Red Dead Redemption 2's PC Framerate Causes Unusual Issues

Since Red Dead Redemption 2's release on PC a few weeks ago, Rockstar has been working diligently to improve upon the game's performance and stability, especially when it comes to a stuttering issue affecting certain Nvidia GPUs and four- and six-core CPUs. Those who have managed to get it running smoothly have noticed another problem, however: the passage of time is seemingly tied to your framerate.

Those who played Dark Souls 2 on PC may be familiar with this specific bug. From Software's PC port ran at 60fps compared to the console version's 30fps, which caused weapon durability to degrade twice as fast. Red Dead Redemption 2 stumbles into a similar problem if you're running the PC version at a higher framerate than the console version allowed.

Reddit user Jimmyoneshot discovered the link, and other players have expressed how the passage of time appears to differ depending on your framerate. Some players have noticed that the day/night cycle progresses much faster on PC, with the time of day changing multiple times on long journeys. Others have also noted how weather conditions like rain and lightning will come and go in the blink of an eye.

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This becomes a significant issue when you factor in Arthur Morgan's cores. Red Dead Redemption 2 keeps track of its protagonist's health and fitness as represented by the three cores of health, stamina, and Dead Eye. Eating too much without exercise will make Arthur gain weight and increase his stamina consumption, whereas he'll become gaunt if you don't eat enough, which negatively affects his health regeneration. Players started to notice that each core seems to drain much faster on PC, so Jimmyoneshot decided to perform a few tests.

They created two saves at the beginning of chapter two, locking the framerate to 30fps in one save and leaving the other with their usual 100-130fps settings. They then played a full in-game day, completing the same story missions while eating four steaks at the same point during the day on both. When playing at a higher framerate, Arthur lost 0.75 of his weight by the next day, compared to the 1.5 he gained when locked at 30fps.

Losing weight four times as fast as usual isn't an ideal situation, but the bug's recent exposure should hopefully lead to an imminent fix on Rockstar's part.