Finally fully releasing, Once Human has come out on PC, and you may be interested in getting a better performance out of it on your hardware. The MMO brings survival, building, and a bit of sci-fi to the table with a lot of excitement behind it. Additionally, the Once Human system requirements aren’t anything too egregious so most gaming PCs out there shouldn’t have much trouble running the game. But if you’re finding some performance woes there might be some alterations to implement, especially if you’re experiencing crashing or a black screen then you might want to tinker a bit.
Even if you’ve not got the best GPU for Once Human you can improve your gameplay with a bit of tinkering. That makes sure you can enjoy it to its full potential and not be at a disadvantage. In that case, we put the game to the test and see how it performs and the best ways to improve that. So let’s see how well it performs and what kind of tweaks you can do in the settings to improve it.
How we chose the best graphics settings
To find out the best options for our hardware we tested out the game and noted down the frame rate. Getting past the tutorial and into the open world with other users we got to the part where most of the action will be taking place. Then we noted down the framerate when running around and completing the task. We do have a mix of hardware on our test bench, we dropped down the graphics card to an RTX 4060 Ti 8GB but the CPU and RAM are still rather high-end. But with the low requirements we can still expect the same sort of pattern around.
Our testing rig
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X
- GPU: Zotac Twin Edge RTX 4060 Ti 8GB
- RAM: 64GB Corsair Dominator Titanium 6800MHz
- Storage: Corsair MP600 Pro XT
Best settings for high refresh rate and FPS
Our gaming monitor is a 144Hz 1440p monitor, which sort of sits in a more normal upgrade option for most gamers now, especially FPS enthusiasts. Although 60Hz 1080p will likely still be the standard for most, getting a higher frame rate to match these higher refresh rates or ensure a smoother experience especially as any frame drops will still be above your refresh rate so it’s a bit less noticeable.
Generally, detail and quality are the big influencers but only come with two options so can’t be more precise in influencing the frame rate. However, VFX and Vegetation Density have a lot more points to pick from and so can be a bit more effective in changing the performance and changing the look. But below are what we recommend to still a good-looking game with a frame rate that reached between 180-190FPS in our testing at 1440p with it peaking over 200.
| Display Mode | Fullscreen |
| Resolution | Native (although lower does net more FPS) |
| Graphics | Low |
| Max Frame Rate | No restrictions (but capping to your refresh rate can help) |
| Texture Quality | Low |
| Render Scale | 100 |
| Anti-Aliasing | Mid |
| Shade | Low |
| VFX | Mid |
| Draw Distance | Very high |
| V-Sync | Disabled |
| Motion Blur | Disabled |
| Vegetation Density | Low |
| Detail | Low |
Video basics settings menu, Image by PC Guide
Low settings, Image by PC Guide
Low settings menu, Image by PC Guide
Best settings for best graphics
If you’re not too worried about high FPS and want the best-looking option, or don’t have a high refresh rate, you can just crank up the settings. With a bit more detail to enjoy across the board, and appreciate the design of the monsters you’re fighting. But also the physics in the game as you can enjoy the ripples as you run through the water.
Being a game to run across even mobile games, the PC versions still have a bit to offer. But the custom Net Ease engine still provides a good scaling to work on Windows as well. For these options, we essentially used very high settings but turned off some of the features that may limit or ruin the personal experience. With that, we got a performance between 81-90 FPS, although that increases as you take it slow.
| Display Mode | Fullscreen |
| Resolution | Native |
| Graphics | Very high |
| Max Frame Rate | No restrictions |
| Texture Quality | High |
| Render Scale | 100 |
| Anti-Aliasing | High |
| Shade | High |
| VFX | Very high |
| Draw Distance | Very high |
| V-Sync | Disabled |
| Motion Blur | Disabled |
| Vegetation Density | High |
| Detail | High |
Very high custom settings, Image by PC Guide
Very high settings menu, Image by PC Guide
Video basics settings menu, Image by PC Guide
How to optimize Once Human
Optimizing the game ensures you get the best experience while playing it. Although the game was in beta and now has been fully released doesn’t mean it’s not going to run into problems anyway. Even with the crashing or black screen, there have been network errors, so we can expect over time to see improvements to the performance anyway. But being first does sometimes mean having to tweak some things.
Below we’ll list some of the key features to look out for that might be the biggest influence on your game and its performance. These might be a bit more optimal for trying to figure out issues outside of the game that might be affecting it.
- V-Sync and limiting FPS: If you are experiencing screen tearing and some stuttering, enabling V-Sync or limiting your FPS to the refresh rate might be helpful. This should make sure your GPU isn’t outperforming your monitor and causing too much delay in the frame time.
- Update graphics drivers: If it’s updating AMD graphics or Nvidia drivers, you might find some improvements there as well. Since this is the communication between the game and your hardware, it might help improve performance and ensure you have the latest features. Although as of release the game does not support any upscalers such as DLSS or FSR.
- Check other resource-heavy applications: Sometimes there are just other applications running that you might have forgotten about. Use up your device’s resources so the game has a lot less to work with, so it’s best to close those down. You can simply check by opening the task manager and seeing what’s up top.
- PC maintenance: If your PC is a bit older you want to make sure it’s been kept clean and rejuvenated from time to time. The likes of clearing out dust and reapplying thermal paste ensure you’re hardware isn’t overheating which can lead to throttling and a drop in performance.
Can I run Once Human?
If you’re PC is from the last 10 years, you’re quite likely going to be able to run Once Human. Being able to run on mobile and with fairly minimal system requirements you should be fine to run it. Although it might require some settings being lowered, there’s still a lot to be enjoyed and that’s without upscaling as well. So as long as your hardware is on par or above the options below you should be fine.
Minimum
- OS: Windows 10
- CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 (~AMD Ryzen 5 1600)
- GPU: Nvidia GTX 750Ti 4G/ AMD Radeon RX550
- Memory: 8GB RAM
- Storage: 55GB SSD
Recommended
- OS: Windows 10
- CPU: Intel Core i7-7700 (~Ryzen 5 3600/Ryzen 7 2700x)
- GPU: Nvidia GTX 1060 6G / AMD Radeon RX 580 / Intel ARC A380
- Memory: 16GB RAM
- Storage: 55GB SSD
Final word
Once Human is quite the exciting new release, it was one of the most followed games before its full release. Now with its release, we want to make sure you get the best experience playing it even if it has some issues here and there. The MMORPG brings plenty of survival features to a sci-fi setting. It’s a game to start off rather quickly with the tutorial section introducing all the basics and a guide to get you through later on as you can go PvE or PvP.
