Tips to Increase the Performance of the New Shaders

[JeremyaFr]

Have you tried the windowed hook?

This hook enables windowed mode.

To set the window position and size, modify "hook_windowed.cfg":
X = left value
Y = top value
Width = width value
Height = height value
The minimum value for "Width" is 640.
The minimum value for "Height" is 480.

When "Width" or "Height" is 0, default values are used: the window will be fullscreen.

[XDragon]

Oh I get it... in XDragon's case, a setting to have the game do the "old school" thing and directly control the screen resolution would be helpful. It's become kind of an unusual use case, but maybe not an unreasonable request?

XDragon, out of curiosity, are you still using a CRT monitor?

No, it's my old college flat-screen from 2007. figured why not use a perfectly fine 21 inch tv?

Have you tried the windowed hook?

This hook enables windowed mode.

To set the window position and size, modify "hook_windowed.cfg":
X = left value
Y = top value
Width = width value
Height = height value
The minimum value for "Width" is 640.
The minimum value for "Height" is 480.

When "Width" or "Height" is 0, default values are used: the window will be fullscreen.

that seemed to help though when doing a mission the amount of ship on screen plus the new effects seem to drop the FPS, and using hyperspace kills it for a few seconds. but i think this computer is just too old. It's at least 9 years old and could use some serious upgrades with processing and graphics cards.

I really appreciate the help. I think i'll have to just uninstall the new effects for now until i can get some upgrades

[andy_tpog]

I've just installed the upgrades after discovering XWAU yesterday. Firstly I'll just say I'm loving it and thanks for making this available.

Although the game is definitely playable I do get the odd lag and FPS drop, so I'm going to try some of the suggestions here. One thing I wanted to clarify if I could; there were some settings I had to "commit to" during the installation. If there are any settings that I selected and now find I would have preferred to go with other options, can I change these by running the exe again? Or am I best finding the relevant points in the dll and cfg files? I've been through and installed all the elements that aren't included in the main craft pack. If I were to run the Craft Pack exe again would I have to reinstall any of the other elements?

I do get a big lag/fps drop (pretty much full on freeze) during the "cinematic" of you taking off from the hangar at the start of a mission. I can however just hit space to skip out of it when it freezes.

System:
Windows 10
CPU: i7-4790k
8GB Ram
GPU: Nvidia GTX 970 OC

[Ace Antilles]

I do get a big lag/fps drop (pretty much full on freeze) during the "cinematic" of you taking off from the hangar at the start of a mission. I can however just hit space to skip out of it when it freezes.P

I've had that issue for a while not sure what's causing it. Only happens from external views.
My PC setup is almost exactly the same but c'mon get yourself up to 16gb of ram now lol shouldn't cost too much

[andy_tpog]

My PC setup is almost exactly the same but c'mon get yourself up to 16gb of ram now lol shouldn't cost too much

Oh I'm with you, I've been meaning to upgrade to 16 GB for so long but for some reason it hasn't happened yet. Maybe now's the time to get it ordered.

[Ace Antilles]

My PC setup is almost exactly the same but c'mon get yourself up to 16gb of ram now lol shouldn't cost too much

Oh I'm with you, I've been meaning to upgrade to 16 GB for so long but for some reason it hasn't happened yet. Maybe now's the time to get it ordered.

I've ended up with 32gb ram as it was so cheap I thought why not. Sadly it won't help XWA issues much.

[andy_tpog]

Sadly it won't help XWA issues much.

Not to worry, I mean the game is perfectly playable, I know there are more discerning people out there that demand absolutely perfect fps, but for the time being whilst things are being developed I'm happy with how pretty the game looks now.

My PC setup is almost exactly the same

This being the case, could I trouble you to ask what settings you run XWAU on? Specifically screen resolution? I'm currently running on 1920x1080 as that is my monitor/desktop setup.
Thanks.

[Ace Antilles]

Windows 10
CPU: i7-4790k
32GB Ram
GPU: Nvidia GTX 970
1920 x 1080

You could have an i15 and the best GFX in the world and it wouldn't help too much right now.
The game engine limitations is being pushed harder than the gfx capabilities.
Some of the new ships are very high detailed and that can have a knock on effect. So some missions perform better than others.
We're finding fixes to issues, we did with the VSD and Casino, that really helps performance but there is still work to do. It's a matter of everyone balancing out what they want to live with.
Either the best look but some lag or drop some stuff down but play smoother. It's not just an effects problem I think.

I would like to work out that hangar bug though.
I would recommend that everyone updates and downloads all the XWA Hooks Setup from the Download page too.

