Guide: Enable v-sync in Linux

[Carborundum]

By enabling v-sync you can save power and decrease temperature by only rendering the amount of frames your monitor can actually display. In Linux, it is possible to force this behaviour on a per-application basis via the DriConf tool. DriConf is provided by the freedesktop organisation, and the source can be found at http://dri.freedesktop.org/wiki/DriConf if you want to build it yourself. Many distributions already have the tool in their repositories however, so that shouldn't be necessary. In Ubuntu, install DriConf by running

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get install driconf

or by searching for it in the Ubuntu Software Center.

Once you have installed and opened DriConf, you need to add FTL to its list of applications with special settings. Do this by clicking the "Add" button (Step 1 in the image below) in the performace tab. Make sure you enter the correct path to the FTL executable in the "Executable name" field.

After you have done so, click the "Add setting" button and choose "Performace > Synchronization with vertical refresh (swap intervals)" (Step 2 in the image below), and exit the application. V-sync should now be enabled for FTL.

[thefish]

Nice guide, thank you.

I'd like to mention that on some Linux systems FTL might crash xserver, if v-sync is turned off.
On my laptop game silently crashed to console, if it was using non-discrete graphics card (ie, laptop was working on a battery), no error log was generated.

DriConfig helps in this case, you have to add Step 3: set v-sync value to "Always synchronize with vertical refresh, application chooses the minimum swap interval".

ftl-driconf-i915.jpg

[6677]

Something you didn't mention.
Aswell as saving power, reducing heat etc enabling V-Sync will remove any graphical tearing caused by the monitor drawing out of sync with your GPU output. Usually this only happens when your frame rate is higher than your monitor refresh rate and some monitors have their own systems in place to reduce the effects of tearing but mine for instance doesn't have those preventions and on 3d games at high framerates it can get bad (Rage on low settings I actually get 2 lines of tearing.... normally I play maxed and still tear but V-Sync fixes it)