Stuttering in Gears of War???

I just got this game today and noticed that there are some moments where the frame rate will dip for a second or two... odd thing is that it's not happening during fire fights. However it did happen when the helicopters after the first stage came in also. I have everything on default, and have no AA going on. Is this just them trying to make an attempt to hide load times, like Metroid Prime and the doors, or is it my system? FYI I play CoD4 with higher resolution and everything on except AA and "soften edges on smoke" and never experience dips, and CoD4 seems to be much more superior in the graphics area.

 

having occasional dips in pc or console games are normal, even if you have a capable machine. i had a lot of lag at the heli stage too so i wouldn't worry about it.

 

Oh ok, thanks. Thought it may be my GPU. But on that note... I get some kind of buggy glitch in my hair in FFXI (Tarutaru) and also I can clearly see the seams between some tiles, and I've noticed that sometimes, at certain angles the bridge to the mog houses in jeuno, on the right and left both have an area that appears to be cut open. It's not supposed to look like that. It's like 2 rectangular prisms but the top and left sides are removed and you can see inside it at some angles.... is this a sign of my GPU overheating, because this thing gets really hot... I ask because I don't remember the hair glitch or being able to seems as clearly, and the bridge missing pieces on my PS2 version.

 

poor coding, not a problem on your end.

have fun w/ gears of war, and it is possible that a patch will be released that will ease or remove the GoW stuttering issue.

 

Thanks for the reply. Found it a little odd since CoD4 and GoW looked really amazing and an ancient game like FFXI was turning up with all these visible issues, but just wanted to make sure. The stuttering is a tad annoying but definatley not game breaking since it happens at the most unimportant times. As for the game, I'm having a blast, especially since I have a friend who also owns GoW to co-op through it with. But here's hoping for a patch anyway! It's the only thing keeping this game from being near perfect!

 

just a shot in the dark, but you don't happen to be playing in dx10, do you?

i don't know how to tell for sure (windows xp user) but force dx9 mode if possible...

 

There are quite a bit of stuttering in single player because the entire game is being streamed, the UT3 engine is built on streaming technology. So newer sections of the map will be streamed and loaded--and that causes stutterings once in a while. Especially when you arrive at new locations.

It bugs the hell out of me, but oh well, what can you do?

 

I managed to fix the stuttering, now it only stutters near checkpoints and when moving into a new area, other than that its fine.

Il post what was it that I did when I find the guide I followed, will post it tonight or tomoz if I manage to find it

 

I don't know how it's running. I didn't install any DX on vista. So I assume that it's in DX10? I don't know, the only thing i saw with "DX10" in it was the AA option which is off. Is it possible to download and install DX9 over DX10?

 

GOW will only run in DX9 unless the DX10 option is checked in the options. The stuttering I think is an issue everyone has. Currently there's no solution, and even the baddest pc's out there have stuttering issues.

 

Odd, I had assumed the stuttering people were mentioning were only because of checkpoints and loadpoints... Because that's all the stuttering I'm getting, and I haven't touched any guides or tweaks!

 

That's the problem I'm having in FFXI (the blotch in the hair. it flashes and other areas flash with blotches too)... tried an update form the apple site, downloading dx9, playing with the game settings, but nothing seems to work.

 

has stuttering issues...right? cause if i can run crysis on high settings and get absolutely no fps drops with 25-40 fps then i should be able to at least get 40-60 fps in gears of war on low settings...honestly....

 

Yea, Gears has a big stuttering issue.

If you can run Crysis on high you should be able to run Gears on high no problem. Crysis is much more demanding than Gears from my experience.

 

It's a port. What do you expect?

 

for the time they spent on it, and the fact they've made like 6-7 PC games...a lot more.

 

it's one of the better ports when you compare it to something like resident evil 4

 

lol yeah Gears of War is actually a great port despite the stuttering issue. It will likely be fixed in a future patch. Extra content? Rock on. Better visuals? Rock on. Sharp controls? excellent.

