[EDF6] How to Improve Loading Time with SpecialK

Annoyed by long loading time? Read on...

Introduction

Apparently Sandlot still can't implement proper framerate limiter which results in long downtime between missions. Fortunately for us PC gamers there is a utility called SpecialK to mitigate the issue.

Warning

EDF is hardly a competitive title yet it does have multiplayer mode. So there is a risk any kind of tweak would trigger a ban, including this one.

Please proceed at your own risk, and if you wish to stay on the safe side be sure to disable it while playing MP.

Easy Two Steps to Victory

1. Install SpecialK[wiki.special-k.info].

2. Open the game's properties window via Steam client. Add the following launch option in the General tab:

SKIF %COMMAND%

3. Profit!

Result

Now missions should load almost instantaneously.

Tips

This is also effective on EDF4.1/5.

Caveat

Every PC is different so there is a chance this won't work on your rig. Please leave a comment if that's the case, or if you have recommended setting for SpecialK, OS etc.

When all else fails you can simply remove the launch option to disable SpecialK. It won't do anything to your system by itself when used this way.

FWIW this is confirmed to work on my rig which is: Ryzen 5600X / Radeon RX6600 with Adrenalin version 24.5.1, with the global gaming experience set to "performance."

EDF!

EDF!

[Etharian]

@Auk233 The SpecialK program made it a little faster but your addition really made things snappy, and quick to load, thanks.

[AUK233]

After my testing, with the addition of timeBeginPeriod(1) and timeEndPeriod(1), the offline mode is not so slow.

But it is only up to them to decide exactly where it should be added.

[stray_pengo]

That certainly is interesting. I hope Sandlot will figure it out someday somehow XD

[AUK233]

Due to Microsoft adjusting the time resolution setting on windows 10 v2004, sleep time has been set to a minimum of 16ms.
I'm not sure why loading is tied to it, but setting the time resolution to 1ms does improve loading speed.

But sandlot doesn't use those two functions for EDF6.

[stray_pengo]

Glad to help. EDF!

[Etharian]

That did it, thanks for the help. I didn't think this game even had a screen setting option.

[stray_pengo]

Forcing borderless window might help, but there's no guarantee.

There are various crash reports in the forum regardless of SpecialK; anything can be a culprit at this point.

[Etharian]

It's only happened twice so far, so it doesn't happen frequently. Given I alt+tab frequently to go to youtube to listen to podcasts, it could just be an error caused by tabing out too quickly, or frequently, so it might just be user error.

[stray_pengo]

Hmm, alt-tab works fine on my end. I'd guess there's some conflict.

Shame it didn't work for you. SpecialK does seem to crash hard when it does.

[Etharian]

Warning, the SpecialK program does not play nice with alt+tabing the game. It may freeze your computer, forcing you to restart your computer. For me, my computer was not registering my mouse inputs, so I had to restart with keyboard shortcuts instead.