Fixed DirectX 11 : the stuttering makes the game unplayable

I understand this post is about stuttering, which I don't have. I can run how many every copies of the game I want with no lag or stuttering so that is not the issue for me.

What I can't do is see the screen as its so dark.

I have already ran all the fixes mention with no positive results. So my question is for the Dev: is this just for the stutter or will it work for the darkness issue. TBH I am tired of spending hours adjusting stuff with no improvement.

Though this was a stuttering fix it also seems to have improved the darkness in my FF mission. That was the one place where it seemed too dark to me, and now its fine.

The Test server has been patched with some DX11 changes. If you're having problems, try logging in on Test and see if it's any different.

I just logged into Test and was shocked at how much smoother it was than live. I was running around and it was as smooth as it was on DX9.

I logged over there as well and was running around like I was the only one on the server. For those curious, this doesn't do anything for the darker screen, but it's a start.

By default, EverQuest lets Windows decide which CPU cores to execute on. But in reality, what happens is EQ always starts in the first thread of the first core (Core 0) which is where everything else is running. So all those other threads sit idle and you experience bad performance.

There were settings in the EQCLIENT.INI file that used to be helpful for setting which cores EQ runs in, and even assigning different instances of EQ clients to different cores for smooth performance!

The original entry looked like:
CPUAffinity0=2
CPUAffinity1=4

BUT this is obsolete. It was replaced with:
ClientCore0=-1

Where the number (0) is the first instance of EQ client loaded, and 1 would be the second and so on. And the -1 says, "Let Windows decide which CPU to use" (but the reality is it uses core 0.)

So what currently works and is valid is entries like:
ClientCore0=2
ClientCore1=4
ClientCore2=6
ClientCore3=-1

And indeed EQ will load into the respective CPU(first client to CPU2, second to 4, etc). How you can verify this is with EQ running, bring up TaskManager, Right-Click eqgame.exe, go to Details. Then Right-Click eqgame.exe in the Details window and select Set Affinity. This will bring up a window that lets you see what cores/threads that instance is running on!

Alas, with the DX11 changes, a single thread is insufficient for many machines. So selecting 2-4 CPUs (but NOT CPU0) will likely have you up and running smoothly! And further alas, the EQCLIENT.INI ClientCore parameter does not accept multiple threads for a single client, so you will have to manually add threads each time you load EQ.

On my i7-1255U (6 core, 12 thread) laptop, a single thread (aka CPU 2) has that thread at 100% and I cannot look around at all in PoK. If I add a second thread (CPU 2 and 3) the two threads run around 90% and the game is very smooth in PoK. If I set it to 4 threads (CPU 2, 3, 4, 5) then the game is smooth and it has room to handle raid loads.

Here is a developer confirming you must manually select multiple CPU entries if you want EQ on more than one:
https://forums.daybreakgames.com/eq...ading-across-cpu-threads.281023/#post-4107495

I followed these instructions. I have no changed to my awful FPS while in PoK. =(

https://imgur.com/a/1gs4e4e

i did all this, it helped a little until I ran my 3 characters out to pal'lomen tonight. all 3 on the same computer 2 of them have graphics bugs one of them is fine. can we please fix this dev's. this is disappointing to say the least. like seriously I shouldn't have to go into my own settings to fix stuff you guys broke.

People: The memory settings are NOT a FPS fix. They are a hitching/stuttering fix. Do not expect increased FPS from these settings. You will only get increased FPS as indirect result of hitching going away, which is an indirect minimal boost to FPS during the exact times you'd usually be hitching. These settings, if correctly executed/tuned, will solve your hitching/stuttering.

I will still be further testing tonight to isolate these variables in terms of helpful/unhelpful.

It's also worth noting that Cairbrae's exact settings have been confirmed by 4 users to not be effective at all. Understandably, certain settings will be more helpful for certain users depending on their system specs. As of current state, shifting to "1"s as shown below, will make a noticeable (and hopefully) helpful impact. But this is early and not at all recommended final settings. More testing is needed to isolate variables that could cause chronic issues for users who flip to "1", and which variables are actually necessary to resolve hitching issues.

