Post GU03 Performance noticably worse in major bases.

As mentioned here:

http://forums.station.sony.com/ps2/index.php?threads/large-frame-bleed-in-bases.99714/

I have NEVER seen the game run like this, even in beta, and it's not from GU3, it started with this last server merge patch. I seem to be constantly CPU limited for the first time. We were all complaining about it last night in the /yell channel across factions.

maybe this has something to do with the increased infantry draw distance too?

I doubt it, why:

1) I can be looking at a wall and have this problem.
2) the draw distance itself was tested on miller, pre GU03. I noticed no problems there.

Ok, think i've caught it.

the only, only difference in this is me either turning towards the zerg at jaeger crossing or turning away. I'm standing still, in a building, strictly looking at walls (no players rendering).

so the only, only variable here is looking towards where people are or not.


Yellow line indicates where I turn around and go from 16-19 fps looking at the center of the base/the zerg and 30-38 fps looking away.

In the building inbetween C and B at Jaegers crossing.

Ok caught it red handed this time.


Orange line is PS2 specific CPU usage.

trying to be as scientific as posislbeh ere, in Ps2 hard.

but I'm keeping the following as constant variables.
-My location, i'm not moving.
-Just looking int 2 directions, not moving my view around.
-plonked right next to the battle, in the spawn room. If it was just my fps acting as a zerg detector (what used to be the case), fps would be correlated to my proximity to the fight, not if I was looking in its direction or not.
-not a huge amount of stuff is actually rendering for me in these pictures. I'm just sitting in a relatively empty (its not being camped) spawn room.

Current specs.
Fx 8350 @ 4.55 (stablest I can get it, even 20 mhz over that its into BSOD land)
650 GTX EVGA SC at 1.2
8 gig DDR3 1333.

[Rendering]
GraphicsQuality=3
TextureQuality=1
TerrainLOD=5
FloralDistanceScale=2.000000
ShadowQuality=1
RenderDistance=1000.000000
Gamma=0.000000
MaximumFPS=120
UseLod0a=0
OverallQuality=-1
LightingQuality=3
EffectsQuality=3
TerrainQuality=3
FloraQuality=1
ModelQuality=3
MotionBlurQuality=5
BlurQuality=5
AOQuality=5
AmbientOcclusionQuality=5
ParticleQuality=5
VerticalFOV=74
FloralLOD=5
EffectsLOD=5
ParticleLOD=1
ParticleDistanceScale=2.000000
EffectsDistanceScale=2.000000
FogShadowsEnable=0
MotionBlur=1
VSync=0
AO=0
GpuPhysics=0

Edit- also playing around a bit more, if I move out of the spawn and towards the

Is no one else seeing this?

Hello,

Yes I agree this is a new issue specific to the merges.

This issue started with the sever merges. Previous to the server merges, I had 40-65 fps always with mostly ultra, and shadows 1.
(no physx) Now I am dropping sometimes into the teens and have micro stutters, zooming/large bases. I have always read forums and tweaked changed what I had to to get smooth fps, except for a couple optimization issues in the past which were quickly fixed I have been fine. But this is no longer enjoyable so I hope they have a fix in the works.

Things that are not the problem.

GU3 was fine for me.

I had characters on Waterson, Mattherson and Jaeger, and when Mattherson had the render test settings I played there, there was even a que on Indar and the fights were large during the weekend. So the new render is not the issue, unless it is the overall larger population that is adding to it. (but if there was a que?) My fps was fine. I always seek the biggest battles on each server and never had an issue.

My game has always been GPU bottlenecked before the merger. Now I am CPU bottlenecked, even though my core temps are not going above 60c which they usually do for hard working cpu games.

After playing PS2 since Beta with some form of custom Ultra there is no way I can decrease it much and be happy.

I imagine there is a fix in the works, just as there has been in the past. Good luck on the fix.

Win 7 64bit
i7 2600k
Asus P8Z68-V Pro
8 gb 1600
GTX 570 HD 2.6gb Oced
1920x1080, 74 fov, ultra, distance 6000, render 1.15, shadows 1, , flora 1, physx=0

yeah having same problems facing battle 15 fps looking up down or away 45+ hit dection bad, desyncing(no chance for be to battle i seem to take all my damage in .5 sec), i was running great problems started for me after the 2 hour server maintence right b4 the merge, and after merge even worse

Yeah, good luck on waiting for the fix. What did you expect when there's double the players now after merges? Of course everyone will be CPU bound!

About 100% CPU load: I imagine they "fixed" it so that there's less talking about CPU working inefficiently. Problem solved. Your CPU is probably calculating chess moves on the side so that it has something to work on. Who cares about individual players when the majority is naive and just think that there must be something with their system and are willing to give them the money in hopes that surely they will fix it very soon. Yeah, right.

