BeamNG FPS Improvements

gain some frames

Basic FPS Improvers Before You Play

If you're new to BeamNG Drive and/or running it on a low-end or low-spec device, like I once was, I feel your pain. Therefore, you may like to make some simple changes to ensure your game is running at its best.

Some computers, like some humans, often don't perform well when multitasking or focusing on multiple different things at once. If your computer does, that's good. If it doesn't, that's what I'll hopefully be able to assist with here.

Leading into that, BeamNG runs at peak performance when there are few or no background applications open. Any windows open that you are not using, or other applications can have an impact on your performance, so make sure to close anything you don't need open while playing.

Device-Specific Improvements

• Check your GPU drivers are up to date, and if not, an update is a good thing to do. Outdated PC software can impact FPS and can cause bottlenecks, so make sure you continually check to make sure you're getting the most out of your computer.
  
  
• Storage can also affect your device's overall performance, not just with games, but other applications too. If you have unnecessary files, games, documents, or other digital clutter, you may want to consider cleaning out your folders and files, to ensure that nothing is impacting your device's performance too much. There are tools integrated into Beam's launcher to assist with this as well - I'll touch on this in a moment.
  
  
• If your computer is low-spec or the hardware is not specific for gaming, make sure your device is set to a peak performance setting whether that be Windows Game Mode or simply the 'best performance setting' in your battery settings. Game Mode can be found and enabled by going to the 'Gaming' tab on your settings homescreen and you should be able to find it from there.

Back when I was running BeamNG on my laptop that was also my computer for school, I found it integral to keep it plugged in and charging when gaming. I'm no expert with the nitty-gritty of what effects that has, but when your device is running on wall power, it's better than battery power. And you get more time to play BeamNG, which is a win-win all round.

Launcher Tools

BeamNG's Launcher has some excellent tools for not just improving the game's operation, but assisting in general upkeep as well as troubleshooting tools.



There's basic instructions on each option to help you find what you're looking for, and more in-depth documentation and FAQs can be found on BeamNG's website, https://documentation.beamng.com/

Main Menu Settings

BeamNG's options have a bunch of handy-dandy sections to help you navigate, so it's fairly straightforward to find what you need.

Starting off, this is the Display section. Here you can change how your game is formatted specific to your screen, including adding framerate limiters and modifying the game resolution.

• Changing the game's resolution is actually pretty effective with FPS optimisation, even though it may sacrifice some screen space. It's definitely something to have a play around with. If you're testing different options, first try the lowest resolution settings before upgrading until you get a point where the FPS is sitting at comfortable point to play on.

Resolution changes are effective, if not a little temperamental..

This is the Graphics section. Here, you can change the graphics via any of the presets here, 'Lowest', 'Low', 'Medium', 'High', or the elusive 'Ultra' setting. These will automatically configure your game and graphics to the selected preset, which is quick and efficient, and possibly the easiest way to gain some frames.

Time to mess around and find out!

In the lower corner of the settings, there's a tab specifically labeled 'Performance'. You guessed it, it measures the current state of your computer allowing you to see detailed readouts and graphs on each component contributing to running the game. It's a useful tool for seeing where the frames are coming from, or in some cases, not coming from.

Your computer components will be where the red boxes are and have corresponding readouts. Unless you've got red boxes in your computer, wherein your graph may look like this.

In-Game FPS Tips

Once you've gotten into game, there's some things that sometimes do have an effect on your game's performance here too. Most of your optimisation will come from messing about with the settings, however if you're really suffering, you might want to consider these:

• Different maps contain different content, meaning some will run better than others. Obviously the snaller and simpler maps run better, such as Gridmap V2 or Cliff. These contain the least amount of renders for their content, meaning you get better FPS. Also, maps with a lot of open space work well too.
  
  West Coast USA, probably not the best example of an FPS-friendly map. :/
  
  
• Consider searching for or downloading FPS-improving mods. There are numerous maps, props and vehicle mods on the repository or official website that are specifically targeted towards mad optimisation. Searching for them are easy, you just need to be specific with your searches.
  
  
• Drifting, fire, and overheating parts all emit smoke, as I'm sure you know. However, smoke tends to slow down the game on some devices as it's detailed particles effects that are rendered independently from your vehicle. So, make sure you drive carefully and safely, as I'm sure not only your car will thank you, but your FPS will be forgiving too. :D
  
  
• Liveries on vehicles don't really impact the FPS all too much, however occasionally high-detail liveries will cause the game to stall slightly. Keep it in mind if you're using a vehicle with a high-detail livery.
  
  Looks cool; the opposite to your computer. It may or may not be on fire.
  
  
• AI Traffic can add to the realism and overall experience of playing BeamNG Drive, although consider changing the amount of AI Traffic vehicles that spawn in the 'Gameplay' section of the Options menu to a lesser amount. BeamNG fortunately does have built-in simplified traffic vehicles, however spawning a large amount may tank your FPS slightly. Much like driving in real life - be aware of the traffic around you!
  
  If you're going for frames, ensure that traffic is to a minimum and both the 'vehicle pooling' and the 'start freeroam with traffic' settings are disabled.

Final Product

These things are changes you can make quickly and easily and this guide is just a small insight into the massive amount of customisation and personalisation you can make to your game. Hopefully this guide's helped with gaining some frames for your game, which you can now enjoy at (semi) peak performance!


All pictures in this guide are my own screenshots from BeamNG Drive, or my own computer.

[BIG_UNO]

my ryzen 5 1600 and RTX 2060 produce low fps, one CPU core runs at 80-90% and the rest up to 20-30% and I can't solve the problem, either I have low performance on DirectX, or more performance but not stable performance on Vulkan

[Timothé]

in the NVIDIA control panel do this go to display adjust desktop size and position go to scaling put full screen set perform scaling on to GPU select override scaling mode set by games and programs set resolution to the smallest possible and you should get at least 20 more fps in game i tested it i use a GTX 660 before i had to go to low to get over 70 fps after changing the settings my GPU dose not care i can play at ultra graphics at around 60 fps whit even 5 cars spawned in only works on NVIDIA desktop GPU'S so you guys whit gaming laptops and AMD cards can find a different fps boost

[GoldenAzure]

Yo bro thanks so much

[weejameso]

srctimber, i have the exact same specifications as you, only difference being i run windows 10 not 11. My fps is always high on max graphics, never drops below 30 unless im spawning multiple vehicles, i dont think its a hardware problem you physically have more than enough to run the game at high fps high graphics.

[Papermate8]

@lucyvjim dude tf u on about XD

[SirSamTheMan]

In some cases, you might need to experiment with some changes in resolution. I changed around some numbers and was able to get more FPS, just at the cost of the game's relative proportions. One thing that may help is making sure that you have no or few background programs running whilst the game is running. This can be changed and prioritised through your computer's Task Manager or Control Panel.

[graytoast889]

hello fellow potato, i get an average of 20-30 on lowest. please help. (60 fps on grid)

[srctimber]

What setting should i use if im on a Laptop that has 1920X1440 screen, GPU-Geforce GTX 1060 w/ Max-Q & intel i7 8th gen core processor on Windows 11?
I "optimized" the settings through Nvidia but it set everything to max & i was getting very low FPS. Like un-playable amount.

[martrx8]

and you need a cooked potato

[Bob]

instructions unclear, ate potato and blew up Roblox servers