Smart Garbage Controller - Remove GC stutters from the game

Description

Morrowind's scripting engine uses Lua, which includes an automatic garbage collector (GC) that periodically cleans up unused memory. While necessary, this process can cause noticeable frame stutters during normal gameplay.

Smart GC takes control of when the garbage collector runs:

• []During gameplay: The garbage collector is paused to prevent random stutters

  []In menus: The garbage collector runs freely since performance isn't critical

  []During cell transitions: A full garbage collection cycle runs when moving between cells

  []During activations: As suggested by Greatness7 (thanks again!)

  []Memory safety: If memory usage gets too high, the garbage collector automatically restarts to prevent out-of-memory crashes

  Features

  • []Configurable memory thresholds for automatic GC restart

    []Adjustable delay before stopping GC after loading a save

    []Allows tweaking the GC settings in game, though probably you shouldn't do it unless you have a good reason to :D

    []MCM menu for all settings

    []No performance overhead

    []Included a separate utility that you can install as a mod, the Garbage Inspector. For more details, see the Technical Details section.

    Requirements

    • []MWSE 2. 1+

      Recommendations

      • []Use a frame limiter to avoid unnecesary GC pressure. 60 or 72 fps seem to work well. If you're using DXVK, this can be set in the DXVK configuration file.

        []Use MGE XE UF with the "shared memory" option to minimize memory pressure.

        []There is a list of mods I am optimizing to reduce GC pressure. I will upload them in a separate page for archival.

        []For mod makers: Use carefully the enterFrame, simulate and simulated events. If the code is not optimized, it creates a lot of GC pressure.

        Compatibility

        Compatible with all mods. No known conflicts.

        However, these mods will generate GC pressure fast:

        • []Ashfall (mostly fixed by Mer in the MMC)

          []Reading is Good: If you remove or comment the enterFrame function, the mod will still work properly and not generate garbage.

          []Necrocraft: Have to look at it, but the spells section generates enormous garbage pressure.

          []CCCP: For a so far unknown reason, CCCP seems to need further optimization.

          Technical Details

          The mod uses hysteresis-based memory monitoring to prevent rapid toggling of the garbage collector when memory hovers around a threshold. The GC reverts to normal when memory exceeds the upper threshold (default: 2750MB) and only starts to be managed again when memory drops