one quick question though is do I still copy and past the code that goes into the SweetFX settings.txt.
Getting the Best DK2/CV1/Vive VR Experience: Guide/Compendium
- Thread starter drkaii
- Start date
Thanks for the guide! I just switched from an AMD 280x to a GTX 970, and wow what a difference! I've cranked most settings up to High/Ultra - even shadows are on High, and everything runs nice and smooth! (Ok, a little judder in stations, but acceptable given how amazing the rest of the game looks! Shadows adds a LOT to the immersion.
Couple notes for your guide:
1) For the places where you're altering the GraphicsConfiguration.xml (HUD Color, and Planet Textures), there's an alternate file that makes this easier, so you don't edit the core config file. It's an override file in your profile directory. SO, my belief is that it will NOT get overwritten on each update! At least, I hope that's what happens on the next update!
2) Looking carefully at my example below, you'll notice a GalaxyBackground section. Similar to the planets, I'm messing with the texture size for the galaxy background image. 4096 definitely increases GPU memory usage. Which means, if you have less than 4GB on your GPU, you'll get stuttering. I'm not sure it actually makes the bg look any better - at least in the rift. Anyone else want to try?
3) The core GraphicsConfiguration.xml file has a TON of really interesting bits to fiddle with. Just copy the section you want into your profile's override file, and tweak away!
It will look like this when you first open the file
Then, just add in your overrides:
Couple notes for your guide:
1) For the places where you're altering the GraphicsConfiguration.xml (HUD Color, and Planet Textures), there's an alternate file that makes this easier, so you don't edit the core config file. It's an override file in your profile directory. SO, my belief is that it will NOT get overwritten on each update! At least, I hope that's what happens on the next update!
2) Looking carefully at my example below, you'll notice a GalaxyBackground section. Similar to the planets, I'm messing with the texture size for the galaxy background image. 4096 definitely increases GPU memory usage. Which means, if you have less than 4GB on your GPU, you'll get stuttering. I'm not sure it actually makes the bg look any better - at least in the rift. Anyone else want to try?
3) The core GraphicsConfiguration.xml file has a TON of really interesting bits to fiddle with. Just copy the section you want into your profile's override file, and tweak away!
Code:
C:\Users\[B][your profile name][/B]\AppData\Local\Frontier Developments\Elite Dangerous\Options\Graphics\[B]GraphicsConfigurationOverride.xml[/B]It will look like this when you first open the file
Code:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<GraphicsConfig/>Then, just add in your overrides:
Code:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<GraphicsConfig>
<Planets>
<Low>
<LocalisationName>$QUALITY_LOW;</LocalisationName>
<TextureSize>512</TextureSize>
<AtmosphereSteps>4</AtmosphereSteps>
<CloudsEnabled>true</CloudsEnabled>
<WorkPerFrame>96</WorkPerFrame>
</Low>
<Medium>
<LocalisationName>$QUALITY_MEDIUM;</LocalisationName>
<TextureSize>1024</TextureSize>
<AtmosphereSteps>5</AtmosphereSteps>
<CloudsEnabled>true</CloudsEnabled>
<WorkPerFrame>128</WorkPerFrame>
</Medium>
<High>
<LocalisationName>$QUALITY_HIGH;</LocalisationName>
<TextureSize>2048</TextureSize>
<AtmosphereSteps>6</AtmosphereSteps>
<CloudsEnabled>true</CloudsEnabled>
<WorkPerFrame>192</WorkPerFrame>
</High>
<Ultra>
<LocalisationName>$QUALITY_ULTRA;</LocalisationName>
<TextureSize>4096</TextureSize>
<AtmosphereSteps>6</AtmosphereSteps>
<CloudsEnabled>true</CloudsEnabled>
<WorkPerFrame>256</WorkPerFrame>
</Ultra>
</Planets>
<GalaxyBackground>
<Low>
<LocalisationName>$QUALITY_LOW;</LocalisationName>
<TextureSize>512</TextureSize>
</Low>
<Medium>
<LocalisationName>$QUALITY_MEDIUM;</LocalisationName>
<TextureSize>1024</TextureSize>
</Medium>
<High>
<LocalisationName>$QUALITY_HIGH;</LocalisationName>
<TextureSize>4096</TextureSize>
</High>
</GalaxyBackground>
</GraphicsConfig>
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Still waiting for an answer to this. Im always interested in new tweaks
You're most welcome bro
That Captain America always trying to hijack my glory
Nope?
