Greetings ACRES Community,
I extend my heartfelt appreciation to each and every one of you for your amazing support and valuable feedback. Your dedication to ACRES has been instrumental in shaping the game's evolution.
In this mid-week patch, I am pleased to share that significant strides have been made in enhancing performance. The game thread now operates at a remarkable sub-2ms CPU frame time on my development machine, equipped with an i9-10850K. Furthermore, efforts have been directed towards optimizing GPU usage, addressing concerns raised by the community.
The challenges in GPU overhead predominantly stem from Unreal 5's cutting-edge features, such as Nanite, Global Dynamic Lighting, Shadows Maps, and advanced Antialiasing methods. While these features undoubtedly elevate the visual and immersive aspects of the game, there's a conscientious effort to balance their benefits against the associated performance costs within ACRES.
To empower you with more control over your gaming experience, this patch introduces additional options in the video settings. These enhancements aim to provide a tailored balance between graphics quality and optimal performance, catering to a wider range of hardware configurations.
Your continued support and feedback remain invaluable as we navigate these improvements. Together, we are committed to refining ACRES and ensuring an exceptional gaming experience for all.
Thank you for being an integral part of the ACRES journey.
-Jimi
EA_0.23.1116.1 Patch Notes: Enhanced Gameplay and Optimization
Custom Level of Detail Support for Instanced Nanite Meshes:
- Implemented custom Level of Detail (LOD) support for instanced nanite meshes.
- Optimizes performance by seamlessly transitioning to lower-poly versions of high-detail objects, such as weeds, when the camera zooms out.
- Addresses issues with Moiré patterns and pixel flickering.
- Added a new setting to adjust the Level of Detail distance, giving players control over visual fidelity based on their preferences and system capabilities.
Dynamic Depth of Field Toggle:
- Introduced an option to toggle Dynamic Depth of Field, providing players with greater control over their in-game visual experience. This setting can be toggled in the Video Settings.
Additional Video Settings:
- Added a new video setting for 3D Resolution Scale, allowing players to fine-tune their graphics settings for optimal performance.
- Introduced an additional option to limit the frames per second (FPS) to 90, catering to players who prefer a specific frame rate experience.
- Added a warning prompt when selecting Unlimited GPU, explaining its implications and potential impact on GPU performance. "Enabling Unlimited FPS tells the GPU to always operate at maximum performance, approaching 100% utilization."
Default Game User Settings for New Installs:
- New installs now come with default game user settings set to the "high" preset, ensuring a visually pleasing experience for players from the outset.
Deselect Tool with Right Mouse Click:
- Implemented the ability to deselect the current tool with a right mouse click, streamlining the user interface and enhancing user convenience. This setting can be toggled in the Game Settings.
Hovering Price History Button Update:
- Now, hovering over the price history button updates the tooltip name, offering more dynamic and informative feedback to players.
Added additional Save Support for last selected items:
- Implemented save support for the last selected tractor, enhancing continuity and convenience in gameplay.
- Added save support for the previous tool selection in each category, allowing players to seamlessly resume their preferred tool configurations.
- Changed the selected tool to none at the beginning of the game, as the default selection was the remove placeable tool.
Hotkey for Detailed Storage Window:
- Added a hotkey (CAPS) to open the detailed storage window, improving accessibility and efficiency for players managing storage.
Package Size Reduction:
- Reduced the game's package size by 18% to 1.4GB, optimizing download and storage requirements.
EA_0.23.1116.2 Patch Notes: Localization Update
Updated Localization for New Items:
- Improved localization for new in-game items, ensuring a more polished and consistent experience across languages.