Stutter fix

[flossy_cake]

No idea if this is going to be useful for anyone else, but thought I'd share my settings which seem to have cured the stuttering for me when traversing the landscape as NPCs (alife) are loaded in.

Alife modification:

1. Create an empty file at Steam\steamapps\common\STALKER Shadow of Chernobyl\gamedata\config\alife.ltx

2. Paste into it the contents at the pastebin here https://pastebin.com/ARbxvVgD

3. To tell the game to use it, open Steam\steamapps\common\STALKER Shadow of Chernobyl\fsgame.ltx, and modify this line like so:

$game_data$ = true| true| $fs_root$| gamedata\

The relevant alife settings I edited are are in the alife.ltx file under [alife] near the end of file.

The only values I edited were:

schedule_min = 3000 ; milliseconds
schedule_max = 3000 ; milliseconds
process_time = 290000 ; microseconds
switch_distance = 1000 ; meters
objects_per_update = 10

I have no idea why setting these values this way gets rid of the stutter on my system, but it just does. System is an i5-4570, R9 380, Win7 x64.

I vaguely understand how the alife settings work, and setting them this way should theoretically make stutters worse, but in reality it has the opposite effect for me -- go figure.

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For AMD GPUs if you have stutter troubles caused by vsync not working or GPU downclocking, here is what I'm using to solve it:

1. Force vsync: D3D Overrider app with 'app detection level' set to high
2. Force max GPU clock: ClockBlocker app
3. FPS limiting & lower latency: MSI Afterburner app with RTSS 'app detection level' set to high, 'custom Direct3D support' on (otherwise for me it clashes with D3D Overrider and crashes the game), and fps limit set to slightly lower than monitor refresh, eg. 59.997hz for a 60.000hz display.

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I also tried the same alife settings for Call of Pripyat without success, and that game is still unplayable for me with the constant pausing/stutter when new alife entities load in when traversing the landscape. I found some alife settings which reduce it, but still not enough to my liking:

schedule_min = 1 ; milliseconds
schedule_max = 1 ; milliseconds
process_time = 900 ; microseconds
switch_distance = 2000 ; meters
objects_per_update = 1

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Apparently we can install aftermarket 'Open Xray Engine' and maybe that might improve it?
https://github.com/OpenXRay/xray-16/wiki/%5BEN%5D-How-to-install-and-play

I'll report back in the CoP discussions forum if I find some magical combination of settings.

Also here is another thread on how to adjust the FOV without having to install any mods
https://steamcommunity.com/app/4500/discussions/0/620700960626854029/

[PsyWarVeteran]

Originally posted by flossy_cake:

that game is still unplayable for me with the constant pausing/stutter when new alife entities load in when traversing the landscape.

Is it really that bad for some people? I have been playing these games since release on many different systems and never experienced constant stutters that made the game unplayable. Even when the game loads a group of enemie, like 10+, there is a two second delay max, and then it returns to normal.

[flossy_cake]

Originally posted by PsyWarVeteran:

Is it really that bad for some people? I have been playing these games since release on many different systems and never experienced constant stutters that made the game unplayable. Even when the game loads a group of enemie, like 10+, there is a two second delay max, and then it returns to normal.

I've never had any stutters that lasted anywhere near 2 seconds. My stutters are more like 0.2 second mini-pauses when running through the landscape as new alife loads in. I know it's the alife cause if I disable it by setting eg. switch_distance to 1 meter the stutters disappear completely.

I've had a similar issue with stutters in Skyrim and that turned out to be the fTreeLoadDistance setting which on my system needs to be <= 40000.0000 for it to not stutter when traversing the landscape. All other settings can be at Ultra, so it's that one tree setting that is the culprit.

I run all my games off a Samsung EVO 850 SSD, so I think it's either an issue with the threading strategies by the games or something about my 2014 hardware / drivers that doesn't play nice with these open world type games.

[PsyWarVeteran]

Originally posted by flossy_cake:

I've never had any stutters that lasted anywhere near 2 seconds. My stutters are more like 0.2 second mini-pauses when running through the landscape as new alife loads in.

Yeah, that's why I said at max and it's true that A-Life causes it, though I never had it so bad that made the game unplayable. I played it on Vista, 7, 10 with different hardware, both AMD and NVIDIA cards, with SSD and HDD, anything you can think of.

I also played mods that change A-Life, those that extend the radius or even make it active even though the player is not in that vicinity or in the same map, offline A-Life etc. and never had unbearable micro-stutters.

Though the games are definitely problematic in that regard, I think your problem stems from your hardware.

[flossy_cake]

Originally posted by PsyWarVeteran:

Though the games are definitely problematic in that regard, I think your problem stems from your hardware.

Probably. Here is a huge list of everything I tried back in 2017 to solve it
https://www.overclock.net/threads/ongoing-pascal-latency-problems-hotfix-doesnt-work-for-everyone.1605618/post-26043680

[Hipster Doofus]

Thanks for posting flossy_cake.

I play a NS mod. Just did a quick run thru with your changes to the alife.ltx & all stuttering has gone.

Good stuff. Thanks.

[Hipster Doofus]

Seems with the mod I'm using this has an undesirable effect. It activates NPCs earlier than intended which means that as I enter a map all NPCs are on the move creating chaos.
Thanks to codex_ at moddb for helping to sort that out.

It does make for one hell of a zone though. Changes things completely. Every NPC is way more aggressive. If you can keep quest givers alive then give it a go.

[fenderjaguar]

Originally posted by flossy_cake:

I also tried the same alife settings for Call of Pripyat without success, and that game is still unplayable for me with the constant pausing/stutter when new alife entities load in when traversing the landscape.

Shame. I'd be interested in a stuttering fix for COP, but I've never found one either