How to Boost FPS and Enable HDR in PAYDAY 3

How to Boost FPS and Enable HDR in PAYDAY 3

So, you’re knee-deep into PAYDAY 3 and you’re thinking, “How can I make this even better?” Well, there’s a neat trick for you. Switching over to DX12 Mode from DX11 can give your FPS a nice boost, especially if your system’s CPU limited. But a heads-up – the first time you jump into a heist or fire up the game with this enabled, you might experience some Shader Compilation stutters. They’ll lessen as you keep playing though.

Use this launch parameter onto your game properties:

• Go to PAYDAY 3, right-click Properties and search Launch option
• Type exactly this -dx12

This tweak can jazz up your gaming sessions, but a word to the wise: there’ve been a few whispers about crashes linked to the Statue of Liberty Gold Mask. Go to the ModWorkshop comments section might have a quick fix for you.

Unreal Engine CVARs

Alright, so if you’re looking to kick your Unreal Engine game up a notch, there’s a cool thing called CVARs (Console Variables). They let you tweak a bunch of settings, like shader compilation and texture streaming, to get that performance just right.

 

Here’s the deal: you’ll want to find the game’s config files. These bad boys live right here:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\PAYDAY3\Saved\Config\WindowsClient\

In there, you’ll see a bunch of files. The one you’re after is Engine.ini. Pop it open and paste these lines at the bottom:

[/script/engine.renderersettings]
r.CreateShadersOnLoad=1
niagara.CreateShadersOnLoad=1

What you’re doing here is telling the game to handle shader stuff during load screens and not in the thick of the action – helping you dodge those pesky stutters. If you’re feeling extra adventurous, you can add this too:

[SystemSettings]
r.TextureStreaming=0

Switching this on means the game will load all the textures straight up. It’s a sweet move if you’ve got a zippy SSD, a good chunk of RAM, VRAM, and a beefy CPU. Just don’t forget to save your changes to the Engine.ini file before you dive back into the game.

Turning on the HDR Magic in Unreal Engine 4 Games

 

Option 1:

In games like PAYDAY 3, where HDR settings are kind of there but not really active, you can give them a nudge. To do that, you’ll need to tweak the GameUserSettings.ini file. You’ll spot these values:

bUseHDRDisplayOutput=False
HDRDisplayOutputNits=1000

Switch them up to:

bUseHDRDisplayOutput=True
HDRDisplayOutputNits=600

Just a tip: make sure the values you choose vibe with what your display can handle.

Option 2:

If you’re the go-hard-or-go-home type, you can force HDR by adding these lines to the Engine.ini file:

[SystemSettings]
r.AllowHDR=1
r.HDR.EnableHDROutput=1
r.HDR.Display.OutputDevice=5
r.HDR.Display.ColorGamut=2
r.HDR.UI.CompositeMode=1
r.FullScreenMode=0
r.HDR.UI.Level=1

Remember, this approach works best with games in DX11 mode. If you’re rolling with DX12, the FullScreen Mode might not play ball. And since games aren’t typically built for HDR from the get-go, there could be a few tonemapping quirks with images and UI bits. Oh, and just to keep things fresh, we’ve tacked on an extra option for all you Unreal Engine 4 enthusiasts out there – it’s perfect for DX11 games.