It Takes Twonot only requires a friend or partner to play with but also a respectable gaming rig which, in these trying times, is harder to achieve thanks to hardware shortage and bloated prices. Thankfully, the game’s visuals can be rather manageable since it’s not exactly an open-world game despite the grand and majestic action set-pieces.
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That very well means players can squeeze out a bit more performance and stability from their gaming PCs when runningIt Takes Twowith less than ideal hardware. Those with the recommended hardware should consider themselves lucky and likely won’t need this guide. Otherwise, here’s how to make theIt Takes Twovirtualcouch co-opdate less of a stuttering disaster.
8Turn Off VSync
VSync is one of the most polarizing settings in PC games because it actually does a lot when clearing up visual anomalies. It helps synchronize what the game renders with what the monitor can show and will thuseliminate the so-called screen-tearingwhich happens when the framerate is lower than the monitor’s refresh rate.
The cost is thatit does lower the framerate by a bit. It’s usually not much – around one to threeFPS on average, but it alsointroduces input lag. This makes controlling the mouse or the gamepad feel more sluggish especially when panning or moving the view or cursor. For the smoothest gameplay, it’s generally advised to turn off VSync, assuming the framerate is reaching the monitor’s refresh rate levels. to achieve that, the following settings below are also advised.
7Keep The Resolution Scale To 100% Or Lower
By default, the graphical setting called Resolution Scale is set at 100 percent. This is actually a resolution upscaling or downscaling feature that’s getting more common with games these days.Set it more than 100 and the game will introduce more pixelsand try to fit all of them in the monitor’s resolution. This results incrisper and sharper imagery.
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Consequently, it also uses up more hardware power sinceincreasing pixel count is a framerate killer. Hence, keeping things under control at 100 or the native monitor resolution is preferable (unless one has a high-end graphics card). Additionally, those with budget or weaker graphics cards will want to set the resolution scale lower for more acceptable framerate smoothness.
6Avoid Setting Shadow Quality To Ultra
For some developers, Ultra is PC enthusiast jargon which basically means “for future hardware.” That may well be the case withIt Takes Twoas its graphical settings come in four different flavors: Low, Medium, High, and Ultra. These days, Ultra was made with at least the current high-end setups in mind.
Shadow Quality is no exception. Setting it to Ultra means more pixels are allotted for the shadows and their fidelity.Higher-resolution shadows cost a lot of frameratesince they have to keep moving along with their subjects and also keep reacting to lighting changes. If one findstheir gamestuttering or dipping into lower FPS territory too often, then setting this lower than Ultra is recommended. Even those with high-end gaming gear sometimes set Shadow Quality to High to keep the temperatures lower.
5Consider Lowering Shader Quality
Much like Shadows, Shader Quality is also a vital setting when it comes to maintaining a good framerate. Shaders determine how 3D or lifelike the visuals are especially for details such as nooks and wrinkles. Itmakes textures and lighting look realistic too.
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As always, Shaders might take a big chunk of performance capacity depending on the hardware. Newer hardware might not have this problem thanks to recent tech developments but older graphics card generations – especially those more ancient than 2015, will have difficulties with higher Shader settings. Lowering Shader Quality will grant more framerate but there might be a big dip in image quality.
4Avoid Using MSAA As Anti-Aliasing
It Takes Twosurprisinglyfeatures MSAA, which is one of the oldest but most effective ways of minimizing jagged visual lines (aliasing) caused by pixels. Many developers have also dropped that tech in favor of lighter and less demanding ways of aliasing. Still,It Takes Twoincludes the option for those with more powerful hardware.
Even then, most players might want to forego using any form or tier of MSAA because as stated,it’s the costliest way of eliminating aliasing. It’s worth noting that at times, it also does the same job as upscaling the resolution. Itcan also cause stutteringsince it taxes the hardware quite heavily. That’s why avoiding it is a good way of ensuring smooth graphical performance.
3Avoid TAA For Sharper Imagery
One alternative from using MSAA is TAA, which is one of the latest anti-aliasing tech. It’s also one of the most polarizing since TAA reduces image sharpness (though it also does its job well). Using TAA is best described hyperbolically like slathering the entire monitor with vaseline just to eliminate pixel jaggies.
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For many, thisvisual compromise is quite the eyesoreand can even hamper gameplay, especially when looking for tiny objects or details. Resorting to FXAA (which still blurs the image but not by much) is often the go-to for some graphics enthusiasts as it offers the most cost-efficient solution.
2Set Everything Else To Medium Or High To Minimize Stuttering
What of the other graphical settings? The general consensus is to keep things in the Medium or High range. So theTexture, Detail, Effects,andPost Processingare best kept away from Ultra. Medium is good enough of a setting to keep things looking stunning while offering the best performance.
Those looking for something marginally prettier might also want to opt for something like High. After all, Ultra might be intended for the most bleeding-edge gaming hardware there is. Besides, in most cases, the quality jump from High to Ultra isn’t really worth the loss of framerate.
1Close All Your Overlays
It Takes Twois a gamethat requires attentive concentration, timing, and coordination. A sneaky stutter can ruin all that, particularly in some of the busiest boss fights. When all other settings are accounted for but stuttering still manages to worm its way into the gameplay, then it could be other culprits outside of the game.
Overlays such as framerate measuring applications, Steam (or other game clients), and evensome programsthat one usually won’t expect to open during gaming sessions can and will take away some of the hardware’s performance supposedly dedicated for the game. So for safer measures, simply close all those overlays during intense game sessions, visible or not.
It Takes Twois currently available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
