Posted this on the reddit subform, but not much activity over there.
ALT-TAB OUT OF THE GAME AFTER LOADING YOUR PARK, CHANGING SETTINGS, OR RESOLUTION EVERY TIME AND THEN GO BACK IN BEFORE PLAYING! This always increases my FPS and allows me to play on higher settings (at max native resolution). Not sure if the game is not being given the correct resource priority or what, but occurs on both of my computers.
Main computer: i5 3570k overclocked, 980 TI Hybrid, 16GB Ram, OS and game on SSD
Test computer: xeon 1231 V3, 980 TI hybrid, 16GB RAM, OS and game on HDD
Shadows and EffectsQuality have biggest impact, possibly followed by AO and multisampling on lower spec systems, and then followed by additional lighting options listed below. Downsampling kills performance, Alt-Tab method regains roughly half the lost FPS though.
All settings below tested at 1920x1200 on the default Saltlake Valley map. Additional testing need on settings as opening any of the build menus causes additional FPS losses which I did not know while testing today.
The below options are available in the config files located in C:\INSTALL_PATH\Products\Planet Coaster\Config\Graphics and performance notes are observed on the test system listed above (a high-end system).
* EffectsQuality - 0,1,2 - Possible large performance hit with 2, new Alt-Tab method has pretty much erased the performance hit I was experiencing.
* LightPropogationVolumes - false, true - Subtle lighting changes - Essentially no performance loss
* AOQualitySetting - 0,1,2 - Ambient Occlusion almost non-existent at 0 and 1. Minimal FPS change for me but may yield noticeable changes for lower spec systems
* MultisampleQuality - 0,2,4,8 - 0 and 2 are very similar, 4 gives decent anti-aliasing with no FPS change for me, 8 looks MUCH better, small FPS loss for me, will be greater for lower systems
* CloudQuality - Doesn't change - I think it does nothing right now
* BackgroundAtmosphericsQuality - 0,1,2 - Subtle lighting changes, random small FPS change
<PostProcessQuality>
* ScreenSpaceReflection - No change - I think this does nothing right now
* LensFlare - 1,2,3 - Lens Flare effect quality, no FPS change
* Bloom - 0,1 - Turns bloom on or off, no FPS change
* VolumeAtmospherics - 1,2,3 - Can't tell what it changes, worth 2-6 FPS
</PostProcessQuality>
<DirectionalShadows>
* Quality - 1,2,3 - Blurriness of shadows, 1 gives very crisp shadows from a distance, but pixilated up close, 3 heavily blurs edges of shadows. 2 is a good balance between close and distant shadow crispness but is finicky, 3 should be used for stable performance especially if you use custom cascades
* CascadeCount - "Cascaded shadows work by dividing viewing area into progressively larger portions and using the same size shadow map on each. The result is that objects close to the viewer get more shadow map pixels than objects far away."
* CascadeResolution - 1024, increments of 256 or 512 is best, 2048 - Shadow resolution, 1024 is the lowest you should use, 1536 is used in "High" setting but can impact framerate depending on cascade settings and quality
</DirectionalShadows>
* LODTransitionRate - Has to do with terrain LOD transitions based on distance from camera, can't determine difference between values so far
* SCREEN SHOTS COMING SOON
I suggest using a modified medium config file for better performance by turning down the various lighting effects and using a modified high config for beauty shots.
Here are my customized medium and high configs. My medium is recommended for higher spec systems, and high config is for beauty shots.
MEDIUM:
http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=03128659937628436413
HIGH:
http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=37532890647248327182
Main features are slightly optimized medium settings for high spec systems with better shadow draw distances. You can expect around 5 FPS hit.
High config is maxed settings, same increased shadow draw distance as medium (I should play with this more for even better distance shadows possibly), and 8x AA for maximum beauty of distance shots.
ALT-TAB OUT OF THE GAME AFTER LOADING YOUR PARK, CHANGING SETTINGS, OR RESOLUTION EVERY TIME AND THEN GO BACK IN BEFORE PLAYING! This always increases my FPS and allows me to play on higher settings (at max native resolution). Not sure if the game is not being given the correct resource priority or what, but occurs on both of my computers.
Main computer: i5 3570k overclocked, 980 TI Hybrid, 16GB Ram, OS and game on SSD
Test computer: xeon 1231 V3, 980 TI hybrid, 16GB RAM, OS and game on HDD
Shadows and EffectsQuality have biggest impact, possibly followed by AO and multisampling on lower spec systems, and then followed by additional lighting options listed below. Downsampling kills performance, Alt-Tab method regains roughly half the lost FPS though.
All settings below tested at 1920x1200 on the default Saltlake Valley map. Additional testing need on settings as opening any of the build menus causes additional FPS losses which I did not know while testing today.
The below options are available in the config files located in C:\INSTALL_PATH\Products\Planet Coaster\Config\Graphics and performance notes are observed on the test system listed above (a high-end system).
* EffectsQuality - 0,1,2 - Possible large performance hit with 2, new Alt-Tab method has pretty much erased the performance hit I was experiencing.
* LightPropogationVolumes - false, true - Subtle lighting changes - Essentially no performance loss
* AOQualitySetting - 0,1,2 - Ambient Occlusion almost non-existent at 0 and 1. Minimal FPS change for me but may yield noticeable changes for lower spec systems
* MultisampleQuality - 0,2,4,8 - 0 and 2 are very similar, 4 gives decent anti-aliasing with no FPS change for me, 8 looks MUCH better, small FPS loss for me, will be greater for lower systems
* CloudQuality - Doesn't change - I think it does nothing right now
* BackgroundAtmosphericsQuality - 0,1,2 - Subtle lighting changes, random small FPS change
<PostProcessQuality>
* ScreenSpaceReflection - No change - I think this does nothing right now
* LensFlare - 1,2,3 - Lens Flare effect quality, no FPS change
* Bloom - 0,1 - Turns bloom on or off, no FPS change
* VolumeAtmospherics - 1,2,3 - Can't tell what it changes, worth 2-6 FPS
</PostProcessQuality>
<DirectionalShadows>
* Quality - 1,2,3 - Blurriness of shadows, 1 gives very crisp shadows from a distance, but pixilated up close, 3 heavily blurs edges of shadows. 2 is a good balance between close and distant shadow crispness but is finicky, 3 should be used for stable performance especially if you use custom cascades
* CascadeCount - "Cascaded shadows work by dividing viewing area into progressively larger portions and using the same size shadow map on each. The result is that objects close to the viewer get more shadow map pixels than objects far away."
* CascadeResolution - 1024, increments of 256 or 512 is best, 2048 - Shadow resolution, 1024 is the lowest you should use, 1536 is used in "High" setting but can impact framerate depending on cascade settings and quality
</DirectionalShadows>
* LODTransitionRate - Has to do with terrain LOD transitions based on distance from camera, can't determine difference between values so far
* SCREEN SHOTS COMING SOON
I suggest using a modified medium config file for better performance by turning down the various lighting effects and using a modified high config for beauty shots.
Here are my customized medium and high configs. My medium is recommended for higher spec systems, and high config is for beauty shots.
MEDIUM:
http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=03128659937628436413
HIGH:
http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=37532890647248327182
Main features are slightly optimized medium settings for high spec systems with better shadow draw distances. You can expect around 5 FPS hit.
High config is maxed settings, same increased shadow draw distance as medium (I should play with this more for even better distance shadows possibly), and 8x AA for maximum beauty of distance shots.
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