Boosting LOD Settings in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle for PC Users

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle has emerged as one of the standout PC game releases this year, demonstrating the impressive capabilities of id Tech 7. It performs exceptionally well across diverse hardware configurations, and with the recent addition of Path Tracing support, the visual fidelity is taken to new heights—albeit at a significant performance cost. While the game is well-optimized, players may encounter some visual restrictions, particularly concerning Level of Detail (LOD) and a limited shadow draw distance. Here’s a guide on how to enhance the LOD settings in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.

How to Increase LOD in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

Unfortunately, the in-game settings do not provide an option to adjust the LOD distance, which can lead to noticeable pop-in visuals while exploring the game world. This issue might distract players, but it seems to be a compromise made to help prioritize game performance. However, there’s a workaround—players can utilize the developer console to modify the LOD draw distance manually.

Steps to Adjust LOD in the Developer Console

Start Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and load your saved game.
Press the ~ key to open the developer console.
Enter the following command:

r_lodScale 4

Developer Console in Indiana Jones — Screenshot by Prima Games

Optimal LOD Settings

You can adjust the LOD scale anywhere from 1 (the default setting) to 10. Based on testing, we found that a value of 4 strikes an ideal balance—it improves visual performance without overly taxing the GPU or causing flickering issues.

After entering the command, just press Enter, and the LOD will adjust dynamically.

Visual Comparison

For those curious about the difference, here’s a side-by-side comparison of the default LOD setting versus the modified setting at 4. Full-resolution images are also available via this link for a more detailed look at the scene.

Default LOD Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

LOD 4 Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

Performance Insights

Following this adjustment, we noticed a decrease in average frames per second (FPS) in our testing: from 94 FPS with the default LOD to 85 FPS after modifying the setting. This performance drop is within expected parameters, with further increases in the LOD scale (beyond 4) likely leading to more significant FPS reductions.

Performance Comparison LOD — Screenshot by Prima Games

A notable caveat is that the LOD command must be re-entered each time you load your saved game. However, you can conveniently press the up arrow key to retrieve the last command you entered. This requirement is the only drawback to using the console command, as it resets every time the game is relaunched.

Ideally, the developers will introduce a dedicated slider for adjusting LOD settings in the future, along with details about the performance implications. For the time being, this method remains the sole option to enhance visual detail dynamically. Depending on your in-game environment and the density of objects present, this adjustment can be quite demanding.

Additionally, if you’re looking to further optimize your experience, you can find tips on skipping intro videos and troubleshooting crashes or black screens in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.

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