So I picked this game up, never played it before but it was one of those games I always saw in that golden age of games where I didn't own a PC to play them, and it installed easy and all like all gog games too but... well...

Is it just me, or does the FPS on this game just TANK if there's more then two characters on screen?

Now my computer is physically more then capable of running this, Nvidia GT 440 I gig GPU, 8 gigs of ram, and a AMD Phenom II Quad Core processor. Running Skyrim on High Settings doesn't chug like this so, I'm figuring it's something mechanically wrong with either the port or the settings I've used.

I'm running it on standard setup, Open GL and the High-Res patch, and windowed because my computer's widescreen, but this game tanks down to about 10 to 15 FPS anytime I leave even the narrowest of corridor, or have more then three non-party characters on the game. I've already tried the fix for setting up a .INI file in roaming for FPS = 500 and such with no noticeable effect.

Anyone have any advice on fixing this, or is this just how it is for this game on Windows 7 and modern hardware?

Did you install to the root of your hard drive (for example C:\Anachronox), highly recommended if you are running Windows Vista or 7.

I only get stuttering if I get turned away from an area as he moves back to central type area.

Did you run the installer as admin, I would also set shortcut to run as admin via the compatability tab.

Use the GCT setup under tools in the Anachronox start menu shortcut (under GOG Games header). Turn off any 3D sound via the dropdown as that is known to cause issues

I'll admit I just installed to the default GOG directory in Program Files(x86); would I have to do a full reinstall and lose my savegames to do that, or could I just copy my Anachronox folder to the C/: directory?

Also I am the Admin on the computer, so running it as one is a default setting, also I'm not experiencing stuttering, I mean a plain-jane FPS loss, like my computer is struggling to render all the motion, which makes zero sense.

You can just move your save folder to another location. Then uninstall and then reinstall. Save folder is :

Install folder > anoxdata > SAVE > {username} desktop > All in here

You may need to be showing system files in file explorer or it may not show the desktop folder.

Just copy the username folder somewhere safe, then once reinstalled copy it back in to the above location and all will be fine

Just because you are admin on the PC doesnt mean that it runs setup files as admin, just runs them as standard setup.. It just means you have full control of the OS and any other user accounts on there. Just right click the setup file and select run as administrator.

Did all of the above, full uninstall and reinstall to the c/: directory, problem persists.

Going to try to run it at low-res and see if that changes anything, but I can't imagine running it at high-res can be a problem for my machine.

EDIT: Running it at low res has zero affect on the problem, so it's not the throughput of my hardware.

You should be running fine on that setup.

You could try changing the affinity to 1 processor core. Works occasionally on older titles and from what I have read around the net works for some users.

To do affinity you start the game just to the start / menu screen (After the Anachronox & ION Storm logos) then alt tab out and start task manager.

Once task manager is open (you can access it by ctrl alt del) click processes tab and find the anox.exe file. Right click it then select set affinity. Uncheck everything except CPU 0 then ok and alt tab back to the game and see if that helps.

In there

I checked the affinity first-thing, I emulate and run older games quite a lot; Anachronox's GOG build automatically sets itself to Core 1 in my Processor. I can try setting it to Core zero, but the game has some batch file execution I haven't run down yet that pipes it all through one core automatically.

Edit, my mistake. It is automatically set to only Core 0, not 1.

Thats cool if it is set already, no need to mess with that then.

Got me baffled this one must admit.

Try disabling any anti virus that you may have. I know AvG can cause issues sometimes as can Norton

I personally use Avast, but I disabled any of it's real-time functions, booted the game back up, zero change.

Oh well, it's not game-breaking, just irritating to see the game be choppy and slow one second, then the instant I enter an enclosed area go to a beautiful 60+ FPS and look like it's SUPPOSED to.

Guess I can live with it if it's just how it's gotta be.

I have the same problem. :(
Tried everything that is mentioned in the thread but still no luck. I'm at Sender Station now and it's completely unplayable.

For me it gets a little better when I turn on all the cores, but still way too low.

I hope GOG can find a solution.
My specs are Geforce580, i7-920, win64.

Yes, I did!
I have 200 fps in the menu and it drops to 10-25 in game when the scene isn't narrow.

I've done the same, to the same effect.

It's weird, almost like it's emulating the old renderer's limitations.

Similar issue for me, but the game never goes over 20 fps, even when paused. I have tried all the fixes listed above and attempted to run it in all compatibility modes.

I'm running a Phenom x4 and a radeon 6970.

I remember from when this came out that it is running on the quake2 engine -- is there a way to disable hardware rendering? It's a desperate move, but I have always wanted to play this game.

Same as above for me. I also have a 6970 and a quad core phenom. Everything is like a slide show and it hurts my eyes :( Any fixes for this would be appreciated.