Metro Last Light freezes. The game slows down and freezes

Finally, the long-awaited continuation of the game called Metro Last Light. The game, as before, is famous for its awesomeness, but some players encountered stutters and freezes in the game, which is undoubtedly not good.

So, as mentioned earlier, for some gamers Metro Last Light slows down and freezes. We have combined these two problems into one material because these problems have the same origin and solution.

Metro Last Light freezes or slows down

If you get stuck like this wonderful game like Metro Last Light, we will try to help you with this material. So, let’s look at possible ways to solve the problem with the game freezing point by point:

1. Install new video drivers

Indeed, problems with new games very often go away after updating video drivers.

2. Update additional gaming software

Additional gaming software is a very important part in the stable operation of Metro Last Light. Such software includes: DirectX, PhysX.

3. Check that the game is installed correctly

Make sure you have installed and launched your game correctly. Check whether there is enough free space, whether the path to the folder with the game has Cyrillic characters, and whether you turned off the antivirus program before installation.

4. Run the game as administrator

5. Free up computer resources

Close all third-party programs and applications. Browser, Skype, Video card and processor overclockers, etc. From all running processes, leave only those that are most necessary for the system. It is especially recommended to turn off your antivirus program.

6. Lower your graphics settings

The most important thing is to turn off tessellation and lower the point Quality. It is also recommended SSAA put on x2.

7. Install the patch

As you know, several patches have been released. Update 2 helps improve game performance. FPS drops on computers with a Radeon video card have also been removed, and glitches with shadows have been fixed.

8. For multi-core computers (Windows XP)

So, on multi-core systems with the Windows XP operating system installed, a problem occurs in Metro Last Light when it slows down and there is a drop in FPS. This may be due to the fact that not all cores process the game. To enable all cores, launch the game and minimize it, open the Task Manager, then processes, find the game process, then right-click on it and select “set matching”. Select all processor cores with checkmarks.

9. Use of antifreeze

"Optimization and picture"

"Optimization and picture"

The creators of Metro: Last Light spoke about the game's performance on consoles and PC

The graphics in Metro: Last Light will be equivalent to its predecessor, but the game will work even on weak computers. After the game's E3 reveal, THQ's Huw Beynon said the demo ran on "pretty modest PCs" thanks to the programming magic of the 4A Games team.

« The guys from 4A are weird, techno-magicians, and we're very intrigued by their work».

Beynon also spoke about console versions games.

« The engine was created to create cross-platform play", he says. " Therefore, every time the consoles are on an equal footing at every single stage. We're very proud of what we've been able to pull out of the 360 ​​and PS3. We think they'll both be great. Destruction, lighting, it all looks great on consoles too».

« This time you'll be able to see even more destruction and even more spectacular lighting effects than before. And in last game there was destruction, but it wasn't used much in gameplay", Beynon continues. " Now the game will have a lot more destruction, physics and environmental objects».

But the magical powers of THQ and 4A are not limitless. They still admitted that PC owners will have advantages over console users.

« Obviously, if you have the latest model PC at home, its performance will be greater than on consoles", admitted Beynon.

There are many ways to improve the performance of games on not the most weak computer. Next, we will look at them in order from simple to complex and tell you what to do if Metro: Last Light is slow.

A simple solution to brakes in the Metro: Ray of hope

1. Download and run the world famous CCleaner(download via direct link) - this is a program that will clean your computer of unnecessary garbage, as a result of which the system will work faster after the first reboot;
2. Update all drivers on the system using the program Driver Updater(download via direct link) - it will scan your computer and update all drivers to the latest version in 5 minutes;
3. Install the program WinOptimizer(download via direct link) and include it in it game mode, which will end useless background processes while running games and improve in-game performance.

Free up disk space

Before proceeding to active actions, you need to make sure that your computer has at least 10-15 GB of free space on the hard drive on which you installed operating system.

This is usually drive "C". This minimum reserve is necessary so that the system can create temporary storage of Metro: Last Light files, caches, and so on without any problems.

And make sure you have enough space on your hard drive for the game to run properly.

Disable unnecessary programs

Each program that runs in the OS takes up a certain percentage RAM and loads the processor. It’s easy to verify this; just open the task manager using the Ctrl+Alt+Del key combination:

If your computer does not have the most powerful processor, and the RAM is less than 8-16 GB, then before starting Metro: Last Light you need to disable unnecessary programs. For example, Skype, Discord, Telegram, Google Chrome and so on.

