24 Nov 2015: v1.2.33.0

Download: http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/1822/

Want more fps? Then this is for you!

This plugin for Fallout 4 adds an ability to dynamically control shadow draw distance depending on desired user defined fps.

Many of you may have noticed that in some locations of Fallout 4 fps gets low even with a good hardware, like in the City, mostly it happens in the areas with lots of objects. Since the game isn't properly optimized, almost everything that it does with objects which it renders takes more time than it actually should. One of the most time consuming operations in Fallout 4 is shadow rendering and because the game has only predefined shadow draw distance, which applies everywhere in every location just the same, we have a choise either we set it to high value with having a good picture but eventually facing fps drops in locations with lots of objects or we lower the value to make fps more stable in general. And this is exactly the point where this plugin comes handy!

Installation
1. Copy ShadowBoost.asi and ShadowBoost.ini to the game's main folder, i.e. where Fallout4.exe is located.
2. In order to load asi plugins you need to have asi loader installed, so copy Fallout 4 asi loader (xinput1_3.dll) from this ditrib to the main game folder as well.

Tweaking
Settings in ShadowBoost.ini are pretty simple
fTargetFramerate - fps you need, shadow draw distance will be smootly adjusted until ingame fps meets this value. If you are playing with vsync or fps lock then you must set this value few fps lower (2 to 5) than your actual fps limit is, otherwise the boost may consider your locked fps as balanced by itself and stop increasing draw distance
fDistChangeSpeed - distance change speed, safe range is from 0.5 to 5.0, default = 1.0
fShadowDrawDistMin - min value of shadow draw distance, it will never be set lower than this value in the game, default = 2000.0
fShadowDrawDistMax - max value of shadow draw distance, it will never go above this value in the game, default = 15000.0

FAQ
Q: Does this plugin accesses game's .ini files ?
A: No it's not, the only ini file plugin uses is ShadowBoost.ini .

Supported game versions
1.1.29.0, 1.1.30.0, 1.2.33.0

You can see the comparison with original game in this vid, fDistChangeSpeed is 1.0 here

I said this on your nexusmods page but given this is a better environment for feedback than Nexus, I'll say it here too.

If you suddenly enter an area where your fps never dips below your maximum value, like through zoning or fast travel, the shadows will not return to their maximum value.

Can you please have another look at this issue?

Also, you got the wrong link here...


The latest binaries are on your website.

http://www.gamesas.com/user/885327-bonnie-lass/

Are you using vsync or custom fps lock ? Whats your target fps in the ini file ?

I am using ENB's Vsync. Turning off Vsync will cause physics bugs in the game so I don't wish to do that.

I am using the default ShadowBoost.ini file of the latest version on your website.

The problem is if you do not dip from 60 fps at all in an area, just a constant, solid 60 fps, it does not seem to adjust. It'll only start to adjust if you say, dip down to 58 or something.

What about making your own frame limiter that works flawlessly with ShadowBoost? You would have to have the max value be lower than 60, but losing 2-5 fps in exchange for fps being much smoother is a worthy tradeoff.

I had discussed that with Boris before and he said that even with own limiter the same bug will appear because of the vsync which I have no control of .

I don't know why that would be the case, given VSync caps your fps at 60. If your limiter had a maximum of basically any number below that, it seems like it should work. Plenty of gamers would gladly give up having their maximum fps lowered from 60 to 55 if it meant not getting the horrendous frame dips that your mod fixes.

But I'm not a programmer, so I don't really know for sure, obviously.

38

Set it to 55 and test please .

I already tested 55 I'm afraid, I reverted to default afterward.

It doesn't seem to matter what I set the target fps to if I'm in an area where I will be 100% capped at 60 fps. The alternative is disabling Vsync, but that's a bad idea for several reasons.

Can you upload the save from such point where I enter something and then the bug appears ?

Please forgive me, I was getting a save prepared of a good area for you to test in and suddenly it seems to be working perfectly. My initial tests must've been flawed but I'm not sure how.

If I run into the issue again I'll let you know. I'm extremely confused as to what changed. I feel a fool.

Again, deeply sorry, this is very embarrassing to me.

I wish I knew what I did differently this time around.

The moment you will see this issue please make a screen with fps counter .

Could you be a bit more clear for the description of fDistChangeSpeed? Is a higher number faster (additive speed) or is a lower number faster (delay timer)?

The higher number is the faster shadow distance is changing .