Are FDev still optimizing Odyssey? Or is this it?

I just jumped in the game after a longer while to have a look and decided to try out some on foot conflict zone.
I have Odyssey capped to 90 fps because even on my higher-than-average PC the game is not able to maintain 120 let alone 144 fps everywhere. Even a 90 is a challenge in concourses and settlements. And I'd rather have a (more or less) consistent 90 fps then having them jump from 144 to 80.

Nevertheless, my fps in conflict zones were regularly dropping to 45 with all kinds of stutters and lags. It was very unpleasant while trying to keep up a faster pace.
I tried two settlements in the Guuguyni system - Kobyliansky's Stockade and Collinson Dock. Both with horrible performance.

My setup is following:
ASUS ROG STRIX X570-F GAMING - AMD X570
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X
Gigabyte RX 6800 XT
HyperX Predator 32GB DDR4 3200 CL16
game is installed on SSD Seagate BarraCuda, 2,5" - 2TB
playing at 1440p

My graphic settings is further down in screenshots if it matters.

My question is - is there something wrong with my PC or does Odyssey still need a serious work on optimization? I mean any other game runs great so I still suspect Odyssey being at fault here.
How is your performance in a high intensity conflict zone (which BTW you only find out once you land at the settlement, you cannot see the intensity in system map, unless I am missing something basic here)?

And is there any info from FDev about further optimization or are they done with this?

EDIT: One more question: When can I expect the cosmetics unlocks for ranks to be available in my loadout? Do I need to relog?


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AFAIK there is an update planned for November and I would guess that it will improve performance. We still wait for more (or any) details though.

And if it improves performance don't expect much from it. So far no single Odyssey update improved performance by more than 5-10% so don't expect miracles at this point.
 
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They have tried and failed for 18 months - performance and visuals issues were a rare occasion of FDev actually confirming to be working on. This effort stopped with update 13 (the August update). FDev stated they are now satisfied with performance and visuals and and shifting focus to driving the story forward. Future updates on the roadmap (https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/console-profile-transfers-and-2022-updates.603032/) consequently do not include performance and visuals fixes - the November update is about narrative (with "stability" as a sub-point) and the early 2023 one ships a "key feature overhaul" w/o any stability, let alone performance / visuals improvements.

TL;DR yeah, this is it.
 
No, this is it. It's not reasonable any longer to expect significant improvements.

On the roadmap, U13 still had optimization as a highlight feature. The actual update (and patch notes) didn't reflect that at all imho, there was no real improvement. Optimization is no longer even listed for U14. Seems pretty obvious to me.
 
As far as overt attempts at optimisation, this is it, although you might have behind the scenes tinkering.

FD have in so many words said that they can't / won't spend more time and wish to move on.
 
Yeah, Odyssey probably still needs some optimization. But in case it can help, here are some good tips (by londonx):
Some performance tweaks and quality checks that were useful for me (Nvidia user) on a GTX 1080:
  • Latest Nvidia Driver, a clean driver install is optimal e.g. using the free "Display Driver Uninstaller" (DDU) app (Latest AMD Drivers have a bug that crashes the game on planets so check out the official forum post about it)
  • Clear out all the graphics settings files in C:\Users[USER]\AppData\Local\Frontier Developments\Elite Dangerous\Options\Graphics\ folder. These files just get recreated to default settings when you relaunch the game, there is a common issue with older Horizons settings causing performance drop after upgrading so best to start from clean sheet.
  • Upon game relaunch Double-check that the screen refresh rate under Options > Display is set to your monitors optimal refresh rate setting.
  • Options > Graphics > Gamma, Check the gamma slider is correct for your monitor situation (Odyssey (Codebase 4.0?) has a different scale to 3.8)
  • Options > Graphics > Quality > Upscaling... set it to "Normal" unless you are running at 4K and desperately need the extra FPS then AMD FSR set to "Quality" or above is a good quality compromise.
  • Options > Graphics > Quality > Terrain Checkerboard Rendering, ON = fps improvement on planet surfaces when surface is in view, OFF = better planet surface texture quality
  • I found the Nividia GeForce Experience optimisation settings for Odyssey pretty spot on, at 1440p resolution most settings were high or ultra, but Bloom was turned off and Shadows set to medium. I was able to increase Terrain Texture Detail to Ultra+ and max draw distance without any noticable performance drop.
  • Turn on Windows 10 "Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling" under Windows Settings System > Display.
  • Turn off V Sync in game and use Nvidia Control Panel to run V Sync set to "Fast Sync" for the game (can configure per game or system-wide).
  • Clear out your shader cache (fresh start, removes any corrupted files etc) and make sure it has a large enough capacity as if it is too small this will cause cached shaders to be removed frequently thus spoiling the benefit of it especially if play lots of other 3D games. Nividia shader cache dir is C:\Users\[USERNAME]\AppData\Local\NVIDIA\DXCache and the size can be adjusted in the NVidia control panel (I have mine set to unlimited). Obviously you will only benefit performance wise from the cache once it starts containing relevant game shaders after playing the game a couple of times.
 
