AGN: What do you think of the optimization pass on the PTS? - ReachCast Episode 58 CQ

[Deringer]

This weeks question is ...

“What do you think of the optimization pass on the PTS?”

As always, respond here or e-mail us at [email protected] or call us at (415)787-3224!

[DaMann]

Im running with i5-2500k at 4.4MHz with a 6950 and I am not seeing any significant increase from the test server. I am one of the more fortunate players who have not had any poor gaming on the live server. Nonetheless the smoothing function is a very nice addition.

Besides the optimization I would like to comment on the biolabs. I for one like the new layout that eliminates farming and high frequency killzones next to teleporter rooms and landing pads. It will make capturing a biolab more strategic for both attacker and defender.

p.s. Thank you for responding to my tweet the other day.

[Hirvox]

I do not have confidence that my performance will be any better when the optimization pass will go live, and I will have to consider upgrading my year-old computer just to be able to play on Hossin or avoid the continent altogether.

The initial patch and the Allatum stress test reduced my FPS to single digits. That was with less than a hundred people in the hex, so it wasn't even as hectic as biolab fights on the live server are. That issue was fixed, but then came the stuttering, where the built-in FPS meter still showed 40+ FPS in empty or near-empty bases, but the game stopped responding for about half a second or so every few seconds.

Now, my FPS seems to have been capped to 30, despite what the MaximumFPS setting in UserOptions.ini says. Even when I'm at a deserted warpgate, where I get 60+ FPS with the live version.

My gear:
Intel Core i7 3770 3.4 GHz
G.Skill RipjawsX 16GB DDR 1600 MHz
Asus Radeon HD7970 3GB GDDR5
Asus P8Z77-V Deluxe
Intel X25-M 80GB SSD

[Jaybonaut]

Originally Posted by Hirvox

I do not have confidence that my performance will be any better when the optimization pass will go live, and I will have to consider upgrading my year-old computer just to be able to play on Hossin or avoid the continent altogether.

The initial patch and the Allatum stress test reduced my FPS to single digits. That was with less than a hundred people in the hex, so it wasn't even as hectic as biolab fights on the live server are. That issue was fixed, but then came the stuttering, where the built-in FPS meter still showed 40+ FPS in empty or near-empty bases, but the game stopped responding for about half a second or so every few seconds.

Now, my FPS seems to have been capped to 30, despite what the MaximumFPS setting in UserOptions.ini says. Even when I'm at a deserted warpgate, where I get 60+ FPS with the live version.

My gear:
Intel Core i7 3770 3.4 GHz
G.Skill RipjawsX 16GB DDR 1600 MHz
Asus Radeon HD7970 3GB GDDR5
Asus P8Z77-V Deluxe
Intel X25-M 80GB SSD

You must have something seriously wrong with your machine.

[NewSith]

Apparently my PC is not as outdated as PS2 first made it to be.

[Wargrim]

I definitely see some improvements in FPS. However, this will only be useful for me in medium sized fights, in large ones i still fall below values where everything but an autoshotgun wont hit shit, and in small ones i have good enough FPS on life.

Most noteable improvement: I was able to fly a Mossie around and over a large fight smoothly and actually aim at stuff on the ground. This is currently impossible on the life servers.

What worrys me greatly is that until now, the version on PTS only addresses FPS, but not some severe stability / playablility related bugs that have been introduced back in April, and plagued PS2 on my computer since then.

- I still have the bug where i have 11 FPS and massive stuttering if i do NOT run the ingame recording tool. If i run it as a dirty workaround, i have 30+ easily. This bug forces me to delete the recorded video after each crash to stop my harddrive being spammed full.
- I still get constant crashing if i am anywhere near a big fight. Every 5 - 20 Minutes depending on the size of battles. I inevitably crash at some point if i fly or drive a vehicle. I inevitably crash if i keep respawning in different areas.
- The first time i droppod into a large fight, it can take around a minute until enemies render for me, and i can shoot back at them.
- After playing long enough, the UI and Map will be come graphically corrupted, a sure sign of a crash approaching.

