[Guide] Fix for some 6GB laptop GPUs | Lighting Bug / Copper NPCs

[󠀡󠀡]

THIS MOD IS NO LONGER NECESSARY. THE DEVELOPERS HAVE FIXED THE LIGHTING ISSUE IN PATCH 2. OPTIMIZATION IS STILL BAD THOUGH. THE CUSTOM CONFIG SETTINGS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST ARE STILL USEFUL.

Uninstalling the mod

To uninstall the mod, simply delete dxgi.dll and nvngx.ini from the game folder. You may also delete OptiScaler.log

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IMPORTANT: This guide will not work for all laptop models. If your laptop does not have a MUX switch or no display output ports that are directly wired to your GPU, then this will not work for you. Please read everything carefully before attempting :)

NOTE: At the bottom of this post are some additional instructions for specific laptop models by users in this thread who get it working on their setup. I have also added a section with tips shared by users for better performance.

Introduction

The laptop variants of the 6GB NVIDIA GPUs seem to have slightly less than 6GB of actual VRAM. In-game my 3060 reports having 5996MB of VRAM. For the forced ray tracing to work, this does not seem to be enough.

This can be resolved by spoofing the reported VRAM to 6GB (6144MB).

We'll use OptiScaler v0.7.0-pre72 for this.

If you are reading this at a later time then you should be able to just use the latest stable release of OptiScaler from Github.

This guide works on both the Steam version and the Game Pass version.

Installation

Download Link: https://mega.nz/file/js4kQaDR#-IlxJTzD_zSvJgFbg1mAg3I9TAlo5hI2vx5G6bZLulQ

1. Set your laptop to dGPU (Dedicated GPU) mode. This seems to be required as you'll get a black screen while launching the game otherwise. The instructions for how to do this will vary based on your laptop brand. So consult the manual. Usually you'll be able to do this in the BIOS or through an application from your laptop brand. If your laptop doesn't have a MUX switch (ability to switch to dGPU mode) check the Additional Instructions section below.

2. Download the archive from the link above and extract the files in your root game directory. (That's where TheGreatCircle.exe is)

3. Launch the game.

4. To verify that the mod is working, enable Performance Monitor and set it to Medium. You should see the reported VRAM is now 6144MB. If you get a black screen with game audio or if your game crashes with some error, check out Additional Instructions below.

5. The game will be HEAVILY VRAM starved on our laptops. You will have to lower your graphics settings. Use the follow settings as a baseline. You can try to improve upon them if your laptop can manage it.
* Resolution: 1920x1080
* Overall Graphics Quality: Low
* Upscaling: Native TAA
* Resolution Scaling: Off

Credits

All credit for this mod go to the developer, cdozdil on Github.
Also thanks to Polter. From one of his posts I got the idea to ask cdozdil to add Vulkan VRAM spoofing to OptiScaler.
And thanks to some people here who helped test, without whom I wouldn't have know about the issues in Hybrid GPU mode.

Additional Instructions

"Failed to allocate video memory error" if using driver version 566.36
Multiple users reported they had success by rolling back their driver from 566.36 to 566.14.

☆ エンチャントレス ☆ lähetti viestin:

I fixed it. Revert your driver to 566.14 latest driver is faulty

DISCLAIMER: Do not attempt this if you are inexperienced. Make a full system backup first and know how to restore that backup if necessary. Use a reputable guide. If you still wish to proceed, look up "Display Driver Uninstaller" on your search engine.

Black screen with game audio
If you're getting a black screen with game audio, then you didn't manage to put your GPU into dGPU mode. For those laptops that don't have a MUX switch, you may yet be able to get around this by using an external monitor, if your display out port is wired directly to the NVIDIA GPU. (Could be HDMI, or USB-C or Mini Display Port)

silversurfa lähetti viestin:

on MSHybrid systems, the nvidia card is only routed throught the integrated video card when using the internal laptop display.
If we connect to external monitors/TVs via HDMI it uses the nvidia card only and directly - which is kinda the same as setting the MUX switch to dGPU with an internal display.

If all your laptop's display output ports go through the iGPU, try this method and please report your results :)

MutantNinja lähetti viestin:

Guys for people using an external monitor I found out an easy hack. Just download any screen sharing app in your phone and laptop. I’m using spacedesk. Cast your screen on your mobile phone and run the game. When the entry logos show up just change the casting to pc screen only. Works like a charm. This app can be installed in both ios and android. Earlier I was plugging my laptop to my tv and then doing the same thing and playing on laptop screen but I figure that is also not required.

