A quick guide with technical tips for the Abiotic Factor game.
Disabling Lumen / Raytracing
There is some solutions regarding (Unreal Engine 5) UE5.
Navigate to this folder:
- C:\Users\<User>\AppData\Local\AbioticFactor\Saved\Config\Windows
And open Engine.ini file. Add the following code to the beginning of it:
[/script/engine.renderersettings]
r.Nanite.MaxPixelsPerEdge=4
r.Lumen.ScreenProbeGather.RadianceCache.ProbeResolution=16
r.Lumen.DiffuseIndirect.Allow=0
r.Lumen.Reflections.Allow=0I also added:
r.Water.SingleLayer.Reflection=0
r.VolumetricCloud=0
r.VolumetricFog=0There since the perfomance is abysmal in this game, sadly. The result is night and day compared to the default settings.
Skipping the Intro Movie
Delete/Rename the movie file ABF_SplashScreens inside the folder:
- SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\AbioticFactor\AbioticFactor\Content\Movies
Note: This saves you 17.12 seconds, now you can science faster!
the engine.ini file on Steamdeck or Linux:
First, locate the Abiotic executable in desktop mode. You will need the game’s unique appid number. The simplest method is to launch Steam, right-click on Abiotic, and select “browse local files” if it’s not on your desktop.
Next, select Properties by doing a right-click on the executable (Abiotic factor.desktop).
Select the tab for the application. You will notice a unique number (such as steam://rungameid/1234567) down where it says “arguments.”
Either copy this number or simply keep the window open to view it.
Here is the (very lengthy) file path! Recall that you are pasting or copying the numbers.
/home/deck/local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/1234567/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/Appdata/Local/Abioticfactor/saved/Config/Windows
To navigate, you might also need to have “show hidden files” enabled. To do so, click the hamburger menu button in the upper right corner of the Dolphin browser on Steam Deck, then select “show hidden files.”
It took me a few weeks to notice that the game was locking up on me, and even then, it happened roughly twice or three times every session. I tried reducing the graphics, but it didn’t help. However, this guide resolved that problem somewhat permanently. It can still happen, but it’s rare—it’s only happened once over the course of about five or six sessions.
Because Lumen’s developers built the world’s lighting around it, it is difficult to disable. During the game, there are certain locations (like the Labs Sector) where the ambient lighting suddenly becomes extremely bright, or places that should be dark don’t actually get very dark. Of course, you probably don’t care about the ugly look if your main goal is to maximize performance in the game.
That’s probably why the game’s developers left it set to TSR by default. If your system is having trouble with Lumen, you should run the game at a lower screen percentage; the upscaler will smooth out the lower resolution to make it appear as though it is running at native.
You can experiment with the variables r.Lumen.*. With r.RayTracing / r.RayTracing.*, you’re probably not going to get very far because it’s disabled by default and enables game crashes. Lumen appears to attempt identifying the code paths it uses according on your hardware based on a few variables.
Very likely, but in my view, the upscaler isn’t the intended way to play the game—rather, it’s supposed to be like crutches or a wheelchair. In particular, the one that ought to be just as difficult as the games from the 200X era. People must learn to refrain from adding every new buzzword that Epic releases to their games. Since the game aims for a retro aesthetic, there was really no excuse not to use old generation technology for everything in it.
I really appreciate it. In the large elevator CBlock room, I moved from 6 FPS to about 20.
The game resembled a realistic depiction of hallucinogen persisting perception disorder until lumen was disabled.
Try adding this to your engine.ini in this manner and check if your frame rate increased from 20.