Disable overlays

We are talking about those programs that are able to display their interface on top of the game. Often there are these on your computer - Fraps, Steam, Origin, and so on. Even when the overlay is hidden, it is processed by the computer, reducing FPS in Metro: Last Light.

Therefore, all overlays must be disabled. This can almost always be done in the program settings without having to uninstall it. For example, the Steam overlay can be easily disabled via the menu:

Update video card drivers, download drivers for Metro: Last Light

Regardless of what video card is in the system unit, its drivers must be kept up to date. Therefore, before launching Metro: Ray of Hope, you should go to the manufacturer’s website and check if new drivers have been released:

After installing the driver, you should restart your computer to eliminate the possibility of failures. It’s also worth considering that new drivers are no longer available for many older video cards.

For some games, video card manufacturers release specially optimized drivers. Look for them in the news section about Metro: Last Light - we usually write about them. You can also look at the website of video card manufacturers.

Change power options

By default, the computer is set to a balanced power supply mode, which, and in some laptops, in order to increase operating time, is even set to save energy.

This prevents your computer from reaching its full potential in Metro: Ray of Hope, so the first thing you need to do is open the Control Panel, which you can find by searching. Then you need to do the following:

• Select the “Small icons” viewing mode;
• Click on “Power Options”;
• On the screen, find the option “Setting the power supply scheme”, click on it;
• Click on “Change advanced power settings”;
• In the window that opens, find the drop-down list;
• Select “High performance” from the list;
• Click the “Apply” button, then click “OK”.

Enable Nvidia Performance Mode

After installing the driver for your video card from Nvidia, you can speed up Metro: Last Light using performance mode. This will slightly simplify the graphics in the game, but will increase FPS. Please note that this method is only available if you have a video card with an Nvidia chip. Here's how to do it:

• In the lower right corner of the screen, in the tray, right-click on the “NVIDIA Settings” icon;
• In the window that opens on the right, select the “3D Settings” tab;
• Click on the option “Adjust image settings with viewing”;
• On the right, check the box next to “ Custom Settings with emphasis on:";
• Move the “slider”, which is located below, to the far left position “Performance”;
• Click on the “Apply” button below.

Next, you need to launch Metro: Ray of Hope and make sure that everything is displayed correctly. If problems arise, instead of “Custom settings with emphasis on:”, select “Settings according to the 3D application”.

Disable Windows Effects

If Metro: Last Light is not working in full screen mode, and in a window, including without a frame, you can increase FPS if you disable Windows effects. To do this you need to do the following:

• Open "Explorer";
• In the window that opens, go to the “ Visual effects»;
• Check the box next to the “Ensure the best performance” option.

If necessary, you can select the “Special Effects” option in the last step. In this case, you can independently choose which effects to leave and which to disable.

Increase the page file if there is not enough RAM for Metro: Ray of Hope

To compensate for the lack of RAM, you can increase the page file. This will allow the system to store some of the necessary Metro: Last Light data directly on the hard drive. Here's what to do:

• Open "Explorer";
• Right-click on “This Computer” (or “My Computer”);
• In the context menu, click on “Properties”;
• In the window that opens, on the left, click on “Advanced system settings”;
• In the window that opens, go to the “Advanced” tab;
• In the “Performance” section, click on the “Options...” button;
• In the window that opens, go to the “Advanced” tab;
• Uncheck the “Automatically select paging file size” option (if available);
• Check the box next to the “Specify size” option;
• In the text fields “Initial size (MB):” and “Maximum size (MB):” specify in megabytes a value equal to half the amount of RAM.

For example, if a 4 GB “die” is installed in the system unit, that is, 4192 MB, you need to enter the number 2048 in the fields above. You can make the paging file larger, but this will not give any increase.

It should be understood that the page file is only effective when the system does not have enough RAM. If the computer has 8-16 GB, then the page file is practically not used. And when using an SSD drive as a system drive, the presence of a swap file can even slow down Metro performance: Last Light, so don't thoughtlessly set the swap file to a large value.

To further worsen the graphics in Metro: Last Light (potato mode) - turn off anti-aliasing, etc.

If Metro: Ray of Hope starts but slows down a lot, then before starting all procedures you should reduce the graphics to a minimum through the game settings. If this does not help, then you will have to resort to using third-party programs to configure the video card:

• for video cards from Nvidia;
• for video cards from AMD.

After downloading the program, run it. In the case of NVIDIA Inspector, you need to run nvidiaProfileInspector.exe, not nvidiaInspector.exe. At the top, in the “Profiles:” line, you can select any game that is supported by Nvidia drivers.

