Potential Source of Performance Issues --System AI/Simulation?

[LostAesir]

I've noticed that being within a certain distance of busy hubs has a huge impact on game performance.

On one of my machines (admittedly somewhat dated, though it runs most games at medium-high settings), I get a solid 60+ fps whenever i'm more than ~85 km from the nearest station. Moving within a certain range drops it to ~20 fps. I've tested this in several places, and I can even park on the edge of this line. Reversing a few feet yields smooth play and moving forward the same causes the chop.

This problem seems to be independent of graphics settings. Turning everything to max (1080p, full AA, everything on/max) or lowering it to full-crappy only alters the results by 2-3 fps.

Most interestingly, the View Distance does not have an impact on the line at which the performance changes. With VD at 100, this line is the same as the station 'pop-in' point. Lowering it of course makes the station invisible at this range, but the point at which performance is impacted does not change at all.

The fact that the game music also tends to change at this point implies that these regions are some sort of zone that have special high-fidelity AI for when the player is inside. They probably run a simpler AI when the player is outside, much like in earlier X games.

I'm posting this in the hopes that it helps Ego improve overall performance. Maybe they could provide a ship density slider to assist with computers that struggle, or to allow for distant objects to only update ai/physics every few frames.

Thanks.

[TheNr0]

Have you tried the reduced mass traffic mod?
Could be a good workaound for you until Egosoft gets the game to a point where performance increase is more important than bugfixes.

[LostAesir]

I tried the mod, specifically the 3/4 reduction one, and it does not seem to impact the result much/at all. Do I need to start a new game for it to work?

EDIT: Never mind. Tried it on a new game. The same performance boundary line occurs, with about the same magnitude. Thanks for the response though!

Mostly I posted this thread to take some of the conversation on performance away from just graphics/gpu. My problem seems to be with something else.

[SyberSmoke]

I have noticed something similar. Outside a certain perimeter, my frame rate is fine. Inside a certain range, my frame rate is fine. But there appears to be a magic line where frame rate will drop to a slide show.

It is hard to replicate and only happens in certain areas. I have not been able to quantify why or what areas...just that it happens. Usually it is about 50-60km from a station...but when I get closer...it fades away and the frame rate returns to normal.