Poor performance Linux (need help)

[Adri_Ghost007]

Hello, i recently switch from Windows 10 to Linux mint mate. In windows 10, in hight setting, i was averaging between 50 to 60 fps with the occassionnal drop to 30 and 40.
Having the light on or off didn't seams to impact anything.
Now, on Linux, having a steady 40 fps is rare. I'M averaging 35 fps. Reducing the setting from hight to medium only gave me like 2 to 3 fps at best in performance. The biggest issue that i have is when i open the light on my truck. As soon as the auxiliary/secondary light are on, i can loose easely 10 fps. So i drop to like 27fps when i was runnig 35 or 37 fps witjout. I don't undestand this 20 to 30 fps drop compare to windows 10.
With rechearch i've made, some people have gain fps by swicthing to Linux.

I need some help please!

[Brisse]

First things first. What sort of hardware are you running the game on?

Secondly, don't go browsing the internet for graphics drivers as suggested above. It's likely to make things worse and can break your system and should generally be discuraged on any GNU/Linux system. It's a common beginners mistake made by people just coming from Windows becouse that's usually how it's done there and people tend to carry over certain habits even though they really shouldn't.

One quick and easy thing you could try is to switch between the native version of the game (the one you probably use now) and the Windows-version by using Steam Play / Proton. I wouldn't be surprised if Proton runs faster but I can't say for sure.

[Lord_Chencho]

Let's wait to Vulkan migration, is just a matter of time.

[Adri_Ghost007]

First, i found that i could gain some fps by reducing the scaling from 400% to 200%-150%, but the interiors is less nicer/readable. (I don't remember what this setting was on windows 10, It might be that.) But, when I'm in exterior view, my fps go up to 100. But in interior, it goes down and vary between 40 to 70 fps with the scaling from 400 to 150%.

But, the fps fluctuate a lot and i still loose a ton of fps when the light are on. And it FLUCTUATE a lot. Plus, i need to run on low and medium setting wich i didn't have to do on windows 10.

For the hardware:
Storage: 2 To SSD witch have 1 To free space;
CPU: AMD FX(tm)-6300 Six-Core Processor × 6 -- So Socket AM3+;
RAM: 8 Go of RAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800);
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti.

For the driver, i choose the recommended one in they driver manager one when booting Linux mint following they startup guide.
Witch is: nvidia-driver-525 (recommended) - Version 525.60.11-Oubunto0.22.04.1

Yeah, i think about running proton, but it's would be a shame really. But if it's what it take.

[Brisse]

400% resolution scaling is a bit crazy. It means the game is rendered at a resolution four times larger than your display, like going from 1080p to 4k really.

With a Ryzen 2700X and an R9 Fury (more powerful CPU but roughly comparable GPU I suppose) I run the game with 125% resolution scaling using a 1440p display. It mostly stays locked to 60 but I do occasionally drop into the 50's and even 40's sometimes in busy cities and such, but it's not bad enough to bother me. This is on the native version of the game. I don't remember what it was when using Proton other than the fact it worked fine that way too.

Your system is modest but should still run this game reasonably I think, but 400% resolution scaling is not reasonable for such specs. I doubt it was set to 400% when you were using Windows. Mine defaults to 125% and that's where I like to keep it.

It's a bit strange that you see drops when switching on the lights though. Not seeing that on my system at all, with framrate basically unaffected by that. I don't have an explanation for that, but I would expect framerate to fluctuate a bit with such an old CPU.

One way to improve CPU performance is to use the 'performance' CPU-governor. The easiest way to do that is to use a program called 'gamemode', which automatically does that and some other optimizations when launching a game. I don't know if it's available in Mint but you can try 'sudo apt install gamemode' and see if it's available. If it installs then go into Steam and right click the game and go into it's options. In the 'launch parameters' field, add 'gamemoderun %command%' and gamemode will automatically run when you launch the game, potentially improving your CPU performance.

