Client Performance

[POiD]

bump, would really like to get to the bottom of map performance and improve performance of our maps, all ideas welcome.

Frames Pers Second is affected by the number of items on screen. This is why you should see the highest FPS when in wbduel vs in base.
The reason you are likely seeing worse FPS in javduel is due to LVZs and more likely due to Radar Zoom. You see significantly more map in javduel than in elim, which means more tiles to be rendered.

I also have the upon start FPS issue. Noticed it when testing in empty zones for client development. Another way to "get things fixed" is to enter a ship and fire a bullet. Seems there's likely some bug in Continuum regarding if memory for "weapons" or "sounds" etc has not been properly initialized with at least 1 value. Nothing we can do to fix that.


Regarding settings, I'd consider not using Software Emulation unless you have a bad graphics card. Why use software for all rendering and not the GPU? That said, windows is likely using it when you have the game in windowed mode, to manage the screen rendering, even if the game is not doing so directly.

[Kassius]

Frames Pers Second is affected by the number of items on screen. This is why you should see the highest FPS when in wbduel vs in base.
The reason you are likely seeing worse FPS in javduel is due to LVZs and more likely due to Radar Zoom. You see significantly more map in javduel than in elim, which means more tiles to be rendered.

I also have the upon start FPS issue. Noticed it when testing in empty zones for client development. Another way to "get things fixed" is to enter a ship and fire a bullet. Seems there's likely some bug in Continuum regarding if memory for "weapons" or "sounds" etc has not been properly initialized with at least 1 value. Nothing we can do to fix that.


Regarding settings, I'd consider not using Software Emulation unless you have a bad graphics card. Why use software for all rendering and not the GPU? That said, windows is likely using it when you have the game in windowed mode, to manage the screen rendering, even if the game is not doing so directly.

Seems to be the only way to get the FPS to go above 60, even with all the custom stuff done under the hood with NVidia inspector. Now I have a 144 Hz monitor it's certainly noticeable.

[Rab]

k, POiD 's the goat, so if he says look again at software emulation I'm gonna do it, here goes..

I couldn't remember why I had software emulation on coz it's been a while, so I tested it again and here's the results. My hardware is i7 6700K + GTX 1080. Note that I play at 1440p full screen, but I've tested 1920x1200 window too for comparison.

1920x1200 window
software emulation OFF
~50% gpu
~30% 1 core of cpu
fps lower base: 270
fps pub spawn: 520
feeling: normal, just 60hz stutter

1920x1200 window
software emulation ON
~30% gpu
~50% 1 core of cpu
fps lower base: 360
fps pub spawn: 370
feeling: normal, just 60hz stutter

2560x1440 full screen
software emulation OFF
~90% gpu <-- GPU maxed
~20% 1 core of cpu
fps lower base: 190
fps pub spawn: 260
feeling: irritating stutter, ship feels sluggish like flying through water

2560x1440 full screen
software emulation ON
~75% gpu
~70% 1 core of cpu
fps lower base: 270
fps pub spawn: 280
feeling: still some stutter but it's playable, ship feels normal

findings:
1. turning on software emulation makes fps more consistent between when you're in base and outside base.
2. software emulation off at 1440p maxes the gpu, introducing stutter and a sluggish ship feeling. turning software emulation on moves some load to the cpu which removes those issues. shitty retro game is stressing my modern hardware :/
3. at 1440p it's very difficult to be accurate because everything around you stutters as you fly around. trying to shoot through a 1 tile hole is a nightmare. your ship moves around smoothly because it's centered but everything else only moves about 5 times per second. seems like the game doesn't update the position of the map for every frame (maybe only when you move from one tile to the next?).