[andy_tpog]

I would recommend that everyone updates and downloads all the XWA Hooks Setup from the Download page too.

Thanks for your help, I'll make sure to download that and I'll spend a bit of time finding a happy middle ground of performance and looks.

[szoreny]

For me 1.1.3 effects lag is definitely caused by the new 2D renderers - toggling off both new text and radar renderers via the updated cfg Blue Max provided returns the fps to 1.1.2 levels which for me is very playable.

As for the hangar takeoff freeze Ace and others mentions, I find that's fixed on my system if I enable v-sync in ddraw.cfg - so if you don't need an uncapped framerate try that.

[andy_tpog]

I would recommend that everyone updates and downloads all the XWA Hooks Setup from the Download page too.

Thanks for your help, I'll make sure to download that and I'll spend a bit of time finding a happy middle ground of performance and looks.

I've just installed all the Hooks and jumped into the game and I've lost all models. I'm in what should be the hangar and got nothing but a starscape and hud.

[blue_max]

I've just installed all the Hooks and jumped into the game and I've lost all models. I'm in what should be the hangar and got nothing but a starscape and hud.

Make sure your hook_d3d.cfg file has the following:

IsHookD3DEnabled = 1

[andy_tpog]

I've just installed all the Hooks and jumped into the game and I've lost all models. I'm in what should be the hangar and got nothing but a starscape and hud.

Make sure your hook_d3d.cfg file has the following:

IsHookD3DEnabled = 1

Fixed, thank you!

[Hook Jezabelle]

I've just installed all the Hooks and jumped into the game and I've lost all models. I'm in what should be the hangar and got nothing but a starscape and hud.

Make sure your hook_d3d.cfg file has the following:

IsHookD3DEnabled = 1

Fixed, thank you!

Sidious Damned !!! I've reinstalled the entire game yesterday LOL - I didn't find this entry
thanks anyway

[Ace Antilles]

I've just installed all the Hooks and jumped into the game and I've lost all models. I'm in what should be the hangar and got nothing but a starscape and hud.

Make sure your hook_d3d.cfg file has the following:

IsHookD3DEnabled = 1

This fix is sorted now if you install updated hooks isn't it?

For me 1.1.3 effects lag is definitely caused by the new 2D renderers - toggling off both new text and radar renderers via the updated cfg Blue Max provided returns the fps to 1.1.2 levels which for me is very playable.

As for the hangar takeoff freeze Ace and others mentions, I find that's fixed on my system if I enable v-sync in ddraw.cfg - so if you don't need an uncapped framerate try that.

Theres a clever hangar fix in the works.

Also peeps the Dynamic Cockpits effects FPS so don't think everything is just the sparkly the shiny stuff

[klickhom]

Hi, everyone, thanks for the hard work.
After news of a new *-Fighter Star Wars "VR" game I noticed this project and installed it inmediatelly. Long time fan of TieFighter.
So far it can be more or less playable in VR but performance is really bad.

In short:
CPU use always the same between 25 and 85% (One core)
GPU very low load.
Frames from 10 to 30 in VR, barely playable.
Frames 45fps with no VR. Its fine.
CPU could be the bottleneck? I don't see CPU load change between configurations.

XWA GOG
XWUP 1.6 + patch
XWAUCP_Patch_v1.0.exe
RebelDynamicCockpits_v2.1.exe
TieDynamicCockpits_v2.0.exe
CrewQuarters_v1.1.exe
SuperBackdropsPatch_v3.1.exe
XwaHooksSetup.zip
EffectsByBlueMax_v1.1.4.exe

Windows 10
Ryzen 5 2600
AMD RX 5700 XT
16GB RAM
Oculus RIft CV1
Monitor 1080p

With Effects all ON VR ON I get like 10fps

With no Effects at all (original ddraw)VR ON I get like 30fps at max.
GPU is at 10% use
CPU (core9) moves between 25 to 85%.

With no Effects at all (original ddraw) no VR I get like 35fps at max.
GPU is at 10% use
CPU (core9) moves between 25 to 85%.

With all Effects no VR I get like 45fps at max.
GPU is at 19% use
CPU (core9) moves between 25 to 85%.

[m0rgg]

Do you have ProcessAffinityCore = 0?
This should enable multicore usage, even if the engine is not optimized for it, it does improve performance a lot.

[klickhom]

Yes, it is 0 by default.

[blue_max]

...
Monitor 1080p
...
With no Effects at all (original ddraw) no VR I get like 35fps at max.
GPU is at 10% use
CPU (core9) moves between 25 to 85%.

With all Effects no VR I get like 45fps at max.
GPU is at 19% use
CPU (core9) moves between 25 to 85%.

