Odd Performance Issue

[Nija]

If any of you guys are rocking multiple monitors, be sure that in the nvidia control panel, under 3d settings / manage 3d settings / global settings that you set "Multi-display/mixed-GPU acceleration" to "single display performance mode".

This is not the default setting. This might be changed if you have a new fancy monitor (maybe even that first gen 8800 GTX) that does some video output so it 'detects' a multiple monitor, even if you don't have more than one hooked up.

[kidder]

Did Mythic end up using PhysX in the game engine, or did that get scrapped?  I can't find anything online about it being mentioned recently. 

[squirrel]

If any of you guys are rocking multiple monitors, be sure that in the nvidia control panel, under 3d settings / manage 3d settings / global settings that you set "Multi-display/mixed-GPU acceleration" to "single display performance mode".

This is not the default setting. This might be changed if you have a new fancy monitor (maybe even that first gen 8800 GTX) that does some video output so it 'detects' a multiple monitor, even if you don't have more than one hooked up.

Ah good tip. I'm playing on my laptop tonite as the PC is being used by family, but I will try that as I run both my 56" TV and my 19" monitor of the PC.

[Kirth]

Another performance note, if you were running off the beta client you might see some imporvment if you uninstall it and install the game from the DVDs

[Fraeg]

Another performance note, if you were running off the beta client you might see some imporvment if you uninstall it and install the game from the DVDs

is that a WAG? or something *lots* of people have experienced??

[Kirth]

Another performance note, if you were running off the beta client you might see some imporvment if you uninstall it and install the game from the DVDs

is that a WAG? or something *lots* of people have experienced??

WAG? Just something I read in a thread on WHA, It has something to do with a cache folder in your beta directory slowing things up.

[HRose]

WAG? Just something I read in a thread on WHA, It has something to do with a cache folder in your beta directory slowing things up.

Then delete the cache.

[rattran]

Retail also looks better to me, and the folder is 1.5gb bigger. I suspect better textures, my Helf clothing doesn't seem to clip as badly on the retail client as the beta too.

[HRose]

Retail also looks better to me, and the folder is 1.5gb bigger.

Yeah, the cinematic.

There should be absolutely no difference between retail and beta. After both pass through the patcher they are the same.

[squirrel]

I've heard both - but I assume the two installs are identical save for the cinematic. I'm reinstalling anyway on the faint hope it helps.

[Ixxit]

I've heard both - but I assume the two installs are identical save for the cinematic. I'm reinstalling anyway on the faint hope it helps.

Today I reinstalled today from the pre- order beta weekend client(updated to retail) to the retail box version, mostly because I wanted the cinematic.  Maybe I'm crazy, but the the textures do seem sharper and the crowded areas a lot smoother.  So it probably has a lot to do with the texture cache, which is obviously deleted when reinstalled.  I upgraded to a 9800 GTX+ yesterday and was a little puzzled why all my other PC games ran like butter and this WO chugged a lot a certain points. 

Things have really smoothed out, but I think they do have some optimization to do.  At 1680x1050, maxed out, the game looks good but far from state of the art;  it should run with a more consistent frame rate.  Compared to Lotro and Conan, the view distance is a joke at maximum settings; there is no reason why it should stutter like it does at times.

Regardless, enjoying the hell out of the RvR and PQ.  Looks like I'll be playing this one for a while.

[Hawkbit]

One thing they did right is having Custom1 and Custom2 settings for video. 

PvE - Custom1 with max settings

RvR - Custom2 with everything set to low except draw. 

Makes a huge difference when:

[Numtini]

Dual Core 6750, 4gig (3.2 used?), 8800gts 320. 1650x1050 and the stuttering is horrible. I've reinstalled from the DVD and I like many others think it looks better, but no change in performance. I've tweaked stuff in the nvidia control panel. It's texture load stuttering.

[HRose]

The better graphic is a myth.

I have two directories now, one retail, one beta client. In game they are exactly the same (at least if you compare them both post-patch) and the directory is 1.5Gb bigger because 1.5Gb is the video file.

The other files are actually a couple of megabytes smaller in the retail client than they are in the beta one, probably because of some leftovers from beta.

So it's really the same stuff, and performance and quality wise they are identical to me.

If there are differences it's because they are local, like if you kept the beta client for a long time and have the files gone fragmented. Or some cache leftovers.

[Mcmacster]

I'm getting this same problem. The hitchiness.

[HRose]

This is another reason to have official forums. Or at least something like that.

There's absolutely NO feedback about the game. Thankfully Mark Jacobs when he decides he has some free time to post on the forums, outside of that it's complete silence. Now I know that asking the dialogue with the devs is an utopia, but at least tech support.

There is no way to know if a problem is acknowledged and investigated. You have no idea if they are working on a fix or even aware of certain things. It's DAoC all over again, if you had a problem you had to live with it because technically it looked like they bought the engine and had no clue where to put their hands to fix things.

On Warhammer Alliance there are many, many posts about this stuttering, and no reply from Mythic.

It's really a matter of communication. Not pretending to have problems fixed ASAP, but at least know they are being looked at, some news on the progress.

I remember that at least WoW support forums worked well. Often there weren't just CM helping there, but also the engineers themselves, asking for details, providing informations and so on. I remember I helped solving a video memory fragmentation that made performance worse over time. That required some back and forth but worked in the end. They were really responsive acknowledging technical problems and solving them quickly.

If you have a problem there's not much you can do in Warhammer. Posting on a unofficial forum is like talking to a wall and casual players probably don't even know where to look for infos.

[Kirth]

http://help.warhammeronline.com/cgi-bin/eawarhammer.cfg/php/enduser/home.php?p_sid=-vGBEFdj

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=129


And specific to your Hitching problem:

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/forums/showthread.php?t=99123

[HRose]

Yes, I'm saying that Mythic lacks communication on these issues, not that the players aren't trying what they can to be heard.