HP Victus & HP Omen (and maybe other models too)

UncleBogdan lähetti viestin:

I was able to figure out the problem, now everything works fine on HP Victus
I don't know which of these helped, but I did the following:
1) In the Nvidia control panel, I selected the option - auto-select as the preferred processor
2) Then I went to Windows settings => System => Display => Graphics => Change default graphics settings. 3) I enabled the options: Hardware-accelerated graphics processor scheduling, Optimization for games in windowed mode.
4) In the "Custom settings for applications" section => I added a shortcut with the game. In the parameters of the added shortcut, I selected the option: "Allow Windows to decide"
Sorry for my English, I use a different system language.

Asus TUF A15 RTX 3060 2021 (and maybe other models too)
External monitor over USB-C port works to bypass the black screen issue, over the HDMI port does not. The HDMI port seems to be wired to the iGPU but the USB-C port is directly wired to NVIDIA GPU.

Improving Performance

Enable Resizable BAR
In addition to using the graphics settings in step 5 of the guide, you can further improve performance by enabling Resizable BAR using nvidiaProfileInspector.
1. Open the Indiana Jones And The Great Circle profile
2. In section 5, put rBAR - Feature to Enabled
3. Put rBAR - Size Limit to 0x000000004 (Red Dead Redemption 2)

Disable DLSS
If your FPS outright tanks to unplayable levels, make sure DLSS is disabled in favor of Native TAA with Resolution Scaling off, then restart your game. For some reason, if you launch the game with DLSS enabled, and the VRAM exceeds how much the laptop has, the game becomes truly unplayable. It is okay to turn on DLSS again after loading into the game.

Enable Low Latency Mode

Teodorik lähetti viestin:

If you are experiencing the FPS drop, I found out something that works really well in my case and hopefully it will help you too, until the devs release a fix.

I turned the 'Low latency mode' (from the Nvidia app) to Ultra for this game.

Custom config settings
At the expense of some visual fidelity, these local config settings can reduce the game's VRAM usage. On my system these have drastically reduced the poor frame times in the second part of the game. (Gizeh)

These settings are located in %USERPROFILE%\Saved Games\MachineGames\TheGreatCircle\base\TheGreatCircleConfig.local

is_poolSize "1024"                              // default 1536
r_accelerationStructurePoolSize "200"           // default 300
r_hairManagerSimulatedParticlesPoolSize "20"    // default 40
r_hairMaxStrandsPerModel "16384"                // default 32768
r_terrainPhysicalCacheSize "5120"               // default 7168

These defaults are the low preset defaults.

The hair related settings have reduced spikes for me when up close to multiple enemies.

I also have the in-game FPS Limit set to 60. The consistency feels better to me than having it fluctuate in the 90s-100s.

For those interested to tinker further, the setting that controls the VRAM spoof is in nvngx.ini and is called VulkanVRAM

[c0wboy]

󠀡󠀡 lähetti viestin:

c0wboy lähetti viestin:

So, I had 70-80 fps before this mod, now I have 30 fps cap, how can I fix it ?

Performance is worse when using this mod, since now with the fixed ray tracing the game is filling up your VRAM more.
Try the suggested settings from the OP and try enabling resizable bar. On my system, those were the 2 biggest boosts to FPS.
But you should note that performance will still not be good, especially in the second major location of the game.

Why does it happen ? like isn't it suppose to be other way around ?

[dorathehusky]

For those that are getting 'failled to allocate video memory' try rerolling your graphics driver to 566.14(google the Nvidia driver with the version and download the file and just install, it'll automatically uninstall your current drivers and install the old one). This worked for me on a RTX 3050 6GB Laptop.

[c0wboy]

Also for me it show I have some sharable ram which is 8gb, maybe I can use it in this game ?

[mickael.rigaudeau]

The DrOzO lähetti viestin:

Failled for me, failled to allocate video memory, total allocated 5864.678MB

même souci : jeu planté

[Mariano Pazdziollo]

It's working for me.. thank You so much. Game looks amazing even on low-medium settings. My Acer nitro 5 with RTX4050 can handle this without any problems. Just follow instructions.. dgpu mode + older version of nvidia drivers and these amazing files and your game is gonna work!

[***Makarov***]

Steam Overlay does not work in this game. Can anyone help?

[Polter]

***Makarov*** lähetti viestin:

Steam Overlay does not work in this game. Can anyone help?

Yeah Steam overlay stopped working as soon as I applied the fix. So maybe Steam disabled the overlay because It detected some not-official files on fólder.

[󠀡󠀡]

***Makarov*** lähetti viestin:

Steam Overlay does not work in this game. Can anyone help?

Polter lähetti viestin:

***Makarov*** lähetti viestin:

Steam Overlay does not work in this game. Can anyone help?

Yeah Steam overlay stopped working as soon as I applied the fix. So maybe Steam disabled the overlay because It detected some not-official files on fólder.