In summary, if the patch goes life as it is right now, it will not restore the level of stability i had back in march. Nowhere near it in fact. More and more i get the feeling that this game will never run properly on 32 bit systems. If that is how it is, they should be so honest and raise their official minimum requirements. Playing on low resolutions is acceptable on min spec systems. Constant crashing that goes unfixed for over 6 month is not. Min specs should reflect configurations that can play reasonably bug and crash free.

[VampireCrono]

definitely see an improvement. OMFG has been pretty successful so far and i'm excited to see how it develops

[Edfishy]

My two bits already posted here.

[Ruffdog]

Just hopped on Test and cloned my settings I have on live and to be honest I had frames on Test of 18-40 FPS in a 1-12 versus 1-12 environment, on Indar, the supposed optimized cont. These numbers I get on Live with higher populations. Unfortunately, very underwhelmed. Especially after reading this:

Hey all -

We've made some really great optimization progress in the last few weeks across several different areas of the game. Overall we're running faster across all our hardware test cases, in some cases with up to a 30% increase in framerate, and we're not even done yet. We know everyone here is anxious for news so we wanted to share some tentative dates of when we expect to have some of these efforts released to you guys.

Our current schedule has us completing the changes for our first major optimization patch on October 9th, as soon as possible after that we'll be patching things up to our Public Test server where we'll be running a few events and focus tests to make sure things are stable and performance increases are being realized. Assuming that our testing goes well our hope is to deploy the first major optimization patch on October 23rd.

As usual I have to caveat that dates can be slippery, and while we'll make every effort to adhere to these dates, with engineering changes of the complexity and magnitude of those being undertaken by the team right now things can go wrong.

We will be posting a followup thread to talk about some of the specific changes we've made and results we've seen from them so far, but we wanted to get the news on the dates out to you all as quickly as we could!

I also wanted to thank each of you for your patience while we've made these changes. We know the delays to content additions has been tough, but, based on the results we're seeing internally already we think you will all agree that it has been well worth the wait.

See you on Auraxis!
-
Matthew Higby
Creative Director - Planetside 2

[camycamera]

i can see an improvement in stability and an FPS increase, however i have discovered that explosions and debre seem to be the bottleneck in which my FPS just drops. i am running all high settings. these guys are doing a great job, where i would get 30 i would get 40, however i am just guessing and i need more testing. I am sure that the other OMFG patches will further improve my performance though.

but since i'm Aus it is hard to find decent battles on test when i am on

i5 3570
ASUS GTX 650Ti
8gb RAM

[typhaon]

I *think* I'm seeing an FPS boost... about 10%.

I just logged into an empty LIVE and was getting 160-170 in the Amerish WG. Logged into empty TEST and was getting 170-250 (it flickers between those number and everywhere in between).

Interestingly these frames almost fry GPU#1 - (I have 2 GTX480's that don't cool all that well). Startled when I looked up and saw the temp in TEST reaching 90C. Re-checked LIVE and it hits 85. So... I guess that's further evidence of some improvement.


I remain skeptical, until I see this actually working on LIVE.

[Blynd]

I doubt my six year old machine will see much difference as I tend to get a steady 30-60 fps in general fights although towards the end of alerts some bases I can get some really bad lagg and have vehicles spinning all over the map.

[Ghoest9]

My modestly good PC ran the game just fine already I felt.

[torokokill]

I already had acceptable performance before this patch; I'm not seeing much of an improvement. I have had a few performance hiccups, but I seem to be crashing a lot less.

However, I dislike the new ammo/power bars for the centralized HUD. They're too big and too bright, especially paired with the darker nights. They eat up too much screen real estate and obscure everything behind them. I'm a huge fan of minimal UIs and this new HUD drives me batty.

[Akrasjel Lanate]

Well i don't have made client for PST, so will learn when it goes live.