Tutorial Ike's speed tips for FP and BAM/FP (how to increase FPS & reduce crashes)

Where to start?​

- Start by checking the table's FPS and graphics results. When running the game, hit F9 to cycle through the different display options.

- You'll always see these results: FPS (frames per second), Ops (# of draw operations), Tri's (# of triangles / polygons drawn each frame), Physics (total ms of processor time per second).

- If you're getting low framerate or stuttering, then your goal is to raise FPS. The lower the other three values, the more that should help improve your FPS, generally-speaking. The next four sections contain suggestions to help you do that:

FP's Video & Rendering Options:​

- UPPER SETTINGS : in general, try turning them down and unchecking boxes. You might find something that helps. Following are some more specific suggestions:

- Hardware Lights & Flares : try stepping number of lights down and stopping when you get a significant increase in FPS. Understand that the closer you get to 'zero lights,' the less the table will look as the author designed it. More on this here.

- Vertical Sync : try turning this off if your fps is <60. This one can make a big difference.

- Rotation : setting this to 'desktop view,' i.e. "0° (No Rotation)" should help a bunch, as opposed to setting the game to 'portrait / cabinet' view, i.e. "(Sideways)."

- LOWER SETTINGS, Presets : try going with "minimum" or "medium," while always keeping Model Quality at "High." Failure to keep it at high can cause crashes, especially running with BAM.

- In addition to going with a lower preset group, you can also try manually turning off various checkboxes, such as the rendering options and the cabinet glass.

- Mirror playfield on ball : turning it off can make a noticeable difference.

- Incidentally, from Editor Options (a different area under "Preferences"), you should probably turn off "Load image in to table editor" in order to help prevent crashes or slowdowns.

From the table's settings:​

- Under Reflections, try turning the glossiness slider all the way down (to the left). That can make a big difference.

From BAM's in-game menu:​

- Hit the "~" key when table is running.

- Turn off NewRendering for both Lights and Postprocess. If for some reason this doesn't work, or if it negatively impacts performance, you can try doing this from the script (see below). For some reason the behavior can be different.

From the table script:​

- If there's a shadow map subroutine, you can try commenting it out or deleting it. Typical commands in such a routine will look something like: xBAM.ShadowMap "PlayfieldItem#", followed by a bunch of numbers. Note: this technique may depend on how the author has set things up, so be sure to save the table as a different version.

- Search for instances of NewRendering statements and try setting them to "FALSE."

- If running Windows Defender, search for the words "execute" and "eval." If you get positive hits, try making the edits recommended HERE in George's comprehensive guide.

Are you getting crashes near or during table rendering?​

Try these solutions:

Does FP crash near or during the rendering process? Here are some potential solutions:

Final Fantasy loaded just fine for me in vanilla FP, but when I tried to run it, it crashed near the end of the 'load bar' process, just before the table was graphically depicted. Later, after playing around with a number of settings, I found that bumping up these two items prevented the...

pinballnirvana.com

FINAL NOTES:

- Keep in mind that virtually everyone is going to have a different combo of motherboard, RAM and video card. What works for you might not work at all for the next guy over, and vice-versa. This is why it's important to experiment with these settings, to find what works best for you.

- Using the above methods, I've taken some tables from 30fps all the way up to 90fps. Aiming as high as possible with the framerate is useful, because that lets me add back certain 'luxury' features (like reflections), while still maintaining a nice, playable table. Say around 60fps or so. Me, I've only got a low-end desktop with a built-in video card, so getting this stuff sorted out was like an early Xmas.

- Be sure to see George's big daddy total guide here for more thorough explanations on all this stuff, plus some other things to try, such as tweaking your video card settings.

Big thanks for helping me with this stuff goes to: NitroNimbus, GeorgeH, Gimli Gloinson, and TerryRed!

 

[GeorgeH]

These are good suggestions.

I do have a couple of comments. Ike's PC appears to have enough RAM for Future Pinball but a low end graphics card so your results may differ from his.

Only turn your Vertical Sync off if your average frames per second (fps) is <60. You can monitor this by pressing F9 on your keyboard while playing a game. The fps reading is in the upper left corner. If it reads much higher than 60, you will get many weird noises generated and have a lot of strange problems.

 

[TerryRed]

On standard FP tables... there is more flexibility with the above suggestions.

On newer tables from myself that use new BAM features like spotlight flashers, etc you must have New Renderer enabled and hardware lights set to 7 and enabled. Using the settings I recommend in my guide, but disabling reflection options are a good place to start with those tables though for more fps.

Some tables require specific settings to be set to high / enabled, or the table may crash.

 

[shiva]

This one is most important.
1. Right click the FP or Bam Loader icon on your desktop
2. In the box that pops up, go to the Compatibility tab.
3. Make sure the "Run this program as a administrator" is checked.

If you still have problems and have a slower computer...(window 8 or lower)
1. in the same tab, click " Change high DPI settings"
2. Select "override high DPI scaling behavior" and set to Application in the jump box helps with certain crashes and performance issues.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

I don't know how many people have seen, or make use of this little guide, but for some reason I hadn't added @GeorgeH's recommendations for WinDef users in his well-written guide.

That has now been rectified, above.
Thanks again to all the people who helped me compile all the tips!

 

[GeorgeH]

I like this guide because you have obviously tried these things on your own PC and had success. The only recommendation that seems rather odd is the setting of rotation to 0 which seems like it should be rather obvious. I usually have no problem with not having enough resources so I can only suggest things that might help on my FP installation and setup guide. It is a rather long list.

Shiva's suggestions might help although I know some pinball cabinet users have trouble if they leave "Run this program as a administrator" checked. They usually check it the first time they play a table and then disable it. I am guessing it has something to do with all the front end programs they have to install. It doesn't seem to make much difference on my PC whether I check it or not. He is probably right on the scaling options as I usually have it set the way he recommends though I don't remember what happens if I uncheck it.

Terry is right that disabling New Renderer and setting hardware lights set to less than 7 will disable some desirable features on some tables so it is best to not do it unless you have no choice.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

I like this guide because you have obviously tried these things on your own PC and had success.

Thanks! IIRC, I also came up with a few tips on my own there, and also clarified and enhanced other recommended tips.

Short answer is that it kinda seems like we're commonly squabbling as a community, but I love the idea of 'everyone cooperating to help,' if that makes sense.

The only recommendation that seems rather odd is the setting of rotation to 0 which seems like it should be rather obvious.

Yeah, seems kind of obviously silly, en retro.
IIRC, "Nitro" was the one who recommended that, but he was also the same person who recommended 50+% of the tips not my own, so... yeah.

Terry is right that disabling New Renderer and setting hardware lights set to less than 7 will disable some desirable features on some tables so it is best to not do it unless you have no choice.

I know, I know, but consider my working idea (as said above) that the fundamental idea here is to get FPS's as workable as possible as a 'base camp,' then add in the most desirable features from there.

Y'know..?