Dear forum readers,

I started my third playthrough of Far Cry 1, and after some time playing the game stutters, i.e. microfreezes. If I quit and reload, it becomes smooth again.

Actually this reminds me my second playthrough, four to five years back in time, I had another laptop running Vista and the game DVD, and had the same problem as today (now running Windows 10 and the GOG edition of the game). I finished that playthrough however, which means I solved the problem, but I don't remember how...

Did anyone experience the same ?

I haven't, but I'm not using Windows 10.

In general, I'd suggest a couple things:

1. Make sure you're running the game as administrator.
2. Make sure to run the game in a compatibility mode for Windows XP (if available).
3. It sounds a lot like the problem FEAR has in operating systems after XP
(performance degrades the longer you play). You could try installing the fix for that:
https://www.gog.com/forum/fear_series/fear_fps_fix/post1

Although the fix was made specifically for FEAR, the same slow down issue and cause does show up in other games. I haven't heard of it in Far Cry, but it's something you can try. The link in option #3 explains everything and how to use it.

I'm having this problem, too. I'm using Windows 10 and when I eventually got to the level The River the game started stuttering like crazy and won't stop; I've even tried reloading older saves from the same level and it still stutters like mad. I haven't tried running it in compatibility mode or as administrator so maybe I should try that.

Keep us informed !

In fact I only had stuttering on the 1st level and no problem until now, which is likely why I don't remember how I solved it when I used to play it on Vista, it's just because I didn't do anything :-/

Currently I stopped playing for some time and didn't reach The River yet, but I will come back once I get there.

I would advise enabling or disabling VSync to see if it changes anything. Also fwiw, I remember having seen someone who activated triple buffering in the game configuration file, which helped solve stuttering for him.

Oh, sorry it took so long but now I remember that a fix for many is lowering a single setting to medium from highest. I am sure you can search yourself from there as I cannot seem to remember which graphic setting it was. I always play it modded or at a minimum with the small fan patch (stops enemies from seeing you through walls and some other small things). I uploaded that mini-patch as a fake picture in this subforum somewhere too. (NOT my handcraft.)

Try running the game in windowed mode, this worked for many players to fix game stuttering issue. Also update the graphic card driver and adjust the in-game settings.

I'd like to throw in my two cents.

On my Windows 7, FarCry used to have a weird microstutter in outdoor areas. Vsync made that stutter especially noticeable, to the point where it pretty much ruined the whole experience. The game was still playable, but whenever I pivoted around objects, it looked as if the camera was twitching a little from side to side very fast.

Apparently, the problem was that Vsync in FarCry couldn't keep a steady framerate in open spaces. So, the solution for me was to limit the framerate to 60 (my monitor's refresh rate) with RivaTuner Statistics Server. Easy as that. All the in-game movement has been butter-smooth ever since.

UPD: However, RTSS refused to do the trick for my retail version of the game. Isn't it supposed to be the same CryEngine as GOG's? Weird...