Game optimization for low-end PC

[GALATuS]

I have two main questions about what the title says, and I ask here because I didn't get any answer in the discord. And the first is: Do you plan for future updates to optimize performance specifically in terms of smoke and particles to reduce lag on low-end PCs?
And the second: In the same way, do you plan to revert the effects and other graphic settings from being set to maximum (or 3) by default, so that users with low-end PCs can set these to the minimum or 1??
I ask this because I have a low-end PC or potato PC, and I am having too much lag and FPS drops in some maps, but especially when there is fire and many particles of any kind, to the point that unfortunately for me I will have to uninstall the game If an update that improves game performance in these aspects is not released, at least until I can have a better PC (which will not be soon and will be in several months more).
Since it is too much of a disadvantage, that is, even on a map that runs for me at almost 60 fps, it only takes someone throwing a smoke grenade for the fps to drop a lot with unplayable lag, as well as the particles that are released when a bullet hits the ground.
And I don't have such a prehistoric PC either, with the other BF2 mods like FH2 or combat mod I don't have this issue, since I have more than 8gb RAM, a 2-core 3.20GHz processor and fourth-generation integrated graphics, enough to run the game well in low graphical settings, and for the same reason I can run certain maps at around 60 fps, but it's enough for there to be smoke or fire to have fps drops.
And I ask about the possibility of lowering the settings from the game files because I did the test by setting effects quality and the others video settings to 1 (in an offline server) and I had a considerable increase in terms of fps (but even so when I throw a smoke grenade they lower me like 30 fps instantly...), but as you know, that, which btw can be done in any other online videogame in the world, in PR is not allowed, for some reason I can't make sense of it.

[Tommygun]

30fps aint terrible as a low number.... That aside, this runs on a reasonable PC from 2005....If you are using a laptop with 2 integrated GPUs make sure you are using an external monitor to make use of it.
A gtx750 and up will be fine..pref with a min of an old Pentium core 2 duo.
It might rather be time to upgrade than to ask for a complete code rewrite

[GALATuS]

Originally Posted by Tommygun

30fps aint terrible as a low number.... That aside, this runs on a reasonable PC from 2005....If you are using a laptop with 2 integrated GPUs make sure you are using an external monitor to make use of it.
A gtx750 and up will be fine..pref with a min of an old Pentium core 2 duo.
It might rather be time to upgrade than to ask for a complete code rewrite

"Complete code rewrite"?? No, it's simpler than that, the low quality graphics settings options are there and are part of the base game, and in FH2 or any other Bf2 mod you can lower the effects and graphics options to low or 0 (and in any world video game), but in PR you can't because they deliberately blocked those options and left certain graphic settings at high by default, thus excluding users with potato PCs who are a large % of the playerbase (let me guess, they also consider that "realistic"?).
In the case of smoke and particles they probably need to improve it in terms of performance, since these are definitely optimized like sh*t, maybe because they put too much graphical "quality" or textures in an old engine from 2004 or something like that. It doesn't make sense that a simple particle that doesn't even look that cool compared to other even older games causes so much lag and fps drop.
Also, I was simply asking if they plan to make those improvements, just as they did an improvement in shadow performance a while ago, and since no one answered, I assume not, so for now I don't plan to reinstall this game.
And I didn't say that the game runs at 30fps for me, but that when someone throws a smoke grenade, there is an explosion, or a helicopter is taking off and generates dust, it drops in 1 second to about 30 fps less instantly plus a lag or stuttering, and as I said, we are talking about a game with a 2004 engine, so something doesn't fit there, and I don't think it's entirely the fault of my PC, which is old but with the specifications I mentioned it should be able to any BF2 mod in low graphics at least. And in fact, with this same PC I have been able to run very demanding games like GTA V and Arma 3, at 27-30 fps but without lowering the resolution. Also, it is not a laptop, it is an HP office PC, but in SSF format so it is not so easy to find a GPU.



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~Suchar

[Sam Harris]

Hi GALATuS.

When PR had user-selectable gfx quality settings, at the time there was the perception that some players were able to gain an unfair advantage using lower settings.

In my view this was a mistake. There was one particular player who was most likely cheating, and who is now long-banned, who single-handedly caused more discussion and complaints than you would think possible. Had he been universally banned a little earlier, there would probably have been much less of a push to nerf the low quality option.

I was using an old laptop at the time, and PR became basically unplayable for me till I upgraded, and even now I would welcome the option to lower a couple of settings.

I hope the dev team keep in mind going forward that there is some value in keeping PR as playable as possible on low-spec machines.

This "one size fits all" approach is not a terrible compromise, but reverting to a bit more choice would be welcome.

