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> Production Anim Slowdown Bug
Bittah Commander
post Aug 8 2009, 05:20 PM
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For many players the production animation (gclock2.shp) causes the game to slow down when you build something cheap (apparently for some people this even slows the game down to an unbearable frame rate). I just ran a quick test and gave the clock animation fewer frames (17 instead of 55); as I expected it now doesn't slow the game at all anymore while playing on the 'Faster' gamespeed (gamespeed 5) and when playing with the fastest gamespeed, it only slowed the game down to about the rate of gamespeed 5 for a very short time (meaning this wouldn't be noticeable online).

While this could be a "sort-of fix", it'll obvoiusly look a bit odd when building more expensive things... So I was wondering whether it'd either be possible to find a way to keep the normal gclock2.shp anim from lagging the game or make it somehow drop frames when building cheaper buildings.


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SeekSomethingNew
post Aug 10 2009, 12:50 PM
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This is a strange little bug that no one has yet been able to solve.

VK put it down to DARKEN.SHP being drawn twice, but im not sure...


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Rampastring
post Aug 10 2009, 05:03 PM
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QUOTE (CCHyper @ Aug 10 2009, 03:50 PM) *
This is a strange little bug that no one has yet been able to solve.

VK put it down to DARKEN.SHP being drawn twice, but im not sure...

If I play with the WaveClass error-fix ddraw.dll, the game works generally about 200% faster and I also don't get this bug.

However, since the DLL seems to increase reconnection errors (at least for me), I usually don't use it and I do get this bug.

Also, disabling DirectDraw acceleration seems to have the same effect on the game as using the ddraw.dll (fixing this bug, fixing waveclass errors and making the game faster).

I'm not sure if this bug is related to these DirectDraw accelerations or if it's fixed just because the game works much faster than usually. But if they are related I think this information could be useful for you.

This post has been edited by ^Rampastein: Aug 10 2009, 05:07 PM


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SeekSomethingNew
post Aug 10 2009, 05:57 PM
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QUOTE (^Rampastein @ Aug 10 2009, 06:03 PM) *
If I play with the WaveClass error-fix ddraw.dll, the game works generally about 200% faster and I also don't get this bug.

However, since the DLL seems to increase reconnection errors (at least for me), I usually don't use it and I do get this bug.

Also, disabling DirectDraw acceleration seems to have the same effect on the game as using the ddraw.dll (fixing this bug, fixing waveclass errors and making the game faster).

I'm not sure if this bug is related to these DirectDraw accelerations or if it's fixed just because the game works much faster than usually. But if they are related I think this information could be useful for you.


Its nice to see that when i come to Tiberium Web, people always provide me with in depth information smile.gif

Interesting to know that it causes some reconnection issues...


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Tore
post Aug 10 2009, 07:39 PM
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This is the bug that has prevented me from playing TS for half a year...I hope it will get fixed one day.


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Bittah Commander
post Aug 10 2009, 07:52 PM
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Seems VK is right... Darken.shp really is the main cause for the slowdown, although there is still a slight slowdown even when darken.shp has been made completely transparant (filled up with color#0)...
Apparnetly the gclock2.shp anim has a fixed number of frames and removing some frames just make it play shorter, but whatever is being produced will still be building a little while after the gclock2.shp anim has stopped playing (so that obviously isn't much of a fix after all).
I just tried modifying the darken.shp anim however and found that the fewer visible pixels it has, the less/shorter the slowdown will be.

For me the slowdown is only noticable when playing on gamespeed 6 offline however, so I personally don't require a fix for this. I attached an Eache02.mix file with a darken.shp file inside for whoever does experience the problem more severely (darken.shp now just looks like a small X in the middle and a a border against the edge of the cameos). If this still doesn't get the game to run normally when building stuff on gamespeed 5 (although it should at least improve it), you can try making the anim entirely black instead.
Attached File(s)
Attached File  Ecache02.zip ( 327bytes ) Number of downloads: 59
 


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Rampastring
post Aug 11 2009, 07:39 AM
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Thanks Bittah.. fixed the problem entirely for me cool.gif

Earlier the game always dropped from 60 FPS (gamespeed 5, I tested with -MPDEBUG) to 20 FPS when building cheap buildings like pavement.. Now it doesn't affect at all, stays at 60 all the time (with 1280x1024).

