Performance / Appearance Balancing on 1.0.5 Advice Wanted

[Gordon Fecyk]

I just started playing with Scatterer and SVE to see if I can get prettier videos out of my KSP playtime. I'm a bit surprised to see a visible reduction in performance on an otherwise decent PC.

Consider a Core i7 (i4771) PC with 32 GB RAM and a GeForce GTX 760 graphics card. Stock KSP using Direct3D v9 (-force-d3d9) seems OK delivering 60 FPS +/- 5 FPS consistently. Direct3D v11 (-force-d3d11) produced a sawtooth performance graph fluctuating wildly between 30 FPS and 160 FPS, and played fairly roughly that it was almost unplayable. OpenGL (-force-opengl) produced a different kind of sawtooth graph going between 30 and 60 FPS that ended up being quite unplayable.

Now, I add Scatterer to this mix and no other mod. I find I can't even load the game without forcing one of either OpenGL or Direct3D 11. The FPS graphs were similar to the stock game, though I think D3D performed slightly better when near the KSC.

I'm trying to balance performance with appearance while still playing the stock game, so it's appearance mods only. On top of that I'll be using Shadowplay to record games. Are there any combinations of stock settings, Scatterer settings, and renderer choice that seem to work better for this sort of thing? What are other SVE / Scatterer users using for a performance / appearance balance?

Here's my config file minus the key bindings. The stock game is quite pretty on its own with these settings, though I really want the clouds that SVE will provide. Those lovely bits of mist I've seen on some Minmus missions would be nice too. I can provide portions of screen shots that show the FPS graphs if I can find a place to store them on my home server.

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SETTINGS_FILE_VERSION = 1.0.5
TUTORIALS_EDITOR_ENABLE = False
TUTORIALS_FLIGHT_ENABLE = False
VAB_USE_CLICK_PLACE = True
VAB_USE_ANGLE_SNAP = False
VAB_ANGLE_SNAP_INCLUDE_VERTICAL = False
VAB_CAMERA_ORBIT_SENS = 0.04
VAB_CAMERA_ZOOM_SENS = 0.1
FLT_CAMERA_ORBIT_SENS = 0.04
FLT_CAMERA_ZOOM_SENS = 0.5
FLT_CAMERA_WOBBLE = 0.1
FLT_CAMERA_CHASE_SHARPNESS = 1.5
FLT_CAMERA_CHASE_USEVELOCITYVECTOR = True
FLT_VESSEL_LABELS = True
SPACENAV_CAMERA_SENS_ROT = 30
SPACENAV_CAMERA_SENS_LIN = 20
SPACENAV_CAMERA_SHARPNESS_LIN = 8
SPACENAV_CAMERA_SHARPNESS_ROT = 10
CAMERA_DOUBLECLICK_MOUSELOOK = True
IVA_RESETS_CONTROL_POINT = True
CAMERA_FX_EXTERNAL = 1
CAMERA_FX_INTERNAL = 1
SIMULATE_IN_BACKGROUND = True
PHYSICS_FRAME_DT_LIMIT = 0.04
MAX_VESSELS_BUDGET = 250
CONIC_PATCH_DRAW_MODE = 3
CONIC_PATCH_LIMIT = 3
SHOW_PWARP_WARNING = False
EVA_ROTATE_ON_MOVE = True
SPACENAV_FLIGHT_SENS_ROT = 5
SPACENAV_FLIGHT_SENS_LIN = 1
KERBIN_TIME = True
CALL_HOME = False
DONT_SEND_IP = False
SEND_PROGRESS_DATA = False
CHECK_FOR_UPDATES = True
VERBOSE_DEBUG_LOG = False
SHOW_CONSOLE_ON_ERROR = False
AUTOSAVE_INTERVAL = 300
AUTOSAVE_SHORT_INTERVAL = 30
SHOW_SPACE_CENTER_CREW = True
UI_SIZE = 768
UI_OPACITY = 0.4509981
TEMPERATURE_GAUGES_MODE = 1
SHIP_VOLUME = 1
AMBIENCE_VOLUME = 1
MUSIC_VOLUME = 0.8045812
UI_VOLUME = 1
VOICE_VOLUME = 1
SOUND_NORMALIZER_ENABLED = True
SOUND_NORMALIZER_THRESHOLD = 1
SOUND_NORMALIZER_RESPONSIVENESS = 16
SOUND_NORMALIZER_SKIPSAMPLES = 0
SCREEN_RESOLUTION_WIDTH = 1920
SCREEN_RESOLUTION_HEIGHT = 1080
FULLSCREEN = True
QUALITY_PRESET = 5
ANTI_ALIASING = 8
TEXTURE_QUALITY = 0
SYNC_VBL = 1
LIGHT_QUALITY = 8
SHADOWS_QUALITY = 4
FRAMERATE_LIMIT = 60
FALLBACK_PART_SHADERS = True
PLANET_FORCE_SHADER_MODEL_2_0 = False
PLANET_SCATTER = True
PLANET_SCATTER_FACTOR = 1
WATERLEVEL_BASE_OFFSET = 1.5
WATERLEVEL_MAXLEVEL_MULT = 0.1
AERO_FX_QUALITY = 3
SURFACE_FX = True
FALLBACK_UNDERWATER_MODE = 1
EDGE_HIGHLIGHTING_PPFX = True
SCREENSHOT_SUPERSIZE = 0
INPUT_KEYBOARD_SENSIVITITY = 2
dontShowLauncher = False
TRACKIR_ENABLED = False
FEMALE_EYE_OFFSET_X = 0
FEMALE_EYE_OFFSET_Y = 0.009083331
FEMALE_EYE_OFFSET_Z = 0.03378779
FEMALE_EYE_OFFSET_SCALE = 2.03
FI_LOG_TEMP_ERROR = False
FI_LOG_OVERTEMP = False

 

[RA3236]

Even the best computers are affected by these mods, so don't think it's only you. Although the advice on Scatterer will help me.