Fixed Improve Performance in 3D Sailing Mode

[Pieter Boelen]

Indeed you don't need to worry about that one; I can test it myself. Still has to be done, though.
Sooner rather than later, because the differences just get larger as we go on....

 

[Pieter Boelen]

@Hylie Pistof: Next step is here! This time I also added the code related to Fetch Quests in there.
As before, please let me know if this is still smooth or if the lag sneaked back in on this update.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

 

[Hylie Pistof]

It seems ok in that there is no stuttering but there does seem to be a slight drop in performance. Or maybe it's just me. The fetch quest is on the top line in the shipyard and is irritating.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

So is the performance down to Beta 3.4 sluggishness yet or not?
If not, I have the next two steps here as well:

1. Do this FIRST or SEPARATELY from #2!
Extract b14_b3-3_SeaAI.zip and then check for performance.
This is definitely the most relevant file for sea battles and may be the cause.

2. Do this either ON TOP or SEPARATELY from #1
Extract b14_b3-3_Perks.zip and then check for performance.
This puts the ability updates back in.

Again, if we can find the culprit, I can either exclude that code from the Beta 3.5 WIP files or we can try to fix it so that it does work, but performs better.
If all goes well, perhaps I can look into it over the weekend and hopefully sort this out so we can all get on the same game version again.
Now THAT would be nice!!!

The fetch quest is on the top line in the shipyard and is irritating.

@Grey Roger reported the same thing and I tried to fix it in the Beta 3.5 WIP. Haven't had any confirmation on whether that worked.
But I am not including the Beta 3.5 WIP improvements in the files I post here because the problem is somewhere between 3.3 and 3.4 .

 

[Hylie Pistof]

The high water mark for frame rates was in January in the 42-48 fps range. It is now down to 32-35 fps but there is no stuttering. The stuttering is harder on my eyes than the low frame rate so I can live with it.

Going for 1 now.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

The high water mark for frame rates was in January in the 42-48 fps range.

That Beta 3.3 folder you uploaded, do you remember how old that was? Is that your "high water mark" or did it already reduce a bit there?

Of course we do keep adding and adding to the game, so it isn't surprising that performance isn't getting any better.
Though I don't think we are trying to do anything that should truly bring the game to its knees.
So anything that does have a huge impact at least needs to be known about and optimized wherever possible.

At some point I want to start a rewrite on the "Improved Sea AI" mod, especially the false flag recognizing part.
Perhaps doing that can improve things a bit as well. But I can't start on that until we've sorted out what there is now or I would just be creating a big mess.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

That beta 3.3 is is dated 9 Nov. 2014 and is the only one I have and the January high water mark is higher than it had been. I still don't know why but fps jumped up and then dropped to little more than beta 3.4 but smooth.

Again, I was getting a solid 60 fps with big battles dropping it down as low as the mid 30s until I bought a new video card with new drivers. I strongly suspect the drivers but can not get the older drivers anymore to test. Now the best I get is about the same as the worst I used to get.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

The sea_ai doesn't seem to hurt fps and all is smooth, but fps drops fast when many other ships are around. Then in 3rd person view circling around the ship a small hitch can be detected. Not as bad as the hitch in GOF2.5, but it is there.

2 next

 

[Hylie Pistof]

Perks ain't happening. It puts a very heavy load on the hard drive and doesn't work right anyway.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

So let's see if I got this right:

Build 14 Beta 3.3, 9 Nov 2014: Performance is OK

Build 14 Beta 3.3, Plus NoLag update V1 (General Changes): Performance still at previous level
Build 14 Beta 3.3, Plus NoLag update V2 (As Above + Smuggling): Performance still at previous level
Build 14 Beta 3.3, Plus NoLag update V3 (As Above + Fetch Quests): Performance perhaps a little lower, but not sure of that
Build 14 Beta 3.3, Plus NoLag update V3 (As Above + SeaAI): Performance still at previous level
Build 14 Beta 3.3, Plus NoLag update V3 (As Above + Perks): Performance dropped down to Beta 3.4 level

Build 14 Beta 3.3, Somewhere January: Performance was BETTER than any other version mentioned here
Build 14 Beta 3.4, 19 Jan 2014: Performance is notably bad

To clarify, when you installed the SeaAI and Perks updates, did you do that on the NoLag V3 version or on the original Beta 3.3 you posted?
It was intended to be installed on NoLag V3, so if you installed the Perks on Beta 3.3 without it, that may not work as it should.