[[R-COM]bad_nade]

Originally Posted by GALATuS

I have two main questions about what the title says, and I ask here because I didn't get any answer in the discord. And the first is: Do you plan for future updates to optimize performance specifically in terms of smoke and particles to reduce lag on low-end PCs?
And the second: In the same way, do you plan to revert the effects and other graphic settings from being set to maximum (or 3) by default, so that users with low-end PCs can set these to the minimum or 1??
I ask this because I have a low-end PC or potato PC, and I am having too much lag and FPS drops in some maps, but especially when there is fire and many particles of any kind, to the point that unfortunately for me I will have to uninstall the game If an update that improves game performance in these aspects is not released, at least until I can have a better PC (which will not be soon and will be in several months more).
Since it is too much of a disadvantage, that is, even on a map that runs for me at almost 60 fps, it only takes someone throwing a smoke grenade for the fps to drop a lot with unplayable lag, as well as the particles that are released when a bullet hits the ground.
And I don't have such a prehistoric PC either, with the other BF2 mods like FH2 or combat mod I don't have this issue, since I have more than 8gb RAM, a 2-core 3.20GHz processor and fourth-generation integrated graphics, enough to run the game well in low graphical settings, and for the same reason I can run certain maps at around 60 fps, but it's enough for there to be smoke or fire to have fps drops.
And I ask about the possibility of lowering the settings from the game files because I did the test by setting effects quality and the others video settings to 1 (in an offline server) and I had a considerable increase in terms of fps (but even so when I throw a smoke grenade they lower me like 30 fps instantly...), but as you know, that, which btw can be done in any other online videogame in the world, in PR is not allowed, for some reason I can't make sense of it.

One major feature in PR is vegetation that actually conceal soldiers and vehicles at any distance. This allows tactical movement by making use of terrain and vegetation. It's heavily used all the time. Because of the way BF2 engine works, some graphics settings must be locked to make concealment look same for everybody. So it's a workaround to game engine limitation.

If PR were to allow lower graphics settings, it would make certain objects, like soldiers and vehicles, visible over long distance even though they are hidden behind vegetation that blocks their own field of view. It would give very unfair competitive advantage to those playing on low settings, and completely destroy all opportunities to perform tactical movement or asset placement.

Imagine what it would be like to play when you think you are well hidden in a bush because you cannot see anything behind the leaves, but an enemy 500 meters away could clearly see you laying down in the middle of empty field because their lower graphics settings make all vegetation disappear at that distance.

[GALATuS]

Originally Posted by bad_nade

One major feature in PR is vegetation that actually conceal soldiers and vehicles at any distance. This allows tactical movement by making use of terrain and vegetation. It's heavily used all the time. Because of the way BF2 engine works, some graphics settings must be locked to make concealment look same for everybody. So it's a workaround to game engine limitation.

If PR were to allow lower graphics settings, it would make certain objects, like soldiers and vehicles, visible over long distance even though they are hidden behind vegetation that blocks their own field of view. It would give very unfair competitive advantage to those playing on low settings, and completely destroy all opportunities to perform tactical movement or asset placement.

Imagine what it would be like to play when you think you are well hidden in a bush because you cannot see anything behind the leaves, but an enemy 500 meters away could clearly see you laying down in the middle of empty field because their lower graphics settings make all vegetation disappear at that distance.

I don't really think so, I was referring to simply lowering the quality of the textures and effects within what the base game allows, which does NOT remove bushes, grass or make the terrain more empty (as happens in Arma 1,2 and 3), it simply lowers the quality but does not give you more visibility, and I confirmed this when I lowered those settings time ago on an offline server.
Because if you look at the settings, the quality of the effects is set to 3 without being able to be modified, and in the case of the effects (explosions and smoke I guess) having that on low gives you absolutely no advantage.
Anyway, currently I was able to partially fix my issue upgrading by installing an AMD APU on my PC, so I reinstalled the game and now I can play it fine with good fps and with textures on medium, but still there are maps that are really optimized like garbage, like Fallujah for example, that black damn smoke that is emanating from a certain part of the map lowers my fps a lot, even the new Stalligrad map runs smoother for me than that old map that visually is like any BF2 map, so I think this game really has a poor performance problem.
And in my case what lowered the fps the most was not so much the vegetation (except in Korengal Valley), but the smoke and particles in general. And currently I no longer have problems with that, but people who still have Intel HD graphics potatos certainly do

[GALATuS]

Originally Posted by Sam Harris

Hi GALATuS.

When PR had user-selectable gfx quality settings, at the time there was the perception that some players were able to gain an unfair advantage using lower settings.

In my view this was a mistake. There was one particular player who was most likely cheating, and who is now long-banned, who single-handedly caused more discussion and complaints than you would think possible. Had he been universally banned a little earlier, there would probably have been much less of a push to nerf the low quality option.

I was using an old laptop at the time, and PR became basically unplayable for me till I upgraded, and even now I would welcome the option to lower a couple of settings.

I hope the dev team keep in mind going forward that there is some value in keeping PR as playable as possible on low-spec machines.

This "one size fits all" approach is not a terrible compromise, but reverting to a bit more choice would be welcome.

I completely agree, that supposed advantage is actually a myth, that happen on Arma for example, in that if you lower the terrain to the minimum the floor looks like a golf course, something that in my experience does not happen in PR.
And even so, the advantages and disadvantages will always be present in video games. You may have a decent PC that runs the game at 60fps, but the guy on the enemy team may have a NASA PC with an RTX 4090 with a 144hz monitor, and with a lower ping than you, you will simply be at a disadvantage against him no matter what you do. Also, the "one size fits all" thing is discriminating and segregating members of the community who do not have the resources to have a decent PC (which are many in the PR playerbase), because if in Poland or first world countries it's normal to have a PC gamer, in places like Argentina for example, is a luxury.