Performance issues

Discussion in 'Support!' started by killzone5017002, February 25, 2014.

  1. killzone5017002

    killzone5017002 Active Member

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    PA is extremely fun and all but the performance still has a lot to go. I am here to just to say that it still needs some serious work. For example:

    I started a game and as soon as I got into it like not even five minutes in I was getting unbearable lag. I did upgrade my computer to a six core with 8gb of ram mainly because I wanted to play PA and I still feel unsatisfied. (Yes I am aware the game is not finished)

    I am saying this because I have been reading on the Gamma phase. I heard everything about social networks and different ways to get into a game and such improvements to the UI. I saw nothing mentioning performance. Unless there is some type of phase that comes after Gamma or at the end of it, there should be a phase completely focused on performance and optimization right at the end.

    Another thing. A system with 5 or more planets not even being big lags like nuts. Of course this is totally expected but it makes me feel like there is not to much being done on multi planet performance boosts. I feel almost no improvement when there is an update to do with optimization. I am not sure wether it is just me or what.

    Now I clearly do not know what uber has in plan but these are just my personal experiences and thoughts on the game. Do not get me wrong, I love PA and uber is just an amazing team. Im just doing my part on reporting my issues so they can get fixed or if I can fix my own problem. If a dxdiag is required just ask.
  2. killzone5017002

    killzone5017002 Active Member

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    My low fps comes from both client and server. Sometimes its one or the other.
  3. lokiCML

    lokiCML Post Master General

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    Can you upload your dxdiag.txt?
  4. killzone5017002

    killzone5017002 Active Member

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    Here you go man! :)

    Attached Files:

  5. lokiCML

    lokiCML Post Master General

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    Update your graphic driver and they just pushed out a hot fix. Should resolve some of the issues you're having.
    http://www.geforce.com/drivers/results/73218
    Last edited: February 26, 2014
  6. killzone5017002

    killzone5017002 Active Member

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    Thank you, ill try that and if it doesnt work ill come back and let everyone know.
  7. varrak

    varrak Official PA

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    Performance has been an ongoing effort for us, and there are several of us on the team (myself included) whose primary focus (for the past several months and moving forward to final release) is performance. It's a long road, but we're at a point now where we understand where the time is going. The particle system was a big performance problem (see my other post "graphics update 1.1" if you're curious). I spent the last month refactoring that to make it perform better. For reference, in end-game this section was taking 10s of milliseconds to execute; now it's in the 1-2ms range.

    There's more yet to do, both in the graphics side (where I spend my time) and elsewhere in the client. With most projects like this, you'll tend to see the biggest changes toward the end, when the feature set is stable and the performance cliffs are more thoroughly understood. Keep downloading new builds - and over the coming weeks you should see steady improvements in performance.

    When you do have games where performance is poor, there are things you can do to help us out, too. First, sending details on the system (RAM, GPU make, GPU memory, CPU, etc). Second, you can send us profile captures (CTRL+F11, and then go digging in "C:\Users\<your name>\AppData\Local\Uber Entertainment\Planetary Annihilation\PerfLogs". There's be "upf" files in there. Zip 'em up, drop them on the forums (there's a thread). Also upload screengrabs showing the HUD performance screens (CTRL+P to toggle).

    All these things help us understand the broad range of systems out there, and where the pain is, so we can best target how we make things better.

    Anyway, hope this helps, and hopefully the latest build will run better for you...
    killzone5017002 and lokiCML like this.
  8. shotforce13

    shotforce13 Well-Known Member

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    ive got one for you Varrak, ive been testing some things out lately and found something very weird. my fps are in the 70's on the client side and then late game start dipping into the 40's and 50's and stay steady (unless units are stuck).

    heres what i found: when you start building a factory the frames barely move, but the second it finishes and the green UI icon pops up to tell me its done my frames drop sharply all the way down to 9 fps from 70 it will hang there for 2 to 3 secs then instantly go back to the 60 to 70 range. now this is on the client side.

