Xenoblade ran fine, now is super clunky

[Hat-89]

Hello everyone,

I've been searching for a solution for a few hours and well, I've run out of options it seems.

This is my PC:
Intel i5-7400 3.0GHz, Intel Optane 16GB Memory PCIe M.2, AMD RX 580 4GB, 8GB DDR4 RAM, 2TB

About a month ago, I was running Xenoblade Chronicles with no issues for several hours with these settings in the last of Version 4:
OpenGL
2.5x Native
No Anti-Aliasing
Anisotropic Filtering - 1x
Everything else default

I had no problems at all, the game never lagged, it ran for hours with no problems.

Today, I decided to boot the game up again and decided to try to optimize things, I downloaded an HD patch installer for the game, and the game would only work for 10 secs before the audio would just start repeating, with the whole game frozen. I went back to loading the original game, and have had nothing but issues since, with huge frame drops and only being able to play for 15 minutes or so before it just quits. I deleted the modified version of the .iso, and I downloaded and installed Dolphin version 5.0 (The guaranteed stable version) and I'm having the exact same problem. The game runs clunky, even at native resolution and will eventually freeze.

The FPS drop is annoying, especially since it wasn't a problem prior, but my main issue is the game just freezes and its taking hours to progress even an hour further into the game. The FPS drops appear random, as its just my character walking or running, but it'll be running at 30-31, then suddenly for no reason, it'll go down to like 12, sometimes 8, and then hang there for a few seconds, then go back up to 30. After about 15 minutes or so, it just freezes and stops.

I turned up the resolution to 4x, and honestly it ran exactly the same as Native, smooth, then clunky every 30 seconds or so, before it just freezes. I'm not sure what the problem is, but if someone can please tell me how I goofed this thing up, or what I should change, I'd appreciate it.

I attached the Xenoblade HD Patch Installer that I used, but later deleted.

Thank you.

[JonnyH]

Try the latest dolphin Dev releases. They are often quite stable, as the development process for dolphin means that most issues are fixed before things are merged into master, and there are a number of fixes that may help that we're merged after 5.0

For issues like this, it may be worth seeing if disabling the dual core mode helps. While it can speed some things up, it had fundamental issues and can cause all kinds of problems in games. The same with fractional IRs (though you said there was no change after moving away from 2.5x) Generally, its better to run without dual core if your CPU can handle it, which an i5 7400 should be able to do easily for the majority of games.

[Hat-89]

(02-04-2018, 02:55 PM)JonnyH Wrote: Try the latest dolphin Dev releases. They are often quite stable, as the development process for dolphin means that most issues are fixed before things are merged into master, and there are a number of fixes that may help that we're merged after 5.0

For issues like this, it may be worth seeing if disabling the dual core mode helps. While it can speed some things up, it had fundamental issues and can cause all kinds of problems in games. The same with fractional IRs (though you said there was no change after moving away from 2.5x) Generally, its better to run without dual core if your CPU can handle it, which an i5 7400 should be able to do easily for the majority of games.

Thanks for the suggestion!

(1) I downloaded the most recent version (5.0-6276), and it appears at least I can play without the game crashing, which is big. I tested it for about a half hour and it didn't crash, which was the largest problem, however I don't have time at the moment to do a long play session. Thanks!

(2) I still find it odd that prior to installing that HD patch in version 4, I was able to play on 2.5x with no FPS drop for several hours, without crashing. I've seen no way to uninstall it, but it did modify the Xenoblade .iso, so I deleted the modified one, do you think I have to do anything else? I've also uninstalled Dolphin and re-installed it, and downloaded the most recent version. Maybe I just got lucky with the game because I can't believe that this patch is still causing problems.

(3) I've uploaded a picture of all of my settings, because the game is still not running great. FPS drops from 30 to around 12 during battles, moving into buildings the game sinks really low to around 8, when opening the world map there is delay of about 6 seconds with a FPS drop, and I don't feel like it should be doing this at the unambitious settings I have Dolphin at and given my mid-range pc specs. I would just assume this is the way it is emulating this game, but I had such fantastic results prior, I feel like it doesn't have to play so clunky.

Is there any further suggestions? I really appreciate the input!

[JMC47]

You're using OpenGL on an AMD, that's where your performance issues come from.

[Hat-89]

(02-05-2018, 04:45 AM)JMC47 Wrote: You're using OpenGL on an AMD, that's where your performance issues come from.

I'm not savvy with this, what should it be on?

Thank you!

[Helios]

Direct3D 11 or Vulkan.

[Hat-89]

(02-05-2018, 05:09 AM)Helios Wrote: Direct3D 11 or Vulkan.

Thank you, that did the trick, I have it on Vulkan and I've checked everything that stated it would bring even a minor improvement to visual quality and it runs smoothly. With everything on max, only a slight FPS drop in boss battle for a moment.

I'll take it!

[Helios]

Dolphin doesn't have "max" settings.

What did you set to "max"?

If you turned up Internal resolution as high as it would go, please don't do that. Set it closest to your display's resolution.

[Hat-89]

(02-05-2018, 06:36 AM)Helios Wrote: Dolphin doesn't have "max" settings.

What did you set to "max"?

If you turned up Internal resolution as high as it would go, please don't do that. Set it closest to your display's resolution.

I meant "max" figuratively, as in, the settings that looked the nicest on my screen after experimentation.

Thanks for the input!