Why are MV games running at only 20 FPS on Windows but 60 on Linux?

[WoefulWitch]

My main PC I'm trying to use MV on:
Windows 11, Ryzen 5 3600, GTX 1650 Super, 16 GB RAM
Can run ARK at 75-80 FPS on Medium-Epic.
RPG Maker MV games capped at 20 FPS.
*RPG Maker XP games run at 40 FPS, and RPG Maker 2003 games run at 60 FPS on my PC.

My old laptop that I installed MV on just to test if there's a difference in MV performance:
Ubuntu 22.04, Intel i3 7100u, Intel HD 620 Graphics, 8 GB RAM
Can barely run Terraria at 60 FPS, or Old Skyrim on lowest settings at 30-40 FPS.
RPG Maker MV games run at a full 60 FPS.

That doesn't make much sense, does it?

I've tried a test play of my project, a deployed build, a downloaded free game, and a brand new project without any plugins. I've tried reinstalling MV, restarting my PC, messing with NVIDIA settings, turning off any kind of VSYNC, turning off overlays, etc.

Nothing, still capped at 20 FPS.

Does anyone know how I can fix this?

 

[Andar]

why do you want to "fix" that? RM games do not need a higher FPS because they are neither 3D nor action games, and capping their fps means more reserves for internal lag (which is still a problem).

That said the main reason (if I remember correctly) is rather old code that should have been corrected in one of the updates years ago.
But in the very first few versions of the MV engine the entire game speed was linked to the FPS in a way that the faster display cards with higher FPS even acclerated the timers of the engine, making the games too fast. That had to be capped, and probably no one bothered since then.

 

[KawaiiKid]

My main PC I'm trying to use MV on:
Windows 11, Ryzen 5 3600, GTX 1650 Super, 16 GB RAM
Can run ARK at 75-80 FPS on Medium-Epic.
RPG Maker MV games capped at 20 FPS.
*RPG Maker XP games run at 40 FPS, and RPG Maker 2003 games run at 60 FPS on my PC.

My old laptop that I installed MV on just to test if there's a difference in MV performance:
Ubuntu 22.04, Intel i3 7100u, Intel HD 620 Graphics, 8 GB RAM
Can barely run Terraria at 60 FPS, or Old Skyrim on lowest settings at 30-40 FPS.
RPG Maker MV games run at a full 60 FPS.

That doesn't make much sense, does it?

I've tried a test play of my project, a deployed build, a downloaded free game, and a brand new project without any plugins. I've tried reinstalling MV, restarting my PC, messing with NVIDIA settings, turning off any kind of VSYNC, turning off overlays, etc.

Nothing, still capped at 20 FPS.

Does anyone know how I can fix this?

I can't think of anything but reinstalling windows. If running just a base project at 20fps with no plugins, there is something going on with your system. Backup your files and reinstall windows (you should be doing this once a year anyhow).

 

[WoefulWitch]

why do you want to "fix" that? RM games do not need a higher FPS because they are neither 3D nor action games, and capping their fps means more reserves for internal lag (which is still a problem).

That said the main reason (if I remember correctly) is rather old code that should have been corrected in one of the updates years ago.
But in the very first few versions of the MV engine the entire game speed was linked to the FPS in a way that the faster display cards with higher FPS even acclerated the timers of the engine, making the games too fast. That had to be capped, and probably no one bothered since then.

Because it's 2022, not 1997. No game, even a 2D one should ever run at 20 FPS. No one wants to play that trash. A modern console 3D game at 30 FPS is barely tolerable anymore.

 

[oooNUKEooo]

maybe you can try reading this external topic:

FPSLimit.js :: RPG Maker MV Resources

A fellow in the RPG Maker MV discussion group has a 144Hz monitor and isn't able to test his games because he zips around like crazy, the refresh is all off. This is the case of normal games and uploaded games as well, on his monitor. This plugin resolved the issue for him. You can test it...

steamcommunity.com

 

[DrBuni]

why do you want to "fix" that? RM games do not need a higher FPS because they are neither 3D nor action games, and capping their fps means more reserves for internal lag (which is still a problem).

That said the main reason (if I remember correctly) is rather old code that should have been corrected in one of the updates years ago.
But in the very first few versions of the MV engine the entire game speed was linked to the FPS in a way that the faster display cards with higher FPS even acclerated the timers of the engine, making the games too fast. That had to be capped, and probably no one bothered since then.

I think a game running at 20fps is painful to look at, it doesn't matter if it is real time or turn based.

