High end PC, no fix makes game playable

[Improv]

Hi, I'm having massive stuttering issues and nothing has fixed it on my PC.

Specs:
OS: Win 8.1 64 bit (tried Win 8.0 64 bit as well)
PSU: NZXT Hale90+ 850 Watts
Mobo: Asus Maximus V Formula Republic of Gamers
CPU: Intel Core i7 3770k @ 4.6GHz
CPU Cooler: Corsair H80i
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16 Gigs @ 1600MHz, 9-9-9-24
SSD: Samsung 840 SATA III 120GB
SSD: Corsair Force3 90GB SATA III 90GB
SSD: Zalman SATA II 64 GB
GPU: 4GB Galaxy GTX 680 @ 1202 core, 6096 mem

Game version: Steam

Everytime I enter a new room or area, even if it's backtracking my FPS drops and the game stutters and it's just not fun playing this way. I can't even play the game on the lowest settings, it still does it.

Here is everything I have tried:

1. Remove both GPU and CPU overclock.

2. The buffer suggestions in another thread

3. Completely disabling my audio in BIOS so I know it is not my system audio. To get the game to run I plugged in a USB headset so it'll detect sound and not give a error.

4. Lowest settings possible as I have previously mentioned

5. Remove Win 8.1 and go back to Win 8.

6. I have installed LatencyMON and my system has no audio latency issues that can cause this stuttering.

There are no unnecessary background tasks running on my PC. It's a rig built purely for gaming and all drivers are updated. The computer is completely clean, has no overheating issues, and every other game runs the way it should. From the top of the line like Crysis 3, Metro Last Light, and Far Cry 3 to the last Amnesia game.

I don't understand what's going on here. There is something to this engine if I can't even run the game on low and from the looks of it tons of people are having this issue. Not just ones posting here but multiple forums.

Can we expect a future patch? Because while I don't mean to be rude if there are no patches planned to address this then I guess I'll just delete the game. It sucks and I was looking forward to it but I don't know what else to try.

So any help or notification of a future patch is appreciated. Thank you.

[Artyom]

Well start with the basics (reinstall, run as administrator etc) And if that won't do the trick then write here again.

[Improv]

I have tried that.

As I said I removed Windows 8.1 and did a fresh Windows 8.0 install. I have tried running the game as admin as well. Sorry I did not mention that.

I also tried the last Nvidia WHQL as well as the latest beta.

[Yuhaney]

New test and final test for these issues. There is not more to be done with the game that we can find and if problems remain then regular troubleshooting should be done by turning off other programs, updating drivers, lowering settings and so on to try and improve performance on low end hardware.

If you get an issue where the framerate drops, but then can go back up again after 10-20 seconds even if you stay in the same area, this is due to the computer getting hot and clocking down. We added the option to be able to tweak the maximum FPS in the main_settings.cfg file, the default value is MaxFramesPerSec="60", you can lower this to say 30. The result instead of perhaps running at 40-50 FPS and then dipping down to 20 fps as the computer throttles down, you would get a more even constant 30 FPS instead as the computer avoids running as hot. Best is of course to also be in a cool room, have a clean computer and those basics for avoiding overheating.

If you have OK performance and sometimes it dips down, then this is due to the game most of the time running at optimal performance. But if it takes more than 16.7ms to calculate, things will slow down as it has to do more work. This is how the game works and the "fix" is to run the game on hardware that is closer to the recommended, as that gives room for variations of how demanding different areas and events are.

Remember, if you used an earlier test then you have to revert the changes done by it before testing this version. Just to make sure there is not a new issue due to files from different tests.

New test:
http://thedarkswarm.com/downloads/public...utter7.zip

How to use this:
- Download file and unzip it. Then copy/move the contents of the folder into the game directory. If you do this correct Windows will prompt you to overwrite and merge files and folders. Do this (but warning that you will destroy your regular install and will have to redownload if you want it back later.). You can find the location of the game folder in Steam by right-clicking on the game, properties, last tab and click browse local game files.

- You now have to delete the file My Documents/Amnesia/Pig/main_settings.cfg. The game will create a new one with the new settings.

- Launch the game using the launcher, use the settings as detected and do not tweak them. That is use low, medium or high as suitable for your setup.

- Start a new game and go into options and turn off vsync and adaptive sync (also make sure you are not forcing it in the graphic control panel). This to make sure your test is not due to the computer not capable or running at 60FPS.

-Finally start a new game.

[Improv]

Do you know how much I love you right now? This fixed it, 100%.

May I ask why this isn't patched into the game and used as a separate download?

Also, what exactly does this change?

[Yuhaney]

Don't love me, love Jens.

The patch is still in testing so it's not out officially yet, but it will eventually come out on Steam.
I have no idea what the patch does though... But hopefully you can/will enjoy the game now!

[Improv]

Oooh I see. So these are just a way to get peoples results in to see if it helps before releasing it. Great thanks!

Now I'm just wondering if there will be conflicts when the patch is officially released or if I should just leave it and not worry about it.

Thank you very much and to Jens as well =)

[Yuhaney]

The game is rather short, so I guess you'll beat it before the patch is out.

[Inkstud]

This is great news. What the OP is describing sounds very much like the issues I am having on my mac, so if this patch worked for him hopefully it will be effective for me as well once released on Steam. Can't wait to begin playing this