Random FPS Tanking (faulty Engine - SOLVED)

[Swanky]

After coming back from a 6 month hiatus back to Fallout 4, updating everything and start that playthrough to hopefully get finally through all the DLC content as well, I noticed I have random stutters across the wasteland while otherwise having pretty stable 55 - 61 FPS all around, even around Goodneighbor. Then after a while, some random stutter appears as if the game is trying to load other data in, then entering a small indoor location like BADTFL, the game lags with about .3 FPS or worse when looking into a specific direction in that locale. A restart offsets that issue and everything goes back to normal. Haven't had any crashes and no bad stutter outdoors (other than a good bit of swimming fps after prolonged amount of playing without rebooting the game). Also, looking at the taskmanager only shows the game using around 5 gigs of memory, with 16gigs to spare it should be no issue. Funny thing is, the game does not crash.

In around 35 hours of playtime on my current character I can name 3 spots where it happened, although I did resets at numerous other places: BADTFL (twice, both after prolonged playtime; always the left side of the building layout), Ford Hagen (after entering and reentering the first floor numerous times), and that raider infested shopping mall.

I'm pretty sure I've had this issue back in march but at that time I was generally done with the game.

 

Load Order

 

 

00  Fallout4.esm
01  DLCRobot.esm
02  DLCworkshop01.esm
03  DLCCoast.esm
04  DLCWorkshop02.esm
05  DLCWorkshop03.esm
06  DLCNukaWorld.esm
07  Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch.esp  [Version 2.0.5a]
08  ArmorKeywords.esm
09  HUDFramework.esm
0A  XDI.esm
0B  Snap'n Build.esm
0C  SimSettlements.esm  [Version 3.4.6]
0D  ConcealedArmor.esm
0E  Settler Sandbox Overhaul.esl
0F  WET.esl
10  FAR.esl
11  ClassicSuperSledge.esl
12  SimSettlements_IDEKsLogisticsStation.esl
13  Third Person Movement Speed Fix.esp
14  ValiusHDTextures2K.esp
15  BostonFPSFixAIO.esp
16  CBBE.esp
17  Dongs_Of_Fallout.esp
18  LooksMenu.esp
19  Immersive HUD.esp
1A  ValdacilsItemSorting-00-ValsPicks-DLCVersion-VanillaWeight.esp
1B  HoloTime.esp
1C  CompanionStatus.esp
1D  LooksMenu Customization Compendium.esp
1E  KSHairdos.esp
1F  AzarPonytailHairstyles.esp
20  The Eyes Of Beauty.esp
21  dD-Enhanced Blood Basic.esp
22  No Boy and His Dog.esp
23  No More Fake Puddles - Nuka World 1-0.esp
24  Fallout Suite.esp
25  NirShor-MusicalLore.esp
26  nvvault1080.esp
27  3DNPC_FO4.esp
28  moreXplore.esp
29  InteriorsEnhanced-All-In-One.esp
2A  SkjAlert_All_DLC.esp
2B  Brighter Wasteland Workshop Lights.esp
2C  Better Settlement Defence.esp
2D  MoreVaultRooms.esp
2E  WestTekTacticalOptics.esp
2F  Armorsmith Extended.esp
30  ConcealedArmor.esp
31  Eli_Armour_Compendium.esp
32  Eli Armor Compendium AE VIS Patch.esp
33  Evil Detective Outfit.esp
34  DX Vault Girl Shorts.esp
35  DX Commonwealth Shorts.esp
36  MTM-Power Radius Increased and No Build Limit.esp
37  LocalLeaderTweak.esp
38  TransferSettlements.esp
39  SettlementMenuManager.esp
3A  BetterJunkFences.esp
3B  ProvisionerSupplyContainers.esp
3C  SettlementPrivacy.esp
3D  WorkshopGrinder.esp
3E  X01Light.esp
3F  Conelrad 640-1240.esp
40  LongerPowerLines3x.esp
41  Easier Hacking - 8 Words.esp
42  Craftable Vault 81 Cure (Earned).esp
43  QoL_Merges.esp  (contains durable power armor esp & 75% less fusion core drain mod)
44  Subtle Face Tweaks - Cait.esp
45  Subtle Face Tweaks - Curie.esp
46  Piper hot.esp
47  BetterCompanions.esp
48  PushAwayCompanions.esp
49  Pip-Boy Flashlight.esp
4A  Crafting Workbench.esp
4B  Crafting Workbenches - Ammo.esp
4C  Crafting Workbenches - Faction and Quest Requirements.esp
4D  Crafting Workbenches - Automatron DLC.esp
4E  Backpacks of the Commonwealth.esp
4F  Hellfirenew.esp
50  EnclaveX02.esp
51  Vault-Tec Power Armor by NewerMind43 & Captain-Ultima.esp
52  EnclaveX02-PBflashlights.esp
53  DOOMMerged.esp
54  Crossbow.esp
55  ClassicSniper.esp
56  DarkerNights.esp
57  SalvageBeacons.esp
58  LegendaryModification.esp
59  LegendaryModificationMisc.esp
5A  LegendaryModification - DLC Far Harbor.esp
5B  No Legendary Items From Creatures.esp
5C  BetterModDescriptions.esp
5D  BetterModDescriptionsLMHard.esp
5E  BetterModDescriptionsLMMiscHard.esp
5F  BetterModDescriptionsAE.esp
60  mr Loot Logic and Reduction.esp
61  Radrose Usability Enhancements.esp
62  WestTekTacticalOptics-AWKCR.esp
63  DKS-501 - AWKCR-Compatibility.esp
64  Crossbows of the Commonwealth - AWKCR-Compatibility.esp
65  Radrose - Valdacil Patch - Crossbow.esp
66  Radrose - Valdacil Patch - DOOMMerged.esp
67  Radrose - Valdacil Patch - Eli_Armour_Compendium.esp
68  Radrose - Valdacil Patch - WestTekTacticalOptics.esp
69  VIS_Patches.esp (various VIS merges, mostly radrose plugins)
6A  LoadingScreensFixedMerge.esp (deactivates models & text in loading screens)
6B  Bashed Patch, 0.esp (contains merged LL only)
 

