Low FPS glitch

Low FPS glitch, sometimes abbreviated as LFPS or LFG (Low Frame Glitch) by experienced players, is a rare glitch on PS4 that results in a dramatic drop of framerate.

Although it happens only on the PS4 version of the game, it is also possible to simulate it on PC.

There are Low FPS places on PS3 in OOB, but when the area is left, the FPS returns to normal. The PS4 glitch stays while travelling.

General information
This Glitch can be triggered only in Sunken City (SC) on PS4 and characterises by a critically low frame rate and spiky-looking sands. Mechanics of controls and game physics can cause unexpected behaviours which may be observed from the Companion's point of view. Playing with low FPS makes it more difficult, as you have to predict your movements a little in advance (with bonus headache added for some).

LFG can be used to visit PD OOB, and is one of the two methods known to get there (and the only one that works solo!)

How and where to get it
Similar to Zimcloak you have to sit in Sunken City close to the first hill and wait for indefinite time.

It may happen:
 * On Screen
 * During a Screensaver
 * Other

Further hints

 * It has been proved impossible to reproduce the frame rate change on PS3 so far
 * Rainbow Sands or a possible Zimcloak Spot are a helpful guidance.
 * The low FPS will stay until you restart your console or the game on PS4

There are two glitched framerate states: Depending on your luck you can have either one of the two states, although they don't correspond to fixed FPS values (you can get lots of in-between values as well. These value aren't stable and can vary a little while playing). The Semi Frame Drop state makes the game feel a little like on PS3 when playing (around 20 FPS).

When getting the Low Frame Glitch however you really have to anticipate your moves a lot, and there should be more glitches with possible warping at very low fps (about 10 FPS).

The Warp Effect
A nice way to trigger warps is to zen jump or faceplant Jump from any high point, after getting LFG. You can also get pushed by your companion otherwise, while sitting or being faceplanted. This can be a way to confirm which kind of LFG you got as well, by judging if you can warp a little during the fall.

If lucky, when landing on the sand you will start floating in the air instantly, while continuously accumulating energy with more and more warps, until you finally get warped OOB and release all the energy in an insanely powerful boost. By waiting long enough you can actually cross the wind walls of PD level and get in OOB solo! (but with low framerate)

When landing after the zen jump or FPJ, some spots work better than others, it may need a few tries until you manage to levitate (from your point of view). Always make sure to fall from a high enough point (such as the top of the ending factory in PD).

When you are about to get the huge boost near the end of the charging time, the warps get crazy and it's not rare to hit a wall of some kind and loose all boost, or to get stuck inside of a building.

Standing up during the Warp / Boost accumulation mostly seems to stop the warping effect, while sometimes it can trigger the boost already after a short time in Tower Level with Goo activated.

The warping direction seems random on PS4 and this might be due to the fact that the frame rate you get out of the low frame glitch can vary. It should make the charging time vary as well before the boost is triggered, and not always allow you to cross the wind walls to get OOB.

PC Low Frame Glitch
On PC, it seems you can't trigger LFG the same way as on PS4 on zim hill, but you can take control of your FPS and simulate it. This can be done by capping the whole game to a given fps value (8 to 11 fps seem to work for warping effects, but maybe other close values as well might work).

For this you can use the Nvidia Control Panel for example, with an Nvidia GPU. However it might be better to use a dedicated software to change them at will in-game: this way you can control fps at will in-game (nvidia control pannel doesn't let you modify the value once the game is launched, so it would be more like doing LFG the PS4 way). Using a shader to lower fps doesn't work.

When at around 10fps, you won't have the same sand effects you get on the PS4 version, but the gameplay will still be altered a little. The warping effect will work the same, if not better, because you can both control the fps value and boost anytime you want during the charging time, by reverting back to normal FPS values.

General "rules"
The charging time might differ a little depending on a given level before triggering a boost the normal way, and a boost done by reverting back to normal fps values should give consistent results within a level if the charging time is measured and done with the exact same fps value.

When reverting FPS back to normal while charging, you can control a little in which direction you get warped to, by counting how long you charge before doing it. The longer you charge, the more boost you will get in this direction (and the more vertical it will be oftentimes). Hitting a wall or wind wall can make you rise vertically if you haven't charged long enough to cross through it (see example below).

At 8 FPS you get warped OOB "naturally" after a charging time of 4min20, while at 10 FPS it only takes 2min45 to get warped for example, in Pink Desert.

The boost direction might be different at other FPS values than 10.

There is a unknow way to completely change how LFG warps behave, resulting in completely diferent boost directions after reverting fps back to normal with the possibility to warp oob very early, while still using a 10fps value. Maybe this is cause by an in-game setting of some sort, but it doesn't seem to be dune settings.

Example for 10 FPS in Pink Desert

 * Charging time of 0 to 28 sec: Boost North to North-North-East
 * 29 to 56 sec: Boost South-South-West
 * 57 sec to 2 min 4: Boost North-East (This can trigger huge vertical boosts after hitting a wall, because of the long charging time, and offer a magnificent view of the level from above)
 * 2 min 5 to 2 min 30: Warp OOB North-East
 * 2 min 30 to 2 min 44: ?? Warps start getting crazy. Boost in which direction if FPS release? North-East again?
 * 2min 45: "Natural" warp OOB East or East-South-East

There are a few places that behave differently on PC, such as when zen jumping over the first rest stop of Sunken City, from above the invisible ledge:

When you zen jump here, after charging for a while (a few minutes?), you will enter an endless phase of "levitation" and slowly gain height over time. The camera will then swich between two views from time to time: either you will see your wayfarer slowly rising more and more, with a camera aimed to the ground, or a view from the sand with you sitting a little on top of it. When changing fps value it will simply switch the views. It seems you can't boost when this happens after waiting too long, and all you can do it move your character to gain control again, with no boost.

Gallery
Possible (On Screen) frame rate Changes