Below are all the available settings. There are many of them, but in order to degrade the graphics in the game to “potato”, just a few, which are located in the “Antialiasing” section, are enough.

The greatest performance increase comes from changing these two parameters:

• Texture filtering - LOD bias;
• Antialiasing - Transparency Supersampling.

Each of these settings has different meanings. Some of them can make the picture in Metro: Last Light indigestible, so you should try different combinations of values ​​that give a more or less tolerable playable picture.

In the case of RadeonMod, everything is similar: you need to find the settings responsible for displaying textures and reduce them until the FPS in the game is high enough.

How to overclock a video card for Metro: Ray of Hope

Everything related to “overclocking” is aimed at increasing performance, but these are quite broad topics that are difficult to talk about in a nutshell. Moreover, this is always quite a risky business. If anything, we've warned you.

To achieve higher FPS in Metro: Last Light, you can first try to overclock your video card. The easiest way to do this is to use the built-in software functions from the graphics card manufacturer.

For example, some GIGABYTE video cards come bundled with the Graphics Engine program, which contains several ready-made overclocking profiles. This allows you to squeeze 5-10 additional frames per second out of the video card.

If there is no program from the manufacturer, then you can always use a universal solution -. This is one of best programs for overclocking, it has many different settings.

But here you have to configure everything manually. First of all, you should increase the frequency of the video chip itself (“Core Clock”) and the frequency of the video card memory (“Memory Clock”). On the left are the basic values ​​for these parameters. The temperature and voltage increase are displayed on the right - these characteristics allow you to monitor the “health” of the video card.

As the frequency increases, the heating of the video card increases. If the temperature exceeds 85 degrees, then you should increase the fan speed (“Fan Speed”). If the temperature rises to 100 degrees, you should immediately stop overclocking, otherwise the chip may melt. Powerful overclocking requires water cooling, so frequencies should not be increased by more than 10%.

Overclock the processor

While “overclocking” a video card is quite possible right in Windows, in order to improve the performance of the processor and thereby increase the performance of Metro: Ray of Hope, you will have to go into the “Bios”.

Gaming “overclocking” of a processor usually involves increasing the processor multiplier (Core Ratio). This can be done not on every processor, but only on the one where this multiplier is unlocked. Usually such processors are marked in a special way. For example, Intel uses the markings "K" and "X'. That is, for example, the i7-4790 cannot be overclocked using a multiplier, but the i7-4790K can be overclocked completely.

But how can you find out the exact name of the processor model? The easiest way is to use the program. Having launched it, you need to open the “CPU” tab and look at the very first line - “Name”. This is the name of the processor. By the way, you can also see the multiplier itself there. It is in the “Clocks” section, in the “Multiplier” line. If the processor supports overclocking, then this multiplier can be changed.

To change the Core Ratio, you must first get into the BIOS shell. To do this, you need to press a special key combination while your computer is booting (before the Windows screen appears).

The combination may vary depending on the motherboard. Often the BIOS can be called up using the "F8" or "Del" key. On the Bios screen you need to find the section dedicated to the processor. Here, too, everything is complicated, since the BIOS has many shells. Almost every motherboard manufacturer uses their own, so without knowledge English language find right place not so easy.

You need to change the multiplier gradually, increasing it by 2. After each change, you should restart the computer and carefully check the performance and temperature of the processor. If it gets above 80 degrees during the game, then you need to immediately turn off Metro: Last Light, restart your computer, go into the BIOS and lower the Core Ratio value. Otherwise the processor may burn out.

The founder of the Metro gaming series, released in 2010, is remembered by gamers not only for its advantages gameplay, but also an outstanding graphical shell. Conventionally, domestic developers from the Ukrainian startup 4A Games, having a relatively small budget, created their own engine 4A Engine, which had remarkable technical capabilities for its time. Owners of hardware with DirectX 11 support, running Metro 2033, could take advantage of all the delights of this API - primarily, hardware tessellation. As a result, Metro 2033, like such long-lived players as Crysis Warhead, has staked out a place among the benchmarks for all new video adapters that have been released since the release of the game itself. However, as in the case of Crysis, the reason for its longevity lies not only and not so much in the beauty of Metro 2033, but in the fact that even on 2013 video cards with maximum settings, the game is desperately slow. This rigorous benchmark of performance perfectly demonstrates the power of extreme multi-GPU configurations that finally achieve acceptable frame rates in Metro 2033. Well, in reviews of single-processor, albeit top-end, video adapters, Metro 2033 shows that chip manufacturers still have room to grow.