 

[Arthran]

@WoefulWitch
Is your MV updated to the latest version? Also, have you updated NW.js? If not, I'd recommend updating to 0.48.4, and see if that helps. The one that ships with MV is significantly older than your hardware, so it's possible that it's failing to recognize things properly.

If the answer to those are both "yes", then is it possible that you've got any device plugged in that could be getting erroneously recognized as your active monitor? I believe that MV automatically caps its framerate at your monitor's refresh rate, so maybe it thinks you're packing a 20 Hz monitor for some reason.

 

[WoefulWitch]

@WoefulWitch
Is your MV updated to the latest version? Also, have you updated NW.js? If not, I'd recommend updating to 0.48.4, and see if that helps. The one that ships with MV is significantly older than your hardware, so it's possible that it's failing to recognize things properly.

If the answer to those are both "yes", then is it possible that you've got any device plugged in that could be getting erroneously recognized as your active monitor? I believe that MV automatically caps its framerate at your monitor's refresh rate, so maybe it thinks you're packing a 20 Hz monitor for some reason.

Everything is the latest version. If I try updating NW.js, the game doesn't even launch at all anymore, whether I use the latest version, the version the post recommends, or the version you mentioned above. And unless the instructions in that post are outdated, I didn't screw it up.

My monitor resolution is also 75Hz and every other game, unless it's something that's locked to 60FPS like Dark Souls or something emulated, can run at 75+ FPS if it can handle it. Even specifying a higher max frame rate for MV's "Game.exe" in NVIDIA Control Panel has no effect.

I can't think of anything but reinstalling windows. If running just a base project at 20fps with no plugins, there is something going on with your system. Backup your files and reinstall windows (you should be doing this once a year anyhow).

That makes absolutely no sense. No one should ever have to reinstall Windows unless the PC is ancient, you're upgrading Windows or installing it on a new drive, or something is genuinely wrong with system files. One single 2D game engine being capped to 20 FPS is not going to be caused by something like that, especially when it can run modern games well with no issue.

 

[Arthran]

Everything is the latest version. If I try updating NW.js, the game doesn't even launch at all anymore, whether I use the latest version, the version the post recommends, or the version you mentioned above. And unless the instructions in that post are outdated, I didn't screw it up.

What happened when you tried to launch it? Nothing at all? Or some type of error message? If you're 100% certain that you followed the directions correctly, then this is likely indicative of some type of issue with your system. NW.js is simply a modified version of the Chromium web browser, so there's not really a good reason why a healthy system would be unable to run a newer version of it.

I'd recommend focusing on trying to figure out how to get it properly updated, because a newer version of NW.js is going to be the most likely candidate for fixing your frame capping issue. A MV game is essentially just a website, and the part that actually launches it and handles any type of communication with your hardware and operating system is NW.js.

My monitor resolution is also 75Hz and every other game, unless it's something that's locked to 60FPS like Dark Souls or something emulated, can run at 75+ FPS if it can handle it.

I know that your monitor isn't actually set to 20 Hz. What I'm asking is whether or not you have *any* other device (that has some type of display) plugged into your system, that might be somehow confusing the game into thinking that it is a legitimate monitor? A graphics tablet or something, perhaps?

 

[ATT_Turan]

Backup your files and reinstall windows (you should be doing this once a year anyhow).

That's not really the case, for any reason I can think of. That used to be a decent practice (back in, like, the 20th century going into the early 2000s) because of file fragmentation on HDDs.

Once you'd had stuff installed and being used for a certain length of time, defragging could cause issues with system files, so it was often better to just reformat and reinstall Windows. With most people using SSDs now, I can't think of any reason to routinely do that.

No one wants to play that trash. A modern console 3D game at 30 FPS is barely tolerable anymore.

That makes absolutely no sense.

You're coming off kind of aggressively in this thread. We're all just volunteer hobbyists like you, and no one is forcing you to use the RPG Maker software.

Just to put it out there, are you prepared to rewrite sections of the engine's code to take advantage of a high framerate? For example, the character walking animations are timed to change frames at intervals of a quarter of a second.

It doesn't matter whether your reported frame rate is 20 or 60, that's not going to look any different unless you draw lots of extra frames and use plugins (or your own code) to change how the engine updates it.

 

[caethyril]

If your main system has integrated graphics as well as a dedicated Nvidia GPU, check the Nvidia Control Panel to make sure the game is running on the Nvidia GPU rather than the integrated graphics:

---

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RMMV's Windows playtest app is in the RMMV install folder under "nwjs-win-test/game.exe".

