Guide: Stutter fix for IL-2 Great Battles w/Lossless Scaling

[Kubert]

This guide is a little longer than I originally intended because I added a lot of explanation. But it's easier than it looks (5 easy steps) and it's seriously worth it.

 

Who is the target group for this fix? Flat screen users who are experiencing stutter in crowded areas while playing campaigns or careers. Unfortunately not VR users. The fix works only for games in windowed or borderless windowed mode.

What does it require? Lossless Scaling program and a more or less modern system. (RTX GPU or AMD equivalent)

What is Lossless Scaling? A program that overlays the game and adds LSFG frame generation.

How does it work? If I understand correctly...LS removes stutter, or better said, hides it, by adding "fake" frames between the "real" frames, which makes the image smoother. 60fps looks like 120fps, at least on a 120Hz monitor.

 Are you sure it works? Yes, at least for me. I tested it on very crowded missions. The first 5 missions of the Sky Nomads campaign, the first mission in Iron Wind and as the final boss the first two missions of the Steel Birds campaign. The stutter disappeared, or was reduced by let's say 95%, in the most intense places. I didn't spare the PC at all and I had the in-game recording turned on entire time to spice things even more.

Is it a mod? Does it change the game files? No, it's an overlay. It doesn't interact with the game files. They remain intact.

Does it have any shortcomings? The only thing I noticed is that it partially blocks the Nvidia Experience overlay. Nothing more. In-game screenshots and in-game recording work and MSI Afterburner is fine too. I haven't tried anything else.

Where can I get it? On Steam for €6.89.

 

Before I continue, I need to explain what my goal was: at 2560x1440 resolution on a 120Hz monitor, achieve a stable 120fps (actually 118, but I'll round it up...I'll explain later) with v-sync enabled and zero stutter.

 

Now the guide itself:

Step 1: Set the graphics in the game according to your preferences. Of course, within reasonable limits.  The only thing that must be set in the game is turned off Fullscreen mode and V-sync. Turn off the game after you are done. These are mine:

Step 2: In the graphics card drivers, for the IL-2 Sturmovik, set Maximum Frame Rate to 59, V-sync to On, Triple Buffer to On.

Note 1: Why not 120fps when that's the goal? Now we need half that, because the LS program will double it.

Note 2: Why 59fps? Because I have experience that locking 1-2 fps below the monitor refresh rate stabilizes frame pacing and sometimes works as an anti-stutter itself. Unfortunately not in IL-2, but I set it anyway, just to be safe.

Note 3: V-sync and Triple buffer are probably not necessary, but I left them On, they don't hurt anything...so whatever.

 

Spoiler

It is in the weird language, I put it here just for the reference. 

 

Step 3: In your graphics card drivers, set V-sync for Lossless Scaling to Fast. This is very important, it will eliminate screen tearing.

 

Spoiler

 

Step 4: Turn on Lossless Scaling and set: 

Step 5: Now, turn on Lossless Scaling (you probably have it), turn on IL-2, while in the game menu Alt-Tab back to Lossless Scaling, click on "Scale" in the top right corner and before the 5 second countdown ends, Alt-Tab back to the game. Now numbers should appear in the top left corner of the game...for me it's 59/118 (actual frame rate/"perceived" frame rate). And that's it...you can play without stutter now. This Step 5 needs to be repeated before every game, but it's a small price to pay for the gain.

I currently have an RTX 5080, but according to monitoring via MSI Afterburner it is only about 50-65% utilized. This means that it has a lot of headroom and this frame gen does not require extremely powerful hardware. RTX 30xx and 40xx owners should be fine. I think even a 20xx, especially if the goal is 1080p and 60fps. This guide is just a blueprint, not the only possible solution, you can experiment.

Personally, I never expected scripted campaigns to run so smoothly before. As if there weren't dozens of active units around. 🤯 It also works with other games. For example, Elden Ring has a hardcoded 60 fps lock and with the same LS settings it can be played as if it were running at 120 fps. Very useful program.   

I hope this will help someone. 

Edited November 25, 2025 by Kubert

[Koziolek]

Does it work for VR?

[Kubert]

48 minutes ago, Kubert said:

Unfortunately not VR users. The fix works only for games in windowed or borderless windowed mode.

As far as I know, it doesn't. Maybe some workaround exist, but I didn't search for it. I don't own VR, so...