Glad to be of serviceHave not played in a little while and today decided to load all the new drivers, launchers, game, etc and start from scratch with my overclocked single 980 card. I followed your directions on here to the T and when I finally got in the game it seemed a little too much at first but then my eyes like adjusted and this is fantastic, wow way better than I was doing. Just picked up my SOL permit finally getting ready to go visit Earth for the first time. Thank you, rep for you and Atlas.
You only need to install one or the other. I've heard ReShade works with win8.1 but I can't test that myself, I've never upgraded (and never will). I think if you do a search of this thread you'll find some hints and tips about getting it to work with win8.1
one quick question though is do I still copy and past the code that goes into the SweetFX
Have you had any luck with your fiddles? Please report back any findings! And yes, the planet texture changes DO work. It's not so much to do with VRAM (they don't take up huge space) so much as loading them in. There's a thread about it by a dev I've linked in the relevent section
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So I thought I'd throw in a couple of things from my perspective. I have a very old rig that should be retired but with a great graphics card. Like most, I have followed every tip I could find here, and now have a wonderful judder free, high quality VR experience. 2 things I have tried that have helped - I have overclocked my GTX970 to +170 - 1.5 SS in game - everything max.
Next one is a long shot so any feedback welcome... I have created a 16GB pagefile on my active SSD, I know this is bad for the SSD but I like to live dangerously and figured it might help with loading planets etc. I am thinking the speed of the SSD IO will make up for lack of system performance and act like extra ram. Seems to work OK but will revert if this is a really bad or stupid idea. Any thoughts ...
Now getting silky smoothness I never imagined. Default GUI colours are clear and distinctive - all menus are fully readable. I am blown away.
I am still learning to fly again, having upgraded from X52 to a Wathog HOTAS - no twisty grip for yaw is hard to overcome and I should probably upgrade MoBo, CPU and RAM before I think of pedals!
Next one is a long shot so any feedback welcome... I have created a 16GB pagefile on my active SSD, I know this is bad for the SSD but I like to live dangerously and figured it might help with loading planets etc. I am thinking the speed of the SSD IO will make up for lack of system performance and act like extra ram. Seems to work OK but will revert if this is a really bad or stupid idea. Any thoughts ...
Now getting silky smoothness I never imagined. Default GUI colours are clear and distinctive - all menus are fully readable. I am blown away.
I am still learning to fly again, having upgraded from X52 to a Wathog HOTAS - no twisty grip for yaw is hard to overcome and I should probably upgrade MoBo, CPU and RAM before I think of pedals!
Yes, I definitely found a way to make the GTX 970 very slow!! The GalaxyBackground has a big impact on VRAM usage. Using 4096 maxed out the 4GB (ok, 3.5GB) of the 970, making for some pretty bad stutters - and at least for me no noticeable increase in image clarity. So, my recommendation is to leave the GalaxyBackground texture sizes as the defaults. In fact, I'm going to remove it from my post above.
Now... I did NOT try REDUCING the texture sizes, to see if it greatly reduces VRAM usage by trading background image sharpness. Might be interesting for those with cards with less memory. Maybe I'll give it a shot.
I also have a new theory on RES stuttering/judder on the rift. At least, a theory of the cause. Not sure about a fix - although the GraphicsConfiguration.xml file has a ton of really interesting settings... I'll probably make a new thread for that, for others to try out a few tests that I'm contemplating.
Also... I'm fairly sure that I'm running with Adaptive VSync enabled, and I get zero crashes. It's perfectly stable for me.
Yeah, I am still having to restart after every play session to get E
Have you guys got adaptive vsync enabled? See if it's that
@bravo I remember my old Q6600! That's a blast to the gaming past
@rkodey thanks for the very useful research. Keep it coming. Ps, did you notice any visual enhancement on the skybox?
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I found that if I restart the Rift service, then it works without having to restart.
I don't know how bad the SSD thing is, but I do know that SSDs are genuinely delicate. I hope your OS isn't installed on it, not worth the risk. I lost my OS SSD once, it was tragic. The SSD died and nothing could bring it back. I was using it as the save location for Fraps recording, which could have triggered it...but still, I'm just giving you fair warning.
So you are using the default GUI colours? How are they better now? You haven't changed the pixels themselves, so I'm interested.
And thanks, I'm not sure why I haven't stuck in a section on overclocking yet. Will do!
Thanks man!
This made my day!
Please post the results but I can tell you now that it's not going to have even more than 1fps cost.
And yeah, it's permanently on, but you can turn it off while the game is running by alt-tabbing, opening the sweetfx_settings.cfg file and manually changing the "state" booleans to 0. As soon as you save it, the game will update. If you have the Oculus second window open, only that updates
Hello Guys and Drkaii,
First off! This Guide is AWESOME!
