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Dishonored 2: Tweaks and Settings


Bikerdude

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PC Optimization Guide:

 

Like I did for Thief 4 I thought I would create a tweaks and setting thread, I will keep it pinned till xmas for ease of access.

 

Be aware that the steep decline in performance may only be temporary. All of the issues described here, as reported by the community, can (and should) be patched. These are stop-gap solutions before the full fixes come from Bethesda and Arkane. Before getting started, here are a few basic ways to improve performance. It seems these three settings are the biggest hits on performance in Dishonored 2:

  • Texture Quality
  • TXAA
  • View Distance

Lower one or all of these settings for a steep jump in performance.

 

Machine specs:

 

Minimum:

  • Windows 7/8/10 (64-bit versions)
  • Intel Core i5-2400 & AMD FX-8320 or better
  • 8 GB RAM
  • 60GB, (but my local install is only using 36.9GB)
  • nVidia GTX 660 2GB or AMD Radeon HD 7970 3GB or better.
  • Requires Steam activation

Recommended:

  • Windows 7/8/10 (64-bit versions) (it had Win10 listed, but that's utter marketing B$..)
  • Intel Core i7-4770 & AMD FX-8350 or better
  • 16 GB RAM
  • 60GB, (but my local install is only using 36.9GB)
  • nVidia GTX 1060 6GB or AMD Radeon RX 480 8GB or better
  • Requires Steam activation

Because the game is based on the IDtech engine, just like players of TDM - DS2 isnt perfing well. So players with an ALL AMD system (eg FX-8350 & RX 480) are seeing very low perf.

 

PC drivers:

  • NVIDIA: 375.70 or above
  • AMD: 16.10.2 or above

Update:

  • Beta patch 1.1 was released on the 18/11/16. It's not that fancy but It has helped a few users get a slightly better framerate in large environments like the docks. Strange fps drops are still there nonetheless, we'll have to wait for patch 1.2 next week - http://steamcommunit.../announcements/

 

Tweaks:

 

0. Disable intro movies:

  • The first thing you should do to save a lot of time when loading the game is to disable the intro movies. It’s an easy fix: you just need to edit an .ini file. Just note that the game needs to be run at least once to generate the relevant .ini file. Just replace all the intro video files with these - download

1. Low FPS fix for nVidia and AMD GPU's:

 

nVidia:

 

A small trick has been discovered which drastically improves Dishonored 2 FPS performance on Nvidia cards -

  • Step 1: Go to Nvidia Control Panel
  • Step 2: Then to Manage 3D Settings
  • Step 3: Then to Program Settings
  • Step 4: Select Dishonored 2
  • Step 5: Select Maximum (4) Pre-rendered Frames.

Set Power management mode to prefer maximum power. If you are using Vsync then use Adaptive Vsync and switch off the in-game Vsync. Also, make sure Dishonored 2 is running in the fullscreen mode for this to work. Also, its recommended that you to switch off HBAO+ in game setting.

 

AMD:

 

Nvidia's pre-rendered frames option equals to the "Flip Queue Size" in AMD. But before accessing it and making changes, you

This is what AMD users have to change:

  • Step 1: Download RadeonPro and open it
  • Step 2: Go to Advanced Tab
  • Step 3: Under Advanced tab there is a option called "Flip Queue Size". This is the AMD's version of pre-rendered frames, make necessary changes.

Important NOTE: Before making above changes you will need to add Dishonored 2 "EXE" file. You will get the game's EXE file in whichever hard drive you installed the game. Mostly the directory will be. This trick makes the game run smooth even on the roof top parts of Dunwall at a high graphics setting.

 

2. Weird Alt+Tab Key Trick To Improve FPS:

 

A weird but working workaround has been discovered in Dishonored 2 to improve FPS drastically -

  • Step 1: Load a quick save or start the game fresh
  • Step 2: In full screen mode, Alt+Tab out and back into the game.

Surprisingly, the game will run a lot smoother than it was before.

 

3. Mouse Smoothing:

 

a.) There's a mouse smooth option in the option pane for Dishonored 2 in mouse controller options, setting it to 0 means no smooth mouse, third tab along, first tab is xbox controller settings, if you are not using a controller go in there and turn vibration off.

 

b.) Alternative option for Mouse smoothing, players can edit the config file called "dishonored2Config.cfp". You will get access to this file in the following directory (the location differs from user to user, you might have installed the Dishonored 2 at some other driver so search accordingly)

C:\Users<Insert_Username>\Saved Games\Arkane Studios\dishonored2\base\dishonored2Config.cfg

  • Step 1: Once you have located the Dishonored 2 config file, Open it up with Word or Notepad or Notepad++.
  • Step 2: Press CTRL + F, search for term "Smooth"
  • Step 3: Change g_mousesmooth option from 1 to 0.
  • Step 4: (Very important) Save the changes
  • Step 5: Now Right click the .ini file, and make it READ ONLY, and click on Apply option.

If you fail to make the file READ ONLY then it automatically goes back to Smoothing.

 

4. Render Scale / Adaptive Resolution:

 

This poorly implemented optimization is actually causing FPS drops across the board. To fix this bug, alter your settings:

  • Set Render Scale / Adaptive Resolution to from 75 (Default) to 100 - be ware the game may revert this back to 75 each time it is started

This means your resolution will properly match your native screen size instead of automatically shrinking and re-fitting to scale. The optimization might help lower-end computers that way to present resolution settings they’re not meant to use, but high-end PCs won’t need it.

 

5. Low Priority Settings:

 

For some reason, Dishonored 2 is automatically set to run at Low Priority on Windows 10. To change this, open the Task Manager [Ctrl+Alt+Del] and find Dishonored 2.

