Hi. Because of my outdated PC I'm worriwed about Starbound performance. I've read some info here and there, but still have some questions. Would be grateful if anyone comes up with answers. So first of all, what kind of mods impact game performance? Does the sheer quantity of mods matter (i.e. many small mods are worse than one big mod combining them all)? If mods add objects, items, etc., do they impact performance with the mere fact they are present in the Mods folder (and therefore in the game somewhere, or theoretically), or all that matters is the place the player is currently in (with many or few objects, effects, NPC etc.)? Full screen or windowed mode? Could not notice any difference so far. I also met unconfirmed info about some objects impacting performance more than others. Storage items? Animated decorations? Wire objects? Should I avoid using those as decorations where possible? If I make simple static decoration sprites instead of storage/wired objects (i.e. a "box", which just looks like a box), will that help? Buff. No tips whasoever?.. Also, planet size. Do large planets cause more lags than small, regardless of other factors?
Please don't bump posts that are still on the first page. It is unnecessary and can be seen as spam. To answer some questions: Starbound loads in chunks. So the more objects (like NPCs) in a chunk, the more processing power it requires. An example is the pixel printer; if in admin mode it loads all possible objects that can be printed. This creates a large list that, because of how Starbound loads, causes lag for most people. As for number of mods, I'm not sure about that. Mods that add a lot of new objects and items (like FU) normally cause lag.
Pixel printer is a good example. When I do not use it, there is no lag associated with it. This should mean I only have lag because of many objects if I cover a large area with them and stay there; and if I go far away enough, or to another planet, the lag stops, right? Maybe I have to re-enter the game to unload the prevoius area from memory too. Or does it not work this way, and if I install big mods, build something large somewhere, then I will have increased lag wherever I go, because the game already "knows" there is something laggy somewhere and processes that all the time? For example, "X-3" (Egosoft game) works that way, whole universe is processed all the time no matter where the player is.
Starbound only renders a certain region around you and depending on your resolution and zoom-factor that rendering region changes. Big builds shouldn't affect performance unless there is a lot of wiring, light and/or npcs going on. When you leave a planet for a set amount of time, it will unload. Everything that has no player-proximity (or wiring) going on is also not loaded. Hope that helps.
