christian_39
5 years agoNew Adventurer
Re: BUG - Mass Effect 3 Shields not Recharging when playing at high frame rate.
This issue was also present on the OG version of ME3 and it is not present neither on the LE games. See here: https://answers.ea.com/t5/Mass-Effect-3/Shields-don-t-regenerate-in-single-or-multiplayer/m-p/10371703
Bug cause: It seems the issue shows up when the game runs at framerates ABOVE 144 fps.
- If someone owns a 240hz monitor and can test would be great.
- If setting the fps limiter to 240 fps on a 240hz display fixes the issue => we change the description of the bug to "shields won't recharge or will recharge slowly if the framerate does not match the available thresholds on the in-game fps limiter (i.e., 60, 120, 144, 240).
- I own a 165hz display so I can't test all the 240fps scenarios (if I disable vsync and allow the game upto 240fps on my 165hz display the shields won't reload at all, see Scenario 5)
Video depicting the issue:
Test scenarios:
- Scenario 1:
- Setup:
- In-game FPS limiter: 240
- In-game vsync: DISABLED
- Nvidia control panel FPS limiter: DISABLED.
- Nvidia control panel Vsync: ENABLED
- Nvidia control panel G-sync: ENABLED
- Results: FAILURE. Shields do not work properly (slow regeneration)
- Setup:
- Scenario 2:
- Setup:
- In-game FPS limiter: 240
- In-game vsync: DISABLED
- Nvidia control panel FPS limiter: DISABLED
- Nvidia control panel Vsync: ENABLED
- Nvidia control panel G-sync: ENABLED
- Results: FAILURE. Shields do not work properly (slow regeneration)
- Setup:
- Scenario 3:
- Setup:
- In-game FPS limiter: 240
- In-game vsync: DISABLED
- Nvidia control panel FPS limiter: ENABLED (162 frames max)
- Nvidia control panel Vsync: ENABLED
- Nvidia control panel G-sync: ENABLED
- Results: FAILURE. Shields do not work properly (slow regeneration)
- Setup:
- Scenario 4:
- Setup:
- In-game FPS limiter: 144
- In-game vsync: DISABLED
- Nvidia control panel FPS limiter: ENABLED (162 frames max)
- Nvidia control panel Vsync: ENABLED
- Nvidia control panel G-sync: ENABLED
- Results: FAILURE. Shields do not work properly (slow regeneration)
- Setup:
- Scenario 5:
- Setup:
- In-game FPS limiter: DISABLED
- In-game vsync: ENABLED
- Nvidia control panel FPS limiter: N/A
- Nvidia control panel Vsync: ENABLED (application controlled)
- Nvidia control panel G-sync: ENABLED
- Results: FAILURE. Shields do not work properly (slow regeneration)
- Setup:
- Scenario 5:
- Setup:
- In-game FPS limiter: DISABLED (i.e. set to 240 fps since it is the only possible setting for "disabling" it when vsync is off)
- In-game vsync: DISABLED
- Nvidia control panel FPS limiter: N/A
- Nvidia control panel Vsync: ENABLED (application controlled)
- Nvidia control panel G-sync: DISABLED
- Results: FAILURE. Shields do not work properly (shields DO NOT RELOAD at all). In this case the game will
- Setup:
- Scenario 6:
- Setup:
- In-game FPS limiter: DISABLED
- In-game vsync: ENABLED
- Nvidia control panel FPS limiter: N/A
- Nvidia control panel Vsync: ENABLED (application controlled)
- Nvidia control panel G-sync: DISABLED
- Results: FAILURE. Shields do not work properly (slow regeneration)
- Setup:
- Scenario 7:
- Setup:
- In-game FPS limiter: 144
- In-game vsync: DISABLED
- Nvidia control panel FPS limiter: DISABLED
- Nvidia control panel Vsync: ENABLED
- Nvidia control panel G-sync: ENABLED
- Results: PASS. Shields regenerate properly
- Setup:
- Scenario 8:
- Setup:
- In-game FPS limiter: 144
- In-game vsync: DISABLED
- Nvidia control panel FPS limiter: DISABLED
- Nvidia control panel Vsync: ENABLED
- Nvidia control panel G-sync: DISABLED
- Results: PASS. Shields regenerate properly
- Setup:
- Scenario 9:
- Setup:
- In-game FPS limiter: 240
- In-game vsync: DISABLED
- Nvidia control panel FPS limiter: ENABLED (144 frames max) => this one will cause the game to render at 144 (same as setting the limiter in-game)
- Nvidia control panel Vsync: ENABLED
- Nvidia control panel G-sync: ENABLED
- Results: PASS. Shields regenerate properly
- Setup:
Conclussions so far:
- Going above 144 fps will cause the shields either to reload slowly (any case where I allowed the framerate to be in the 165 fps neighborhood), or to not reload at all (when I allowed the framerate to cap at 240fps using the in-game limiter).
- Whether you use G-SYNC or not seems to be irreleavant. As long as I go above 144 fps the shields issue shows up.
Workarounds:
- If you are playing with in-game VSYNC OFF (to force vsync in the driver level, useful when using a G-SYNC compatible display) => limit the framerate to 144 fps. You can either do it using the in-game limiter or your graphics card tool (example: nvidia control panel for Nvidia cards), the result is the same.
- If you are playing with in-game VSYNC ON and you own a display that works at 144+ hz (tested with my 165hz display) => you need to limit your framerate using your graphics card tool (example: nvidia control panel for Nvidia cards).
In either case you need to limit the framerate to 144fps, otherwise you will experience the issue.