A latest Digital Foundry podcast addressed a long-running debate over the Unreal Engine. There’s an argument over whether or not Unreal Engine ini mods truly enhance recreation efficiency, particularly the stuttering issues within the Oblivion Remastered version.
The workforce rigorously examined two standard mods and has ended this debate, at the least for Oblivion. These extensively used mods ship virtually no actual efficiency advantages. One of many mods examined was the “Oblivion BSA Uncompressor.” That is meant to cut back stuttering by decompressing recreation information forward of time as an alternative of throughout gameplay. The thought was that real-time decompression places additional pressure on the CPU, which could trigger stuttering.
A number of five-minute benchmark checks in The Imperial Metropolis, each with and with out the mod, confirmed virtually no distinction. After rigorously evaluating body occasions, there was a tiny enchancment of about 1.9% in common body price with the mod, however this was so small that it may simply be resulting from regular variations in CPU-heavy benchmarks.
The second mod examined was “Final Engine Tweaks,” a standard sort of ini file modification that claims to optimize varied recreation settings, together with graphics, loading habits, and the way the engine makes use of a number of CPU cores. The outcomes have been similar to the primary check.
Working the sport with and with out the “Final Engine Tweaks” mod confirmed virtually no distinction in body occasions or stuttering. Some settings within the ini file have been unclear of their function, however the ones that might be understood both didn’t matter within the remaining model of the sport or solely affected graphical particulars unrelated to efficiency.
Even a small improve in common body price doesn’t matter if the issue, inconsistent body occasions inflicting stuttering, isn’t fastened. CPU-bound benchmarks naturally have some variability, making tiny proportion enhancements meaningless. Principally, one of the best ways to evaluate these mods is by whether or not they scale back stuttering, not by a minor enhance in common body price.
Neither mod made a noticeable distinction in gameplay, so there’s a large hole between what the mods declare to do and the precise lack of enchancment in testing. Even nonetheless, these mods are standard.
Gamers may check the sport in numerous areas or conditions the place efficiency appears higher after putting in a mod, even when the mod isn’t the true trigger. One more reason is shader compilation stutters, which are sometimes confused with basic efficiency issues.
If a participant installs a mod after experiencing dangerous shader stutters, the subsequent play session may appear smoother simply because these stutters have been short-term and never as a result of the mod helped. This impact is very frequent in early DirectX 11 video games, which helped create the false perception that these mods work.
That is simply Oblivion, so there’s at all times the prospect that they do work in different video games, however the outcomes make me imagine they do not work in any respect. If there was some profit or noticeable enchancment, then I would imagine it’d work elsewhere, however there’s none, and this recreation has numerous processing within the background. So your mods could be taking on house.
Supply: Digital Foundry