    Server Fps: 10.9
    Graphic mem usage: 629.67Mg
    sim fps: 30.2
    ill get you some good screenshots with panel open, but so far formations, UI, and pathing seem to be causing most the grief from my testing.

    system:
    OS Name Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64bit

    System Model Asus P5E

    Processor Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q9650 @ 3.00GHz, 2997 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)

    Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 16.00 GB

    GPU ATI 5870 x2 (crossfire) note: one is disabled due to PA not supporting it.

    i have a stronger computer, but i get the same performance between that one and this one.

    Thoughts?
    varrak likes this.
  9. varrak

    varrak Official PA

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    Hmmm. I'll take a look. Thanks!
  10. killzone5017002

    killzone5017002 Active Member

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    Thank you so much, this is the reason why uber is my favorite! Most reliable developers! By the way, the driver update did help. Now its just serverside lag which I think will be resolved. Good luck Varrak!
  11. cptconundrum

    cptconundrum Post Master General

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    Are you using any notification mods?
  12. chronosoul

    chronosoul Well-Known Member

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    Mine drops in FPS when a building finishes as well. I'm not sure if it associated with the notification, the addition of the selection square or maybe the instant construction of another factory.
  13. shotforce13

    shotforce13 Well-Known Member

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    i never use mods, unless the game is finished (which this one isnt yet).
  14. shotforce13

    shotforce13 Well-Known Member

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    i tried it both ways "building a single factory" or multiple factory s, same results.

    @chronosoul, you have been here as long as i have, im starting a new thread in beta bugs and issues if you would like to join me. i found more things that are a miss and ill be posting them there for Varrak.
  15. shotforce13

    shotforce13 Well-Known Member

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    @varrak ,

    i also think i found a GPU memory leak (or something else).

    ive noticed that if you use the system editor to make a planet the memory shoots up pretty high (on GPU panel_see screenshot 1) this screen shows the memory usage before entering the editor. Gpu_MEM1.png

    After finishing a planet and saving the planet, the memory for GPU stays at a very high level as can be seen in screenshot 2. GPU_MEM2.png

    i click on new game (against AI) and load the planet i just made. once the light turns green i join the planet, but the high number found in screenshot 2 never goes down even after an hour into that game.

    i did some more testing on this issue and learned that system generated planets do not do this, there memory usage is in the 500 to 750mg range, even in game.

    in conclusion, i made a planet again with the editor and the GPU number jumped back up to screenshot 2 levels.
    But this time when i made a game and loaded my custom planet, i waited 3 to 5 minutes after the light turned green and "bingo" the number went down to 565 mgs of GPU memory usage and the match ran alot smoother.

    ill make a new thread to tell everyone else so i can get more data for you guys (engineer to engineer "we love our data").

    Thanks,
  16. chronosoul

    chronosoul Well-Known Member

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    I'm down. I am curious if the performance upload thread, the UberProbe file. ctrl+F11 is the same thing as the Ctrl+P but with one button press. If some dev can clear that up . it would be super helpful. Copy n pasting screen shots isn't fun :(.
    shotforce13 likes this.
  17. FSN1977

    FSN1977 Active Member

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    I can confirm, that the pop-up notifications, does cut the fps in half for me a few second.
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  18. varrak

    varrak Official PA

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    Ctrl+F11 and Ctrl+P are two very different things. Ctrl+P toggles between various realtime profiling HUDs (Heads-Up Displays), that show what's happening right now. Ctrl+F11 grabs a 1-second profile capture that gives CPU timings on everything that's happening on the client, and will gather data from multiple frames. The Ctrl+F11 capture is what we at Uber call an "UberProbe", since it's gathering deep information on the game's performance.

    That said - dropping the Ctrl+P screen data into the probe file is a really, really good idea; that way you wouldn't need to grab screen captures. I'm going to add that.
    ooshr32, chronosoul and lokiCML like this.
  19. naginacz

    naginacz Member

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