Ch.4 and 8 FPS Drop
 

Original Problem solved of sorts. The crashing was from changing the FoV through ingame console. Which is not effective really anyway, since its not true widescreen as it cuts off the top and the bottom of the screen some. The FoV mod that is posted in the mods forum works well, and with patch 1.2. So use that for true widescreen.


The FPS drop is due to utterly poor map optimization in Ch.4 and later in Ch.8. This is due to enormous amounts of in-game territory having to be rendered all at once, far more then appears in any other levels in the game. There needed to be a cutoff render distance, or slightly different map design to fix this.

Great game otherwise, if a bit on the clunky side.

Gonna go out on a limb here and state what I think is going on.

Seems changing the fov in game via game console has some potential crash issues. Changing my config back to 100 resulted in no script errors. I haven't tried using the FoV mod, but that would seem to be the way to go for least hassles.

Made it through Ch 4 and Ch 5, started part way through Ch 6. It seems Ch 4 is just terribly unoptimized and at times the frame rate becomes crippled because the far draw distances being rendered in multiple directions at any one time. Ch 5 I saw much shorter draw distances, and was able to turn up alot of settings with smooth framerates again.

It would be nice if there was a draw distance graphic slider, or something that should have been implemented for Ch 4 (and hopefully not later chapters, but time will tell) to help the draw distance issue.

Definitely gave me a headache to sort through this.

On the bright side, most of the reviews I have read noted that I just got to the fun part, with the Shadowhand glove and the game really kicks up a notch from here on out.

I recall dealing with a similar error that occured when zooming and having FOV != 100. The direct cause is IMO that "the weapon failed to be created." Possible solutions:
1-use FOV=100, like everyone
2-use the FOV fix by ztorm
3-patch to 1.2 (it includes a basic fov fix)
4-code the fix yourself
Changing the FOV in v1.0&v1.1 causes crashs. Why didn't you try the FOV fix before posting? Did you even search for FOV related posts?
Patch to 1.2. If it still crashs, we've got a problem.
Perhaps you could have done that a little bit earlier?

And yeah, ch4 DOES have performance issues. Live with it or bash the devs (though that won't change anything).

Thanks for the reply. Giving 1.2 a shot. Will post back.

I expected the FoV to be changeable like in most other games without crashing. It wasn't until I started crashing that I checked here for support. Imagine that?

For the FoV fix 1.1 it is recommended that you start a new chapter (I.E. starting a new game). I didn't want to start over from the beginning, being that I just got to the Shadowhand glove. The levels are pretty long. And as expected, with the 1.1 FoV fix with patch 1.1 I am experiencing some crashes since I tried to give it a shot without starting over. Reverted back to standard FoV fixed it though. But it doesn't look that great with such a squashed FoV.



I'm not much for bashing devs. But I do express some frustration with the crashing, as it's annoying as hell. Especially since it seems standard for appropriate widescreen support. And ch.4 really buckled my system down ranging from a smooth 60 fps to a flatline 4 fps at times. It needs some serious tweaking. Take that as a bash or constructive criticism - your call.

Anyhow, thanks again for the feedback.