[READ] G-Sync flickering and stuttering

[saracaen]

When playing this game with a G-Sync monitor various parts of the menu backgrounds will flicker and the overall game will stutter. Even when limiting the frame rate to 60 FPS with G-Sync enabled. It would also be nice if this game was optimized for more than 60 Hz monitors. These days 144+ Hz is quite common actually.

[saracaen]

I have found the source of these problems. They are all caused by the built-in framerate limiter. I have now limited my monitor refresh rate to 120 Hz and disabled the framerate limiter, and all problems have disappeared. When I re-enable the framerate limiter in game with F3 the flickering and stuttering starts up again. This is completely unrelated to the graphics settings or the framerate that the limiter is configured for. It happens at any framerate limit and even on the lowest settings.

[x Lethian x]

Hi saracaen!

I myself am also testing with an 144Hz monitor and cannot say that I am having any problems here...
Is it possible for you to play the game with this workaround you mentioned enabled?

Regards,
Lethian

[saracaen]

When I disable the framerate limiter and limit my monitor to 120 Hz it works perfectly. Then the framerate is limited by V-Sync and G-Sync works properly. Another difference might be that I have a G-Sync monitor. I am guessing that G-Sync is not very happy with the way the framerate limiter works. If I leave the monitor on 144 Hz I have other problems, namely that vehicles will not always reach there maximum speed whilst driving or working.

[hjvg]

When I disable the framerate limiter and limit my monitor to 120 Hz it works perfectly. Then the framerate is limited by V-Sync and G-Sync works properly. Another difference might be that I have a G-Sync monitor. I am guessing that G-Sync is not very happy with the way the framerate limiter works. If I leave the monitor on 144 Hz I have other problems, namely that vehicles will not always reach there maximum speed whilst driving or working.

where you getting stutterings like reported with a movie in this topic? viewtopic.php?f=936&t=111285

how to enable/disbel the framelimeter just press F3?

[saracaen]

It is not as bad as in that video. It's much more subtle than that. When the development controls are enabled in the game.xml file you can press F2 to show the framerate and F3 to disable the framerate limiter. If you use the Steam version you can add -disableFramerateLimiter to the launch options to disable it right when you launch the game.

[Shuffy]

this works but problem when your disable it you come across other problems main one is this wierd thing that slows you down when your driving its liek the brakes are on slightly turn the frame rate limiter off and you can drive normally again notice it massively when leaving the shop at goldcrest and go down the hill .

[saracaen]

This usually happens when the framerate limiter is disabled, because the game does not officially anything over 60 Hz. I have found that as long as the refresh rate is a multiple of 30 it seems to work fine. So 60, 90, or 120 Hz seem to work the same without the braking effect.

[x Lethian x]

Hi saracaen!

We are currently testing this issue on a Free Sync-enabled monitor here in our test lab - this is basically the AMD technology of G-Sync and works the same. As of now we didn't encounter any problems, but we'll keep testing and having a lookout. Could you tell me exactly how you can reproduce this issue 100% of the time? Thanks!

Regards,
Lethian

[saracaen]

G-Sync and FreeSync are not necessarily comparable, if only for the wildly different drivers. This problem can be reproduced simply by playing the game with the framerate limiter on. Although the difference becomes more apparent when playing the game with the framerate limiter off, and then turning it on with F3 after a few minutes. If you enable the in-game FPS display with the framerate limiter on, you will notice that the framerate will become very jumpy. In my case it keeps switching between around 56 to 60 FPS very fast.

This behaviour is not tied to the actual framerate limit. I see the same thing happening when I set the limit to 120 manually. Only then it jumps between 116 and 120 FPS. So it is definitely not a performance issue with the game itself. And the first few minutes of playing the game with the framerate limiter on seem to work okay, but I was always able to reproduce this issue within 5 minutes of loading or starting a new game. It might be possible to make this effect more clear by buying as much machines as the store ground can hold.

[saracaen]

Using Alt + Tab also causes this exact same issue, even with the framerate limiter disabled. At that point the only solution is to restart the entire game. It is best noticeable if you buy a couple of machines and drive towards them.