 

 

Other things I'm using: ENBoost, SIFx Reshade, F4SE (game set to not update; CC content deleted from DATA folder since I'm not using it)

Game settings: Ultra, shadows medium

 

System settings: Intel XEON E3-1231, 16 gigs RAM, Nvidia GTX 970, game installed to Harddrive (saves to SSD); all drivers updated, Nvidia streaming deactivated, AV running but deactivated all background processes.

 

Other stuff I've tried: Load Accelerator (before Enboost); running with and without SIFx, LA or Enboost deactivated, playing without additional texture packages, resetting .ini files, deleting a few hundred old save files, playing with and without Interiors enhanced (have it installed halfway through current playthrough, so can rule it out as a general rule of thumb)

 

So far, I'm not sure what's causing the sudden drop in FPS every 1 to 1 1/2 hours so far, sometimes it takes even longer. I've also barely touched the Load Order other than removing the dreadful  MCM version of configurable fusion cores, load order is stable for the last 35 hours of playtime (my current playthrough).

 

My first idea would be that the scrubbing of VRAM is either not working well or that my harddrive is biting the dust. I'm not having any other issues with any other games - Skyrim, XCOM 2, Warframe, random retro stuff - all working as intended, some of them even as heavily modded as Fallout. So I'm inclined to rule my harddrive out, other than startup times of the thing.

A mod with heavy scripting might also be a cause for lag.

 

So maybe you guys have an idea of what I could try next.