[SystemSettings]
r.DynamicGlobalIlluminationMethod=0
r.Lumen.DiffuseIndirect.Allow=0
r.Lumen.HardwareRaytracing=0
r.Lumen.Reflections.HardwareRayTracing=0
r.Lumen.ScreenProbeGather.ShortRangeAO=0
r.Lumen.Reflections.Temporal=0
r.Lumen.ScreenProbeGather.Temporal.MaxFramesAccumulated=4
r.Lumen.ScreenProbeGather.TemporalFilterProbes=0
r.ReflectionMethod=2
r.Nanite=0
r.VRS.Enable=true
r.VRS.BasePass=2
r.VRS.NaniteEmitGBuffer=2
r.VRS.Translucency=1
r.VRS.LightFunctions=1
r.VRS.ReflectionEnviromentSky=2
r.VRS.SSR=2
r.VRS.SSAO=0
r.RayTracing=0
r.RayTracing.Enable=0
r.RayTracing.GlobalIllumination=0
r.RayTracing.Reflections=0
r.RayTracing.Reflections.Hybrid=0
r.RayTracing.Reflections.Shadows=0
r.RayTracing.Shadows=0
r.RayTracing.ForceAllRayTracingEffects=0
By the way, only for my system and game:
prior to altering the engine.as well as scalability.In hectic sequences with a lot of adversaries on the map, I was achieving 15–30 frames per second.
My average speed right now is 135 feet per second.
Btw since I used my scalability modifications, I do notice my frame rate spiked and stays around 144 fps a lot. This is likely because I did more than merely disable lumen, but tuned all the general shadows, post process, and lighting stuff to values. Sometimes in the pitch black darkness no actual self-lighting happens, until I move or do something with the interface and suddenly it comes back and I can see a short distance in the dark again.
For me, there is still a lot of labor in the game even when Lumen is disabled.
I made use of scalability.ini to set the parameters such that the system is forced to run with less load and consistently achieve 144 frames per second.
I think I might switch back to utilizing Lumen after doing some testing. I believe Lumen is to blame for many mirrors’ capacity to reflect objects in some way. When I was using it, every mirror in the game would reflect the whole space, including my rucksack, which would hover eerily. However, after turning it off and switching to SSGI, I discovered that the majority of mirrors are only reflecting when viewed from an angle.
It would be great if Lumen’s problems could be solved in some way by hybridizing it with SSGI or something similar, in which case SSGI could be used to provide quick lighting when lights are turned on and off and then fade out or cease to function as Lumen fades in.
I would like to include a brief subsection regarding the location of these configurations when running the game on Linux using Proton (I use Pop OS myself).
You should be able to locate the configuration directory by running the command `find /media/games/SteamLibrary -path “*/AbioticFactor/Saved/Config/Windows”}. It is located in a “compability directory” that emulates Windows.
Please take note that I have installed SteamLibrary and mounted my external disk at {/media/games}.It is also possible to find from root {/}, but it will take some time. In order to avoid receiving permission denied spam, I advise using sudo to perform find.
Example of full path from my machine:
/media/gamedisk/SteamLibrary/steamapps/compatdata/427410/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/AppData/Local/AbioticFactor/Saved/Config/Windows
Perhaps you should turn off Nanites? The two heaviest aspects of UE5 are lumen and nanoites, however I’m not sure if they’re used.
You can make changes to Scalability even if adjusting the engine.ini or game settings.ini has no effect.ini to compel the engine to employ particular components.
For low-cost, worldwide screen illumination, try type 2. I’m not sure if it would replace the baked illumination, though.
From documentation:
“NONE
No dynamic Global Illumination method will be used. Global Illumination can still be baked into lightmaps.
Type 0”
This means GI is baked into lightmaps, thus does nothing.
my laptop now runs it at 60fps most of the time with increased settings.
one thing ive noticed is that with lower gamma to compensate with this lights have become less effective. i noticed that my base was super dark at nighttime. heres hoping they add an alternate way of doing the lighting
Also, there is fog in some parts of the labs that reduces FPS. If it could be turned off, it would be great.
What about FPS gain? How much?
That’s hard to predict especially for a game running on this pile of sh*t of an engine but I believe I gained about 20fps and can now play in 2K, so if you’re running a 1080p monitor and you apply this tweak, it might be even more drastic.
Instead of Navigate to: C:\Users\\AppData\Local\AbioticFactor\Saved\Config\Windows
You can use %localappdata%\AbioticFactor\Saved\Config\Windows
Just paste it to win+r or to any explorer adress field.