[Rab]

also meant to post this here anyway, there's a new fps limiter in geforce drivers i need to try out at some point

[Rab]

I installed the 441.87 GeForce driver to test the framerate limiter, but before I got to that I noticed some changes:

In a 1920x1200 window:
with "no framerate limit" OFF (in-game limit on)
previous driver: ~360fps, gpu ~30%
new driver: ~100fps, gpu ~40%
with "no framerate limit" ON (in-game limit off)
previous driver: ~700fps
new driver: ~700fps, gpu ~85%

At 2560x1440 full screen:
with "no framerate limit" OFF (in-game limit on)
previous driver: ~270fps, gpu ~75%
new driver: ~100fps, gpu ~30%
with "no framerate limit" ON (in-game limit off)
previous driver: unplayable due to maxed out gpu
new driver: ~250fps, gpu: ~70%

Findings:
1. The new driver changes the behaviour of the in-game framerate limiter, causing it to limit to 100fps. It used to limit a lot higher, not sure what the logic was.
2. The frame rate limiter feature in the new driver doesn't work for Continuum at all.
3. The consequence of this is: to avoid maxing your gpu, from this driver onwards the only way to do it is to reduce resolution.

[qan]

I'm getting maybe 45% GPU usage, quite ridiculous. That's a shame the framerate limiter doesn't seem to work with Cont.

Seems as though there should be a way to force this all onto the CPU, something along those lines. Certainly things are very wrong somewhere.

[Rab]

I did end up getting a gsync compatible 144hz 1440p monitor, which I used for the TWL season we just finished.
Defo felt an improvement to my play as a result.
Jav maps are still clearly laggier than other maps, idk why. I just gave up playing jav altogether.
I think a 240hz monitor would be even better because even at 144hz it's not completely smooth.

Note that when you get a 144hz monitor you need to change windows display properties from 60hz to 144hz.
Must be tons of people with 144hz monitors who are still running at 60hz.

With gsync you need to check the nvidia control panel to make sure gsync is enabled.

This monitor also has a feature called ELMB Sync, which allows black frame insertion to work alongside gsync, which is great but it's another thing that's off by default and should be enabled.
my monitor: https://www.rtings.com/monitor/reviews/asus/tuf-vg27aq

[Rab]

Videos on screen tearing, vsync, gsync, freesync.

A brief video about screen tearing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-9uCXMznv8

A long more techy video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhLYYYvFp9A

[Rab]

Edit: This post is wrong now (2022-04-22). Nvidia driver releases changed how GSync works. Choosing "windowed and full screen mode" doesn't hurt Continuum now.

This setting is terrible, but it does have a big impact on the game so making a note of it:

Note that I'm playing in a 1920x1200 window on a 1440p monitor, so this setting essentially means off/on for me.



"full screen mode" (default)
- means that GSync only works when playing games in full screen mode, when playing in full screen mode a frame rate limit is applied

"windowed and full screen mode"
- also enabled GSync in windowed mode, this also applies a frame rate limit to the windowed game, so if you're used to 600+ fps, then you turn this on and you get 150fps, even though GSync is meant to be working it actually looks less smooth.

[Rab]

Interesting video on audio delay
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTuZvRF-OgE

[Nipple Nibbler]

Note that when you get a 144hz monitor you need to change windows display properties from 60hz to 144hz.
Must be tons of people with 144hz monitors who are still running at 60hz.

[/URL]

Rab I am one of those idiots that did not know this. Just changed the setting, thanks. Really dumb windows does not do this by itself.

[Rab]

Some games don't have the option for Fullscreen, only Windowed or Fullscreen (windowed) modes. If you play a game like that, e.g. WOW, you have no choice but to enable GSync for windowed mode.

this also applies a frame rate limit to the windowed game, so if you're used to 600+ fps, then you turn this on and you get 150fps, even though GSync is meant to be working it actually looks less smooth.

[Rab]

for ages i've been playing 1440p 144fps, which has been okay, but trying to play in a window would totally mess up the settings - seemingly at random.

now I have a newer nvidia driver(472.12) because of D2R, and reinstalled ss, and now the situation is totally different...

the game won't go over 60fps in full screen mode, but will quite happily play in a 1920x1200 window at 144fps.

does still randomly change settings though, restarted my pc and the game started using 1920x1440 full screen lul.

fun times.

[Rab]

Updated nvidia driver(496.76) and now 1440p 144fps works again.

[Rab]

Aim is 100x better in fullscreen(1440p) compared to windowed(1920x1200) as enforced by all competitive wb arenas. Res limit rules me out from even attempting to compete at wb. I think a big part of it is having the ship centered.

Edit: ... and having radar + energy in the place I'm trained to glance at.