Severe Performance drop after loggin in on the server

[Leanderthal]

Hey all!

I accidentally stumbled onto this game and wanted to try it out.
after fixing a problem with some sound enabled issue (openAL), I logged in into the server I registered for.
this is when it happens...a severe performance drop! (yes even before character creation).
the background music gets interrupted at some irregular intervals, and clicking doesn't work during these interruptions.
when I finally get the timing right and managed to succesfully click the create new character button (still don't know if its the text or the red orb  ), there's either some shambled random 'text' with buttons sprawled around, or the game sort off hangs. or stuff is missing...

anyway, after kindly asking my windows task manager, it turns out the game client is om-nomming my cpu (at around 80-99%), which is never a good sign in my experience.

any help/solutions/advice?

oh, am running Windows XP 32 bit, on a AMD Athlon 3500+ (2.21GHz) processor, 3 GB RAM and an ATI Radian X1330 graphics card.  

PS
sorry if there's already a post about this topic, couldn't find it if there was...

Oh, and yes: i updated the program, fixed the program twice, and have the latest drivers (latest as in updated 'em a week ago)

[LigH]

Probably the smallest bottlenecks:

1) Athlon 64: Probably just a single-core processor? Dual-core is quite recommendable for persistent multitasking. Try to change the "Background loader" setting in the PlaneShift launcher, it may help keeping the system responsive. I am not certain, but for single-core CPUs ... may be recommendable to set it to "Models"?

2) ATI Radeon X1330 ... quite a low-performance graphic solution. PlaneShift uses OpenGL 2.0 features. Your GPU is rather an "Office" solution these days...

[Leanderthal]

Thanks for the reply,

Ok.
Setting 'background loader' to anything but 'off' apparently causes the game to crash at the loading screen (just before it starts loading).
Also, for some reason the launcher chrashes after hitting the play button (with the generic windows crash message), although the client startsup witout any other problems.

Athlon 64: Probably just a single-core processor?

yep it is.

Also, I know my system isn't really 'top-notch' (far from, hehe), but, judging from different screenshots and youtube movies, it handles games with better graphics like PWI and King of Kings 3, without too much trouble (although the gameplay of both games are somewhat....lacking.... ).
(one of the movies I used as reference http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioLkQhPjHr4, although i don't know how up to date this one is)

I hope there's another solution, except for getting a whole new PC? (as I currently don't have the money for it, lol  )

[LigH]

Well ... it has been discussed before: Both the engine (CrystalSpace 3D) and the game using it (PlaneShift) develop rather slowly, and even partially independently. A "revolutionary" new engine => requires a severly changed game => requires new minimum hardware.

Apart from "Low shaders" and "VBO: Off" there is not much more I could recommend. Modern games are getting optimized for multi-core CPUs and Pixel Shader rendering GPUs.

[Leanderthal]

True words (although it means they should update their 'recommended' system requirements in the post then).

But what I don't get is that it immediately starts spiking right after pressing log in. There's nothing special on screen yet, just the background image and a button saying 'Create new character' (at least, red orb with the text behind it). I don't even get to the graphical intense part yet.

[LigH]

Oh, it already starts a view onto a podium with a character. So it starts a 3D rendering phase. And that one runs already "as smooth as possible" = trying to get 100% CPU... later, when you are in game, you can limit the rendering speed with a maximum frame rate (Options - Details). Alternatively, outside the game, you may try to edit the file "planeshift.cfg" in your personal application data folder and set "Video.frameLimit = 20" or similar.

Remember that PlaneShift uses OpenGL 2.0; no matter if any Direct3D games run fine, you really need a full featured OpenGL capable graphic driver. Especially Microsoft Vista / 7 may come with a limited driver not supporting OpenGL completely.

[weltall]

Thanks for the reply,

Ok.
Setting 'background loader' to anything but 'off' apparently causes the game to crash at the loading screen (just before it starts loading).
Also, for some reason the launcher chrashes after hitting the play button (with the generic windows crash message), although the client startsup witout any other problems.

Athlon 64: Probably just a single-core processor?

yep it is.

Also, I know my system isn't really 'top-notch' (far from, hehe), but, judging from different screenshots and youtube movies, it handles games with better graphics like PWI and King of Kings 3, without too much trouble (although the gameplay of both games are somewhat....lacking.... ).
(one of the movies I used as reference http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioLkQhPjHr4, although i don't know how up to date this one is)

I hope there's another solution, except for getting a whole new PC? (as I currently don't have the money for it, lol  )

note that comparing screenshots and video of a game (even more in this case old videos ) is not always a good measure. Planeshift engine is quite an advanced engine able to compare to recent games: it looks worse than it should because of the outdated art but that won't make the engine more lightweight

[Leanderthal]

@LigH: Ok, I'll try that later this evening, or tomorrow, depending on when i have time and remember in doing so  .
also i have practically no clue about the difference in OpenGL and Direct3D, so I guess OpenGL is a little 'heavier' then.

@weltall: I thought the engine only started when u actually get into the game, but i guess that's my nooblicity about game programming/workings talking to me. thanks for clarifying that up.

Will put an update if it worked after changing the file.

[weltall]

it's not heavier they are just api (and opengl in the ES version is used a lot in mobile devices) the problem is some manufacturers of video cards don't implement it right (the os don't bundle opengl like direct3d, it's usually provided by the video card vendor or through opensource implementations (this mostly on linux))

[LigH]

OpenGL is just "portable". It is used independently of the operating system, available for a wide variety of them. Direct3D instead is "Microsoft only".

OpenGL is also a bit more compatibility-friendly, more flexible regarding hardware-supported features. But if an application requires a minimum, there is no magic to circumvent that.

[Leanderthal]

Ok,

I tried altering the frame limit, but there's no difference.

But if an application requires a minimum, there is no magic to circumvent that.

Sounds logic, but my system is even above the recommended requirements listed in this forum (which I guess also take OpenGl into account?), so I guess my graphics card misses some compatibility drivers or something for using OpenGL?

[Lusserall]

Changing the following in planeshift.cfg made me able to play this game on a "Ati radeon 9800pro"
was not able to get past "Choose your characterscreen" without this change.
Using "Nvidia fx5200" i could get in game but to laggy to play also without this change

Change unshadowed to rlcompat it,s ugly but playable

Code: [Select]

Engine.RenderManager.Default = crystalspace.rendermanager.unshadowed
RenderManager.Unshadowed.Layers = /data/renderlayers/lighting_default_pvl.xml
to

Code: [Select]

Engine.RenderManager.Default = crystalspace.rendermanager.rlcompat
RenderManager.Rlcompat.Layers = /data/renderlayers/lighting_default_pvl.xml
Note: When entering settings again you will have to redo the change


Found here

3 - Making PlaneShift more user friendly (plenty of players stopped playing because it became too heavy with the shaders);
then go back to rlcompat search unshadowed in planeshift.cfg and replace with rlcompat.  (btw user friendliness has nothing to do with shaders)

[Leanderthal]

Woa,

That seems to have fixed it!

Thanks for the help guys/gals