Can you add a settings menu pre game for those with weaker PC's?  Pausing on a low-tier PC in-game causes the graphics driver to crash.

It has been suggested a time or two in the suggestion megapost - As well as defaulting the options to low/off

The suggestion for defaulting to low has been responded to personally by the dev, saying that he plans to lower the default settings.

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For the time being however if you can't get to the options in game

you could try getting into the settings file with notepad ++ or a hex editor (seems there's a hex editor addon for notepad ++... not sure, there's another thread showing an image of theirs)

• C -> users -> login name (potentially computer name) -> Local -> shopsim -> saved -> savedgame; file "Settings"
  • Open Settings with Notepad++
    • Look for "quality" - Because of how Notepad ++ looks to me when I'm looking at my settings to describe them to you, I do not recommend looking anywhere else or touching anything but "quality" (I'm Listing these in reverse order because Foliage is the single most destructive quality)
      
      • The Primary Quality to zero out -> SG.FoliageQuality (Large blank space) "#" (looks like next line, on mine.) change this from likely 3, to 0, and only this number, do not accidentally highly any space before it, or any gibberish after it.
      • "sg.EffectsQuality" right above it - Large space - "#" - > change to 0 as well
      • sg.TextureQuality - can be left alone, probably. If you don't trust it, you can set it to 0 or maybe just 1 (0 is low, 1 is medium, 2 is high, 3 is epic)
      • sg.ShadowQuality - Set it to 0, same story as the first two, large space, #
      • sg.PostProcessQuality - can be left alone - but setting it lower might boost performance as well, and it may lower some intensities of lighting differences and color intensity/depth
      • r.PostProcessAAQuality - Try and see if you can change this in game, it shows up as "6" in mine, which is epic, I don't know what it changes to for low, so don't. (changed my mind, decided to lower mine in game to low and apply it and reload the file - Changes to "0" for low)
      • r.ViewDistanceScale - Changes to 0.4 for low (1.3 for epic)
        • ensure that you only change those numbers
          
        • Ensure that you only change those numbers
          
        • Back up the settings file just incase (select, copy, and then paste should make a copy in folder)
          
        • ENSURE YOU ONLY CHANGE THOSE NUMBERS
          
          • Its just a settings file and can be deleted, so don't worry too much, but....
            
          • Just ensure you only change those numbers, and you won't have to deal with doing that.