 

[KawaiiKid]

That's not really the case, for any reason I can think of. That used to be a decent practice (back in, like, the 20th century going into the early 2000s) because of file fragmentation on HDDs.

Once you'd had stuff installed and being used for a certain length of time, defragging could cause issues with system files, so it was often better to just reformat and reinstall Windows. With most people using SSDs now, I can't think of any reason to routinely do that.

I always recommend it because of just things piling up, not because of defrag (can you even do that anymore lol). Stacked registry files, random downloads you forgot piling up, game saves, saved settings, random caches from stuff you don't even use, startup stuff, driver install files, etc. It's much easier to just save all the stuff you know you want, then do a fresh install once in a while rather than take the time to go through everything with a fine toothed comb and delete the stuff you don't.

 

[WoefulWitch]

What happened when you tried to launch it? Nothing at all? Or some type of error message? If you're 100% certain that you followed the directions correctly, then this is likely indicative of some type of issue with your system. NW.js is simply a modified version of the Chromium web browser, so there's not really a good reason why a healthy system would be unable to run a newer version of it.

I'd recommend focusing on trying to figure out how to get it properly updated, because a newer version of NW.js is going to be the most likely candidate for fixing your frame capping issue. A MV game is essentially just a website, and the part that actually launches it and handles any type of communication with your hardware and operating system is NW.js.


I know that your monitor isn't actually set to 20 Hz. What I'm asking is whether or not you have *any* other device (that has some type of display) plugged into your system, that might be somehow confusing the game into thinking that it is a legitimate monitor? A graphics tablet or something, perhaps?

Nothing at all happens. Though now that you mention it, Opera, the Chromium-based browser, also has poor performance when I tried using it, so that could be related.
And no, the only things plugged in are external hard drives, two basic speakers, basic keyboard and basic mouse. Nothing fancy, nothing with any kind of graphic interface.

You're coming off kind of aggressively in this thread. We're all just volunteer hobbyists like you, and no one is forcing you to use the RPG Maker software.

Just to put it out there, are you prepared to rewrite sections of the engine's code to take advantage of a high framerate? For example, the character walking animations are timed to change frames at intervals of a quarter of a second.

It doesn't matter whether your reported frame rate is 20 or 60, that's not going to look any different unless you draw lots of extra frames and use plugins (or your own code) to change how the engine updates it.

That's not my intention, I apologise if it's coming off that way, I'm just frustrated with this.

And the animation framerate isn't the problem. I get how that works. It's the framerate of everything together, from message windows, to transitions, to movement of objects across the screen, does look very different at 20 FPS vs 60 FPS. Rewriting it won't change a thing if it's still stuck at 20 FPS.

If you instead mean to rewrite the code to force 60 FPS and then rewrite the animation timings to support a modified engine, well that's just like putting duct tape on a broken pipe. It may work, but it doesn't solve the problem that it's supposed to run at 60 FPS.

If your main system has integrated graphics as well as a dedicated Nvidia GPU, check the Nvidia Control Panel to make sure the game is running on the Nvidia GPU rather than the integrated graphics:

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View attachment 231081

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RMMV's Windows playtest app is in the RMMV install folder under "nwjs-win-test/game.exe".

It doesn't have integrated, just dedicated.

I always recommend it because of just things piling up, not because of defrag (can you even do that anymore lol). Stacked registry files, random downloads you forgot piling up, game saves, saved settings, random caches from stuff you don't even use, startup stuff, driver install files, etc. It's much easier to just save all the stuff you know you want, then do a fresh install once in a while rather than take the time to go through everything with a fine toothed comb and delete the stuff you don't.

I sort everything as I go onto different external drives for organisation, and clean up registry files, temp files, cache, etc regularly. None of that has ever been an issue for me.

 

[Arthran]

can you even do that anymore lol

You actually still can. You just don't generally need to, as by default, modern versions of Windows automatically handle it in the background for you. And as ATT_Turan said, if you're using SSDs, they don't need defragmenting anyway.

 

[KawaiiKid]

If it works on everyone else's system and not yours, and you don't know what's going on, I'm telling you, do a fresh windows install lol. "Turn it off, and turn it back on again" logic.

Usually works.

