Stutter Fix - Nvidia (for me and some others at least)
This worked for me on my Nvidia GTX 970. Mileage may vary.
(all tips gathered from others after much research)
In Gamerprofile.xml file
Located: X:\Users\Your Name\Documents\my games\Far Cry 4\(cryptic folder name)
-DisableLoadingMip0="0" set to 1
-GPUMaxBufferedFrames="0" set to 1
Open your gpu control panel and force anistroptic filtering to 16x
NOTE: (IMPORTANT!) The next two settings did not work if set to "use global setting", even if they were on the right one. Make sure you specify what you want, if using the nvidia control panel these settings need to be bold.
• Set "texture filtering - negative lod bias" to ALLOW to reduce the blur when the game switches between mip maps. Don't ask me why this works, it just does. (I have Nvidia, this setting may be different on amd, but I do not know)
• Set " Anistroptic sample optimization" to ON. (again, Nvidia. Hopefully others will have a similar setting. Helps performance a bit)
• Set Power management mode to use prefer maximum performance and change maximum pre rendered frames to 3.
• Set textures to at least high in-game, or higher if your pc can handle it (although after high it is almost impossible to notice an increase in graphics quality. If you are really struggling to run the game I would just do the disableloadingmip setting and stop at that). This turns parallax and some cool dx11 effects on for bricks and other textures.
• Restart your game and look at the amazing textures. Up close they do not have quite the quality of the default ultra texture settings, but they should have no stuttering. From far away I think they are actually better than default ultra. I am working on making a texture mod where guns, player hands and some large rocks have the highest textures forced on/ mips removed, but for now it's really not noticeable. I was planning on ubisoft never fixing the texture stuttering, but I'm actually okay with it after trying out these settings for awhile.
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After that these are MY in-game settings that, all combined, got me smooth, good looking gameplay. There is the occasional, slight odd light-dimming effect, but it is mild and goes away. Subtle but noticeable.
(NOTE1: Fraps running causes subtle stutter on my machine)
(NOTE2: These are my preferred settings for this game in it's current state. I am aware of the differences between various settings such as Ambient Occlusion, Anti-Aliasing, etc., effects on FPS etc. This is the balance I like.)
First column is recommended range of setting, based on much research and FPS impact vs. quality. Parenthesis is my current setting.
Vsync (Off)
Motion Blur (On)
Textures – Ultra (Ultra) no lower than high
Shadows – Soft Shadows to High (Soft Shadows)
Post FX – Ultra to Medium (Medium) bogs combat
Geometry – Ultra to High (Ultra)
Vegetation – Ultra to High (Ultra) Not much difference between the two
Terrain – Ultra to High (Ultra) no lower than high
Water – Ultra to High (Ultra)
Environment – Ultra to High (Ultra) doesn’t matter much between the two
Ambient Occlusion-HBAO to SSAO (HBAO+)
Anti-Aliasing - SMAA (Off) SMAA causes Artifacts in SLI. I found Off best, and I experimented a lot.
Godrays – Enhanced or Off (Enhanced)
Fur – On to Off (On) minor visual. doesn't really matter.
Trees Relief – On to Off (Off) minor visual.
AA Notes:
-TXAA4 15 fps hit
-TXAA2 a large hit as well.
-MSAA out of the question
-AA OFF for now
Other:
Alpha to Coverage AlphaToCoverage to "0" in GamerProfile.xml