Been very happy to try out every and all settings except SweetFX (as I run Win 8.1).
So far it's been an incredible ride, however there are some points I might mention and some questions I might ask:
1. ReShade works amazing. I've really improved Graphics and reduced Smear to 0.
1a. However... it now does seem like the screen is perpetually overbrighted a bit, resulting in a kind of 'white-fly-door' effect, where when there is a lot of black (which is often in elite) and I turn my head it seems like I'm looking through a flimsy piece of white paper that turns along with my head. Not sure how else to describe it. I'm gonna tinker with the Vibrance etc to see if I can somehow reduce it a bit.. perhaps up the contrast or something.
Still I feel it's an improvement over the darkish and smeared experience from before.
2. Before any of these changes (and forcing my 3D settings in Nvidia Control panel) I was able to run absolutely Judderfree in Starports. (for my specs see Sig)
However i did Unpark my cores from start. However when I would go into RES zones I'd get light judder if there were a lot of ships and often permanently after a few minutes in there.
Now with all the changes... and V-sync ON I get stuttering in Star Ports.
Mind you, it's not real Judder, because my FPS is over a 100 all the time. It's genuine stuttering.
So I tried:
V-sync OFF: the stuttering was completely gone, however now I get the 'water running sideways over the lens' effect, where it seems the image to my right eye and my left eye somehow move separately and I feel sometimes like I'm crosseyed.
V-sync Adaptive: Stuttering is gone, and I have the 'water running sideways over the lens' effect only sometimes... still considering that before I changed anything I had buttery smooth experience in Starports I don't understand what caused this, specifically because I run over 100 FPS all the time. Interestingly, whether V-sync is ON or OFF or ADAPTIVE my FPS (rivatuner) counter tells me there are no differences.. the game always runs around 100 fps (90 - 110)
As I'm currently at work I intend to try using a Frame Rate Limiter tonight to limit frames to 75 to see how that helps.
Also I'm playing around with 'V-SYNC Smooth AFR Behaviour' to see how that effects the game. Will report on both of these later.
Note: Initially when I turned on Adaptive V-Sync nothing happened. I had to turn V-sync ON and OFF in the game and reset Adaptive and restart the game to get it working.
3. Something Weird I noticed. As I was tinkering with all the settings I decided to put my RIFT to Primary (As I run 3 Displays + Rift, 1x 144hz, 2x 60hz, Rift @ 75hz extended)
I took this Procedure:
A. In Game Set Graphics to PRIMARY Monitor -> Game Graphics moved to Primary Monitor (Asus VG278HR) -> Exited the Game -> Set Rift to Primary -> Rebooted Game -> Game went straight to Rift -> Game was Buttery Smooth in StartPort running at 1.1 DSR + everything Ultra, getting over 100 FPS
So. I checked Ingame Graphic Settings -> Noticed it said "Primary Display, 60hz" -> Out of habit I changed the 60hz to 75hz and Applied -> Stuttering instantly returned and no matter what I changed afterwards it wouldn't go away.
This is something I've experienced now several times.. sometimes you tinker with the Rift and suddenly everything is PERFECT... but if you even DARE to change a setting.. things will ruined again. (every time I wish I hadn't touched anything anymore.)
Questions:
- Has anyone tried getting SweetFX to work on Windows 8.1 with success?
- Does anyone have experience with the Game Stuttering at high FPS rates? Despite all of the stuff in this guide?
Actions I'll report back on:
- Trying to run Camera through AC'd USB hub
- Frame Rate Limiter
- Smooth AFR Behaviour
- Turning off all other Monitors, except Primary
- Reproducing Smooth experience by switching Rift from Secondary to Primary Monitor
Any input on these things is welcome
First off! This Guide is AWESOME!
Been very happy to try out every and all settings except SweetFX (as I run Win 8.1).
So far it's been an incredible ride, however there are some points I might mention and some questions I might ask:
1. ReShade works amazing. I've really improved Graphics and reduced Smear to 0.
1a. However... it now does seem like the screen is perpetually overbrighted a bit, resulting in a kind of 'white-fly-door' effect, where when there is a lot of black (which is often in elite) and I turn my head it seems like I'm looking through a flimsy piece of white paper that turns along with my head. Not sure how else to describe it. I'm gonna tinker with the Vibrance etc to see if I can somehow reduce it a bit.. perhaps up the contrast or something.
Still I feel it's an improvement over the darkish and smeared experience from before.