In general, optimization graphics engine was one of the main requirements for the sequel to Metro 2033. As a result, in the form of Metro: Last Light, we got a game that is both visually superior to its predecessor and uses the computing capabilities of the GPU more efficiently. Although the updated 4A Engine still has an option in its arsenal that can bring the most powerful of GPUs to their knees, which will be discussed later.

We don't have full list those code changes that Metro: Last Light owes increased productivity, but some are known interesting features engine, one of which is Streaming Textures. Due to the fact that textures are loaded into the frame buffer of the video card on demand, it was possible to reduce the requirements for its volume. Game, even maximum settings and a resolution of 2560x1440, it is content with 2 GB of video memory. Another detail about the Metro:LL engine is that the tasks of actually rendering graphics, applying physical effects and processing sound are dynamically assigned to free CPU threads, instead of invariably giving graphics the first thread, physics the second, and sound the third.

⇡ Metro: Last Light graphics settings

Metro: LL's graphics options are sparse. The developers have saved the gamer from choosing between DirectX versions: by default the game runs in DirectX 11, but is ready to roll back to DX10 or even DX9 if DX11 support is not found in the hardware. The most noticeable difference is that DirectX 10 lacks tessellation and DX9 lacks Object Motion Blur. In addition, the game in DirectX 11 is simply faster than in its predecessors.

Let's look at the few settings that can be changed.

⇡ Super-Sampling Anti-Aliasing

The original Metro 2033 used full-screen multisampling anti-aliasing (MSAA). Originally introduced as an alternative to resource-intensive supersampling (SSAA), MSAA gained popularity in the DirectX 8 and DX9 era, but when combined with modern Deferred Rendering engines, it causes a much greater performance hit than before. Therefore, as an alternative, Metro 2033 uses the so-called Adaptive Anti-Aliasing (AAA) - a type of FXAA technology, which is a fast post-processing filter that smoothes out “ladders” at the boundaries of polygons.

But MSAA as a full anti-aliasing method in Metro: LL was rejected in favor of an old friend - SSAA. The essence of supersampling is that the image is rendered in more high resolution(for example, twice as large on both sides at SSAA 4x), and then scaled to the screen resolution. As a result, we obtain the highest quality result from all possible smoothing options. The drop in performance is colossal, but with the way MSAA is combined with deferred rendering, there is nothing to lose. SSAA modes from 2x to 4x are available. And regardless of whether supersampling is enabled, Metro: LL always uses the AAA method. Only in combination with SSAA is the disadvantage of the latter less pronounced - slight blurring of the entire image, since AAA is applied even before scaling a high-resolution image.

⇡ Tessellation

Tessellation is used wherever possible in Metro: Last Light, increasing the detail of the geometry of natural objects, interior objects and characters. Three tessellation modes are available: Normal, High and Very High. High adds more detail compared to Normal, Very High increases the distance from the viewpoint at which tessellation turns off from ten to fifteen meters, and the distance at which detail drops from seven to ten.

Functions similar to tessellation are performed by Parallax Occlusion Mapping (POM) - a technology that does not generate additional geometry, but instead creates the illusion of relief on walls and other suitable surfaces, which is strongly pronounced at a direct viewing angle, but is lost when viewing the surface under a sharp angle. Additionally, the virtual geometry generated by POM, unlike the real geometry produced by tessellation, does not interact with lights and dynamic shadows. Although in favor of the POM method used in Metro: LL, it must be said that it supports Self-Shadowing of displaced texture areas, which helps to ensure that on those objects where tessellation would not lead to a jump in visual quality, the relief looks very authentic .

Tessellation off		Tessellation on
Tessellation off		Tessellation on
Tessellation off		Tessellation on

⇡ Advanced PhysX

Like Metro 2033, its sequel in creating physical effects relies on NVIDIA PhysX technology. The Advanced PhysX option enables hardware processing of PhysX calls on the GPU, without which the game loses some of its impressive capabilities. The most noticeable effect of hardware PhysX is on the visualization of destruction. Pieces of broken objects fly apart more realistically and then fully interact with the outside world: they remain in place after falling and move when force is applied again. Without hardware PhysX, destruction is determined in advance, and fragments gradually disappear.

Explosions also look more realistic thanks to Advanced PhysX. Depending on the distance to the center of the explosion, its power and the properties of the materials, objects experience more or less severe destruction and displacement. Large volumes of particles such as smoke and fog behave realistically and interact interactively with explosions or simply the player moving around. PhysX hardware support also allows for character or wind manipulation of fabric geometry.