Also, logically, if I run at a resolution lower than 1024x768, the slowdown is unnoticable (I quess that darken.shp doesn't get drawn on so many cameos - less slowdown).

This post has been edited by ^Rampastein: Aug 11 2009, 07:40 AM


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Lin Kuei Ominae
post Aug 11 2009, 09:29 AM
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My assumption is, that for every tick the gclock2.shp is drawn on the built building, the darken.shp is drawn on every other building. Since TS has by default no hardware acceleration and transparent anims (like gasclouds) can cause lags ingame too, i assume that drawing in a short time 55 times a transparent layer on all cameos is too much for the engine.

And your tests have shown, that minimizing the transparent drawing work for the engine, reduces the lag what supports this assumption.

That's why i think the only way to fix this would be a code optimization, but i'm not sure if Hyper can go that deep in the code.
e.g.
-draw darken.shp only once on all visible cameos in the sidemenu when the construction has started
-update cameos with the darken.shp which appear in the sidemenu after scrolling upwards/downwards (and only those new cameos)
-when construction is finished, update all cameos to show the non-darked cameo again.
-adjust the number of shown frames from gclock2.shp concerning the cost and buildspeed of the current building
(100 Credits building shows only 4 frames
1000 Credits building shows half the frames
2000 Credits building shows all frames)

This post has been edited by Lin Kuei Ominae: Aug 11 2009, 09:30 AM


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SeekSomethingNew
post Aug 11 2009, 11:52 AM
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QUOTE (Lin Kuei Ominae @ Aug 11 2009, 10:29 AM) *
My assumption is, that for every tick the gclock2.shp is drawn on the built building, the darken.shp is drawn on every other building. Since TS has by default no hardware acceleration and transparent anims (like gasclouds) can cause lags ingame too, i assume that drawing in a short time 55 times a transparent layer on all cameos is too much for the engine.

And your tests have shown, that minimizing the transparent drawing work for the engine, reduces the lag what supports this assumption.

That's why i think the only way to fix this would be a code optimization, but i'm not sure if Hyper can go that deep in the code.
e.g.
-draw darken.shp only once on all visible cameos in the sidemenu when the construction has started
-update cameos with the darken.shp which appear in the sidemenu after scrolling upwards/downwards (and only those new cameos)
-when construction is finished, update all cameos to show the non-darked cameo again.
-adjust the number of shown frames from gclock2.shp concerning the cost and buildspeed of the current building
(100 Credits building shows only 4 frames
1000 Credits building shows half the frames
2000 Credits building shows all frames)

Im gonna just hit on one line you said, "That's why i think the only way to fix this would be a code optimization, but i'm not sure if Hyper can go that deep in the code." Correctomondo, this is something you modders are gonna have to fix until i fully undersand how SHP drawing actualy works.

Though people have said that the "RA2" DDRAW.DLL seems to stop this...


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Rampastring
post Aug 11 2009, 02:39 PM
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QUOTE (CCHyper @ Aug 11 2009, 02:52 PM) *
Though people have said that the "RA2" DDRAW.DLL seems to stop this...

Yeah, and not only the ddraw.dll, but turning DirectDraw acceleration off (by run -> dxdiag) also stops the bug (with or without the dll, post #3).

I personally think that this isn't so important anymore since it can be fixed by just modifying darken.shp.

This post has been edited by ^Rampastein: Aug 11 2009, 02:41 PM


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Tore
post Aug 11 2009, 08:52 PM
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I still experience slowdowns, the ddraw.dll gives me a black screen and I can't turn DirectDraw acceleration off...

confused.gif


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Bittah Commander
post Aug 12 2009, 01:32 AM
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Well, tbh the slowdown you experience seems to be a special case, while with ^Rampastein it simply seems to be caused by lacking hardware...


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SeekSomethingNew
post Aug 24 2009, 10:51 PM
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So this is still something i have to take note of?