OptiScaler disables the Steam Overlay by default. This setting can be changed in nvngx.ini.
It is called DisableOverlays, set it to false instead of auto.

[󠀡󠀡]

At the expense of some visual fidelity, these local config settings can reduce the game's VRAM usage. On my system these have drastically reduced the poor frame times in the second part of the game. (Gizeh) If you test these, please provide feedback!

These settings are located in %USERPROFILE%\Saved Games\MachineGames\TheGreatCircle\base\TheGreatCircleConfig.local

is_poolSize "1024"                              // default 1536
r_accelerationStructurePoolSize "200"           // default 300
r_hairManagerSimulatedParticlesPoolSize "20"    // default 40
r_hairMaxStrandsPerModel "16384"                // default 32768

These defaults are the low preset defaults.

The hair related settings have reduced spikes for me when up close to multiple enemies.

I also have the in-game FPS Limit set to 60. The consistency feels better to me than having it fluctuate in the 90s-100s.

There may be a more optimal combination of is_poolSize and r_accelerationStructurePoolSize if you're interested in tweaking.

[silversurfa]

I want to share one last thing I noticed:

(note my overall settings while mentioning this: 1920x1080, adaptive vsync, fullscreen, settings 'low', 60fps cap)

sometimes the game starts up and I have 60fps. then I play with the settings, and from then on, after each restart of the game I only get up to 12-15fps.

It seems there is a pattern to this and I was able to isolate the issue. If you have the same problem, you might be able to play the game pretty much at 50-60fps in the vatikan with some dips to the 30s. (I was not playing much so I cant tell the performance in XYZ,though).

it seems important what settings you have chosen at the startup of the game, afterwards you can change some settings. so if you have bad FPS right after startup you might want to try this:

it takes 2 steps:
- configure graphic settings to 'low' everything, also disable reflections and vegetation movement (absolute low everything).
- make sure DLSS is DISABLED and switch to TAA.

then restart the game, it should start up with the higher FPS.
- continue/load game
- after that you can switch DLSS on (i have Quality setting on 1920x1080)
- you can even set "reflections" and "vegetation movement" back to 'low'.

after that I get 50-60fps with DLSSQ in contrast to 12fps with the same settings/visuals before. RT is on, the graphics look quite gorgeous even at low.

note: if you close the game with these settings, the FPS will be ♥♥♥♥ again after next restart.. just repeat the steps above: first TAA+all Low-> restart -> enable DLSS.

On my setup it seems to work and it is kinda "playable". it's just funny because my laptop is not even 30% utilized while still running at 50-60fps then. not even need for fans to spin up. there is PLENTY room of computing power, despite RT on.. so sad I can't use it for the game. fully utilized the framerates could be much more stable.

[liqui6]

In my case, when I launch the game and have 10-12 FPS, I go to the video settings, change the picture framing to cinematic mode, and then switch back to full screen, which increases the FPS. Anyway I’m done with that game for now. I will play it again in few weeks. Overall experience is more frustrating than satisfying.

[Nicks]

Just for all:
I've reverted back both libraries cause it prevent my progress and create new glitches.

[silversurfa]

liqui6 lähetti viestin:

In my case, when I launch the game and have 10-12 FPS, I go to the video settings, change the picture framing to cinematic mode, and then switch back to full screen, which increases the FPS. Anyway I’m done with that game for now. I will play it again in few weeks. Overall experience is more frustrating than satisfying.

nice finding! however, that's not quite working for me like that.
but it seems it's working if I modify it a bit:

when I have FHD, DLSSQ enabled while starting and FPS tanks, changing to cinematic is giving me 60fps instantly. but when I change back to the middle setting, FPS tanks again to 12fps.

what I did then was:
- change to cinematic
- enable TAA / disable DLSS
- disable cinematic / back to previous
- enable DLSS

then I got my 60fps back. if it works like that, an even better shortcut.

but I have to admit, the game is still in an annoying technical state. still better to wait for patches and then maybe have a more joyful experience.

[󠀡󠀡]

silversurfa lähetti viestin:

note: if you close the game with these settings, the FPS will be ♥♥♥♥ again after next restart.. just repeat the steps above: first TAA+all Low-> restart -> enable DLSS.

You could configure the 'base low settings', set the config file to read-only, and then any changes like enabling DLSS won't survive a game restart.

[Robin]

@silversurfa

"enabling resizable BAR global is improving performance (nvidia profile inspector -> unknown settings -> 0x00F00BE to 0x00000003 and 0x000F00BF to 0x400000)"

I do not have these settings ( 0x00F00BE / 0x000F00BF ) in my profile inspector, any advice?