How to run the game in any fps

How to run the game in any fps not offered by the Settings menu.

General Idea

Disclaimer
I created this guide when the lowest value one could set in the game was 60fps, and I desperately wanted to have 30fps. The game now offers 30fps, so this guide is now only required for people who want to explicitly set a value different than what is offered in the settings drop down, like 25.

That said...
Onward!
The game can run in virtually any fps (if your computer can do that), without the use of your GPU manufacturer's external tools. It's just that the settings menu is limited to only a few values, the lowest one is 60. To make your game run in for example 30 fps, you have to edit the options file.

The Options file is located at

My Documents\Dyson Sphere Program\options.dso

. This file is unfortunately a binary file, and not a text file, and can not be edited in a text editor.

You will need to use a Hex editor for that.

The value you want to change is on position 0x12 or 18d, and it is the literal value of the fps setting (so, if you set it to 60, that byte contains 0x3c or 60d).

To set 30fps, change that value to 0x18 or 30d.

Due to the way the game handles the settings, everytime you change any setting in the Settings menu, the fps value is set back to a default value (because at this point, the game simply does not support the 30fps). So, everytime you change a setting, you need to exit the game and change that fps value in the config file back to your choice.

Linux/Proton/SteamPlay

In Linux/Proton/SteamPlay, the complete path of the options file is:

~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/1366540/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/My\ Documents/Dyson\ Sphere\ Program/options.dso

You can use the following one-liner to easily change that value everytime you need without using a manual Hex editor. It's extremely likely that your distribution already supports it without need to install anything.

printf '\x1e' | dd of=~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/1366540/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/My\ Documents/Dyson\ Sphere\ Program/options.dso bs=1 seek=18 count=1 conv=notrunc

Message to the devs :-)

It would be extremely nice if that "hack" of the options file would not be necessary.
The game can support any fps, so please make it possible to run lower fps than 60.

People with Laptops or PCs with heat issues, or people who just generally want to keep the noise down, want to lower the FPS. Let the players enjoy the nice graphics and lower fps, instead of making them lower the graphics options to be able to keep the noise down a bit.

Big thanks in advance!

[qcs2017]

As is already written in the Disclaimer: I wrote this guide when the game did not offer to set values below 60 fps. This was long before your time. Now the game offers the 30fps, and you don't need to hack the config file for that anymore. I don't know if the game now also offers things like 25 fps, if so, then this guide is possibly not required at all anymore.

[Capt.Luke]

you can set fps limit in your gup control panel , you dont need to mod the game for that......

[Double Deez Nuts]

nice bait

[vaneyken]

Thank you qcs2017 - that`s great

[qcs2017]

Well @vaneyken,
devs listened to a good extent, it's now possible to select 30 from the drop down, and also other sensible values which were wanted (like 144).
The "hack" in this guide is only needed if someone wants to deliberately set a value that is currently not in the dropdown, like 25.

[vaneyken]

Thank you very much for saving my laptop - I was literally afraid of melting the old buddy
PLZ devs, listen to this guy :D

[qcs2017]

@tacgnol06
That can be achieved by following the guide and setting the value for the fps not to 30, but to 144.
I just can't help you with Windows Hex Editors to achieve that.
You could be lucky by enabling Vertical Syncronisation (VSYNC), it may lock to the exact 144Hz.

[tacgnol06]

On the opposite end of the spectrum, some of us have 144hz monitors. An option for 144 fps would be nice.

[Hansgruber]

yes, you are right - my computer would need an update 🥺

[qcs2017]

If you select something like Auto or 60fps, and only get 20fps, hat's probably a performance issue and can not be fixed like this