Performance issues - FLHDE/freelancer-hd-edition GitHub Wiki
Performance issues may occur when Freelancer: HD Edition is played with high settings on lower-end hardware. This page will list the most demanding options that the mod offers (somewhat in order). We recommend reading this list in numerical order and lowering/disabling each option until optimal performance is achieved. Doing this for the first 3 usually does the trick. If none of this helps, have a look at the two links mentioned at the very bottom of this page.
#1. Anti-Aliasing
The Anti-Aliasing option is one of the most heavy on the GPU, especially when played on higher resolutions like 3840x2160. Lowering this option to 2x or completely disabling it will decrease GPU usage drastically. This will definitely lead to better performance on lower-end PCs.
#2. Bloom (ReShade effect)
The Bloom ReShade effect is also a very demanding option. Significant spikes in GPU usage can be seen while using it, especially on higher resolutions like 3840x2160. Disabling it will decrease the GPU usage.
#3 High resolution
Depending on how high the current resolution is, a lower-end system may not be able to handle it too well. If you're playing on a high resolution like 2560x1440 or 3840x2160 with a low framerate, try lowering the resolution first. This can be done in-game in the display settings. Alternatively, you can enter custom resolutions in Documents/My Games/Freelancer/PerfOptions.ini under [Display]. If you run Freelancer in fullscreen mode, keep in mind that whatever resolution you enter here, it needs to be actually selectable in the Windows display settings, otherwise Freelancer can't run with it.
#4. Anisotropic Filtering
In general, Anisotropic Filtering is not a very demanding option. However 16x can be quite heavy on some lower-end systems. Try lowering it to 4x, 2x or completely disabling it to see if that helps.
#5. Fake HDR (ReShade effect)
Fake HDR is certainly not as demanding as Anti-Aliasing and Bloom, but it still increases the GPU usage. Disabling this option will decrease the GPU usage a bit.
6. Draw distances
From our tests, playing Freelancer: HD Edition with maximized draw distances ran fine even on a laptop with an Intel integrated GPU. However, playing with maximized draw distances still increases the GPU and Memory usage. Not that much though since Freelancer mostly uses low-polygon models. Though you might see an increase in performance by lowering the Draw distances to a value like x4 or x2, etc.
#7. Increased saturation (ReShade effect)
Increased saturation is not very GPU-intensive. Disabling it will decrease GPU usage slightly though.
#8. Adaptive sharpening (ReShade effect)
Despite what many people may believe, the adaptive sharpening effect actually uses very little GPU power. You could try disabling it to see if it increases in-game performance.
#9. Tonemap/Increased gamma (ReShade effect)
The Tonemap shader is only used when Freelancer: HD Edition is played in Windowed or Fullscreen Windowed mode to mitigate the broken in-game Gamma slider. It's a very efficient effect in the sense that it's not demanding at all. Disabling it will result in a bit less GPU usage.
Inconsistent stutters and/or FPS locks on good hardware
If you're 100% sure your hardware can handle Freelancer with this mod at the highest settings but you're still experiencing decreases in FPS, have a look at these two pages: