Performance hampered confirmed by Bethesda : Othor Games

» Tue Jan 20, 2015 8:36 am

Last night I got the most honest reply that was totally unexpected. Bethesda confirms that a real 60fps could only be achieved by scripted events in the game confirming there are serious issues with performance with the game itself. Ultimately though, TangoGameWorks are the ones responsible and are the the only ones who can fix it and make a difference.

The entire communication here: (start reading the communications from the bottom and work upwards)

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Helping you is our passion!

We will assume your issue has been resolved if we do not hear from you within 96 hours (4 days).

If your issue has not been resolved, you can respond directly to this email. We look forward to working with you again should you need us!

Subject

[PC] - The Evil Within (Steam) Hi, I'll be straight to the point. even after the...

Response By Email (Hendrik Latsch) (01/19/2015 05:36 AM)

Hello there Geoff ,

I am really sorry to hear about you issue. My name is Hendrik and your case just got escalated to me. Unfortunately, you are not the only one facing this issue kind of issue. I am a huge fan of this game myself and must say that I am a bit disappointed in the games overall performance in certain areas and the fact, that a real 60 FPS can only be achieved in scripted events within the game.

I personally run the game on the following setup:

CPU: Intel i7 4790k @ 4.4 Ghz

GPU: Nvidia GTX 880

Card Manufacturer: Gigabyte

Model: Gigabyte G1 Gaming Geforce GTX 980 4GB VRAM

RAM: 16 GB

Is was able to to achieve 60 fps in certaqin scripted events but whenever I was just walking around or fighting I was only able to get 45-52 FPS Max. Just like you, I spend hours playing with the Nvidia control panel hoping to be able to push the FPS rate but so far without any success as all. Just bout of curiosity I switched the GTX with my Girlfriends AMD R9 290X only to find out that the result was pretty much the same.

For now, there is really nothing you could do but lower the resolution but I personally prefer less frames for better detail. I always thought that 30 FPS is enough but playing The Evil Within after playing Farcry 4 for an hours really opened my eyes.

Since there is not much I can do for you I thought the least I could do is forwarding the entire case as a feedback to the studios. If you want to make sure that they recognizes these flaws I'd also recommended you share your experience on our official forum Geoff. You can find the TEW forum here: ((Link removed))

Now: I wanna talk to you from gamer to another gamer rather then an employee to a customer.

Even though it has its flaws it is an absolute fantastic game. The game play is fun, the story is pretty cool and it was good enough to make me play through it 3 times already. I just finished the speedrun yesterday and will now try to master the game on akumu. I know that every person's taste is different but once I ignored the flaws I had an absolute blast playing the game. If Tango Softworks could fix these FPS issues with an upcoming patch I would be the happiest person on earth so let's hope they recognize our feedback Geoff.

I am sorry that there is nothing I can do for you my friend =(

If there is anything else you'd like to know please don't hesitate to contact me again! =)

Many thanks and regards,

Hendrik

The Bethesda Team

Response By Email (Katrin) (01/16/2015 04:59 AM)

Hi Noah,

thank you for your very detailed description.

Unfortunately I don't have an immediate answer and will forward your request to our specified department. The colleagues will contact you as soon as possible.

Thanks for your patience.

Warm regards,

Kat

Bethesda Customer Support

Customer By CSS Email () (01/16/2015 02:10 AM)

Stephen,

Actually the cvar: "r_swapinterval" along with variables; -1, -2, 0, if I also use; 1, 2 -0 these also work. It seems the engine does not care if I use a minus sign or not. But this is not the point. I was Hoping you would give me some insight into what the problem could be concerning the bizzare vsync behaviour of the game.

Once again, Even though I am totally sure my CPU and GPU loads are not peaking, with alot of system RAM and and VRAM still available, the vsync behaves very erratically. I can start the game smooth with 60fps, but at random times during play, the vsync starts behaving like its dropped down to 30fps even though MSI is reporting 60fps still. I have to continually toggle between r_swapinterval -1, -2, 0 and ALT+ENTER to toggle the game from fullscreen to windowed back to fullscreen as this seems to be the only way to get the game back running at a smooth 60fps.

On a serperate note, I was wondering if at some point you guys would consider unlocking the FOV in-game. The default FOV honestly is horrendous, I find it very nauseating as its just too narrow, Currently I am forced to use a 3rd party tool Flawless Widescreen to remedy this. But before you say this tool could interfere with my vsync problems, every time you make a new suggestion I always troubleshoot problems without it running along also without running MSI. I make a habit to have the least amount of background software running when trying to fix problems.

Thx.

On Wed, Jan 14, 2015 at 4:40 AM, Bethesda Support ((Link removed)) wrote:

Response By Email (Stephen) (01/13/2015 12:40 PM)

Greetings,

Thank you very much for providing us with this additional information. My name is Stephen, and I am one of the Technical Support Specialists here with the Bethesda Customer Support Team. I'll be happy to provide you with some additional assistance in regards to this issue.

I see that you have been using some of the console commands in order to address the FPS issue, and that you were using the -0 value for the R_swapinterval command. I am sorry to say that -0 is not a recognized value for this command. Try entering the value 0 in order to set this to be fully unlocked.