2. Before any of these changes (and forcing my 3D settings in Nvidia Control panel) I was able to run absolutely Judderfree in Starports. (for my specs see Sig)
However i did Unpark my cores from start. However when I would go into RES zones I'd get light judder if there were a lot of ships and often permanently after a few minutes in there.
Now with all the changes... and V-sync ON I get stuttering in Star Ports.
Mind you, it's not real Judder, because my FPS is over a 100 all the time. It's genuine stuttering.
So I tried:
V-sync OFF: the stuttering was completely gone, however now I get the 'water running sideways over the lens' effect, where it seems the image to my right eye and my left eye somehow move separately and I feel sometimes like I'm crosseyed.
V-sync Adaptive: Stuttering is gone, and I have the 'water running sideways over the lens' effect only sometimes... still considering that before I changed anything I had buttery smooth experience in Starports I don't understand what caused this, specifically because I run over 100 FPS all the time. Interestingly, whether V-sync is ON or OFF or ADAPTIVE my FPS (rivatuner) counter tells me there are no differences.. the game always runs around 100 fps (90 - 110)
As I'm currently at work I intend to try using a Frame Rate Limiter tonight to limit frames to 75 to see how that helps.
Also I'm playing around with 'V-SYNC Smooth AFR Behaviour' to see how that effects the game. Will report on both of these later.
Note: Initially when I turned on Adaptive V-Sync nothing happened. I had to turn V-sync ON and OFF in the game and reset Adaptive and restart the game to get it working.
3. Something Weird I noticed. As I was tinkering with all the settings I decided to put my RIFT to Primary (As I run 3 Displays + Rift, 1x 144hz, 2x 60hz, Rift @ 75hz extended)
I took this Procedure:
A. In Game Set Graphics to PRIMARY Monitor -> Game Graphics moved to Primary Monitor (Asus VG278HR) -> Exited the Game -> Set Rift to Primary -> Rebooted Game -> Game went straight to Rift -> Game was Buttery Smooth in StartPort running at 1.1 DSR + everything Ultra, getting over 100 FPS
So. I checked Ingame Graphic Settings -> Noticed it said "Primary Display, 60hz" -> Out of habit I changed the 60hz to 75hz and Applied -> Stuttering instantly returned and no matter what I changed afterwards it wouldn't go away.
This is something I've experienced now several times.. sometimes you tinker with the Rift and suddenly everything is PERFECT... but if you even DARE to change a setting.. things will ruined again. (every time I wish I hadn't touched anything anymore.)
Questions:
- Has anyone tried getting SweetFX to work on Windows 8.1 with success?
- Does anyone have experience with the Game Stuttering at high FPS rates? Despite all of the stuff in this guide?
Actions I'll report back on:
- Trying to run Camera through AC'd USB hub
- Frame Rate Limiter
- Smooth AFR Behaviour
- Turning off all other Monitors, except Primary
- Reproducing Smooth experience by switching Rift from Secondary to Primary Monitor
Any input on these things is welcome
Hello Guys and Drkaii,
First off! This Guide is AWESOME!
Been very happy to try out every and all settings except SweetFX (as I run Win 8.1).
So far it's been an incredible ride, however there are some points I might mention and some questions I might ask:
1. ReShade works amazing. I've really improved Graphics and reduced Smear to 0.
1a. However... it now does seem like the screen is perpetually overbrighted a bit, resulting in a kind of 'white-fly-door' effect, where when there is a lot of black (which is often in elite) and I turn my head it seems like I'm looking through a flimsy piece of white paper that turns along with my head. Not sure how else to describe it. I'm gonna tinker with the Vibrance etc to see if I can somehow reduce it a bit.. perhaps up the contrast or something.
Still I feel it's an improvement over the darkish and smeared experience from before.
That's not ReShade - that's your contrast and brightness settings in Nvidia control panel. You'll have to turn the brightness down a bit more, as far as you can without smear
2. Before any of these changes (and forcing my 3D settings in Nvidia Control panel) I was able to run absolutely Judderfree in Starports. (for my specs see Sig)
However i did Unpark my cores from start. However when I would go into RES zones I'd get light judder if there were a lot of ships and often permanently after a few minutes in there.
Now with all the changes... and V-sync ON I get stuttering in Star Ports.
Mind you, it's not real Judder, because my FPS is over a 100 all the time. It's genuine stuttering.
So I tried:
V-sync OFF: the stuttering was completely gone, however now I get the 'water running sideways over the lens' effect, where it seems the image to my right eye and my left eye somehow move separately and I feel sometimes like I'm crosseyed.