 

[caethyril]

Some more ideas:

1. Does the framerate problem happen only for standalone deployments / playtest, or for web-games as well? E.g. this one:
   
   

   Chess MV by JohnDoeNews

   A chess game for 2 players.

   johndoenews.itch.io
   If it's standalone only, there might be some problem between your system and the NWJS wrapper.
   
   [Edit: just noticed you mentioned Opera, so I guess you are seeing it in at least some browsers.]
   
   
2. If you press F2 while in-game to show the framerate widget (top-left):
   • Is it labelled "WebGL mode" or "Canvas mode"? (Canvas is a slower, fallback renderer.)
   • What values does the widget show?

   ---

   

   ---

   If it's set to Canvas, that implies the game has failed to recognise your GPU as WebGL-capable.
   
   
3. I wonder if some security app on your system is doing a run-time scan on the game's scripts or something. I wouldn't expect that to have a lasting significant impact, though. Maybe check the Task Manager for odd CPU/RAM/etc usage while an RMMV game (deployed or playtest) is running?

 

[WoefulWitch]

Some more ideas:

1. Does the framerate problem happen only for standalone deployments / playtest, or for web-games as well? E.g. this one:
   
   

   Chess MV by JohnDoeNews

   A chess game for 2 players.

   johndoenews.itch.io
   If it's standalone only, there might be some problem between your system and the NWJS wrapper.
   
   [Edit: just noticed you mentioned Opera, so I guess you are seeing it in at least some browsers.]
   
   
2. If you press F2 while in-game to show the framerate widget (top-left):
   • Is it labelled "WebGL mode" or "Canvas mode"? (Canvas is a slower, fallback renderer.)
   • What values does the widget show?

   ---

   View attachment 231154
   

   ---

   If it's set to Canvas, that implies the game has failed to recognise your GPU as WebGL-capable.
   
   
3. I wonder if some security app on your system is doing a run-time scan on the game's scripts or something. I wouldn't expect that to have a lasting significant impact, though. Maybe check the Task Manager for odd CPU/RAM/etc usage while an RMMV game (deployed or playtest) is running?

It happens for all Windows deployments I've tried.

It's WebGL mode, max of 20 FPS.
Though for some reason the link you posted for the web game runs in Canvas mode at 60 FPS...

With the game running, the only thing odd with the task manager seems to be, despite saying it's using the GPU, there's 0% GPU usage, and for some other odd reason the task manager seems to randomly crash a few seconds after it's opened or if I interact with the game process, and seems to run fine if 'nwjs.exe' isn't on the task list...

But if it is a GPU problem, how? It's relatively new, up to date drivers, and it's not like it's something obscure. It's a common GPU that works well for everything else. And I especially can't imagine how a GTX 1650 Super will have problems with it when a nothing-GPU like Intel HD 620 Graphics can run it properly at full speed. It also doesn't explain how every other RPG Maker engine before MV runs perfectly well.

 

[oooNUKEooo]

could be a bad installation (OS, AV, java, anything else), misconfiguration or even a hardware problem.

MV engine is the 1st of its own. comparison to older versions has its limits.

 

[caethyril]

It's WebGL mode, max of 20 FPS.
Though for some reason the link you posted for the web game runs in Canvas mode at 60 FPS...

That web game runs in WebGL mode at 60 fps for me, maybe that's just your browser settings (hardware acceleration?). Interesting that you're seeing it run at full framerate, though. Maybe check this site to confirm if your browser recognises WebGL support: https://get.webgl.org/

Did you update your graphics drivers from Nvidia's site, or through the GeForce Experience app? Updating via Windows Update may introduce problems, particularly with OpenGL-related features, since Microsoft focuses on its own rendering API (DirectX).

0% GPU might just be a rounding issue: like you say, GTX 1650 Super is more than sufficient, especially if it's operating at 20 fps! However, if your Task Manager is "crashing" that sounds bad! Does it just close/freeze the window, or do the "Task Manager is not responding, End Process/Wait" thing, or reboot your entire system? I wonder if an alternative, e.g. Process Explorer, might work better?

Do you have any third-party security / anti-malware apps installed? If so, maybe one of those dislikes NWJS for some reason: it's basically a wrapper that lets a Chromium browser act like a local application, which may look suspicious to some malware-detection heuristics.

I believe VXAce and earlier use an entirely CPU-based renderer (2k3 is capped at 60 fps, XP at 40, not sure about VX/Ace). That's why MV/MZ can achieve higher framerates at a higher resolution, despite being web-games (more overhead), since even Canvas mode will delegate some of the rendering to capable dedicated hardware.