And once again I'd like to encourage testing Proton. I understand it might feel wrong to switch to Mint just to end up running the Windows-version of the game, but sometimes it just works better that way especially for older games. It's easy to switch back and forth so you can just switch back to native if you don't like it or it doesn't work.

[Brisse]

Originally posted by MONGOKANSAS67:

Well obviously it needs graphic drivers, and yes you will need Linux version of them ... but hey was just trying to help the guy, been there done that.

Graphics drivers are and should be provided by the distribution. AMD and Intel users don't have to do anything becouse the drivers are open source and installed right out of the box and they are kept up to date by the package manager. Nvidia doesn't provide open source drivers so they are a bit of a special case, but a lot of distributions manages this for the user anyway.

Drivers have to be specifically built for the distro they will be used on, so doing the Windows-thing where one goes to Nvidias website and downloads a generic driver is very likely to break your system. There are special cases where one might do this on GNU/Linux as well, but generally it should be discuraged.

Sounds like OP has the driver situation sorted anyway.

[Adri_Ghost007]

To Brisse,

Thanks you for the respond!
I forgot my display, but it's a 1920x1080.
First, when I launch the game for the first time on my fresh Linux install, i had 2 display (1 in display port and the other on HDMI). So it's mess up my some of the setting. I don't remember what was the default, but the interior was terrible/unreadable. After quick search, someone recommended 400%. In retrospect, 400% is way to much. 150 is readable enough. I didn't see a huge difference in fps between 100 to 150%.

The light situation is worrying. I've might have a shot on the actual scs forum or scs support team if my situation doesn't improve with the command option or the proton version.

Yes, gamemode is available in Mint. I've add the launch option. After running the game a bit, I thinks it might have help a little. I thinks I've gain some fps overall. But it's kinda hard to tell. I still have some drop in fps with the light on, but the drop seams less sever. More between 5 to 7 fps compare to the 10 to 15 before. It's unfortunate that i don't remember the scaling value in windows 10. And I'm sure i'm still having some performance loss compare to windows 10. But I finally have found a setup that i'm happy enough with.
When I'll have time, I'going to try to run with proton.

Finally, how can i switch from the Linux version to windows version? Do i have to re-install the game? I have a windows 10 Virtual machine, so i can do that. But I don't think it's what you meant.

Thanks you for your time and help! :)

[ttower]

As for the FPS being lower in the cab, this is somewhat normal. Removing extra mirrors from your truck can help with this a lot. If lights are causing lag, you may also want to try reducing things like Reflections and Shadows. This game does fluctuate FPS a good amount depending on where you are in the map. Cities are more demanding due to density, especially in the newer DLC.

[Brisse]

Originally posted by Adri_Ghost007:

Finally, how can i switch from the Linux version to windows version? Do i have to re-install the game? I have a windows 10 Virtual machine, so i can do that. But I don't think it's what you meant.

No virtual machines necessary. It's all built into Steam itself.

Go into Steam's options and click the "Steam Play" tab. Here there are two check boxes. Make sure both are enabled. The first enables Steam Play for certain titles that are vetted by Valve and known to work. The second lets you enable it for any title, even those which has a native Linux port. Make sure the latest Proton is the one selected in the drop-down menu. Currently it is "Proton 7.0-5".

Now go back to your Steam library, right click on ETS2 and go into properties (or go by the cogwheel icon if you prefer). Go to the "Compatibility" tab and enable "Force the Use of a Specific Steam Play Compatability Tool". A drop down menu will appear. Make sure "Proton 7.0-5" is selected.

At that point, Steam will start or schedule a download of the Windows-version which will replace your current install of ETS2. Once it's finished you can just run the game the same way you normally would, except now you're running the Windows-version through the Proton-compatibility layer. Some in-game options will probably reset so you might have to go over them once more before hopping into your truck.

I don't have my Steam client set to english so things might not be labeled exactly according to this post, but it should suffice I think. Good luck!

[Adri_Ghost007]

Thank you verry much Brisse for your time and help!