Easy and Effective PAYDAY 2 Optimization Guide

A guide that will help you to increase the quality of your gameplay by improving the game performance.

Introduction

So today, lads, I'll tell you how to optimize PAYDAY 2 with its cool game engine.

You may ask, why I'm so sure that it's the best optimization guide ever created? The answer is easy: I use all this stuff myself to play the game without a pain. Also, this guide aims to improve the quality of gaming not only for low-spec gamers. It also helps players with good machines who just want to stabilize their game.

Here you won't see mods that make soap bars out of game textures or cool advice like "download borderless gaming" because those things don't work at all. Instead, I'll give a bunch of mods, recommend some game settings, and, most important, show how to change the game with some manipulations in renderer_settings.xml.

After that being said, let's move on to the main part of our guide.

Game Settings

The easiest way to optimize your game is by video settings.

First of all, I'll show you which settings affect your performance:

Notes:
~ Flush GPU eats some of our FPS, but it improves the quality of gameplay.
~ Corpse Limit also affects FPS, but we have something special for it in the mods part.

Apart from that, there's an Effect Quality option, that you may need to keep at low level if your PC is not the best one:


If your computer is good enough, play with settings the way you want, I'll just give you mine for extremely bad PC:

Game's configuration

Disclaimer

This thing is needed for a truly bad computer, like mine, so if you don't suffer from standard game resolution options, skip this part.

If you haven't noticed, I didn't show you my resolution. The reason is that I don't use vanilla once. My game resolution is 640x480, which awards you with a huge FPS boost (around 1o frames) and less freezy gameplay. But yes, there is no such option in the base game, so we need to work with the game's configuration, which is possible by editing "renderer_settings.xml" file from the AppData folder.

How to get to the "renderer_settings.xml" file?

First, press Win+R. This hotkey will open a small window where you need to paste the command "%localappdata%". This manipulation will give you immediate access to the folder that we need. Then go down and find the "PAYDAY 2" folder and open it. Here we are. Now open "renderer_settings.xml" with NotePad if you have it, it's way more comfortable for programming than the vanilla Notebook. Go to the "renderer config" part and play with the "d3d_device" part: here we can paste our custom resolution and some other settings, but you don't
need to touch them. Should mention that the game becomes unplayable if you put the resolution lower than 640x480p, don't even try to do this. Don't forget to paste your GPU in the right place, you will find its name in your renderer_settings file.

That's how my "d3d_device" part looks:

 <d3d_device
	adapter = "[paste your GPU here]"
	adapter_index = "0"
	resolution = "640 480"
	windowed = "false"
	refresh_rate = "60"
	aspect_ratio = "1.33333"
	v_sync = "0"
/>

Now let's move to the most important part of the config, the one that changes things. "render_settings" part can help to do a lot of crazy things, starting from simply lowering the quality of some specific settings, like a texture quality of the sky, grass, and the other objects, ending with disabling the lights in the game, but we will talk about it later. So, I won't stop for a while here, just copy this stuff and paste where it should be.

That's how my "render_settings" look:

<render_settings>
	<variable name="max_anisotropy" value="0"/>
	<variable name="texture_quality_default" value="low"/>
	<variable name="shadow_quality_default" value="very low"/>
	<variable name="shadow_quality" value="disabled"/>
	<variable name="texture_quality_props" value="very_low"/>
	<variable name="texture_quality_props_bump" value="very_low"/>
	<variable name="texture_quality_props_high" value="very_low"/>
	<variable name="texture_quality_buildings" value="very_low"/>
	<variable name="texture_quality_buildings_bump" value="very_low"/>
	<variable name="texture_quality_buildings_very_low" value="very_low"/>
	<variable name="texture_quality_vehicles" value="very_low"/>
	<variable name="texture_quality_player_vehicles" value="very_low"/>
	<variable name="texture_quality_plants" value="very_low"/>
	<variable name="texture_quality_weapons_third" value="very_low"/>
	<variable name="texture_quality_gui" value="low"/>
	<variable name="texture_quality_effects" value="very_low"/>
	<variable name="texture_quality_sky" value="very_low"/>
	<variable name="texture_quality_ground" value="very_low"/>
	<variable name="texture_quality_ground_bump" value="very_low"/>
	<variable name="texture_quality_lightmaps" value="very_low"/>
	<variable name="texture_quality_silhouettes" value="low"/>
</render_settings>

Now let's return to one specific setting that I have already mentioned - disabling lights in the game. To do this, we need to paste one more command into our config. I have it after "<variable name="shadow_quality" value="disabled"/>", but I'm not sure that this little detail plays a big part so put it wherever you want. This little thing increases your FPS by an additional 10 or even more FPS (depending on the map or your PC specs). However, some artifacts are coming out from this, look at the comparison below.