Basically Build 14 Beta 3.3 + NoLag update V3 + SeaAI + Perks should pretty much be equal to Beta 3.4 (minus your own settings tweaks).
So what happens if you install ALL of those and compare it to Beta 3.4?
Technically there should be no more difference: Functionality should be the same and performance should be equally bad.
Exception is the shipyard lag, because I did still exclude that.

Can you also please try the latest Beta 3.5 WIP? It seems the Perks are the most likely cause of this, but the WIP contains some further changes to that.
So I'd like to know if those changes made any difference at all, for better or worse.

Also, I don't see how a January pre-Beta 3.4 release could have better performance than ANY other version.
Basically the NoLag update series should have covered that stage.
And Beta 3.4 was released on 19 January, so the BEST version would have been REALLY close to the WORST in timing.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

As per this thread, @Hylie Pistof reported distinctly reduced game performance in recent modpack releases.
For the past week or so, I have been trying to narrow down where this comes from and we're getting pretty close.

However, at the moment it is just the two of us involved in that and I'd quite like to know if this is a more widespread problem.
So everybody who plays or has played a Beta 3 modpack version, please vote here so that we can gain a bit more insight into this.

Also please reply to this thread stating the most recent modpack version you have played,
along with the version you are currently playing if this is not the same.

My apologies about the somewhat weird poll. The forum won't let me add more than one question with 10 responses.

Anyway, please help out so that we can get to the bottom of this and improve what can be improved for Beta 3.5!

 

[Pieter Boelen]

I posted a survey related to this to hopefully get a better view of how widespread the impact of this is:
http://www.piratesahoy.net/threads/modpack-performance-survey.24859/

 

[Hylie Pistof]

All of the files I posted for you to look at and the 3.3-3.4 test mule are from the same 3.3 install I have been playing. That is the 9 Nov. 2014 version with a few selected updates that I like, but I no longer remember what those were. One of those things was the repaired beach on Cuba. I remember that one.

Ver 3.3 with the perks is far worse than 3.4. The hard drive ran for minutes, then when it stopped it played ok on land. When I tried to go to sea the hard drive again ran for a long time. When I tried to look at my officers the hard drive ran for a long time for each one and gave corrupted results.
I then tried to reinstall it back to the no perks version and now it ctds. I am going to try to salvage it, but if I fail I will have to copy the working 3.3 install and start over again.

EDIT: I reinstalled the patches one by one and this test mule install is still dead.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

I have stuttering and lag at sea at all times with reduced frame rates and when many ships are present the frame rate drops further and can get into single digits. The lowest I have seen is 4 fps using Fraps. This is in beta 3.4 and all previous versions did not have this.

I suspect that in my case this problem occurs and/or is made worse by the video card software as there was a time I got 60fps normally. That changed and fps dropped when I upgraded the video card and drivers, but 3.4 has made it worse for me. It does not matter what settings are used for the VC as the fps stays the same whether it is set for max performance or max quality.

Input from others is welcome.

 

[ANSEL]

I have 60Fps in 3.5 using Shadow play.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

So then two more requests:

- Please check performance in the latest Beta 3.5 WIP because I'd like to know if that is as bad as Beta 3.4 or not.

- Create another Beta 3.3 test install with the NoLag V3 update and the SeaAI fix but NOT the Perks one.
That one should be the best version you can get until I figure things out further.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

I just got done copying my 3.3 install and will copy it again soon. Then I will install the patches in this thread on one and 3.5 on the other.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

Ok, I just got done updating and testing the install I'm calling B3.3-3.4 mule. It is current thru nolag v1,v2,v3, and sea_ai and runs fine.

Now to see about this B3.5 thingy.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Just so you know, this is what I'm currently doing:
1. Make a brand new Beta 3.5 WIP installer to make sure everyone can be as up-to-date as me
2. Already made a folder containing the files to remove the most likely lag-causing suspects from the Beta 3.5 version

So soon you should be able to play on the Beta 3.5 WIP base without lag.
And then hopefully we can remove the lag even from the features that did cause it so that we can put this behind us....