I believe this needs to be addressed first. When you say "original ddraw" I believe you're referring to Jeremy's ddraw.dll? If so, can you tell us what ddraw version you are running?

I don't know the numbering on AMD cards, but it sounds like all your hardware is recent, so you should be getting 100+fps easily when looking at an empty background. Your FPS will drop when the screen is busy and that's normal.

So, create an empty skirmish mission (no ships), set your monitor and in-game resolution to 1920x1080 and please tell us your FPS.

Things to check:

* Make sure you've got hook_time.dll in your install directory. If you see something like "hook_60fps.dll" remove that one as they interfere with each other.
* Make sure you've got hook_d3d.dll.
* Don't test the effects 1.1.4 yet, we need to make sure your maximum performance is above 90fps when running with Jeremy's ddraw. Use Jeremy's latest ddraw for now (I believe it's version 1.3.11 at the moment).

[klickhom]

Hi! Thanks for the help.
Install XWA
XWUP 1.6 + patch
RebelDynamicCockpits_v2.1
TieDynamicCockpits_v2.0
SuperBackdropsPatch_v3.1.exe
Ddraw 1.3.11
Set resolution with xwahacker-gui-0.32-win to 1080p
No VR
Skirmish

Locked to 60fps

Disable vsync in Ddraw.cfg
EnableVSync = 0
110fps minimum

Effects 1.1.4
(By default EnableVSync is 0)
70-80fps

[klickhom]

Actually tried Effects 1.1.4 no VR too wIth everything On and OFF and performace was the same 70-80fps in the skirmish mission.

Another things:
When I point the ship to a sun (blinding bright close star) she avoids it, it's not possible to fly to it.
In VR cycling through Oculus ASW (ON, OFF, locked) modes changes hud size.

[blue_max]

Locked to 60fps

I assume this means your monitor is locked to 60Hz.

Disable vsync in Ddraw.cfg
EnableVSync = 0
110fps minimum

Effects 1.1.4
(By default EnableVSync is 0)
70-80fps

Yup, that looks about right. You should get a decent VR performance as long as your screen isn't too busy with lots of geometry and your SteamVR resolution isn't set too high. What I would try now is to set your desktop resolution to 1920x1080 and set SteamVR to 50% so you get 960x1080 resolution per eye. Check the performance and then start increasing SteamVR's resolution little by little (I tend to play between 50%-75% resolution).

Also, make sure you install the latest Effects beta in the downloads page.

It is not possible to fly directly "up" or "down" in this game. In a skirmish mission, suns are usually placed straight up. This normal (it's a limitation of XWA's engine).

Cycling Oculus ASW modes may actually change the VR resolution. If so, then the HUD size may change because of that.

[klickhom]

Tried beta and lowering resolution to with no noticeable performance increase.
One thing that worked out "quite" well was playing without cockpit at SteamVR 150% resolution with 45 to 90 fps. Mostly at 90fps.
Peak fps had almost full GPU load.
Low fps had low GPU load.
So CPU problem.
Well, less inmersion and head traking becomes useless.
100% resolution constant 90fps in skirmish.

[blue_max]

Yes, this game is still CPU-bound. Even if you set ProcessAffinityCore = 0 in DDraw.cfg, that will only do so much to increase the performance.

What is the actual per-eye resolution you're getting with SteamVR? 960x1080 should give you decent performance. Try flying the A-Wing or the B-Wing, those cockpits have less detail than the X-Wing or the Y-Wing (just trying to see which cockpits are causing trouble). You may have to increase the priority of the xwingalliance.exe process too.

[klickhom]

SteamVR
46% 912x1084 + All effects Beta
A-Wing - Skirmish - 10fps (watching cockpit)
A-Wing - Skirmish - Realtime - 10fps (watching cockpit)
B-Wing - Skirmish - 10fps (watching cockpit)
...
150% 1644x1960 + All effects Beta
B-Wing - Skirmish - 10fps (watching cockpit)
So no real difference

150% 1644x1960 + Disabled effects Beta (huds, radar... don't work)
B-Wing - Skirmish - 90fps very stable, except on close explosions and many enemies close on screen

150% 1644x1960 + Disabled effects Beta (huds, radar... don't work)
B-Wing - Simulator mission 1 - 30fps-90fps. Can be played except exiting hangar.

GPU is never overloaded.

150% 1644x1960
1.6 + Patch
Effects+Beta, all disabled except Dynamic cockpit
Corellian transport whatever - Simulator mission 7 - 30fps-60fps. Can be played.

It's possible to play stock only with VR but I could not see stars, or debris.