  • Right-click Dishonored 2 in the Task Manager under the Processes tab. Set Priority to HIGH.

For some, this seems to reset every few seconds — or after every loading screen. For others, the priority setting automatically changes when alt-tabbed out of the program, so this may not be a solution for you.

6. Use Reshade to sharpen Dishonored 2

This worked on DS1 so make work DS2, see below for how to use - ReShade

  • Step 1: Install Reshade on Dishonored 2
  • Step 2: Select a sharpening option you like (for exemple LumaSharp) to remove blur from TXAA

Other settings:

 

Dishonored 2 Doesn't Work On Old Low Spec CPU Due To No SSE 4.1 Support:

If you are running Dishonored 2 on the low-end CPU such as Core 2 Quad or Phenom then the game will not run at all. You will be able to install Dishonored 2 but can't get past the intro logo. The reason behind it that your CPU does not support SSE 4.1.

 

Anisotropic filtering:

  • TBC

Low resolution texture pop-in:

  • TBC

Credits:

 

Going through the list of tweaks and fixes found on Gamergur, Reddit & GamerAnx

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I've already played the game a bit but the folder which should contain the dishonoredengine.ini doesn't exist. I couldn't find it on my pc either.

I haven't found the ini file but I did find the config file here after I allowed view hidden files as described above

Doh!

 

I forgot I played Dishonoured 1 a month or so ago, that would explain why non of the settings appeared to do anything.

 

We will have to wait until someone finds these hidden settings for DS2, sorry for the confusion. So have cleaned up the OP and thread.

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I personally have much better luck running Maximum frames to render ahead (1) instead of (4) but... my GPU probably isn't able to keep up let alone render 4 extra frames ahead so.

 

On a side note, this game definitely has some hiccups. I can just stand there after loading in past the docks staring at the thoroughfare just beyond the docks and I have 38fps. Not moving, not doing anything. And after about 20-30 seconds of just standing there the frames go nearly all of a sudden down to 13. LOL. After that if I turn and go back in the building, back to 50+ and then go back outside and now its just teens. What happened to that 38? Very strange.

 

Oh, and... running Ultra preset with Shadows on VHigh, Depth of Field off, Lens Flare off, VRAM usage is sitting at 7471MB @5760x1200. I probably need 16GB of system ram. Maybe that's the 20 second thing kicking in though I'm sure system RAM can load 8GB way faster than 20 seconds. Probably more like 1 second. I wonder what's going on.

 

Maybe the 1.2 patch will help :\

Edited by Lux
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game lag

 

someone said its the boats with the animated whales in the skybox, wandering around the sea, not sure those boats and whales are in the skybox. they appear as lod objects when I play, as they don't seem to animate and nor are the boats moving.

 

particle effects are known to cause game lag, as both sides of a particle triangle have to be rendered, when there are a lot of particles then that will slow down rendering of frames.

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This is just beyond the docks, no visible water anywhere.

 

Just confirmed this same behavior with the 275.95 drivers.

 

When you come off the docks for the first time, up some stairs at the end, dude hanging out of a ground floor window dead (first blood fly infestation and nests with blood amber intro) with the building behind you that contains the Ruin and the 1st shop.

 

So I get off the boat, frames are low but still fluidish mid to high 30s on the actual docks. I go through the blood fly building, kill everything, FPS are from 50-80 in the building. Emerge on the opposite side on a balcony overlooking train tracks, etc, medium sized area, frames are back to 35-38 for about 20 seconds and then ...back to 12-13.

 

If I go back in the building fps immediately goes back up to where they were 50+ spend 30sec or so inside then come back out again on the balcony, FPS is still fine around 35-38 and again after about 15-20 seconds they go to 12-13. This is just standing there with nothing new being rendered aside from what was already being rendered at 35-38fps.

 

wierd. Up to this point had no issues.

Edited by Lux
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1.2 is here! Still in beta though. It apparently fixes a lot the problems on Nvidia Gpus but I see no difference at all on my AMD R9. It's playable but frames are still unstable. Also I see no difference in peformance cost between the graphic presets. I can be in very low or very high, I'm always having this 30-ish fps count, it's annoying.

 

http://kotaku.com/new-dishonored-2-pc-patch-is-a-step-in-the-right-direct-1789237888

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1.2 patch added several "Adaptive Resolution" settings which seem to be the entire cause of the problem. Still not completely fixed yet however frames are way better.

 

What's amazing is if I run with Adapt Res ON and set the settings to Perf or ...basically anything, the frames are not as good as with running Native res and all that garbage off which makes no sense at all.

 

Getting between 29-44fps in the same area that was dropping to 13 before. And prior to that I was getting 35-44 in with certain loaded save games. Its just weird. Clearly screwing with the resolution actively is not a good thing.

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  • 2 weeks later...

The minimum system requirements seem monster, my PC just about does those... guess i won't take the chance, and buy a game which barely runs on my machine... would love to, but, a german games mag already reported that there's even lag on high end systems.

Edited by chakkman
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Have there been any serious fixes to the lag issues yet? I was thinking about buying this game for Xmas, but I'm not going to dish out $70 if it's as laggy as was originally reported.

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Dishonored 2 is 79.99 on Steam right now.

 

What lag issues - I don't have any on my PC

 

 

The first twenty or so reviews I read all complained about it...and isn't that the point of this thread in the first place?

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Re the price - can you buy discount as the price converted from UK£ is Can$50

Regarding lag - I haven't seen the problem so perhaps my system is fast enough on high settings to get round it

My mouse control isn't too good but that is likely due to the wireless mouse as other games have the same problem although update 1.3 is supposed to help

Edited by Oldjim
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