[jlwilli5]

  Took you long enough, was wondering when youd show up.

[HRose]

Well, it's a start:
http://www.warhammeralliance.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1660202#post1660202

On the other side:
http://www.warhammeralliance.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1663078#post1663078

It really is very few people, I'm not going to lie about these kinds of things.

We've had very few reports from those saying they do.

As I've said we're looking into any possible causes for why some might be having these issues. Once we find what the problem is and how to fix it we'll be able to look at getting a fix up in game.

Which kinda mean they still don't know what it is about.

How the fuck they know it's "few people" when:
1- They don't have official forums and the unofficial ones have plenty of threads and posts about this
2- They have no way to report these kind of problems

Or should I start petitioning or spam support so that they get a clue there's a problem and more players they expect are experiencing it?

I agree perfectly with the poster he replied to. I now have tested on four different PCs with completely different configurations and the issues is there in all of them. With the difference that it isn't prominent if the hardware is fast (lots of memory, fast bandwidth).

"We've had very few reports". I wonder where the fuck they get these reports as the boards, no matter where you go, are filled with these. It's just that for some players it's not too dramatic to disrupt the gameplay, while for others it's abysmal.

And it's also kind of obvious *where* the problem is. Differently from other games Warhammer streams the textures continuously and instead of using up all the video memory before flushing it, it continuously loads and unloads things. This stresses the hardware on certain configurations, while in other cases the constant load/unloading doesn't seem to affect the frame rate.

For a fix, either they find a loading memory that is better "threaded" and doesn't stress the videocard and cause heavy stutters, or they simply use up all the video memory so that, once loaded, the textures stay there and don't get in/out every time you turn in a direction.

[Numtini]

I spent my employers time looking through tech posts while the little microsoft bar moved towards the next time I had to press "next" and I found my solution. Turn off specular lighting and lightmaps. You can only do that by turning it to the low quality defaults and then turning everything else up. I don't notice much of a difference in visuals at all, but the hitching is gone completely--even in a good old solid 50+ person keep siege.

[HRose]

Yes, turning off lightmaps and speculars reduces the stuttering considerably. But it's kind of obvious since this is a loading/streaming issue. So if you reduce the "stuff" that is being moved on and off, the stuttering is reduced as well.

It's not a fix. It doesn't fixes anything, it just reduces the problem because it reduces the stress on the hardware. It's like saying to reduce the resolution to increase the framerate.

And by the way. Their official feedback form IS BROKEN: http://herald.warhammeronline.com/feedback/index.php

I keep trying to send feeback about this and it tells me the security code is wrong (when it is not).

Maybe that's why they receive "few" reports.

[Morfiend]

I recently took the plunge and installed Vista. After doing that, the game has run much much better. Now I don't know if it was because that cleaned my system, forced me to reinstall the game, or I had some kind of driver bug or what. But now I have completely playable FPS. The game still seems to have a major memory leak, especially noticeable if you tab out a lot. After tabbing out a few times I am forced to restart the game as my FPS start dropping lower, and the game gets choppy.

But overall it seems to have fixed my problem.

[schild]

Once again, playing in Windowed mode fixed a lot of my problems. I did go from 60 to 45 or so FPS but it's a STABLE 45 outside of HUGE CLUSTERFUCK battles - but then getting a great framerate in those is simply asking too much. And tabbing out is a non-issue in windowed mode and I seem to crash much much less than I used to.

[Hawkbit]

Totally agreed on windowed mode.  The game is running with less FPS, but it's smooth.  Makes alt-tab possible too. 

[Mcmacster]

So after having problems even after upgrading my PC. I tried something a little different than has been mentioned on here. I reloaded WAR from the game disc's, replacing the beta files and also a friend suggested turning off the "Indexing" feature in XP. This has worked perfectly. I have zero video hitches. I havent touched the video settings since reloading the game. So they are at the default settings.

[Riggswolfe]

I'm thinking just clearing this cache might help with the few issues I get.

[Mrbloodworth]

I'm thinking just clearing this cache might help with the few issues I get.

How would one go about this?

[Paelos]

Turning off the lighting effects has produced a huge bump up in my FPS. That was key, so thanks for that tip.

Personally, I don't give a shit about OMGWOW graphics. I never have. A simply 3d rendered game is fine without all the crazy shadows and textures, and whatever the hell other bells and whistles some ooo and ahh over. After about 10 minutes, nobody notices them anymore and they start grinding their asses off again. Just give me solid gameplay that doesn't suck and I can run on my computer, and I'm generally happy.

[Rasix]

For whatever reasons, it won't let me turn off the lighting effects.  I'm sure I'm missing something completely obvious and already stated in this thread.

[veredus]

Same issue with the lighting stuff. Can't uncheck one of the boxes.

[Ingmar]

Turn the global settings thing down to the minimum or whatever, then go in and custom turn everything but lighting back on? I think that's how you have to do it (haven't tried myself.)

[Paelos]

Before you log into the game, and your character is sitting there, there is a settings button. Click and set it to fastest framerate. This will turn your lighting and speculars off. Set the rest of the setting to your custom 1. Done.

[Hawkbit]

New official Nvidia video drivers released yesterday... nothing specific to WAR listed, but someone might play with it and see if there's any diff.

178.13

[zwohand]

Quote from Warhammeralliance:

Download this: http://war.curse.com/downloads/details/13745/

I had ridiculous stuttering on a high end rig before I used this and now it runs perfectly. Aparently the stuttering is caused by buffs not having a minimum refresh rate, which makes them refresh constantly. This 4kb addon sets the refresh rate to 0.5 secs and eliminates all stuttering.

Works like a charm for me, especially in larger groups.