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Just recently we had the Fallout 4 "next gen" update, which came with some issues. Thankfully, Valve are on the case with Proton Hotfix.

For those not aware: Proton Hotfix is a special version of Proton, the compatibility layer to run Windows games on Linux and Steam Deck, which gets updated at times for specific games. So when Valve aren't ready to roll out the changes to the main Proton version or even Proton Experimental, they use Proton Hotfix. It's all about getting a quick-fix out when needed.

The main problem in the new Fallout 4 update is that it caused various frame pacing issues, making it quite annoying to play on the Steam Deck OLED model. Thankfully, as announced by Valve developer
Pierre-Loup Griffais on X (formerly Twitter) this should no longer be an issue as they said: "A Proton Hotfix has been deployed for a Fallout 4 frame pacing issue on Deck OLED.".

Pierre-Loup Griffais said

Another issue as mentioned in our previous article, is just like Bethesda did with Skyrim, the launcher has been removed for Steam Deck so changing graphical options isn't possible. Unless you turn off the Steam Deck detection with this launch option: SteamDeck=0 %command%.

You can buy Fallout 4 from:

Fanatical (also currently in the Fanatical Fallout Bundle)

GOG

Humble Store

Steam

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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10 comments

Jarmer Apr 26
What exactly is "frame pacing" ...? Is that just referencing lower than expected fps? Or general stuttering like with a lot of unreal engine games? Or some specific technical issue I've never heard of before?
Pyretic Apr 26
Quoting: JarmerWhat exactly is "frame pacing" ...? Is that just referencing lower than expected fps? Or general stuttering like with a lot of unreal engine games? Or some specific technical issue I've never heard of before?

Frame pacing is the time taken to generate a new frame.
redneckdrow Apr 27
I knew when they announced the update that it would have teething problems. What I hate is the fact that Bethesda always seems to go out of their way to break their own stuff in new updates. Modding goes without saying.

Fortunately, I've always set their games to only update when launched. I also use a very simple script to run mod organizer 2 in each separate prefix.
Jarmer Apr 27
Quoting: Pyretic
Quoting: JarmerWhat exactly is "frame pacing" ...? Is that just referencing lower than expected fps? Or general stuttering like with a lot of unreal engine games? Or some specific technical issue I've never heard of before?

Frame pacing is the time taken to generate a new frame.

LOLOL: I didn't think a perfect person would come along, but lo and behold: it happened!
Quoting: JarmerWhat exactly is "frame pacing" ...?

Usually frames are rendered in sequence 1,2,3,4,5,6,7...
Frame paceing means frames are displayed in the wrong order.

1,3,2,5,4,7, and so forth.


Last edited by Vortex_Acherontic on 27 April 2024 at 7:37 am UTC
tuubi Apr 27
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Quoting: Vortex_Acherontic
Quoting: JarmerWhat exactly is "frame pacing" ...?

Usually frames are rendered in sequence 1,2,3,4,5,6,7...
Frame paceing means frames are displayed in the wrong order.

1,3,2,5,4,7, and so forth.
That's actually worse than simply bad frame pacing, and thankfully less common. What frame pacing actually means is how smoothly and consistently frames are rendered. Bad pacing causes fluctuating frame times, resulting in choppiness or microstutter.
Eike Apr 27
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What's that image in the news feed, a swine railgun?!? :D
Jarmer Apr 27
I think I'm even more confused about what frame pacing is ... Time to take a deep dive.
F.Ultra Apr 28
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Quoting: JarmerI think I'm even more confused about what frame pacing is ... Time to take a deep dive.

Frame Pacing - Why one game's "60fps" looks great, and another game's "60fps" looks like crap

What is the difference between frame-paced and v-synced gameplay ?

quoted the best answer from the links above:

QuoteFrame pacing is how well (or not) the game engine delivers frames in an even split and is measured by the render times of each frame.

Example of good frame pacing at 60FPS

Frame 1: 16.67ms

Frame 2: 16.35ms

Frame 3: 15.98ms

Frame 4: 16.85ms

Example of poor frame pacing at 60FPS

Frame 1: 16.67ms

Frame 2: 35.35ms

Frame 3: 7.97ms

Frame 4: 10.56ms

Both of these examples would show a “solid” 60fps on an FPS counter, but one would feel smooth, the other would feel terrible and stuttery.


Last edited by F.Ultra on 28 April 2024 at 2:54 pm UTC
For what it's worth, Fallout 4 looks and runs amazingly well on my LCD Steam Deck. While I can get a solid 60 frames per second, it only gives me little more than an estimated one hour of run time on a full battery. If I dial it back to 30 frames per second, it gives me an estimated two hours, and by tweaking the power settings, I can stretch it out to nearly three hours. Not too shabby.
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