These are the commands you can use and some notes about each, please note that using debug console commands is unsupported by Bethesda and our customer service team:

R_swapinterval
- Sets the FPS lock. Note that the numbers below are negative.
- -2: This is the default, set to 30 FPS. This is the officially supported frame rate
- -1: This sets the FPS limit to 60. Fully playable, although there may be quirks (we’re going to fix these).
- 0: This fully unlocks the FPS. We do not recommend playing above 60. We will not fix any issues above 60.
God
- God mode. You are effectively invincible, and certain enemy kill moves will not be used against you (Laura, for example, will not jump on you)
Noclip
- Allows you to walk through walls

G_infiniteammo
- Unlimited ammo (provided you have at least 1 bullet when you enable this)
G_stoptime 1
- Stops time. Note there is a bug right now where using this command causes a UI element to appear on screen. We’re looking to fix that in the near future.
- Re enable time with g_stoptime 0
Toggledebugcamera
- Separates the camera from Sebastian so you can freely move around the environment.
R_forceaspectratio
- Sets the aspect ratio. Default is 2.5, which is our official aspect ratio.
- 0 is full screen, but not ideal. 1.8 or 2 is probably most comfortable for those who don’t want bars.
Com_showFPS
- Turns on id’s native FPS counter
Startslowmotion2
- Slows down time
Stopslowmotion
- Disables slow motion

I hope that you will find information to be helpful in improving your game play experience with The Evil Within. I'm very sorry that we had to encounter this bump in your experience, and I hope that you will be able to enjoy your game soon! Please let me know if you have any additional questions, and I will be happy to assist you!

Well Wishes,

Stephen

Bethesda Customer Support Team

Response By Email (Noah) (01/12/2015 10:21 AM)

Hello again!

Thank you for sending over those reports! I'm going to escalate you to our advanced tech support team for further assistance. Thank you for your patience!

Warm Regards,

Noah

Customer Support

Bethesda Softworks

Customer By CSS Email () (01/12/2015 10:10 AM)

Hi Noah,

Please see the 2 files attached as requested. The performance of the game is really random from my personal experience. For months I couldn't get a consistent 60fps when I know I can, as MSI is always telling me I'm getting 60fps. Then after deciding to have another go this last week trouble shooting some more there were some times I had a good hour or more play session with the fps staying above 60fps 99% of the time.Then the next day I'll run the game again and just totally at random it will behave like its running at 30fps.

At first I thought what was giving me all this grief was having a second monitor plugged in (please see the post I created here: ((Link removed)). But It was not the case after all.

As I mentioned before, I know the game is designed to run at 30fps as that's what it was originally programmed for. But since official 60fps support was released, the game engine feels (to me) like not all elements/rendering pipelines within the engine has been released from its original 30fps coding. I don't know how else to or what else could be causing the problem.

On Tue, Jan 13, 2015 at 12:31 AM, Bethesda Support ((Link removed)) wrote:

Response By Email (Noah) (01/12/2015 08:31 AM)

Hello there Geoff!

First, let me apologize for the lateness of my reply. All the commotion surrounding the holidays has left us with a bit of a delay in our response time. We're working hard to catch up and we really appreciate your patience in the meantime.

Now, it sounds to me like you're quite a pro when it comes to getting your games running just the way you want them. I'm sure your video card driver is up to date, which is what I would normally recommend in this case.

At this time I would recommend not using console commands as we cannot guarantee the game will run correctly once those have been used.

Now, since you are an advanced user what I'd like to do is get some information from you and escalate your issue to one of our advanced tech support teams. I'll need an MSinfo and DXdiag file, just two diagnostic files with information on your system for our techs to examine. I'll include instructions on generating them below:

To create a DxDiag file:

Press the Windows Key and the R key on your keyboard to bring up the "Run" box;
In the "Run" box, type in DxDiag;
Press Enter. This will start the DxDiag utility;
Once the Direct X Diagnostic Tool appears, click on the Save All Information button at the bottom;
When asked where to save the file, click on the drop-down box next to Save in and select Desktop;
In the File Name box towards the bottom, the name DxDiag.txt should appear. Leave this as is and click on the OK button;
Click the Exit button to exit the Direct X Diagnostic Tool;
On the Desktop, there should be a file name DxDiag orDxDiag.txt. If there is no file with this name, please repeat the steps above and make sure to save the file to the Desktop;
Open this e-mail and attach the file.

How to run MSinfo32 on Windows Vista, 7, and 8:

Press Windows Key + R;
Type msinfo32 in the Search box, and click OK;
While viewing the System Summary node, go to File and select Export;
Save the MSINFO32 report as msinfo32.txt on the desktop for easy access

Just attach these two files to your reply to this e-mail and we'll be well on our way to resolving your issue!

Warm Regards,

Noah

Customer Support

Bethesda Softworks

Customer By CSS Web () (01/09/2015 02:34 AM)

[PC] - The Evil Within (Steam)

Hi,

I'll be straight to the point. even after the latest patch, I cannot run this game at a consistant 60fps. I am ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN I can maintain a consistant 60fps as I first run the game with MSI Afterburner running in the background to make sure my GPU/CPU never peaks and tweak graphical settings appropriately til a solid 60fps can be maintained. Afterwards which when I run the game I am not running MSI or anything else which I don't need in the background.

Now the problem I am experiencing is that, using the in-game fps limiter (60) and also trying the console command (r_swapinterval -1, -0) the game fps at random times behaves like its running at 30fps - I can instantly feel the difference when its running at 30fps compared to when its running at 60fps. MSI is reporting I'm still getting 60fps but I am most certainly not getting that.

In a nutshell, I've tried everything I can think of, from the nVidia control panel setting maxbufferedframes and various vsync settings, which nothing makes a difference.

The only thing that makes sense is that the game engine itself has not unlocked all parts of the engine to allow a consistant 60fps all the time.

Please help,

Geoff.

» Tue Jan 20, 2015 7:02 am

Thats cool, I hope you PC guys get those 60 fps but meanwhile we are getting sub 30 on consoles, the game is a slide show.