TextureLoadsPerFrame = From 10 to 1
AnimationLoadsPerFrame = From 6 to 1
BitMapsPerFrame = From 250 to 1
UpSamplesPerFrame = From 5 to 1
TextureDistance1 = From 250 to 1
TextureDistance2 = From 500 to 1
DownsampleTextureMem = From 60 to 1

I did want to confirm one thing. I noticed that in my eqclient.ini file that
GraphicsMemoryModeSwitch=1 existed but GraphicsMemoryMode=2 did not. Should I have both of these lines?

I'd like to get Cairbrae to weigh in on exactly what GraphicsMemoryModeSwitch=1 does, or if it's outdated and no longer used by the game? I've been wondering this as well.

GraphicsMemoryMode=2 needs to be in your ini or added. This setting gets triggered after you set Memory Mode = "Most memory usage" in your advanced display option in-game. That's what it's equivalent to, and it matches/syncs with section 2 in memory.ini.

What does GraphicsMemoryModeSwitch=1 or 0 do in .ini, or is it outdated and not utilized by the game anymore?

I think i saw 1 person mention it. But has anyone else experienced CPU usage going thru the roof since DX11? I have the jitters and such like everyone here and there. But also my CPU usuage has at minumum doubled since patch.

Yes, however GraphicsMemoryModeSwitch is obsolete but still written to eqclient.ini. You can ignore it.

Keep in mind tho test is basically empty so you wont experience nearly the same level of lag as an actual populated server, or events that spawn a handful or more of mobs

Some CPU and GPU usage increases are expected. Whether doubling your specific CPU usage is a problem or simply a function of real game load remains to be seen. Would need more detail about your hardware, OS, GPU, Memory, and chipset.

Mine is about 10-15% cpu usage per client. IDK if that an increase or not. What percent are you seeing?

Initial results of extensive memory.ini testing (3-4 hours) on a high-end desktop system (7950X, RTX 4090, T700 PCIE 5.0 SSD, OC'd DDR5 CAS 28): Indication is that BitmapsPerFrame ("250") and TextureLoadsPerFrame ("10") in simultaneous mode two default states results in excessive hitching. Either of these set to "1", with the other at its default mode two setting, results in a massive improvement to hitching. "Default mode two" simply refers to GraphicsMemoryMode=2 in eqclient.ini, which correlates to "Most memory usage" memory mode in advanced in-game settings, which correlates to the MemoryMode2 section of memory.ini. All other settings in memory.ini seem far less volatile than these two particular settings when running at their default values in synchronicity.

There seems to be strain created by BitmapsPerFrame and TextureLoadsPerFrame running together, to the point that when they are both utilized simultaneously DX11 endures a significant increase in repeated hitching. Ultimately, adjusting all critical settings to "1" results in the least amount of hitching (AnimationLoadsPerFrame, UpsamplesPerFrame, TextureLoadsPerFrame, BitMapsPerFrame, DownsampleTextureMem). Not modifying TextureDistance1=250 and TextureDistance2=500 seems to sustain graphical quality with minimal impact to FPS.

I want to apply these settings (and my full range of settings) to a 2000 series RTX laptop to see how it responds, and to ensure there's no graphical artifacts by forcing "1"s across multiple settings in memory.ini. I will post full test data methodology and results once I have time to confirm the laptop's results in using the desktop's custom settings tomorrow.

On my i7-6700K - 4 core/8 thread @ 4GHZ and my AMD 3950x 16 core/32 thread machine, I get much better performance when I leave it up to the OS ( windows 10 ) to move EQ around.

Your i7-1255U is one of intel's new CPU's that have "performance" and "efficient" cores.

2x Performance-cores @ 4.70 Ghz
8x Efficient-cores @ 3.50 Ghz


Its possible that the windows scheduler doesn't know how to handle the mixed mode CPU's very well and you are better off manually assigning which thread each EQ client should run on.

There is one spot in PoK on live or test that I was "hitching" consistently - run past the npc by the bank with the "aura" it would stutter there consistently. On test now, that spot runs smooth.It didn't matter whether there were players there, lag pile for buffing, or empty, it would still hitch.