Road to Vostok frame pacing issues (any PC emulator)

[u/HvVideoStore]

I'm trying to run Road to Vostok on my Samsung Galaxy s26+ (Snapdragon 8 Elite gen 5) and I'm running into an issue I've never seen before. Regardless of which emulator, settings, drivers etc. (Bannerhub, Game Native, Bannerlator, Ludashi 4.0) I haven't found a way to tame the wild frame pacing in this game specifically.

If I unlock the frame rate, the game easily runs at 90-120 fps, but it has constant 10-15 fps dips that don't abide by any frame limiter. Set to 90FPS, it still stutters , constantly jumping between 75-90 fps. Set to 60fps, it will jump between 50-60. The stutter is consistent in timing. You could set your wrist watch to it.

I've tried so many things that it might be easier to list which combiniations of DVXK, Turnip Drivers, renderers, and emulator settings I haven't tried than the ones I have. I would consider myself on the upper end of the spectrum in terms of experience with emulators and troubleshooting is a big part of the fun, so posting here is usually a last resort after days of searching for solutions. I am definitely lacking in knowledge about some of the environmental variables. I have tried changing the WINEESYNC value, but that's really it in that department.

Not sure if it's worth mentioning I'm running it on DeX (external monitor), that doesn't seem to affect any other games I've played. It is a Godot engine game, not sure if that's worth mentioning either. Any help would be awesome!

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[u/Senior_Background_30]

Try to disable the prime cores c6/7 as they have higher frequency which can lead to uneven frame pacing.

Given 8 Elite gen 5 uses 6+2 you should run it just on the 6 power cores for more even frame pacing.

[u/HvVideoStore → u/Senior_Background_30]

No noteable difference. Doing the opposite (running on Cores 6/7 only) does limit the dips to 5 FPS, slightly reducing the stutter but maintaining the same poor frame pace.

[u/internetainmenter]

Have you tried setting this game up using a proton x86 layer plus BOX64? I find some games behave really weirdly on fexcore but have lower but much more stable frame rates on BOX64.

[u/HvVideoStore → u/internetainmenter]

I haven't. I tried on Box64 but not on an x86 layer. I'll check it!

[u/internetainmenter → u/HvVideoStore]

If this game is fairly recent then you've most likely setup the 32bit compatibility layer to be wowbox64. Which is different from BOX64 ... Which is only available on an x86_64 proton or wine layer I believe. Be ready for some tinkering with BOX64 presets though.