A new Skyrim mod appeared this month on Nexus Mods. It's called eFPS, or Exterior FPS boost, and its purpose is pretty self-explanatory: it aims to improve your frame rate when your character is roaming outdoors.
According to creator nicola89b, this is a one-of-its-kind type of Skyrim mod, which is pretty rare given how many mods The Elder Scrolls V has received over the years.
eFPS - Exterior FPS boost makes extensive use of a native engine feature called Occlusion Culling. Occlusion Panes have been strategically hand-placed to enhance performance without affecting visibility and immersion. These panes are placed inside walls, houses, mountains and any big object in general, drastically reducing the draw calls. In our testing we've detected improvements of up to 5-20 FPS in certain critical areas. Occlusion Culling is hardly ever implemented in Skyrim by both Devs and Mod Authors because it is both a delicate and tedious process. eFPS - Exterior FPS boost is the first mod of its kind!
Anyway we put thousands occlusion panes and boxes in big part of the map one by one. These panes are placed inside walls, houses, big objects, mountains and so on, it reduces the draw calls drastically (that means a 5 to 20 FPS gain in certain critical areas).
Certainly the increase in performance is inversely proportional to the power of your computer. If you have a very very very powerful PC, you may only see a small improvement in FPS. On the other hand, the idea of this Skyrim mod is to improve performance especially for those who do not have an ultra-powerful PC.
eFPS isn't compatible with other Skyrim mods that delete or replace existing architecture. Additionally, its creator recommends using it on a brand new save.
As a reminder, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is getting a 10th Anniversary Edition on November 11th, which will include Skyrim Special Edition and 74 creations, all 48 currently available and 26 to be released. Among these, fans will be getting Fishing, Survival Mode, and even new quests with Saints and Seducers.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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