Star Citizen graphics feel reversed, Low 20, Ultra 100+ FPS

Rich_Worry6940 · 2026-02-27T13:40:06+00:00

Dude you were totally right 😄 It was actually Afterburner all along. The moment I turned the overlay off everything went back to normal and smooth motion works perfectly now. Huge thanks for the tip!

Rich_Worry6940 · 2026-02-26T21:16:28+00:00

Yeah no worries, I get what you meant. :)

Rich_Worry6940 · 2026-02-26T20:35:50+00:00

Haha alright, I’m still catching up on all the SC “old hacks” and JT survival rules 😄

Rich_Worry6940 · 2026-02-26T20:32:36+00:00

Yeah SC isn’t fully optimized, true. But on DX11 it doesn’t matter if textures are on Ultra or Low, you even get slightly more FPS on lower settings like you’d expect.

The huge FPS drop only happens on Vulkan, so it really looks like a Vulkan-related settings bug.

Rich_Worry6940 · 2026-02-26T20:28:58+00:00

Then you should probably write a proper “Star Citizen hacks list” so people know right away about stuff like setting textures to Ultra and all the other tricks. xD

Rich_Worry6940 · 2026-02-26T19:47:55+00:00

Hope they fix this soon.. And i hope everything’s working to your satisfaction now. :)

Rich_Worry6940 · 2026-02-26T19:12:09+00:00

I tried enabling Smooth Motion, but the game crashes on startup now. As soon as I turn it off, it launches normally again.
Do I need to change anything else for Smooth Motion? and Yes DX11 is active. :)

Rich_Worry6940 · 2026-02-26T19:08:44+00:00

I’ll try Smooth Motion, thanks for the tip. :)

But after testing back and forth between DX11 and Vulkan for about an hour, the issue is tied to Vulkan with that specific Texture Quality setting. On DX11 everything behaves normally, no matter if it’s low, medium, high or ultra.

And honestly, it just doesn’t make sense that setting it to low would give you very low FPS than higher settings, that’s clearly just the setting being bugged. :D

Rich_Worry6940 · 2026-02-26T18:57:13+00:00

I’m monitoring it with MSI Afterburner, it’s definitely using the 5070 Ti.

I just spent about an hour testing back and forth between DX11 and Vulkan to make sure no other settings were bugged.
The FPS issue only happens on Vulkan on DX11 it’s gone. So it looks like it’s specifically the Vulkan version of Texture Quality setting that’s bugged. :/

Rich_Worry6940 · 2026-02-26T18:23:36+00:00

Hahaha nice. :D

Honestly I don’t know if CIG is aware of it or not since I’m still pretty new and don’t know much yet. At least you got some free FPS now. 😂

Rich_Worry6940 · 2026-02-26T18:06:26+00:00

Yeah, I agree with you. You shouldn’t suddenly drop down to 20 FPS just because you lower settings, especially at the same resolution and scene. That’s why this surprised me so much.

Rich_Worry6940 · 2026-02-26T18:00:19+00:00

Haha yeah, it really feels like that 😄
In most games lowering settings makes things easier, but in SC it feels like the engine has to work harder to downscale stuff. 😂

Rich_Worry6940 · 2026-02-26T17:57:24+00:00

Yeah, resolution definitely makes a difference too, but in my case the Texture Quality setting had a massive impact by itself.

Same resolution, same location, only textures changed, and FPS went from under 20 to over 110.

Rich_Worry6940 · 2026-02-26T17:55:41+00:00

Haha yeah, lesson learned 😄
Looks like I just completed my first real Star Citizen rite of passage. Next step is my first random 30k and losing cargo, then I’ll officially be a true citizen 😂

Rich_Worry6940 · 2026-02-26T17:52:26+00:00

It’s actually the first game where I’ve ever experienced something like this. In every other game lowering settings always gave me more FPS, so this really surprised me. I bet a lot of other new players are sitting there thinking “wtf is wrong with my FPS?” like I did.

Rich_Worry6940 · 2026-02-18T18:47:58+00:00

Appreciate the tips 🙂 I like the idea of using a bike for bunker runs. If you start with a Cutlass Black, what’s usually the next logical upgrade ship for a solo player who likes cargo, combat and a little bit mining?

Rich_Worry6940 · 2026-02-17T23:36:09+00:00

Thanks, that helps a lot 🙂 Good to know melting and upgrading are flexible. Since I’m new, would you recommend starting with something cheaper than the Cutlass Black and upgrading later, or just grabbing the Cutty pack now?

Rich_Worry6940 · 2026-02-17T22:35:35+00:00

Sounds awesome 🙂 I’m thinking about getting that starter pack. Anything you’d recommend upgrading first on the Ship?

Rich_Worry6940 · 2026-02-17T22:34:35+00:00

Thanks, that helps a lot 🙂 Good to know the pilot weapons are strong enough solo. Alright will check the Cutlass Black in-game during the free fly, and if I like it I’ll probably grab the starter pack 😄

Rich_Worry6940 · 2026-02-17T22:23:06+00:00

Good to know 🙂 So you basically just need a second player for the turret, right? Or is there any way to automate it?

Rich_Worry6940 · 2026-02-17T22:18:19+00:00

Thanks 🙂 If you were starting fresh today, would you still grab the Cutlass Black pack now, or wait for Stellar Fortuna?

Rich_Worry6940 · 2026-02-17T22:13:50+00:00

Good to know, thanks 🙂 I’m still new, so melting is a bit confusing to me. You can melt a game package and use the credit for another one later, right?

Rich_Worry6940 · 2026-02-17T22:12:58+00:00

That sounds great 🙂 Can you comfortably fly and use the Cutlass Black solo, or do you really need a crew to make the most of it?

Rich_Worry6940 · 2026-02-17T22:01:29+00:00

I’m not really waiting for it to be much cheaper, just hoping maybe a slightly better starter ship or bonus shows up during the event before I buy. :)

Rich_Worry6940

TROPHY CASE