Deep Blue Sushi Game Settings & Accessibility

Deep Blue Sushi exposes a settings menu on the title screen and an in-game overlay (Esc → Settings). Most players only ever touch this during a stutter; the menu is much richer than the launch materials suggest, and several options directly affect how the kitchen feels under peak load. This page documents the current v0.1.6-ea.3 settings menu and the recommended values for solo play, 5-player co-op, and lower-end hardware.

Where The Settings Live

• Title-screen menu → Settings: full menu with graphics, audio, controls, language, and account.
• In-game overlay (Esc) → Settings: read-only while in a service; some options are gated when you are mid-rush.
• Steam launch options: pass command-line switches for advanced tweaks.

Display & Graphics

Option	Default	Recommended (Solo)	Recommended (5-Player)
Window Mode	Fullscreen	Fullscreen	Fullscreen
Resolution	Native	Native	Native
Frame Cap	Unlocked	60 FPS	60 FPS (cap at 60 in GPU panel)
VSync	On	On	On
Crowd Density	High	High	Medium
Shadow Quality	High	Medium	Low
Post-Processing	High	Medium	Low
Anti-Aliasing	TAA	TAA	TAA or Off

Frame Cap And The Dinner Rush

The single biggest kitchen-stutter fix is capping the frame rate. v0.1.5-ea.8 unlocked the frame cap for high-refresh monitors. On the recommended GTX 1060 / RX 580, unlocked frames during a 5-player service spike 30–40 ms frame times. Capping to 60 FPS in the GPU control panel (or NVIDIA Inspector) cuts the spikes by half without an obvious visual cost.

Crowd Density

Crowd density controls how many decorative customer NPCs spawn in the background. High looks great but costs about 8% of your frame-time budget during service. Switch to Medium for 5-player co-op; switch to Low if your GPU is the official minimum (GTX 1050 / RX 560).

Shadow Quality

Shadows are the second most expensive pixel cost in the launch build. Medium vs High is a 5% to 10% frame-time gap on the recommended card. Most launch-week stutter during a service is shadow related; switch to Low if you see stalls.

Audio

Option	Default	Recommended
Master Volume	0.8	0.9
Music	0.7	0.6 (boss themes are loud)
SFX	0.8	0.9
Voice	0.7	0.7
Ambient Ocean	0.6	0.4 (lower in 5-player)
Audio Output	Stereo	Stereo or Headphones
Chat Mix	Auto	Always On with headphones

The Ambient Problem In 5-Player

Ocean ambient is what masks the call-outs in the deep zones. The launch build had ambient too loud during a 5-player service. v0.1.5-ea.8 reduced it by about 2 dB, and v0.1.6-ea.3 added 6 dB ducking when the local chat bubble appears. Headphones still help — they keep the directional call-outs intact when the music ducks.

Voice Volume Notes

There is no full voice-acting pass yet for the Aug 2026 build. The Voice slider mostly affects upcoming recipe voice lines and the Otter NPC chatter. Setting this lower in a 5-player lobby removes a layer of kitchen noise.

Controls

Option	Default	Notes
Mouse Sensitivity	0.5	Match your OS pointer sensitivity
Invert Y	Off	Standard
Interact Key	E (default)	Rebinding is partial in EA
Sprint Key	Shift	Held; no toggle in EA
Tool Wheel	Tab	Hold to show, release to commit
Player Collision	ON	Lobby toggle (Patch v0.1.5-ea.8)

Player Collision Toggle

The big new addition in v0.1.5-ea.8 is the Player Collision toggle in the lobby. Default is ON. If your kitchen keeps clipping you into the prep counter, or a late-joiner is loading into the path of an in-flight plate, host can toggle this OFF before service starts. v0.1.6-ea.3 fixed the rare crash when toggling ON→OFF during a service.

Key Rebinding

EA build has partial rebinding — only a handful of keys can be remapped in the settings menu. PaperPixel has flagged a full rebind screen for Drop 2 (Q4 2026). Until then, default WASD + E + mouse is the working assumption.

Controller

The Steam version lists keyboard and mouse as the documented scheme. Controller support is acknowledged by PaperPixel and will land in Drop 1 (Q3 2026). For now, Steam Input mapping profiles work for the movement layer but interact-prompts still expect the E key on keyboard.

