Unplayable performance problems

[Josef K]

Game struggles with making 10fps at the menu before I even load into the world. I'm not on the newest PC - running a GTX770 in Win10 - but I can run more demanding games far better than this. I've read about the common issue where you have to make sure the game's using the main GPU and not the onboard one, have set and verified that multiple times, have played around with the other settings, nothing works. I've also tried a few other games to check my GPU isn't fizzling out and they play fine. Wat do?

[ToasterZYX]

Facing the same issue on Linux EndeavourOS. Using latest Proton-GE with GameMode and ACO, but the FPS isn't very good. It's surprising, because my machine is able to run Grand Theft Auto V - a much more demanding game - at 1080p60.

For your problem with Windows 10, locate the game .exe in:

Steam > steamapps > common > Firewatch > Firewatch.exe

Right click on the .exe, choose "Properties". In properties, under the "Compatibility" tab, choose Windows 7.

This fixes some issues for the people on this Reddit thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/Firewatch/comments/44y3bl/horrible_fps/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x

[Josef K]

thanks, I did try that back then but it didn't help much.

I actually re-installed Windows 7 and am dual-booting it now with Windows 10 because I found that Windows 10 + older video cards = widespread performance problems across a range of games, particularly small indies. I haven't given Firewatch another go since then but I will soon and I expect it'll run better.

[ToasterZYX]

Originally posted by Archetype:

thanks, I did try that back then but it didn't help much.

I actually re-installed Windows 7 and am dual-booting it now with Windows 10 because I found that Windows 10 + older video cards = widespread performance problems across a range of games, particularly small indies. I haven't given Firewatch another go since then but I will soon and I expect it'll run better.

You can also try another method suggested by a user in the Steam Forums.

They pointed out that Unity is the convict of the FPS problem, so clearing all cache data and re-installing the game completely would probably clear what Unity was stacking under the name of "cache", and would hopefully improve performance.

I want to give that method a go, because the user claimed to be a speedrunner.

[zen.state]

I get good FPS, but lots of lag. I'm on a 12 core 24 thread Xeon and an RTX 3060.

[ToasterZYX]

Originally posted by zen.state:

I get good FPS, but lots of lag. I'm on a 12 core 24 thread Xeon and an RTX 3060.

Try turning on V-Sync, if that doesn't help, limit the "Core Affinity" for Firewatch via Task Manager.

[zen.state]

Originally posted by ToasterZYX:

Originally posted by zen.state:

I get good FPS, but lots of lag. I'm on a 12 core 24 thread Xeon and an RTX 3060.

Try turning on V-Sync, if that doesn't help, limit the "Core Affinity" for Firewatch via Task Manager.

I already had V-Sync on, and using affinity to lower to 4, 6 and 8 cores doesn't help.

[ToasterZYX]

Originally posted by zen.state:

Originally posted by ToasterZYX:

Try turning on V-Sync, if that doesn't help, limit the "Core Affinity" for Firewatch via Task Manager.

I already had V-Sync on, and using affinity to lower to 4, 6 and 8 cores doesn't help.

I faced a similar problem with Assassin's Creed II, and limiting the Affinity to 2 cores helped.