Troubleshooting

Hardware Acceleration

Overview

For Owlbear Rodeo to run optimally, your system needs to meet certain technical requirements. Specifically, your browser must support WebGL and have hardware acceleration enabled. Hardware acceleration allows your computer to utilize its graphics hardware to render web content more efficiently, resulting in smoother performance and better visual quality.

note

Some browsers may refer to this setting as "graphics acceleration" instead of "hardware acceleration."

Enabling Hardware Acceleration

Each major browser has its own location for this setting. Follow the instructions below based on your browser:

Google Chrome

Click the three-dot menu (⋮) in the upper-right corner
Select Settings
Scroll down and click on System in the left sidebar
Ensure the toggle for "Use graphics acceleration when available" is turned ON
Restart Chrome for changes to take effect

Mozilla Firefox

Click the three-bar menu (≡) in the upper-right corner
Select Settings
Scroll down to the Performance section
Check the box for "Use recommended performance settings" (or specifically enable hardware acceleration if you've customized settings)
Restart Firefox for changes to take effect

Microsoft Edge

Click the three-dot menu (⋯) in the upper-right corner
Select Settings
Click on System and performance in the left sidebar
Ensure the toggle for "Use graphics acceleration when available" is turned ON
Restart Edge for changes to take effect

note

Safari users generally do not need to worry about hardware acceleration.

Using Dedicated Graphics Cards with Web Browsers

Many computers, especially laptops, have both integrated graphics (built into the CPU) and dedicated graphics cards (separate GPU). For optimal performance in graphically intensive applications like Owlbear Rodeo, your browser should utilize the dedicated graphics card when available.

How to Check Which Graphics Card Your Browser is Using

Chromium (Chrome, Edge, Brave ect.)

Open your preferred browser
Type chrome://gpu in your address bar
Look for "Graphics Feature Status" → "GL_RENDERER" section to confirm which GPU is active

Firefox

Open your preferred browser
Type about:support in your address bar
Look for "Graphics" → "Web GL 2 Driver Renderer" section to confirm which GPU is active

For Windows Systems

NVIDIA Graphics Cards:

Right-click on your desktop and select NVIDIA Control Panel
Navigate to Manage 3D Settings in the left sidebar
Click on the Program Settings tab
Add your browser to the list of programs if it's not already there
Set the Preferred graphics processor to "High-performance NVIDIA processor"
Click Apply and restart your browser

AMD Graphics Cards:

Right-click on your desktop and select AMD Radeon Software
Go to Gaming → Global Graphics
Find your browser in the applications list or add it manually
Set the graphics preference to "High Performance"
Apply changes and restart your browser

Windows 10/11 Graphics Settings:

Open Settings → System → Display
Scroll down and click on Graphics settings
Select Browse and navigate to your browser's installation folder to add it
- Chrome: Usually in C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\
- Firefox: Usually in C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\
- Edge: Usually in C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\
Click on the browser in the list, then select Options
Choose High performance and click Save
Restart your browser

For Mac Systems

note

These instructions are only relevant for Macs using Intel chips

macOS generally manages graphics switching automatically, but you can:

Open System Settings (or System Preferences on older macOS)
Click on Battery (or Energy Saver on older macOS)
Uncheck "Automatic graphics switching" to always use the dedicated GPU (Note: This will use more battery when unplugged)
Restart your browser

Troubleshooting Graphics Performance

If you're experiencing graphics-related issues after enabling hardware acceleration and dedicated graphics:

Update your graphics drivers - Visit your graphics card manufacturer's website for the latest drivers
Check browser compatibility - Ensure you're using the latest version of your browser
Disable browser extensions - Some extensions can interfere with graphics processing
Verify WebGL is enabled:
- Chrome/Edge: Type chrome://flags in address bar, search for "WebGL" and ensure it's enabled
- Firefox: Type about:config in address bar, search for "webgl.disabled" and ensure it's set to "false"
Test with hardware acceleration disabled - If performance worsens with hardware acceleration enabled, you may have an incompatible graphics driver

Scene Connection Status

Overview

The Scene's connection status indicates whether your changes are being synchronized with the server and other players. This document explains the different connection states and how to resolve connection issues.

Connection States

Connected (Default State)

No status indicator visible
All changes automatically sync to server
Real-time communication with other players active

Reconnecting State

Indicates temporary loss of server connection
Browser actively attempting to reestablish connection
Changes stored locally but not synced to server
Will automatically sync all changes once connection restored
WARNING: Browser refresh during this state will result in loss of unsaved changes

Disconnected State

No active connection to server
No automatic reconnection attempts
Changes cannot be persisted
Requires page refresh to resolve