This portion of the guide will help you find where the config files are for this game.

From what i can tell this game runs on unreal engine but not entirely sure if 4 or 5 but moral of the story is unreal engine games like to hide they're configs rather then put them in the folder where the game is installed so you will beable to find your configs at:
(note you will need to have hidden files enabled to be able to find the appdata folder)

C:\Users\(your name)\AppData\Local\GardenLife\Saved\Config\Windows

now once you are in the folder where the configs are stored theres gonna be ALOT but dont worry theres only ONE config you need to worry about and that is the config called "GameUserSettings.ini" once you find that one open it with notepad or any txt file editor you have and you should see all this


Now for reference my config file is already changed for my pc so my poor gpu can run it so your config will be different now onto the next step!

This part of the guide im going to add incase any of you dont have hidden files enabled on your pc.

all you need to do is goto your file browser and click this arrow if its not already down:



Once you have clicked that arrow and that is down goto view and you should see a check box that says "show hidden items" check that box and boom you are done!:

Okay step 2! Configuring the files.

For anyone not used to it this may be a bit confusing so will try my best to explain what each thing you can change and what it does.

Things to change:
[ScalabilityGroups]
sg.ResolutionQuality=100
sg.ViewDistanceQuality=2
sg.AntiAliasingQuality=2
sg.ShadowQuality=2
sg.GlobalIlluminationQuality=2
sg.ReflectionQuality=2
sg.PostProcessQuality=2
sg.TextureQuality=2
sg.EffectsQuality=2
sg.FoliageQuality=2
sg.ShadingQuality=2

[/script/gardenlife.gargameusersettings]
ResolutionSizeX=1280
ResolutionSizeY=720
LastUserConfirmedResolutionSizeX=1280
LastUserConfirmedResolutionSizeY=720

(these are mostly default values for low settings)
all of them can be turned to 0 which helps improve frames alot

sg.ResolutionQuality=100:
This one changes the quality of the internal resolution the lower the more edges and overall visual clarity. This one i tend to keep around 100 to 87 just because if im going to lower the resolution in windowed mode it can cause even worse visuals.

sg.ViewDistanceQuality=2:
This one is for stuff like objects and how far the quality will stay high quality before it will start using lod or (level of detail) to optimize it more so this one i turn down so my pc dont have to worry about objects in the distance but it does come with the cost of objects looking muddy in the very far distance at levels like 0 but it helps performance decently.

sg.AntiAliasingQuality=2
This one is to help remove stuff like those jagged edges you get at lower resolution qualities but tend to be quite taxing to lower end hardware so i suggest turning this one off by changing the value to 0

sg.ShadowQuality=2
This one controls the quality of shadows and lower values can be much more pixelated and unnatural looking but this one helps with performance spectacularly so again this one i suggest a value of 0

sg.GlobalIlluminationQuality=2
This one is VERY important for helping improve your frames because it makes lighting much more natural by simulating indirect lighting like light bouncing off of objects to cast the color of the object, light bleeding through leafs like natural lighting but this one again like the shadows can be VERY taxing on older/slower hardware so i recommend a value of 0

sg.ReflectionQuality=2
This one controls reflections in the environment like metalic objects, wet objects, ect and can also be just as taxing as gobalillumination and shadows because it as stated reflects objects and the world around it so it can be as taxing if not more then shadows because you have to render the world twice (depending on the reflection type) keep in mind probably not the best way to explain but moral of the story i recommend a value of 0 also

sg.PostProcessQuality=2
This one controls stuff like bloom, chromatic abberation, ambient occlusion, vignette which can be also taxing but not as much i still recommend a value of 0

sg.TextureQuality=2
This one controls the textures of the game the lower it goes the blurrier and muddier the textures look and can be quite helpful on graphics cards with lower Vram because higher values require more video memory or Vram so this one is entirely up to you and might not change the frame rate very much i personally keep this at a value of 2 because i cant stand muddy textures and i have a 4gb video card but a value of 0 might help lower end video cards with Vram of 1gb to 2gb.

sg.EffectsQuality=2
This one im not entirely sure on but i think it controls stuff like particles like rain, watering your plants, seeds ready to be picked ect and lower values will cause them to appear more pixelated but this one is a huge help during moments where particles like the rain or the watering so i personally keep this one at 0 to overall help.

sg.FoliageQuality=2
This one controls the quality of the foliage like the bushes, leaf piles, trees, ect and is also just as much of a help for lower end hardware because foliage can be the most taxing things on older hardware and personally might be what is causing my frame drops because theres so many small things like leafs to render and a lower quality reduces the quality of the leafs and stuff like that so its less taxing again i recommend a value of 0

sg.ShadingQuality=2
This one im 100% sure on but i think this more of a change for effects, foliage, and postprocess but it may also be the controls for shadows like how soft they appear or godrays but if in doubt i honestly just saw set it at 0 or keep it at the value it is changing it will not break the game.

NOW for the final one the resolution:
like:
ResolutionSizeX=1280
ResolutionSizeY=720
LastUserConfirmedResolutionSizeX=1280
LastUserConfirmedResolutionSizeY=720
This helps because the lowest resolution that you can imput in the game settings is 1280x720 but with the resolution sizes you can change it to what ever you prefer to help with frames but i recommend if you are running a resolution smaller then your monitor to run it windowed. I run the game at 800x600 its a bit small but it helps reduce the amount on screen for it to work with so this one helps alot also but the resolution you chose here is entirely dependent on your pc and your monitor.

This step is one of the most important steps because after configuring if you go into the game and change a setting it will reset everything you changed here and will force you to come back and change it so be sure to change it to read only.

How to change it to read only:

Click and highlight the config "GameUserSettings.ini" then right click it and click properties:



Now once you are in the properties you should see under the attributes a check box that says "read only" be sure to check the box and click apply:


Then click ok and you are done but do keep in mind if you ever want to change the config at a later date or want it refresh back to the original settings you will have to come back and uncheck read only.

This should be all that is needed to config the files and help you get some more frames out of your game. Im not expert at this or explaning things so sorry if some things are confusing but i hope this helps you and i hope you have a good day!

A little side note even with the changes to the config they'res still some demanding effects like godrays but once i find a way to remove those i will update this guide but hopefully with further updates they will allow for more precise setting changes in the menu.