An additional command to disable the dynamic lights:

<variable name="dynamic_lights" value="false"/>

If you are lazy to copy and paste all of this a few times, follow the link below and download my own "renderer_settings.xml" file, find your config, and replace it with a just downloaded version of mine.
Be sure to delete the command that disables the lights if you don't have problems with it. Also, replace my video adapter with yours to prevent conflicts.

My full game configuration file:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Xj_Y-VZ3BQrRwmKr_xB-goevTbkG8hHt/view?usp=sharing

Mods: Disclaimer

Mods give you the solid FPS boost as well. I have around 50 mods installed to keep game's performance steady. I need to mention, that some of them ruin the visual quality of some effects and textures, which may not satisfy a player with a good PC who just wants to stabilize his game and get some additional frames. That's why I'll put my mods in two different chapters, one will contain additions, that every player can use to make the game better. The second will be filled with mods that suit only the ones with a gaming microwave.

Universal Mods

Mods for any kind of PC

mod_overrides

• Bloody Screen Effect Removal[modworkshop.net] - removes an annoying blood effect from your screen.
  
• Compressed House[modworkshop.net] - optimization improvements for the "White House" contract.
  
• Compressed MurkyHumvee with Optimized Model[modworkshop.net] - a compressed version of the vehicles around the White House. Who needed 16k resolution textures for them, lol.
  
• flame performance[modworkshop.net] - makes flame less heavy for your system.
  
• Hell's Optimization[modworkshop.net] - optimization improvements for the "Hell Island" contract.
  
• LC_MacroPack_Smoke[modworkshop.net] - compressed smoke texture.
  
• Less effects - reduces the number of effects, a small price to pay for more FPS. Sadly I don't know the creator of this mod and it seems to be from an unknown website.
  
• No Graffiti[modworkshop.net] - cleans all the walls in PAYDAY 2 from graffiti. Increases FPS as well.
  
• Optimized Prop Meshes - Black Cat Heist Optimization[modworkshop.net] - a mod that helps to optimize The Black Cat Heist as I understood, correct me if I'm wrong.
  
• Optimized San Martin[modworkshop.net] - optimization improvements for the "San Martin Bank" contract. I have no damn idea how could they mess up such a little map, even my friend with RTX says that he has 30 fewer frames on it.
  
• Re-Texture Project[modworkshop.net] - a huge mod that replaces a lot of textures in the game. Along with it, you have a small FPS boost.
  
• Reduced Sicario Smoke[modworkshop.net] - makes sicario smoke less thick, so now you can see through it and have more FPS in addition.
  
• Remove smoke from main menu[modworkshop.net] - I mean...if you want to, I just don't like it. Of course, gives more FPS.
  
• Tailor Pack 2 Optimisations[modworkshop.net] - a mod with a self-explanatory name.
  
• trash[modworkshop.net] - you may be confused, but this one removes all the small trash from the maps.
  
• Winter Parka Optimization[modworkshop.net] - special for Semper.
  
• Optimized Marshals[modworkshop.net] - compresses the textures of a new enemy that is barelly seen during the heist.

mods

• Celer[pd2mods.z77.fr] - This mod improves frame rate, mainly by adding portals and occluders.
  Note:
  
  • Occluders are the surfaces that prevent rendering the objects they hide.
    
  • Portals are areas that influence objects visibility status, depending on if you're inside or not.
  
  
• crime:net performance improvement[modworkshop.net] - makes Crime:net tab better.
  
• Load Steam Inventory Once[modworkshop.net] - helps the game to not forget that it has already loaded stem inventory and doesn't need to do it every ♥♥♥♥ time.
  
• Low Violence Mod[modworkshop.net] - a true legend. The thing that helps your CPU not melt from the number of dead bodies on the map.
  