V-sync Adaptive: Stuttering is gone, and I have the 'water running sideways over the lens' effect only sometimes... still considering that before I changed anything I had buttery smooth experience in Starports I don't understand what caused this, specifically because I run over 100 FPS all the time. Interestingly, whether V-sync is ON or OFF or ADAPTIVE my FPS (rivatuner) counter tells me there are no differences.. the game always runs around 100 fps (90 - 110)
How are you measuring the frame rate? It shouldn't go more than 75 on the rift?
As I'm currently at work I intend to try using a Frame Rate Limiter tonight to limit frames to 75 to see how that helps.
Also I'm playing around with 'V-SYNC Smooth AFR Behaviour' to see how that effects the game. Will report on both of these later.
Note: Initially when I turned on Adaptive V-Sync nothing happened. I had to turn V-sync ON and OFF in the game and reset Adaptive and restart the game to get it working.
3. Something Weird I noticed. As I was tinkering with all the settings I decided to put my RIFT to Primary (As I run 3 Displays + Rift, 1x 144hz, 2x 60hz, Rift @ 75hz extended)
I took this Procedure:
A. In Game Set Graphics to PRIMARY Monitor -> Game Graphics moved to Primary Monitor (Asus VG278HR) -> Exited the Game -> Set Rift to Primary -> Rebooted Game -> Game went straight to Rift -> Game was Buttery Smooth in StartPort running at 1.1 DSR + everything Ultra, getting over 100 FPS
So. I checked Ingame Graphic Settings -> Noticed it said "Primary Display, 60hz" -> Out of habit I changed the 60hz to 75hz and Applied -> Stuttering instantly returned and no matter what I changed afterwards it wouldn't go away.
This is something I've experienced now several times.. sometimes you tinker with the Rift and suddenly everything is PERFECT... but if you even DARE to change a setting.. things will ruined again. (every time I wish I hadn't touched anything anymore.)
Interesting!
Questions:
- Has anyone tried getting SweetFX to work on Windows 8.1 with success?
If you have ReShade working and have copied the settings I gave for it, then there's no need for SweetFX. It's identical - ReShade "includes" SweetFX.
- Does anyone have experience with the Game Stuttering at high FPS rates? Despite all of the stuff in this guide?
Actions I'll report back on:
- Trying to run Camera through AC'd USB hub
- Frame Rate Limiter
- Smooth AFR Behaviour
- Turning off all other Monitors, except Primary
- Reproducing Smooth experience by switching Rift from Secondary to Primary Monitor
I'd be happy for some benchmarks for the monitor tweaking you've mentioned. I'm still confused how you're getting more than 75fps
Any input on these things is welcome
See red text in the quote for my responses
Hmm... I used Rivatuner. I even took the lens out to check.. and it runs FPS around 80/90 with my current settings.
However... I'm running a mirror screen on my Secondary monitor, perhaps that's somehow throwing it off, because I agree it shouldn't go over 75 so that's weird.
Colour settings from which program are being overridden? It won't be Nvidia Inspector afaik
Sorry for being vague.
The color settings from the Nvidia Control panel (Digital Vibrance etc) were being overridden for the Rift.
Not sure what caused it, but I fixed it.
Also I've found the following. There is a distinct difference in Judder effects depending on what Monitor the Rift is set to.
If it's set to SECONDARY I either I have Judder or Stuttering... because when V-sync is Off I get judder, with V-sync off i get Stutter and in Adaptive it's just mildly better.
If it's set to Primary with V-Sync set to adaptive I can suddenly run the game silky Smooth in many instances, but I keep having the 'water-over-lens' effect sometimes. I think it's actually a form of Tearing.
However even when I do this I can't completely eliminate Judder in Asteroid Fields. As I spend pretty much 80% of my game time in RES zones.. that's really a dissappointment.
I know for SURE now that:
- Judder is not related to FPS, because I overclocked my GTX980 G1 and it tells me I'm always at max FPS for the Rift. (*although I need to try it without the mirror window and with a different FPS tracker just to be sure)
**Mind you I've read that Windows 8.1 could be effecting the FPS on Monitors not set to PRIMARY and this could be the reason for my woes with the Rift as Second monitor, not confirmed though.
Yesterday I reached a state that's very very nice to play.. and I'm kinda afraid to touch any settings now in fear or ruining it again. But we'll see if I can stand the itch. If I can't I'll keep reporting my findings
*Edit: I've proceeded to OC my Card with MSI Afterburner. I'd done it before but removed it as I was getting crashes. I now did it again, differently, less overclock, however the added Frames in ED allowed me to use DSR, which has added to the Quality of the image quite a bit. If only i could find out why I keep getting slight Judder in Asteroid Fields even with Adaptive V-Sync.
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