Language & Region

Deep Blue Sushi ships with 31 interface and subtitle languages on the Steam store page. The v0.1.3-ea.2 patch fixed a first-launch bug where two of the 31 languages fell back to English. If you launched once on day one and never updated, re-verify the language in this menu.

Setting	Default	Notes
Interface Language	System default	31 supported
Subtitle Language	Same as interface	31 supported
Region	System default	Affects in-game weather cycle
Time Format	24h	Switch to 12h in display settings
First Day Of Week	System default	Affects calendar UI

If you change the interface language in the settings menu while the game is running, the change takes effect on the next service window.

Accessibility

The current build ships with a focused accessibility layer; more controls are flagged for Drop 2.

• High Contrast UI — increases the contrast of recipe HUD overlays and the order queue text. Recommended for late-night play.
• Subtitle Size — three steps (Small, Medium, Large). Medium is default; Large is good for streamers and screen-recorded video.
• Subtitle Background — semi-transparent black bar behind subtitles. Off / Translucent / Solid.
• Hold-To-Interact vs Toggle — switch the Interact key from press-to-fire to hold-to-fire. Toggle mode is useful for long prep sessions.
• Color-Blind Mode — toggles between three palettes (Default, Protan / Deuteran friendly, Tritan friendly).
• Reduce Motion — cuts background camera animation during dialogue. Useful for players who get motion sick from the dive sway.

Drop 2 Plans

The Q4 2026 update will add a full key-rebind screen, additional color-blind palettes, and the ability to remap the player collision toggle to a controller button. Track this on the Early Access Roadmap.

Save Data

Where Saves Live

• Local: %USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\PaperPixelGames\Deep Blue Sushi\ — contains SaveSlot_*.es3, ClientSave.es3, PPGGeneral_.es3, and CharacterCustomization\last-character.json. See the Save Data page for the full breakdown.
• Cloud: Steam Cloud — enabled by default. Quota 9.54 MiB across 20 files. Conflict policy as of v0.1.5-ea.10 is most-recent timestamp wins.

Backup Procedure

1. Quit the game.
2. Copy the entire Deep Blue Sushi folder under LocalLow to a backup location.
3. Optionally, also download the cloud copies from Properties → Steam Cloud → View Steam Cloud.
4. Resume the game.

Restore Previous Save (v0.1.5-ea.10+)

If a recent session broke your restaurant layout, open Settings → Save Data → Restore Previous Save to roll back one generation on the same slot. See the Save Data page for the full procedure.

Reset A Corrupted Save

Verify files via Steam (right-click → Properties → Local Files → Verify). If a cloud sync goes wrong, disable Steam Cloud sync once, force the local save to load, then re-enable cloud sync. The Drop 3 (Q1 2027) Save Migration Tool will formalise this for Day-1 players.

Steam Launch Options

• -windowed — opens the game in a window
• -novid — skips the intro logos
• -dx11 — forces DirectX 11 (the only supported API in the launch build)
• -force-d3d11 — alternative spelling accepted by the executable (matches what SteamDB reports)
• -force-d3d12 — alternative DX12 path (experimental in EA)
• -high — sets the process priority to high (use with caution on multi-tasking systems)

Recommended Settings By Player Profile

5-Player Co-op On Recommended Hardware

• Windowed, fullscreen at native res
• Cap at 60 FPS
• Crowd Density: Medium, Shadow Quality: Low
• Ambient Ocean: 0.4
• Headphones
• Player Collision: ON (it is part of the chaos the design wants)

Solo Play On Recommended Hardware

• Cap at 120 FPS
• Crowd Density: High, Shadow Quality: Medium
• Ambient Ocean: 0.6

Minimum Specs (GTX 1050 / RX 560)

• Cap at 30 FPS
• Crowd Density: Low
• Shadow Quality: Low
• Post-Processing: Low
• Reduce Motion: ON
• Disable overlays (Discord, GeForce Experience) before launch

Related Content

• PC Specs for the official minimum and recommended lines
• Known Issues for stutter during a 5-player rush
• Controls for the keyboard layout and interactive prompts
• Save Data for cloud sync, backup, and Restore Previous Save
• Patch Notes for what v0.1.5-ea.8 / v0.1.5-ea.10 / v0.1.6-ea.3 changed in the settings layer