I’m currently running a private server that I’ll be allowing public soon. I’ve built my home up in the trees in the jungle, but as it gets more complex, I’m starting to see my frames drop when I face the direction of most of the build(I’m running on an RTX 4070 Ti).
I know the biggest tip is to never build your base too big, so I will be looking at how I can streamline it and scale it back, but are there other lesser-known tips on how to optimize a base to keep framerates under control for everyone?
Someone out there suggested that candles (maybe any lighting source that is fire-based) taxes the cpu more than other lights, but I’ve never heard this before or have tested this on my own. I’ve also seen people in youtube vids omit any foundation pieces that wouldn’t be visible once you place something large on top of it (like a map room).
So those are the kind of optimization tips I’m hoping to get out of this besides the obvious “don’t build it too big” that we’re all aware of.
FPS would be visual, so more ornamentation and torches then building pieces.
Also note I have read a lot of reports of the 4070 having issues with the game.
Builds can be some where between PVP cramped and the roman temple district.
But READ THE ToC, error on the side of caught. One of those could get you a time out.
Be conservative, the more ornamental a build, the more likely it will get reported.
Don’t build over paths.
Remember it is not your server.
Animated ornaments are my biggest drag. Torches, bushes, banners, and such.
But, the advice is still relevant - not so much for a potential suspension/ban, but just because cutting down on ornamentation and torches would probably be beneficial anyway. (Also storage is supposed to be another issue if I recall correctly.) But generally the more stuff with animations in a small area the more there’s likely to be fps reduction.
Also, worth considering that other players - once allowed onto the server - may have less powerful gpus and so may have more problems even once you get performance in the area you want it. (And they may see whatever you have built and think that’s a reasonable guide to what is okay on the server - so may build similar size/detail.)
As a treehouse builder, you must have a very complex maze of a base or it lit up like the sun.
The other thing that really drags performance that is more inclined for treehouses is elevators. Too many of these can be bad for you performance. Cut those to only jumping to other trees and getting to ground level while using stairs to transverse vertically in the tree your in should help.
It’s basically an ewok village of sorts, with multiple levels all connected via stairs and bridges. I’ve got one vertical and one horizontal elevator. I’ve got an indoor tavern house in there, so NPCs are shuffling in and out all the time.
After loading it up with all the workbenches and the other needfuls, I identified some areas of extra build that could be trimmed out.
From what little tricks I remembered using level editors many years ago, if someone is staring up at my base from the ground, most of my details will be blocked by the flooring and I’m hoping that means that anything blocked isn’t being rendered.
I found a Conan Exiles reddit post that seems credible enough and backs up what DeaconElie was saying:
Long term game breaker and private server tester (and dev) for Conan here. I’ve written a few posts and comments on my test results for what does and doesn’t cause lag.
As for foundations.
They don’t as of 2024, however prior to the mid December patch foundations would cause issues in large quantities. (ie in excess of 10k in a small area.
Since then there are now only 3 major factors that cause fps lag for normal players.
Lighting updates. (ie lights coming on and off)
Animations. Ie the animation of torches and other dynamically textured objects.
Particle effects. Ie, fire bowl cauldrons.
There are also five server exclusive fps killers.
FOUNDATIONS, PILLARS AND GROUND CONNECTIONS. while the local fps bug has been fixed the server side s**t still tanks in excess of 10k. But only when there is excessive calculations. Ie tons of overhangs and connecting parts.
This wasn’t an issue before, however the December 2023 patch swapped the old stability but to server side. However it was massively improved as the server will only lag while placing or removing a connected part instead of the lag being constant like before.
No stability mode. This WILL corrupt your server. It WILL destroy your server fps and it WILL cause player data to be lost. I found this out the hard way.
Removing building limits. Ie build anywhere. This one isn’t as egregious. But building in some dungeons can cause bad instability
Animations, mirrors and. They f**k server performance if tons of them are rendered at once.
Items… That’s right… Items. Having shit in chests and vaults causes server lag and server performance drops. This was such a bizarre discovery. And like… It’s the second worst on the list second only to no stability mode.
If its under 50,000-100,000, then you shouldn’t really be seeing too much of a slowdown. But it might depend on how many torches and the like you might have. But even then you’ve got to have quite a bit to see a hit on a decent system.
Lights in general are not necessarily worse than other placeables, it is specifically an overlapping light radius. Too many lights too close together. Particle effects of flames is negligible.
Building blocks, regardless the type, are a very small contribution towards performance drop. Placeables count orders of magnitude more. Cutting out one placeable will do more than cutting out 25 blocks under a map-room.
Items in containers are major contributors. More specifically, it is the number of occupied slots in inventories. The quantities of items per slot are irrelevant.
My guess would be the tavern is the largest contributor.
This is a very small build. Small even by own spartan standards. So I definitely think there is something going on here. Like potentially a bug or other optimization thing.
You should be able to go about 10x as large with little to no issue.