 

Resident Evil 4 wasn't TOO bad. Well, what has sweeten the game for me is the Modding scene.

 

Try restarting the PC and see if it works. If it does then it seems the program isn't closing properly. Defrag and do a scan on your hard drives to see if things improve. Game patches and driver updates if the above doesn't work.

 

Yeah, it stutters. But I should point out that it only stutters at the most unimportant times it won't even matter. During a crazy firefight it'll play smoothly, and stutter when walking into an empty hall or at a check point to load a new section of the stage. I tried it on both low and high and it didn't make a difference... Even compared it with my friend playing on an 8400 and we both stuttered in the same spots.

 

quick fix as promised

somewhat of a fix for stuttering


navigate to this directory

C:\Documents and Settings\yourname\My Documents\My Games\Gears of War for Windows\WarGame\Config

open up the following files

WarEngineUserSettings.ini

DefaultEngineUserSettings.ini

search for [TextureLODSettings] and replace the content underneath it by the following

Code:

TEXTUREGROUP_World=(MinLODSize=128,MaxLODSize=1024,LODBias=1)
TEXTUREGROUP_WorldNormalMap=(MinLODSize=128,MaxLODSize=512,LODBias=1)
TEXTUREGROUP_WorldSpecular=(MinLODSize=128,MaxLODSize=512,LODBias=1)
TEXTUREGROUP_Character=(MinLODSize=128,MaxLODSize=1024,LODBias=1)
TEXTUREGROUP_CharacterNormalMap=(MinLODSize=128,MaxLODSize=512,LODBias=1)
TEXTUREGROUP_CharacterSpecular=(MinLODSize=128,MaxLODSize=512,LODBias=1)
TEXTUREGROUP_Weapon=(MinLODSize=128,MaxLODSize=1024,LODBias=1)
TEXTUREGROUP_WeaponNormalMap=(MinLODSize=128,MaxLODSize=512,LODBias=1)
TEXTUREGROUP_WeaponSpecular=(MinLODSize=128,MaxLODSize=512,LODBias=1)
TEXTUREGROUP_Vehicle=(MinLODSize=128,MaxLODSize=1024,LODBias=1)
TEXTUREGROUP_VehicleNormalMap=(MinLODSize=128,MaxLODSize=512,LODBias=1)
TEXTUREGROUP_VehicleSpecular=(MinLODSize=128,MaxLODSize=512,LODBias=1)
TEXTUREGROUP_Effects=(MinLODSize=128,MaxLODSize=1024,LODBias=1)
TEXTUREGROUP_Skybox=(MinLODSize=128,MaxLODSize=1024,LODBias=1)
TEXTUREGROUP_UI=(MinLODSize=128,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)
TEXTUREGROUP_LightAndShadowMap=(MinLODSize=128,MaxLODSize=1024,LODBias=1)
TEXTUREGROUP_RenderTarget=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0)

Now save the DefaultEngineUserSettings.ini and make it read-only by right clicking it, selecting properties and selecting read-only.

For the WarEngineUserSettings.ini there are some more tweaks, so do the following

Change OnlyStreamInTextures=FALSE to OnlyStreamInTextures=TRUE (only helps if you have got more than 1.5 GB ram, otherwise its a negative impact).

Change OneFrameGPULag=TRUE to OneFrameGPULag=FALSE (may or may not help so experiment, helped me out)

Save and make read-only


Navigate to where you installed gears of war and then into Engine/Config directory

Open up the following files

BaseEngine.ini
BaseEngineUserSettings.ini

Again replace the stuff under [TextureLODSettings] like done above, dont change anything else, ie no gpulag or streamtexture changes like done before.

Save and make both these files read-only.


These solved my stuttering, with no impact on visuals. Before I used to stutter in battles, walking around, in random places where youd expect the framerate to be in the 60's, however after these tweaks, I dont get stuttering, just some lag when checkpoint is saved or move into a new area, its only 1 or 2 sec just to load everything into memory, from there on its smooth. Sometimes it doesnt even stutter when moving into diff areas like new halls or what not.