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Ouch, that's not good.
Thanks for all the answers in any case. I guess I will have to avoid yet another Odyssey gameplay loop because 45 fps with my rig is simply unacceptable. Or I'll just ditch Ody and play on the legacy client.

All in all it's a shame Braben's great project ended up in such state.
 
Come on, Odyssey is totally playable. I got ~55FPS most of the time. And even with 45FPS you can frag without any problem.
I don't know why people are so obsessed with their framerate. What matters is gameplay.

Edit: I got a 4 years old 1080TI and play 4K FSR.
 
One of the problems with Odyssey is to find the right combination of settings that will work on your hardware.
Also there are bunch of other bugs with the 'Graphic Settings' menu itself (try resetting the 'Quality' tab).

You should spend more time testing different settings and find the sweet spot at some point.
 
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They have tried and failed for 18 months - ....

I disagree. Odyssey was unplayable for me on a GTX1070 8GB when it launched / escaped - over time it has now become perfectly playable frames-wise, running ULTRA at 2560x1440 I keep v-sync on and the game is stable 60fps everywhere except certain (very few now) parts of concourses and settlements where it drops into the mid-50's but is still smooth with no stuttering at all any more.

If they would just fix the stupid supercruise body display* (planet "dots" disappearing en-route) to be more like EDH I would never go back to EDH.

* (For some reason this really REALLY winds me up - it is so minor but absolutely infuriating.)
 
Come on, Odyssey is totally playable. I got ~55FPS most of the time. And even with 45FPS you can frag without any problem.
I don't know why people are so obsessed with their framerate. What matters is gameplay.

Edit: I got a 4 years old 1080TI and play 4K FSR.


I would not call it playable when your fps constantly dips from 90 to 45 with stutters and lags in a fast paced conflict zone.
OK, playable maybe (if you want to hang on to words). Enjoyable? Definitely not.


You should spend more time testing different settings and find the sweet spot at some point.

I appreciate that you are trying to help but I should not be testing all kinds of config combinations. I should be enjoying a game that was released in May 2021 as "full game".
(and as you can see from my graphics settings I already did some testing with the graphics settings in the past as they are not blindly set to ULTRA).
 
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I disagree. Odyssey was unplayable for me on a GTX1070 8GB when it launched / escaped - over time it has now become perfectly playable frames-wise, running ULTRA at 2560x1440 I keep v-sync on and the game is stable 60fps everywhere except certain (very few now) parts of concourses and settlements where it drops into the mid-50's but is still smooth with no stuttering at all any more.

If they would just fix the stupid supercruise body display* (planet "dots" disappearing en-route) to be more like EDH I would never go back to EDH.

* (For some reason this really REALLY winds me up - it is so minor but absolutely infuriating.)
What is the rest of your setup?
Either mine is acting very strangely or you are hiding somehting. I don't mean to be rude but I have difficulties believing that a 1070 handles Odyssey in 1440p @60fps on ULTRA all the time.
How about high intensity surface conflict zones? Do you get 60fps all the time?
 
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To mitigate framerate fluctuation you can try to set your "framerate limit" to 60FPS. It's far enough to play the first-person-shooter part.
Yes, or I could play at 30 and have no drops at all.
The whole point of my post was to ask if perhaps FDev are willing to do something more about it?

If not, I will skip this gameplay loop because I am tired of sacrificing quality and tired of looking for bypasses and tricks how to play a game that should be buttery smooth on my rig.

I do appreciate you caring and trying to help though.
 
To mitigate framerate fluctuation you can try to set your "framerate limit" to 60FPS. It's far enough to play the first-person-shooter part.
Edit: and try disabling vsync.
I was going to suggest the opposite (enable vsync), assuming OP's running on a 60 Hz monitor, but I definitely agree with limiting framerate to refresh rate, as this gives some headroom for processing more complex scenes. Digital Foundry did some tests, and certain games benefit greatly from a lower locked framerate. I do the same thing with MSFS, and it made a huge difference, practically eliminating stuttering. There's also a benefit from running cooler, which means less chance of thermal throttling.

Note - if you have a 144 Hz monitor, you'll want to set framerate limit to 72 with vsync on. You have to do this in the config file, since 72 isn't an option in the settings menu. Having framerate set to a divisor (no remainder) of refresh with vysnc on has always given me the best results, assuming a fixed refresh rate. 90 fps on a 60 Hz screen is a waste of processing power, and 90 fps on a 144 Hz screen is either going to have tearing (vsync off) or skipped frames (vysnc on).
 
Come on, Odyssey is totally playable. I got ~55FPS most of the time. And even with 45FPS you can frag without any problem.
I don't know why people are so obsessed with their framerate. What matters is gameplay.

Edit: I got a 4 years old 1080TI and play 4K FSR.
No, you come on. I'm so tired of comments like this.

Both of the machines I've used Odyssey on easily fulfill the official requirements. I've set everything to low and still combat zones drop below 20 FPS. I'm sure somebody will soon tell me that 20 FPS is perfectly fine to them.
 
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