Some observations at the Kerbal Space Center (KSP2 Performance)

[Hofnaerrchen]

I created a Rover and did some cruising at the Space Center. First of all the ground textures look terrible but when driving around I encountered some strange behavior with the trees - that are probably almost everywhere on Kerbin. The loading of high resolution models does not seem to be bound to distance alone, as some of them closer to the rover had the less detailed textures. Another thing I observed was the FPS behavior: The max FPS do not really change if you zoom max in or out. The difference in frames is rather unsignificant and this is also the case when you enter the parking deck. In every other game I played FPS will improve massively when you either look directly to the ground or when you enter a building. Not so in KSP2. Looks like everything is within LOS all time - no wonder performance is bad.

Raw numbers: (Max settings, windowed mode with a custom resolution of 2400x1200, 5800X 6900XT 32GB RAM Win11 Adrenalin 23.2.2)

Looking down on my Rover:

- Max Zoom in (actually inside the cargo bay) 48-50 FPS with 1% varying from mid. 20s to mid. 30s

- Max Zoom out 42-43 FPS with 1% lows in the high 20s/low 30s

While being paused the FPS go up significantly:

- Max Zoom in  79 FPS with 1% lows varying from 50s up into the 70s

- Max Zoom out 72-73 FPS with 1% lows in the 60s

When I pause the game CPU usage goes up from 18-21% to 26-31% and GPU also goes up from 50-60% to stable 99%.

The massive discrepancy can also be observed when using a chute above Kerbin. With a different resolution (3440x1440, max settings) the max. FPS above a heavily vegetated area - probably almost everywhere on Kerbin - where staggering 10. After landing they went up to 36. In this instance GPU usage was even more ridiculous. In flight with chute open 20% and on the ground almost maxed out.

Last but not least is the games behavior when it's unpaused and the window minimized. While CPU usage is varying from 16-25% GPU usage still - while not rendering anything on screen - is at 45-95%.

My best guess about the performance behavior of KSP2: It's creating a CPU bottleneck when physics come into play. And it's behavior when running in the background or minimized is completely out of order.