• Mod-List-Lite-master[pdmods-arc.berigora.net] - simplifies the modlist and makes it more comfortable to use.
  
• No Weapon Verification(obsolete)[modworkshop.net] - used to disable the highly inefficient weapon verification code introduced in U215. Might still be useful after all the updates.
  
• Rats Blur Removal[modworkshop.net] - removes blur effect while cooking meth and burning money in Harvest&Trusty Bank in that Hector's contract, which name I forgot.

Potato PC Mods

These mods are for people like me - they will affect the overall game quality.

mod_overrides

• no decals[modworkshop.net] - removes bulllet and blood decals.
  
• wrist shadows[modworkshop.net] - removes a shadow from the wrists of the characters.

mods

• Block All Effects[modworkshop.net] - this mod removes ALL possible effects from the game, including smoke, fire, and other things. The only disadvantage of this is that you can't see Sicario's custom throwable and Molotov fire. That's why we need some additions to fix that:
  
  • Unambiguous Molotovs[modworkshop.net] - places red circles on the area of Molotov fire.
    
  • Unambiguous Smoke[modworkshop.net] - places a big blue circle on the area of the smoke cloud from sicario's smoke bomb.
• Depth of Field Removal[modworkshop.net] - removes the Depth of Field effect, and gives us more frames.
  
• Disable bullet smoke[modworkshop.net] - may I not explain this? Thanks.
  
• DisableFog[modworkshop.net] - this one i also won't explain, live. with. it.
  
• Hells Island No Light[modworkshop.net] - the best optimization mod for "Hell Island" contract.
  
• No Blood[modworkshop.net] - removes the blood from the game.
  
• No Mercy Lights Off[modworkshop.net] - disables the lights on No Mercy, which gives a small FPS boost.
  
• No More Menu Filter[modworkshop.net] - removes that ugly blue filter from the main menu. Surprisingly, improves performance.
  
• No Post Processing[modworkshop.net] - removes a list of effects from the game.
  
• No shadows[modworkshop.net] - this mod removes shadows from the game. This has disadvantages as well. if you have a custom resolution, some of the areas on the map will be too bright and may blind you, so we also need some additional mods:
  
  • DayNight Changes Reborn[modworkshop.net] - this mod removes shadows from the game. Set the weather to "Docks".
    
  • No More Shiny Hellscapes(obsolete)[modworkshop.net] - makes objects less bright and harmful to our eyes. This mod is outdated since Overkill fixed the issue.
• Performance comes first[www.modworkshop.net] - helps those who have a bad CPU. May crash your game so check the crash log. Also, use this[modworkshop.net] with this mod.

Mods Download Link

I'll make this one a separate chapter so it will be easy to find.

Here's a link, that will lead you to the folder with all you need to optimize your game. I should mention, that the mods arent split into the same categories as I did in this guide, so delete all you don't need.

Downloading link:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1X0Ev4EOAPmN6bnfqO45FwhuN9fgLEcO-?usp=sharing

Ending credits

I hope this guide was truly helpful. Here I tried to share the results of my attempts to optimize the game that turned out great. I should say thanks to fusioN, my brother with the same problem, who shared his mods with me so I was able to complete the pack. Also, I should thanks to all the modders that tried to make the game better for this lovely community.

If you will have any issues with mods or config settings, go ahead and write it down below, maybe we can fix it together. Thanks for reading, have a nice game :)

[crazyboris]

under block all effects the mod "unambiguous viper gas" should be added

[Umbras]

hello im having some problems with this guide, as it appears that whenever i add something to the renderer settings that isnt already there (it only has the first three) it reverts back to default.
does anyone know why this might be happening?

[Walter White (real)]

how i put the mods in game ?

[Jkaaz]

how to make aspect ratio 5:4???? I dont understand how this setting works

[Meriato]

Hey, i think i can make some additions for the guide, can we dm?

[Bay1k]

map based optimizations is removed because celer surpassed it, updated the guide. Sorry for being somewhat slow with the changes.

[Yamanashi]

doing some googling, the author removed the mod entirely because they assumed celer surpassed for the most part. so i would remove it from the guide since its not available anymore

[hagen.]

No idea

[Yamanashi]

Map based optimization link is broken or the author removed it from github?

[alex]

thank you so much my fps went from 8 to 16 (in both game and menu)