Hope this helped

 

blackbird.. thanks..

i changed the first 2 files and it seemed to help..

but i dont have either baseengine file... whats up with that?

 

hmm dunno

it should be in Engine/Config/ of the place where you installed gears of war

so something like XXX/Gears of War/Engine/Config

along with many other BaseXXX.ini files


i can upload mine if you want and you paste em in your Engine/Config folder

 

sure that would be cool..

i will tell you this though...

i still get bad stutters in the game between act 4 and 4 in the electric plant and especially when i fight that big dinosaur...

it seemed to work.. but in reviewing last night.. it still stutters..

so you dont get any stutter at all?

 

only when it loads a new area after checkpoint. I have also defragmented my hard-drive prior to and after the installation of gears of war. I have also applied the patch for gears of war as well.

yea this fix is just temporary, we need a new patch from epic. also are you sure you made the files read only?

Im uploading the baseXXX.ini files atm, will update post with link when done


EDIT

here is the link

http://www.sendspace.com/file/iamwlr

extract and place config directory in XXX/Gears of War/Engine/

 

so i just started trying to play gears again. anyone find any other tweaks?

 

Ive just installed Gears as well.
I get a constant 60-62FPS. Never dips below that. All at highest settings, at 1920x1200.
Runs perfectly smooth, except for the bloody stuttering now and again!!

They really need to release a patch to fix this issue - otherwise it runs great.

Had UT3 running at max res (1920x1200) and settings, no problems whatsoever. Also have COD4, Bioshock, NFS Prostreet, etc, all running at max res and settings and they all run perfectly fine. So its not my system for sure!!

I do hope they release a patch for it, this seems to have been going on for a long time now!

 

FFXI has some weird graphical glitches in that are well documented, so you're not experiencing anything out of the ordinary.
I used to play... Then I kicked the habit and got addicted to WoW.
Kicked that too.
Phew.

 

I have another issue with Gears - not a major problem, but it gets annoying.

I go in, change the video settings so everything is maxed. I then play the game - get the typical stuttering, but I can play the game 60-62FPS.

I then quit the game. The next time I play it, the settings I had changed ll go back to default again. So I have to put them all on high again before I play.

Why wont it save my settings??

I had the same issue with UT3, but I fixed it by modifying the shortcut so it had ' -nohomedir ' at the end of the target. This fixed it in UT3, but this doesnt work for Gears...

Anyone else have this issue?

Why is this game so damn buggy??!! And why arent Epic releasing patches? To my knowledge only 1 patch released????

 

Ive had enough.
Gears was my favourite game on the XBox 360, and I missed it since Ive sold my 360. Im playing it on my laptop now, and am on the extra content levels. As soon as Ive played the extra content Im getting rid of the game.
Although its an awesome game, Im sick of all the bugs, and the stuttering rubbish that Epic refuse to acknowledge or sort out. It spoils the gameplay.
Back on eBay it goes!

Unless anyone here wants it?? Brand new condition - with 1 month Live subscription untouched....

 

It stutters less with my go7800 GTX than with those 8700m GT SLI I had and this in XP

 

Its just a buggy game overall, and Ive had enough!
I'll try BioShock instead

 

BioShock is overated IMHO. I thought Gears was a lot more fun, despite the stuttering.

 

I uninstalled this game and threw it into my closet. It was such a horrible port it just made me hate Gears of War, which is a shame since I hear the 360 version was great. It got to a part where I couldn't even continue, since it would just crash every single time I reached that section. WORST game I ever bought in my life. And the 1 month free of live? I tried to enter that key in to get it and it didn't even work!!!

 

I hear lots of guys has problems with crashing. Now it stutters a little for me too, nothing extreme and I have not had any single crash. Though on Vista and with my 8700m GT´s I had such horrible stuttering.

Now strangely enough on my desktop 8800GTX and Vista the stuttering isn´t even noticable, now how come it is like that.

