Every change we make in this [Guide] will be in the same folder as followed:

or
Windows Key + R

The following .ini files are edited in this [Guide]:

• Engine.ini
  
• GameUserSettings.ini

Go to the following folder:

or
Windows Key + R
Open file "Engine.ini" with Notepad or Notepad++. In there you should see following

[Core.System]
Paths=../../../Engine/Content
Paths=%GAMEDIR%Content
Paths=../../../Engine/Plugins/2D/Paper2D/Content

Go a couple lines below this and add the following line:

[/script/engine.engine]

After this enter the following:

bSmoothFrameRate=False

Save the Engine.ini file.


Now Open "GameUserSettings.ini" with Notepad or Notepad++ and use Ctrl+F for searching. Search for:

bUseVSync

FrameRateLimit

Change the following values below:

bUseVSync=False

FrameRateLimit=144 * (Change the 144 to your Monitor RefreshRate or above it.)

*For example if you want a fully unlocked framerate to go above your monitors refresh rate set
"FrameRateLimit=500". (If your Hardware gets beyond 500FPS in-game, change it to whatever you get in-game).

Go to the following folder:

or
Windows Key + R
Open file "Engine.ini" with Notepad or Notepad++.


Go a couple lines below the line we copied earlier in the [Guide] to unlock our FrameRate

And add the following line: **Note: everything in this [Guide] is going beneath this following line)**

[/script/engine.renderersettings]

Now you can add the following lines underneath.

r.DefaultFeature.MotionBlur=False
r.AmbientOcclusionLevels=0
r.AmbientOcclusionRadiusScale=1.7
r.postprocessAAQuality=0
r.DepthOfFieldQuality=0
r.DistanceFieldShadowing=0
r.DistanceFieldAO=0
r.RenderTargetPoolMin=512
r.LensFlareQuality=2

• r.DefaultFeature.MotionBlur = False or Ture
  
• r.AmbientOcclusionLevel = can be set at 0, 1, 2 or 3
  
• r.AmbientOcclusionRadiusScale = can be set between 0.0 and 2.0
  
• r.postprocessAAQuality = can be set at 0, 2, 4 or 6 above 6 take no effect.
  
• r.DepthOfFieldQuality = can be set at 0, 1 or 2
  
• r.DistanceFieldShadowing = can be set at 0 or 1 (off or on)
  
• r.DistanceFieldAO = can be set at 0 or 1 (off or on)
  
• r.RenderTargetPoolMin = can be set between 128 to 1024
  
• r.LensFlareQuality = can be set at 0, 1 or 2

You can play with the Values yourself. I give you a starting point which still looks nice but gives more FPS in-game.


Before and after screenshots: (Those screenshots do not do justice to how it looks in-game due to the fact that steam compromises pictures. You should take the 5 minutes and see for yourself.)



What this basically does is remove the "washed out effect" on the image and make it sharper but you get a few jagged lines around objects which in my opinion is worth it considering I prefer sharp over washed out in the first place.

Go to the following folder:

or
Windows Key + R
Open file "Engine.ini" with Notepad or Notepad++.

Add the following lines:

r.LightFunctionQuality=1
r.ShadowQuality=5
r.Shadow.CSM.MaxCascades=2
r.Shadow.MaxResolution=1024
r.Shadow.RadiusThreshold=0.06
r.Shadow.DistanceScale=1.4
r.Shadow.CSM.TransitionScale=1.4

• r.LightFunctionQuality = can be set at 0 or 1 (off or on)
  
• r.ShadowQuality = can be set at 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5
  
• r.Shadow.CSM.MaxCascades = can be set at 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4
  
• r.Shadow.MaxResolution = can be set between 128 to 2048
  
• r.Shadow.RadiusThreshold = can be set between 0.00 to 1
  
• r.Shadow.DistanceScale = can be set between 0.0 to 2.0
  
• r.Shadow.CSM.TransitionScale = can be set between 0.0 to 2.0

Again you can play with the Values yourself. I give you a starting point which still looks nice but gives more FPS in-game.


Before and after screenshots: (Those screenshots do not do justice to how it looks in-game due to the fact that steam compromises pictures. You should take the 5 minutes and see for yourself.)


You can see in the distance the shadows fadeout earlier meaning using less resources.

Go to the following folder:

or
Windows Key + R
Open file "Engine.ini" with Notepad or Notepad++.

Add the following lines:

r.Streaming.MipBias=0
r.MaxAnisotropy=8
r.Streaming.PoolSize=1000

• r.Streaming.MipBias = Can be set at 2.5, 1 or 0
  
• r.MaxAnisotropy = can be set at 0, 2, 4, 6 or 8
  
• r.Streaming.PoolSize = can be set between 200 to 1000

As said before already. Play with the values to your liking.

Go to the following folder:

or
Windows Key + R
Open file "Engine.ini" with Notepad or Notepad++.

Add the following lines:

r.TranslucencyLightingVolumeDim=64
r.RefractionQuality=2
r.SSR=1
r.SceneColorFormat=4
r.DetailMode=2
r.TranslucencyVolumeBlur=1
r.MaterialQualityLevel=1

• r.TranslucencyLightingVolumeDim = can be set at 24, 32, 48 or 64
  
• r.RefractionQuality = can be set at 0, 1 or 2
  
• r.SSR = can be set at 0 or 1 (off or on)
  
• r.SceneColorFormat = can be set at 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4
  
• r.DetailMode = can be set at 0, 1 or 2
  
• r.TranslucencyVolumeBlur = can be set at 0 or 1 (off or on)
  
• r.MaterialQualityLevel = can be set at 0 or 1

Change the values if you like to.

Fix for DxTory version 2.0.141 and up

For everyone out there if you have DxTory version 2.0.141 installed and your game crashes on start up simply select a Delay Hook of ~7 seconds. How?


Go to the "Advanced" Tab in DxTory and under "Hook Option" tick the "Delay Hook" box and set a timer of around ~7 seconds or more depending on when your game stops crashing.




Delay Hook what this basically does is setting a Delay in seconds to hook to the game. Meaning it will give the game time to start-up before it starts showing you the FPS counter.

//Updated// 25/12/2016

• Initial Release of the [Guide]

//Updated// 26/12/2016

• Added Screenshots to the following sections:
  
  • Post Processing Quality
  • Shadow Quality

//Updated// 31/12/2016

• FPS section edited unlocking should work again.
  
• Following sections Updated:
  
  • Post Processing Quality

//Updated// 7/01/2017

• Added alternative way to go to the "LocalAppData" folder Thanks to borgx

//Updated// 8/01/2017

• Added a range of values for each command Thanks to linkedparadise for pointing it out.

I will add more tweaks and Improvements to this guide as Astroneer Develops.

I hope you enjoyed my guide on how to Improve your Astroneer experience.
If I helped you even the tiniest amount please let me know in the comments down below so I can keep improving on this.
If you need help with anything feel free to ask, if you have some more settings which you think could work or are working for you feel free to share them here as well as I will be adding more and more to this as I see fit and find some interesting and helpful settings. Credits are giving to people with settings I add to this [Guide] after I've tested them myself.

Cheers!
CryCel


Disclamer: