your own risk.

With that said:

COLOR GRADING: This should probably be off. However, I do want to point out that Filmic is really beautiful and does change the atmosphere of the game to look much more cinematic. I think everyone should turn it on just once in the Kelp Forest to see how it looks. The downside is that it can be VERY dark, meaning pitch black at night, in caves, and even in the lava zone. For this reason, I wouldn't recommend it unless you're a veteran.

WATER QUALITY: Set as high as your PC can support

ANTI-ALIASING QUALITY: The use of AA depends on your resolution. Some gamers think it should always be cranked up, but it creates image distortion and some blurring, so use it only as needed. At 4K resolutions, you can leave it off. At 1440p, you should be fine with low. At 1080p, set it to medium.

ANTI-ALIASING: As for FXAA vs. TAA, the former is less resource intensive but will have less clarity on static images. The latter looks smoother but adds motion blur when moving. Since I hate motion blur, I use FXAA, but this is a matter of taste. Many people prefer the image quality of TAA, even at the higher computing cost.

BLOOM: Adds a glare effect on bright objects, namely creepvine seeds, flood lights, and lava. Matter of taste, but many people prefer to turn it off.

LENS DIRT: This adds particle effects to your mask in certain areas (when a Sandshark kicks up sand, alien vents, and a few others). It's intended to add realism, but it ends up being something that just blocks the screen. Turn it off.

DEPTH OF FIELD: This is the single worst setting in the game and was definitely not implemented properly. In its current form, it makes everything beyond a few meters in front of you look totally blurry. I think it looks atrocious and recommend that everyone immediately turn it off.

MOTION BLUR: Adds blur when moving. As I said, I hate blur, so I turn it off. If you enjoy some minor blur with fast movements, set it to low.

AMBIENT OCCLUSION: This setting adds small shadows to objects near surfaces and gives the impression of greater image depth. There is a big difference between "off" and "low," and much smaller differences as you increase it to "high." It is fairly resource intensive, however. I would recommend that everyone set it to at least low and increase if you have the computing power and like the look.

SCREEN-SPACE REFLECTIONS: This adds surface reflections to reflective surfaces like metal and glass. It's a nice visual effect that adds some additional realism, IMO. However, it's very resource intensive. Set it to at least low if your PC will allow and turn it up if you have the ability to.

DITHERING: From what I understand, dithering is supposed to smooth transitions between surfaces and improve image fidelity by blending colors. I can't see any difference with this setting on or off, so I leave it unchecked.

[Hippie Chef]

Originally posted by admiral1018:

Old thread, but still relevant. Here are some thoughts.

First off, if you're trying to maximize FPS, the experimental patch offers a significant performance boost over the stable build. Almost everyone should be able to get higher framerates with the same hardware, particularly in areas like large bases that are notorious for slowdowns. However, be advised that the experimental patch does still have some bugs and is being updated everyday or so, so use at your own risk.

With that said:

COLOR GRADING: This should probably be off. However, I do want to point out that Filmic is really beautiful and does change the atmosphere of the game to look much more cinematic. I think everyone should turn it on just once in the Kelp Forest to see how it looks. The downside is that it can be VERY dark, meaning pitch black at night, in caves, and even in the lava zone. For this reason, I wouldn't recommend it unless you're a veteran.

WATER QUALITY: Set as high as your PC can support

ANTI-ALIASING QUALITY: The use of AA depends on your resolution. Some gamers think it should always be cranked up, but it creates image distortion and some blurring, so use it only as needed. At 4K resolutions, you can leave it off. At 1440p, you should be fine with low. At 1080p, set it to medium.

ANTI-ALIASING: As for FXAA vs. TAA, the former is less resource intensive but will have less clarity on static images. The latter looks smoother but adds motion blur when moving. Since I hate motion blur, I use FXAA, but this is a matter of taste. Many people prefer the image quality of TAA, even at the higher computing cost.

BLOOM: Adds a glare effect on bright objects, namely creepvine seeds, flood lights, and lava. Matter of taste, but many people prefer to turn it off.

LENS DIRT: This adds particle effects to your mask in certain areas (when a Sandshark kicks up sand, alien vents, and a few others). It's intended to add realism, but it ends up being something that just blocks the screen. Turn it off.

DEPTH OF FIELD: This is the single worst setting in the game and was definitely not implemented properly. In its current form, it makes everything beyond a few meters in front of you look totally blurry. I think it looks atrocious and recommend that everyone immediately turn it off.

MOTION BLUR: Adds blur when moving. As I said, I hate blur, so I turn it off. If you enjoy some minor blur with fast movements, set it to low.

AMBIENT OCCLUSION: This setting adds small shadows to objects near surfaces and gives the impression of greater image depth. There is a big difference between "off" and "low," and much smaller differences as you increase it to "high." It is fairly resource intensive, however. I would recommend that everyone set it to at least low and increase if you have the computing power and like the look.

SCREEN-SPACE REFLECTIONS: This adds surface reflections to reflective surfaces like metal and glass. It's a nice visual effect that adds some additional realism, IMO. However, it's very resource intensive. Set it to at least low if your PC will allow and turn it up if you have the ability to.

DITHERING: From what I understand, dithering is supposed to smooth transitions between surfaces and improve image fidelity by blending colors. I can't see any difference with this setting on or off, so I leave it unchecked.

Excellent, top-notch post! Helped me understand the settings immensely!

[Madcat]

Appreciate the post. I'm quite used to tweaking graphics options but I keep forgetting to use an FPS counter to see how demanding some settings are. Reflections on High is to be avoided while Low and Medium have similar demand of 5-10 FPS.

Depth-of-field could use some tweaks but the way it mostly looks makes sense to me since visible light is attenuated underwater.

I just recently learned about addressing pop-in so this helps as well. Hopefully the next stable version will be good. Ive heard good things about performance boosts.