I’m a little worried about the new engine’s performance.

raykor · 2012-05-24, 11:06 PM

The several “official” videos I’ve seen are, naturally, edited to highlight the best; yet even with the favorable editing, I still see quite a few stutters.

It’s just one of those pet peeves that really breaks immersion for me. And we have yet to see what will happen with hundreds of people on screen.

I am tremendously looking forward to this game so I hope I’m wrong.

Baneblade · 2012-05-24, 11:07 PM

Animation stutters or actual stutters?

raykor · 2012-05-24, 11:28 PM

Originally Posted by Sobekeus

Animation stutters or actual stutters?

I don’t know what an animation stutter is.

The stuttering I am referring to is definitely graphics engine performance related as I’ve seen it many times when pushing graphically demanding games beyond the hardware’s limits. I understand the game is in alpha and far from fully optimized but I have heard that many times and have yet to witness the mythical launch day miracle patch. I’m not saying it won’t improve but I’m skeptical of a massive improvement.

I want to see a 40 min. video of a fan playing the game at a convention and participating in a 300+ player battle—with smooth performance. I realize the game is not at that stage of development but until I see such a video, I remain optimistic but skeptical.

raykor · 2012-05-24, 11:46 PM

Another issue I could not help but notice is related but different.

The aircraft in the latest video simply do not move smoothly across the screen; they jerk from one position to another. I don’t think this has anything to do with the performance of the graphics engine.

There are several scenes where an aircraft is moving fast and you see no stuttering whatsoever from the graphics engine in the rendering of the terrain or cockpit. Yet the other aircraft in the scene are hopping from spot to spot—minor hops, but to me they are very obvious.

Is it server lag? I sincerely doubt it since the video was probably recorded with in-house staff all playing locally. It could be bad netcode, bad integration of position updates in the client, forced behavior by the client to ensure acceptable performance, or one of a dozen other reasons.

I hope it gets the attention I think it deserves.

**CyclesMcHurtz** · 2012-05-24, 11:46 PM

Originally Posted by raykor

... I realize the game is not at that stage of development but until I see such a video, I remain optimistic but skeptical.

I understand your concerns about performance and believe me when I say you are not the only person looking at performance in large battles.

raykor · 2012-05-24, 11:51 PM

Originally Posted by CyclesMcHurtz

I understand your concerns about performance and believe me when I say you are not the only person looking at performance in large battles.

A reassurance from a coder and not a marketing ace…skepticism diminished.

Thanks for taking the time to post.

kertvon · 2012-05-24, 11:53 PM

Wayyy to early to conclude any performance issues. That is the double edged sword of leaking progress to communities/fans... while we get excited about the content, the developers run the risk of creating negative buzz associated with early development issues.

Though the concerns are genuine, let's give it some time, I am sure the devs are gonna blow our socks off!

FYI devs, you guys are killing it. PS2 is looking great!

Xyntech · 2012-05-25, 12:46 AM

We all want the game to look solid and perform well.

That being said, they are picking and choosing what footage to share, but they are not holding much back either. We are desperate for scraps of info and they have been very obliging, even showing stuff that isn't fully cooked.

The game still clearly has a ways to go before launch, so the best thing we can do is just shut up about the little flaws and let them do their job.

They clearly intend this to be a cutting edge AAAA FPS title. That wont happen if they leave it rough around the edges.

Unless it's a matter of gameplay or balance mechanics, just shut the fuck up about it and appreciate that we are getting to see as much as we are. Seriously, shut the fuck up. You don't deserve to see alpha footage if you are going to bitch about the small stuff, so just do us all a favor and don't even watch the videos if you can't grasp that.

This is the very reason that so many developers don't show much footage until right before release. I for one am much more partial to the PS2 devs attitude, of showing us as much as possible, and I want them to keep doing it.

So show a little respect and gratitude, and have just a tiny bit of perspective on the whole thing.

At least wait until beta before starting to worry about this shit. Alpha is pretty much synonymous with 'broken'.

JPalmer · 2012-05-25, 12:51 AM

https://twitter.com/mhigby/status/205759922049265664

PeteHMB · 2012-05-25, 01:03 AM

Originally Posted by Xyntech

We all want the game to look solid and perform well.

That being said, they are picking and choosing what footage to share, but they are not holding much back either. We are desperate for scraps of info and they have been very obliging, even showing stuff that isn't fully cooked.

The game still clearly has a ways to go before launch, so the best thing we can do is just shut up about the little flaws and let them do their job.

They clearly intend this to be a cutting edge AAAA FPS title. That wont happen if they leave it rough around the edges.

Unless it's a matter of gameplay or balance mechanics, just shut the fuck up about it and appreciate that we are getting to see as much as we are. Seriously, shut the fuck up. You don't deserve to see alpha footage if you are going to bitch about the small stuff, so just do us all a favor and don't even watch the videos if you can't grasp that.

This is the very reason that so many developers don't show much footage until right before release. I for one am much more partial to the PS2 devs attitude, of showing us as much as possible, and I want them to keep doing it.

So show a little respect and gratitude, and have just a tiny bit of perspective on the whole thing.

At least wait until beta before starting to worry about this shit. Alpha is pretty much synonymous with 'broken'.

Best post yet from a Barney...

Xyntech · 2012-05-25, 01:05 AM

Originally Posted by JPalmer

https://twitter.com/mhigby/status/205759922049265664

Nice, good to know.

Also, 100% more constructive than the doomsayers. Nothing wrong with asking a reasonable question on twitter. It's the devs call if they want to answer it or not.

Virulence · 2012-05-25, 01:12 AM

I think they're going to be able to do a LOT more about this sort of thing once they have the game in beta and are able to gather a wider variety of data from situations with many more players than what they're able to manage in internal playtests combined with a wider variety of performance data from a wider variety of system configurations.

Roidster · 2012-05-25, 01:19 AM

just remember those aren't really gaming machines they are playing on

RedKnights · 2012-05-25, 01:34 AM

My summer wages will almost certainly be dedicated to buying myself a shiny new Nvidia card to try to power through this game day one.

Regardless I'm confident the issues we see will be resolved, the people working on this game seem to be quite proud of their work, and their commitment to making no commitments regarding the release date mean they'll be working on those small hic-ups.

Also the team that made an engine look this stunning can certainly handle some optimization =P

Roidster · 2012-05-25, 01:39 AM

video card wont help unless you have the CPU and Ram to back it