[guk]

18 hours ago, Swanky said:

Then after a while, some random stutter appears as if the game is trying to load other data in, then entering a small indoor location like BADTFL, the game lags with about .3 FPS or worse when looking into a specific direction in that locale.

You mean you get 0.3 fps when looking at certain directions / objects?

 

IIRC there is a very rarely occuring memory leak somewhere in the game code. Shadowcasting lights can trigger this, basically the closer you get to the bugged light source, the worse your FPS gets (until the game becomes unresponsive for extended periods, like 0.05 FPS).

This effect can also carry through walls, so if the bugged light is e.g. upstairs in a subway station then you'd notice the FPS gradually dropping the closer you get to the stairs.

 

With mods like ELFX / UIL this happens a lot more often because shadowcasters are used rarely in the vanilla game. However, this bug has been reported already back in 2015, before ENB or lighting overhauls were available.

 

Only fix is to look away from the light, save and restart the game.

[Swanky]

Yes that's exactly what's happening. For example, I am entering BADTFL after around 1 1/2 hours of playing, all in all pretty stable, and as soon as I enter and look left, the FPS just drops to 0.05. Only for me it's not rarely occuring, and I've had it with and without lighting overhaul mods. Your description also matches what's happening as walls do not matter, only the general direction of the light.

Thanks for the answer. I also found an interesting read about this topic here.

€ Also, here.

As the issue is an engine issue that cannot be fixed (for now), I'm marking this thread as SOLVED.

[Andy14]

You really do not need to try anything.
There are some places in FO4 where the FPS are all down to 1 or even less (even in the Vanilla game).
For example the Church of the Railroads - on first entry.
The only remedy is fast ESC -> Save, Main menu and reload. Then the effect is gone.

 

By the way:

In CK I searched these cells, unfortunately unsuccessful. Maybe someone else has found something.

[SpyVsPie]

I got that bug fairly often when I first started playing but after turning my shadow quality to minimum and my lighting quality down a bit it disappeared. 

[guk]

Alright good to know.

 

FYI this bug is not just very rare, but nearly non-existant. I have over 2900 hours playtime in FO4, and i can only remember 3 instances of this bug happening.

It's been in totally random locations and never happened twice in the same place - Yangtze, West Roxbury Station and (iirc) another subway station. In each case it could be tracked down to a specific shadowcaster light just by turning the camera until the lag kicks in.

Web searches also confirmed this to be happening in 100% vanilla games or maybe even consoles.

 

Guess you were just really unlucky to get this so frequently.

[Andy14]

<Sarcasm on>
Then I had only bad luck 1200 hours - and always in the same places. Like so many other players too.
And it was just a coincidence.

But with 0.2 fps with 3 fps to turn the camera - respect. ?
</ Sarcasm off>

 

Occasional frame drops - especially with changing angles / fast camera movements are a completely different topic.

[guk]

1 hour ago, Andy14 said:

<Sarcasm on>
Then I had only bad luck 1200 hours - and always in the same places. Like so many other players too.
And it was just a coincidence.

But with 0.2 fps with 3 fps to turn the camera - respect. ?
</ Sarcasm off>

 

Occasional frame drops - especially with changing angles / fast camera movements are a completely different topic.

Well perhaps the lighting overhauls and/or ENB reduce the chance for this (presumed) memory leak.

 

I got 32GB RAM and unlocked 24GB of that for ENB, which seems to be a sweet spot for my overall stability.

While the lighting overhauls replace all lights with shadowcasters (which are the main suspect), they also remove and add other lights. Perhaps the vanilla lights placed by Bethesda have some wrong properties set more often which the overhauled ones don't have?

 

Otherwise, make sure you use UFO4P and check for any mods editing the cell.

 

BTW even if you only have 0.1 FPS - one frame shown every 10 sec - you can still move your mouse enough to do a 180°, and the next time the game reacts it's normally playable. The first time i got this bug, i even face-hugged the opposite wall to get past the bugged light (didn't know you could restart the game to fix).