Power Surge, Performance Plunge: The Paradox of PC Gaming Optimization

I have maintained a gaming environment with higher specs than recommended for major games released in recent years. A lot of hardware has been released over the years, but the specs remain high.

ⓒAlena Darmel

But surprisingly, some (but not all) new games did not work properly. What’s going on? Should I do another update? Or is the problem caused by some game developers not optimizing the game to run smoothly on my PC’s specs?

Game Developer Negligence

In fact, I already have the impression that the developer is doing nothing. The recently released games are not optimized properly. Although the developers have done amazing things with games in the past.

My first computer was a Commodore Amiga 500. It was the basic computer that my father bought me over the holidays and that I spent a lot of time with over the years before using an x86 PC.

When purchased, the Amiga was powered by a 512KB RAM module, but required 1MB to play top games. So my dad spent a huge amount of money at the time to upgrade it to 512KB.

The Commodore Amiga 500 computer was launched in 1987. 2.6 million units have been sold worldwide. ⓒBill Bertram 2006

I’m still in awe of what the developer of the time achieved with just 1 MB. A game called SWIV, the spiritual successor to the side-scrolling shooter Silkworm, has been intriguing me all summer.

From cutting edge graphics to non-stop action gameplay, SWIV rivals the best new indie shooters on the market today. For a 1991 movie, that’s not bad at all. So how did the developer achieve this in a game designed for 16-bit computer platforms?

eurogamertells an interesting story. In short, SWIV developer Sales Curve had to think outside the box to write the game’s code in a unique and different way. One of the ideas had to do with the game’s setting.

At a time when almost all games used tile-mapped backgrounds, the developer decided to use a sprite-based level editor instead. This allowed us to make color palette changes that would flow in sync with the background.

And it was able to support the game’s unique premise of not having a level load with each new difficulty level, but having a single, uninterrupted attack.

Additionally, adaptive difficulty has been applied depending on the time the player has survived. This means that the game becomes progressively more difficult without the need to pause data and load new levels.

SWIV was a fantastic game. But more importantly, it perfectly matched the Amiga 500 specifications and did not require more advanced components to properly enjoy the game.

Latest games that waste resources terribly

Comparing the results obtained with SWIV to today’s modern games that run poorly even with more powerful CPUs, GPUs and RAM shows the problems with current game optimization methods.

There are many examples, but the first game that comes to mind is Gotham Knights. The recommended specs for this game on Steam are an Intel Core i7-10700K or Ryzen 5 5600X, an RTX 2070 or AMD Radeon RX 5700XT, and 16GB of RAM.

However, in reality, on a PC with slightly higher specs, there was a CPU optimization issue where the frame rate was significantly reduced even though the game was using the full 78% of the CPU.

Even though the specs were higher than recommended, Gotham Knight ran slowly on my PC. ⓒ Dominic Bayley/IDG

Other unoptimized games simply fall into the category of bad PC ports. These were issues that occurred in console games, such as keyboard and mouse controls not working properly or viewing angle issues.

This is no excuse for poor performance. If the developer has decided that the game is PC-ready and you’ve purchased it to meet the recommended specs, it should run smoothly, barring a few common issues.

Even famous developers are bad at optimization.

Bethesda has given us many fun games. Even Starfield, Bethesda’s latest open world MORPG, is a game that has suffered from optimization issues from the start.

There are many games that have issues at launch, but in the case of Starfield the problem should have been better publicized.

When players experiencing issues like inconsistent frame rates and slight stuttering asked why the game wasn’t optimized for PC, the developer responsible said, “The specs may need to be updated.” he replied.

However, even though I ran the game on an AMD Ryzen 5600 and GeForce RTX 4070 Ti environment equipped with 16GB of RAM, I still encountered issues. Player ReviewsIf you look at it, it’s a hard excuse to believe.

In the case of Starfield, optimization issues can simply be ignored as the developer tried to create something innovative and in the process created a more challenging game than expected.

However, some players point out that the game is highly CPU-dependent when running and may not have been optimized properly. In any case, players should not have to endure any inconvenience.

Starfield is a fantastic game, but some players have encountered serious optimization issues. ⓒ Dominic Bayley/IDG

The reasons for poor optimization in other games are unclear. Fast delivery times? Slow transfer? These are valid questions for developers.

Even if the recommended specs are too low, it makes you wonder if this is some kind of shady sales tactic they can use to get attention.

If a game is not optimized, it is a failure in itself. But no gamer wants such a failure.
editor@itworld.co.kr