Tips for Improving Game Running Speed
The “Skip Frames When the Mouse is Idle” option dramatically speeds up simulation runs at maximum game speed.
Here’s how it works:
When you’re running the game at full speed and your mouse is idle (no panning or clicking), the game no longer renders every single frame. Instead, it periodically renders just one frame while skipping several in between. This cuts down the video processing workload and lets the simulation fly through in-game years much quicker.
Capitalism Lab Performance Tests with this New Feature:
We ran tests with a demanding setup: 50 companies, 7 cities, 2 in-game years at max speed.
The results below show the amount of real time needed to complete the 2‑year run under each setting.
| View / Setting 🖥️ | Skip frames when mouse is idle ⏭️ | Time to Run 2 Years ⏱️ |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed on the City map view 🏙️ | Disabled 🚫 | 1 minute 28 seconds 🕒 |
| Viewing the City map, Information Center and Firm Details 🏙️📊🏢 | Disabled 🚫 | 50 seconds |
| Fixed on the Farmer’s Guide 🌾 | Disabled 🚫 | 32 seconds ⚡ |
| Fixed on the City map view 🏙️ | 10 frames 🎞️ | 12 seconds ⚡⚡ |
| Fixed on the City map view 🏙️ | 20 frames 🎞️🎞️ | 10 seconds ⚡⚡ |
| Fixed on the City map view 🏙️ | 30 frames 🎞️🎞️🎞️ | 8 seconds ⚡⚡ |
You can use the following hotkeys for changing the “skip frames when the mouse is idle” setting:
[ – decrease by 1
] – increse by 1
{ – reset to zero
} – set to maximum (30)
Running Capitalism Lab in the Background
The game can now be set to continue running in the background while you use other applications on Windows.
Option: Game continues to run in the background
This option allows the game to keep running even when it is not in focus or minimized.
Option: Skip display frames when in the background
When the game is running in the background, it periodically draws a single frame while skipping several frames in between. This reduces the video processing workload and improves the game’s performance. A slider is provided to adjust the number of frames to skip.
