[StrangePan][2.0.47][mac-arm] Bad performance

[HelpingHand]

After Steam has updated the game to the latest version I launched the game and saw the update screen. That is how I knew there was an update.
Dismissed the screen and launched my last save from a few days ago.

The save game loaded and I got a window "Migrated Content" with a list of "parameter-0-recycling" with 10 items listed. I clicked "confirm" and played the game.

At this point I noticed the game not running smoothly. UPS sits at 60 when I don't move but as soon as I start walking around or jump on a train, UPS can drop down below 25.

The game was running smoothly before the update so my expectation was that it would just run fine.

I disabled all the mods, even the space age expansion. This makes the game obviously run a little better, but as soon as you hopp on a train and tell it to go somewhere, you can still see the game is running slower.

I have changed my graphical settings, turning off everything and setting all the options to low. This helps a lot and keeps UPS in the 50s.
However, the main screen and the background animations run very slow, specially the space animations.

So it looks like something is having a performance impact on the game in the latest update.

[eugenekay]

The "Parameter Recycling" recipes were removed in a Migration since they should never have existed to begin with; that is just a notice from the Update script and does not affect Graphics.

Version 2.0.45: Added Metal graphics backend for Apple devices.

0.044 System info: [CPU: arm64, 8 cores, RAM: 16384 MB]
0.051 Display options: [FullScreen: true] [VSync: false] [UIScale: automatic (100.0%)] [Native DPI: true] [Screen: 255] [Special: lmW] [Lang: en]
0.452 Video driver: cocoa
0.452 Available displays: 1
0.452 [0]: 0 - {[0,0], 2560x1440, SDL_PIXELFORMAT_ARGB8888, 60Hz, 0x0001(0x01)}
1.496 Initialised OpenGL:[0] Apple M1; driver: 4.1 Metal - 89.4
1.496 [Size] Window: 2560x1416, Backbuffer: 5120x2832
1.496 [Extensions] s3tc:yes; KHR_debug:NO; ARB_clear_texture:NO, ARB_copy_image:NO, ARB_pipeline_statistics_query:NO, ARB_gl_spirv:NO, ARB_ES2_compatibility:yes
1.496 [Version] 4.1
1.496 Graphics settings preset: very-high
1.496 Dedicated video memory size 10922 MB (detected from Apple M1; VendorID: 0x1027f00)
1.504 Graphics options: [Graphics quality: high] [Video memory usage: all] [DXT: high-quality]
1.504 [Max threads (load/render): 32/8] [Max texture size: 0] [Tex.Stream.: false] [Rotation quality: normal]

You have a M1 device, which is the first-generation of Apple Silicon hardware. You can try a lower (non-Native) Video Resolution, switching Graphics Backend drivers, or changing your Graphics Presets from "very-high".

Good Luck!

[HelpingHand]

Interesting. I did see the option in the graphics settings but "experimental" scared me away XD.

I turned Metal on now and it helps a lot. Still, that means OpenGL is no longer playable on arm-mac.
I noticed a huge hit when Space Age came out. I used to run on 4K, now it's only 2056px.

As for the graphical settings in general, I tried several configurations.
If I turn everything off and set to the lowest config, I get 60FPS and 60UPS but I get a substantial tear when driving with a train.

However, the only setting that has a real impact is "Render in native screen resolution" even when everything is on high settings.
This has a 10FPS impact on performance and on a train ride can drop FPS in the 30s. I also noticed screen tearing but less than when running the game in lowest settings.

Hope this gives some feedback on the new Metal backend. Glad to see someone is using it

[StrangePan]

Hello, thank you very much for the feedback and logs. In addition to introducing the Metal backend, 2.0.45 also reclassifies Apple GPUs as being more capable than past integrated GPUs and enables higher graphics settings by default for these machines. However, it's clear that further tuning is required for at least the base M-series chips.

Looking at your Mac's specs in the logs, I recommend keeping vsync ON, turning native resolution rendering OFF, and setting the graphics backend to METAL (if you don't encounter any bugs with it). I'd also recommend setting all the other graphics options to maximum as long as they don't affect your framerate. I'm interested in hearing what settings work best for you.

[StrangePan]

In addition to other fixes, 2.0.48 will disable native resolution rendering by default for the baseline Apple M-series GPUs (M1, M2, M3, M4, non-Pro, non-Max, and non-Ultra chips). Obviously, players are free to change the default setting further if needed.

[HelpingHand]

Hi StrangePan.

Like I mentioned, I am now using Metal. Everything is set to the highest setting. Also turned vsync on and native resolution is OFF.
The game runs fine and hits 60 FPS/UPS. I could even run it at 4K no problem. Keep in mind, I have 16G of RAM and that is not the base config until the M4.

Leaving you with some logs to peruse.