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Kakashi
post Nov 30 2009, 11:48 AM
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I too have lag problems but not only when i construct buildings but when they are attacked too
Downloaded the file u posted and also turned off the acceleration and still lags a lot
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Styx221
post Apr 27 2010, 03:55 PM
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Yup, like all build lag fixes ive tried it fixes it at first then crashes, needing a restart. Posting here seems kinda pointless since last post was NOV 09 and the forum seems kinda dead but whatever, maybe a year down the road a fix happens and I might want to play tibsun again. (This is XP home editon, directx 9.0c, GTX 260, dual core system)

Things I have tried to get rid of lag + play:

-Updated to newest video drivers + downgraded to oldest video drivers for my card (gtx 260) ineffective

-Compatibility is ineffective past limiting cores to one

-Ddraw.ddl from my system folder, RA2 installation, and a edited ddraw from another forum for tib sun all causes artifacts and requires restart

-Can only reduce ddraw acceleration in my display properties (too far and I get a black screen on start-up, not far enough = no effect)

-Reinstalled tibsun several times, all fixes tried with unpatched version, patched version, and TFD version (the first decade)

-Edited Darken.shp and gclock2.shp several times any edit that fixes the lag or improves it causes a crash 10-15 minutes into gameplay

- Tried the attachment in this thread, it fixes the lag perfectly but like all fixes it crashes 15 mins in and requires a restart

- Reducing resolution is ineffective

- Tib is always set to using 1 core

Things I have yet to try:

-Slotting in an older card

-Downgrading to windows ME (that has its own problems

-Reformatting (would but currently on a wireless usb stick with pitiful downloads and a cd-dvd drive that is broken (cannot burn cds) and do not feel the urge to redownload 200 gb of iso files)

*sigh* i think its just my card that does not like tiberian sun, I want to play it but I do not have my old radeon 9800 anymore or a computer that would run that old pos.

This lag just ruins the game for me personally, I cannot play with it and I cannot find a fix that does not crash my system after 10 mins or immediately artifacts my card, my card is properly seating, has sufficient cooling and is NOT overheating. W/e
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Rampastring
post Apr 27 2010, 04:27 PM
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QUOTE (Styx221 @ Apr 27 2010, 06:55 PM) *
-Edited Darken.shp and gclock2.shp several times any edit that fixes the lag or improves it causes a crash 10-15 minutes into gameplay

- Tried the attachment in this thread, it fixes the lag perfectly but like all fixes it crashes 15 mins in and requires a restart

The fix shouldn't cause any crashes. Could you post the except.txt from TS' folder to the Internal Errors topic?
QUOTE (Styx221 @ Apr 27 2010, 06:55 PM) *
-Downgrading to windows ME (that has its own problems

Would likely just cause more problems as it probably doesn't support your hardware.
QUOTE (Styx221 @ Apr 27 2010, 06:55 PM) *
*sigh* i think its just my card that does not like tiberian sun, I want to play it but I do not have my old radeon 9800 anymore or a computer that would run that old pos.

I know many people who play TS with GPUs as new and powerful as yours and they've got no problems.

Anyway, post the except.txt and we might be able to get the problem solved (assuming Hyper reads it, of course).


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Lin Kuei Ominae
post Apr 28 2010, 10:32 AM
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@Styx221
Thanks for the detailed info. Seems like you've tried already pretty much of the possible software fixes.
But before you start changing massively your system and OS you should try to use a Virtual Machine.
Then install in this virtual machine your winXP OS and then TS/FS.

Since the virtual machine emulates the hardware, there might be the chance the problems with TS are fixed too.


btw, from my own experience it doesn't helps to change the GraCa. The problem is afaik bound the mainboard and its chipset (thus indirect also bound to the CPU that needs the newer chipset to work fine).

This post has been edited by Lin Kuei Ominae: Apr 28 2010, 10:36 AM


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Devastator
post Apr 28 2010, 09:19 PM
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I only had slowdowns when I had the ole' Ultima Mod on my old computer.
gclock2.shp I thought was causing the problem because of when I viewed it with XCC.

Offtopic but what about the rclock2.shp?
Does that effect anything?

EDIT:I thought this whole thing was caused by the BuildingTypes list in Rules INI being longer. The longer it is, the slower it builds.
Oh sorry, the game ITSELF slows down with gclock2.shp. blushing.gif

This post has been edited by Devastator: Apr 28 2010, 09:21 PM


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