I think something has been introduced in GU03, I think its something to do with optimization. Specifically I think its the code that caches resources in anticipation of people rendering. I think its buggy and on certain systems (e.g. mine, yours) once the population in a direction gets to a certain level. FPS goes through the floor.

I also think the cause is something to do with multiple threads having to wait for others to complete in these situations.

I think its become a lot more apparently in GU04, because now people on servers where it was rare are now encountering it regularly.

Anyway, more data will help them diagnose this issue. So please again. I appeal for everyone to do the tests i've done.

Actually, you may be right. I do recall on GU3 that I had a small fps drop and turned of flora to compensate. I did have the "look at base" fps drop previous to GU3 once but it was fixed in a hotfix.

It would be nice if they at least acknowledged the issue so we could have hope again of smooth fps as we had before with the same settings and people rendered.

Unfortunately, I thought the same thing. That they did something just to make it suck cpu. (I cant imagine they did though.)

I had the same exact settings before merges on a server with Indar having a 30 minute que a couple weekends ago and being in massive battles and never had the CPU come up except for a flicker here and there. So if the continent max populations are the same it cannot be an excuse, and Mattherson and Waterson were usually always medium on weekends, all I am seeing any different now is the other continents having higher pops.

Seemed to be running better for me last night in comparison to server merge patch day.

To me it seems that they adjusted it back because I constantly see infantry and tanks popping out of nowhere now just like before when there's more stuff happening around.

HORRENDOUS.
35 FPS and CPU limited @4.8GHz 2500k! GU4 better fix this. If I can not play with 80fps I will not continue my membership.
Below 60fps is unplayable and unfair. No render distance in world will justify low fps, no graphics in world will justify low fps. Optimization is required, remove stuff if you can't figure out how to make the game run better.

Whilst there is a problem, if your getting 35fps minium, then well you by and large are not having it.

60fps minium no matter what, is currently not doable im afraid nor will it be for some time.

I'm also seeing this core usage, I'll quote my post from another thread:

Clearly my doubt has been assuaged after reading this thread. While I don't mention it htere, I was using resource monitor while I diagnosed.

I suspect that while we have ruled out "rendering" infantry, if the server is now sending out more information on troops in the direction you are looking at, that could also put more strain on CPU. Though with the multi-core usage I think it could be both of these effects mingling perhaps.
More players to "keep track of" locally. Fine.
Pre-caching system used to determine which items are likely to be rendered. Fine.
Both together means the system "preparing" to render 400 troops that are actually the other side of a mountain. (I was recreating before, only using a mountain by a heavily contested tower. I could happily snipe people who strayed away and into sight, but if I looked at the mountain itself, with the tower behind it, single figure FPS ensued.
I'd love to say great news that multi-cores are used.. but it seems not to be panning out very well. Hope this gets fixed soon as I'd just upgraded my Main rig, only for my GFs rig to start suffering from this. Shame. Bought both rigs to play PS2 specifically as well.

On an i5 3570k intresting.

Recon you could get a screen of the cores on system monitor.

If its happening on both i5 3570k its got to be something in the code, that for what reason on both our systems is generating 4 or more incredibly intensive threads, then causing the game as a whole to lag quite badly whilst it waits for these threads to complete.

Moreover if you get the same result as me, in say ti alloys or something when theres a battle to the north but none the south and the same switch between the two directions resulting in 30 fps difference.

That being an issue of the game caching resources to potentially render 300 (or whatever) people, could explain this.

Ok, after a week now of tweaking the **** out of my Pc and with the new 314.17 drivers. Heres whats going down.

Looking away from battle or where lots of people are (40-60 plus players appears to be the limit) GPU bound pretty much all the time 40-50 near some combat, as much as 100 fps out of it (yes 100 fupuses, largely flying over the middle of nowhere, but it can be done), even at TI alloys during a 'platoons size battle'. one or two threads dominant, cpu utilization as a whole 30%.

Looking at the direction lots of players are in, CPU bound. 12-22. CPU usage up to 60-70% several cores equally loaded.

In fact at times, actually running towards the battle, whilst at first harming fps, soon as my ''view cone' is no longer looking at the area where x 100's of people are, fps actually starts going up quite a bit by 10 or even 20. Despite the fact I may now actually be rendering a battle as opposed to looking at a wall.

It was also striking in the warp gate last night, when it was particularly busy with about 20 or so gals all loading up at the same time. Simply looking in the direction of these gals, from the equipment terminal inside the actual spawn room, netted a fantastic 12fps.

Something has to be up with the code responsible for tracking entities.

In specific spots I get bad fps, such as standing on the side hill east of TI Alloys looking towards the spawn room where I'm stuck at 19fps. I've tried every type of setting, low settings, high settings, ultra settings, lowered resolution and renderquality, turning audio off completely- very identical results no matter what. This also happens at just about every amp station I go to, Zurvan for example.

Although turning sound off in game has helped smooth out overall fps a little, seems each GU introduces worse performance for me and weren't we supposed to get optimization patches?