 

I agree. I do prefer Gears. I played it when I had my 360 and it was my favourite game! Such a shame the port isnt as good as I had hoped.

TBH, the stuttering has got worse as I played through the game. Im at the extra content - just about to fight the Brumak, and at the beginning it would stutter only occasionally for less then a second, which I could handle. Now it stutters more often, and sometimes for 2-3 seconds. That, I wont put up with.

I've completed the game on the 360 on all difficulties and had all the achievements for online play etc as well, so Ive experienced the game before. I bought the PC version since I sold my 360 and I had enjoyed the game so much, but also for the extra content. As soon as Ive played through the extra content, the game is being sold!

I havent had any crashing either, none at all. Its just the stuttering. Epic really need to look into this. Such a large number of people have the issue that i would have thought they would have looked into a patch straight away!

I havent tried the game with SLI turned off though TBH.

 

Just completed the game on the PC. Extra content was cool!
Nevertheless Ive also just sold it on eBay - made a profit on it as well!! lol

 

yeah i did the streaming fix, and it helped a bit but none the less i stillgeta bit of stutterung when i get to a checkppoing or near one. Also i wonder if dx10 AA has anything to do with it, because im using that as an option...hmmm

 

The streaming fix for me resulted in it took longer to load up the textures, it is really not a fix at all since the stuttering is still there, actually the stuttering to worse at least for me with these fixes.

 

You may be experiencing this due to your GPU driver. Check this thread.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=223272

 

If you used blackbird's tweak where the files have been set to read-only, your changes are never saved because read-only means the files can only be accessed by the game but not modified by it

 

I have all settings on high. Except for DX10/AA. I switched it to OFF after I myself was getting stuttering and fps spikes. Now I get steady 60-62 fps. I would turn those off just to enjoy the game, besides I didn't really see a major difference with DX10/AA turned on anyway. By the way, AA is only 4x for this game(look it up), no lower no higher. I don't have a laptop but these are my specs.

My Computer specs:
OCed Quad.
8gb OCed Ram.
2x 8800 Ultras Superclocked in SLI.
500gb WD HD Sata 300.
Samsung Sata 300 optical.
Samsung 24" LCD, all games @ 1920 x 1200.
Windows Vista Ultimate x64 OS.

 

Gears was, and still is my favourite game of all time on the 360. Nothing but an unstable, jerky, stuttery mess on my ASUS G1S. Haven't even bothered trying to install it on my more powerful Desktop, but I'm not really inspired to either. It's such a shame, when you think about how good it could have been. If they made it as good as the 360 version, it would have been brilliant. Unfortunately, it seems that they are instead concentrating their efforts on Gears2 for the 360. I'm not too concerned though, as after I've finished playing Gears2 on my 360, I'm sure there'll be an unstable stuttery mess called Gears2 available for the PC about 18 months after its' release.

How can Epic, responsible for the Brilliant Gears on the 360, and such masterpieces as UT3 on the PC leave us with such a mess ?

Are you there, Cliffy ???

Even if there's a fundamental problem with Gears running on the PC that they can't fix, I'm sure we'd at least appreciate an explaination. As far as I'm concerned, Gears for the PC, is an unstable, unfinished project that appears to have been abandoned. My problem is that the project was abandoned after they took my money for what was packaged as a finished, retail version. (OK, there has been another patch released, but it hasn't solved the real issues; stuttering and crashing). After scouring the net, I've never heard of anyone who has seen this game play without stuttering. Apart from the stuttering, My game always crashes On Tick Tick Boom, as soon as I find "Another way in", immediately after the clip where I see the two boomers walking.

I don't, and have never had any problems with any other games.

Epic have created the masterpiece that was Gears on the 360. This has left such a sour taste, I really wish they hadn't even bothered trying to make a PC version. It's besmirching the name of what was my favourite game ever.

Maybe we should all return our game, which we bought in good faith, as it's unfit for purpose.