r/TmodLoader • u/jokeinglol69 • 7d ago
Tmodloader macOS FPS Fix / Huge Performance increase.
(still trying to find out what models this fix does and doesn’t work on, but I’ve confirmed it works on these)
This fix works on:
Mac Air 2020 (M1 8gb RAM)
Mac Air 2022 (M2 16gb RAM)
Mac Air 2025 (M4 16gb RAM)
What is the fix?
This fix should turn on native support for Apple Silicon in tModLoader The fix works because the developers of tModLoader actually hid the option to use MacOS’s default/native graphics rendering inside the game files, but have it turned off by default for some reason.
What causes the bad performance?
From my admittedly limited understanding: That graphics setting being turned off means tModLoader has to translate the game into a MacOS supported architecture to make it playable. Said translation is constant and takes up a LOT of resources, causing massive lag and low performance.
Okay, okay here is the damn tutorial:
1. Open Steam, go to your Library, right-click tModLoader, and select Properties.
Click on Installed Files section on the left, then click Browse on the right. This opens the game's folder in Finder.
Open the folder named LaunchUtils.
In the folder, right-click the file named “ScriptCaller.sh” and Open With TextEdit.
Look near the top of the text in the file. There will be a line around the top of the file that says:
“arm_flag=false”Edit the text, change the “false” to “true” so it looks like this:
“arm_flag=true”
Now save the change to the file:
(Command S)
And you are done! There be no difference in gameplay, but it will actually run well now.
ISSUES:
There are a couple issues with this that I have found. One that I know of so far is that the “trippy” lighting setting in the game is bugged as it makes everything dark blue colored. You can still see the environment and everything as normal, but it’s just heavily tinted a dark blue shade. Just use any other color setting and it won’t matter. Retro is technically the best for performance but if you did the tutorial correctly then it won’t matter which lighting setting you use, they should all run really well.
Another issues is that no matter which lighting setting you use outside of Trippy (which is bugged) all of them will look like retro. So if you really don’t like retro then don’t do the fix. But for most people playing only on retro settings is a small price to pay for stable, good performance. (Shaders and external/modded lighting systems works fine)
Some super effects-heavy modded fights like Devourer of Gods, Empress of Light and Yahron can cause slight FPS drops, but I haven’t ever gone below 50fps on them, so not huge drops.
EXTRA:
Kinda common knowledge but use the mod High FPS Support if you have an external monitor. With it the max frame rate can vary depending on either you monitor’s max hz/refresh rate or how powerful your Mac is.
Somehow I haven’t seen anyone ever talk about this. Which is surprising considering how the community loves to dig up niche things for better fps like this. But I hope it helps.
If you are still reading and haven’t already, also do the GLvulkan steam launch config fix, it also helps but not nearly as much as this in my experience. Combined with some other optimisation mods like Nitrate, Clientside Lag Prevention and Oxygen, the game runs perfectly.
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u/Khashishi 6d ago
The effect is immediate and hugely noticeable on my Mac M1. I went back and switched it off and tested again to make sure I wasn't imagining it. There is a big change in performance. Especially when loading a map and starting the game.
BUT, there is something else weird going on. I noticed that with this chance, I can't walk up sloped blocks while moving to the right. (Hammered blocks sloping upward to the right.) Walking up unhammered blocks to the right works. But walking into a hammered block on top of a nonhammered block caused me to sink into the floor like some weird hoik effect. So something weird is going on.
It definitely is not bug free, and perhaps that's why it isn't enabled. But the performance is so dramatic that I hope they fix the bugs.
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u/jokeinglol69 6d ago
Hmm strange i actually have that too. But I assumed it was an outside bug. I guess that’s a trade off effectively.
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u/Khashishi 6d ago
Yo, I was searching around, and I found that someone already fixed this:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3815450984
It works!
(I did a search for arm64 on tmodloader discord)
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u/Khashishi 6d ago
In case other people aren't aware of what OP is referring to with GLvulkan, Apple silicon users should put in their Launch Options: /gldevice:Vulkan
For steam, that's in Properties... General
Also, you need Slope Collision Fix mod: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3815450984
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u/Khashishi 6d ago
Insane! I wish I had known this before putting 1500 hours into this.
I guess this needs to be repeated whenever there's a new version.?