NieR: Automata PC problems get solved the usual way – by modders
We wrote recently about NieR: Automata’s potentially weird behavior just prior to the launch of the PC version. The game has launched, but unfortunately it had issues on this platform, which is unfortunately a hallmark of many multiplatform games. Luckily, the PC world has its saviors, the modders, so let’s look at the problems and their solutions.
Looking at the resolution and the frame rate, the game is supposed to be locked at 1080p/60, however this is not quite the case. The resolution just renders at 900p and then stretches that to 1080p, while the frames are capped at 60, though all kinds of shenanigans are happening there and we can say they are definitely not smooth. In both cases the usual workarounds, such as the windowed mode or reducing details, do not affect the performance in any meaningful way.
Modder Kaldaien is one of the guys who created an installer app that fixes the problems and which can be found on the Steam forums, giving you access to the game’s properties. This fixes the resolution problem, while it also gives users control of the Global Illumination settings. This was identified as the performance problem cause, however, it was not accessible without a little tinkering. The performance can improve by as much as 60%. Some users are reporting that mobile GPUs get even twice that.
This is another case of developers not doing their best when it comes to PC ports. It is a shame to see in this day and age, whatever the reason. Apart from Nier, we have seen Mass Effect: Andromeda launch with a myriad of issues. The Nier: Automata issues are not as obvious nor as bad, and they could be somewhat forgiven when compared to the ME: Andromeda ones. We are, after all, talking huge differences between development teams and budgets. Still, it is a bad omen for PC players who thought that the times of bad ports were behind them after the PS3/Xbox 360 generation.
NieR: Automata launched for PS4 and PC on March 7 and 10, respectively.