⇡ Preset modes

Metro: Last Light combines a ton of graphical settings under a single “quality” parameter, which ranges from Low to Very High. The screenshots demonstrate the cumulative effect of changing the modes, and then we will look separately at what effect each of the settings has.

	Low	Normal	High	Very High
Ambient Occlusion	Approximate	Approximate	Precomputed + SSAO	Precomputed + SSAO
Analytical Anti-Aliasing	Enabled	Enabled	Enabled	Enabled
Bump Mapping	Coarse	Coarse	Precise	Precise
Detail Texturing	Disabled	Enabled	Enabled	Enabled
Geometric Detail	Low	Normal	High	Very High
Image Post-Processing	Normal	Normal	Full	Full
Light-Material Interaction	Normal	Normal	Normal	Full
Motion Blur	Disabled	Disabled	Camera	Camera + Objects
Parallax Mapping	Disabled	Disabled	Enabled	Enabled + POM
Shadow Filtering	Fast	Normal	Hi-Quality	Hi-Quality
Shadow Resolution	2.35 Mpx	4.19 Mpx	6.55 Mpx	9.43 Mpx
Skin Shading	Disabled	Disabled	Simple	Subsurface Scattering
Soft Particles	Disabled	Disabled	Enabled	Enabled
Volumetric Texturing	Disabled	Disabled	Low Precision	Full Quality + Sun Shafts

Ambient Occlusion

Ambient Occlusion is an effect that creates additional shadows at the junctions of polygons: all kinds of corners, niches, etc. At the lowest quality settings, Metro: LL uses a fast "rough" AO algorithm, which admittedly makes the game look a little too dark. A more advanced option combines pre-calculated shadows with an interactive dynamic component.

Ambient Occlusion

Bump Mapping

Good old Bump Mapping was supported by video cards back in the days of DirectX 6 and in Metro: LL it is still used to create imaginary relief in places where the use of more realistic technologies is not justified. A "basic" and a "precise" version of the algorithm is available.

Detail Texturing

Textures in Metro: LL have a resolution of 2048x2048. And when the Detail Texturing option is enabled, an additional, more detailed texture of the same resolution is superimposed on objects near the point of view.

Detail Texturing Off

Detail Texturing On

Geometric Detail

This parameter does not require detailed comment. The higher it is, the more detailed the game objects look.

Image Post-Processing

Metro: LL contains a huge number of post-processing effects, at high quality presets they are fully activated. The most notable ones are HDR, Bloom and, of course, Depth of Field. The latter no longer causes such a dramatic drop in performance as in the first game in the series.

Night light effect (Blue Shift) and Bloom from the lunar disk

Light Interaction

As the name of the option suggests, it controls shaders that are associated with lighting surfaces made of materials of various properties. Accordingly, at the Full Interaction level, the play of light on objects looks more believable.

Light Interaction: Normal

Light Interaction: Full

Motion Blur

At low settings graphics quality, blurring of moving objects is completely disabled. With the High quality setting, the entire image is blurred, and at Very High, objects are blurred depending on what exactly in the frame is moving relative to the viewpoint and at what speed. For example, the walls of the tunnel flying past are blurred, and the trolley, motionless relative to the protagonist, looks clear.

Differentiated application of Motion Blur

Parallax Mapping

Even with tessellation enabled, some surfaces still apply the Parallax Occlusion Mapping (POM) described above.

Shadow Filtering

Settings that control shadow processing: softening, removing artifacts. Allows three positions: “fast”, “normal” and “high quality” filtration.

Shadow Resolution

Depending on the state of this setting, lightmaps of varying detail are applied. In practice, this manifests itself in how similar the shadow cast by an object is to its outline. But regardless of the map resolution, the engine always creates shadows with a complex structure (the sharpest part and penumbra).

Skin Shading

On top level quality, a well-known technique called “Subsurface Scattering” is used, which treats the skin of the characters as a translucent object through which light penetrates to some extent. At low settings, simple shaders are applied to the skin or any additional processing is completely disabled.

Skin Shading: Off

Skin Shading: Sub-Surface Scattering

Soft Particles

In the absence of hardware PhysX, instead of real particles in three-dimensional space, the engine often generates fire and smoke effects from numerous rasters superimposed on the screen. The Soft Particle feature makes blending raster effects onto 3D geometry more natural.

Volumetric Texturing

For some particle arrays that the player will observe at close range, the 4A Engine uses volumetric textures. The sun's rays visible in dusty air are formed in the same way.

Volumetric Texturing