lot of laggs? 1.6.5

[Rotem]

dont know if its only me or everyone and if its only zabijaka ctf servers or all servers (cuz i play only zabijakas ctf servers) but last version i noticed lot of laggs and ping jumps to all players and delays between explotions and bounce from it and stuff like that that really annoying to play with and it simply looks like laggs. just wanted to know if other players feel it or its only me...?

[AdamD]

i get this too, and i believe geoffrey does also. volatile ping spikes when there seems to be a lot of action on screen. it is kind of impossible to play currently

[Dusty]

I've had my ping spiking on pubs and in one cewu I played too but I thought it's only my internet acting up. Wasn't paying much attention to what was going on in the game.

[Prodigyx]

Maybe slow source code by new changes in the netcode?

[Bonecrusher]

I found newest version to be much more laggy for me too. Especially when there are a lot of players on the server using auto guns and spas.

[SpankyTank]

Has anyone looked into this? I can barely play in a server if there's more than 2 players on my screen, especially if they're using automatics. My FPS drops to like <20. Any ideas developer team?

[homerofgods]

Have you tried messing with settings? Windowed/fullscreen. Try turning off deathconsole, there might be a problem with fonts

[SpankyTank]

In windowed mode if i put it at 75 it lags, but if i put it at 70 it gets more stable, but still jumps a bit (after adjusting things like smooth polygons etc.). I'm not going to disable the death console because I need that. Why does it do that between 70 and 75

[Mighty]

I'm not going to disable the death console because I need that. Why does it do that between 70 and 75

Just turn it off for a minute and check if it helps a lot? Maybe you should be looking for a font-related solution, that's the purpose. You really can turn it on again soon after 

[homerofgods]

According to zakath, font rendering really sux and uses alot of cpu. If you disable killfeed/death console it might ease the cpu usage and therefor also the problems you are experiencing.
We could make a custom font renderer, but then you would loose stuff like unicode.

It also helps to turn off render smooth polygons, and do not use vsync and fps limiter at the same time.
If you are using a laptop turn on high performance mode.
Try turn on videocompatability and see if that works.
If you have win 7 I'm afraid there will be more fps issues than with xp or vista.

I hope some of this helps and I hope devs are trying to find other solutions to ease the fps issues.

[SpankyTank]

turned my lappy on to high performance mode and it fixed it, thanks for the help

[Dusty]

My fps problems seem to be gone if I switch to my CPU's integrated graphics (HD4000), I played a whole match without any stuttering. Discrete graphics (GTX660) + W7 = bad. Worth investigating?

[Adam]

heh... its funny when after update soldat is more laggy than 3D games xD

lmao so true I can play a 3D game on high settings and have at least 60 fps but in soldat I have to play on low settings and still only get like 30-40 fps

[Lapis Lazuli]

Do either of you have morphological filtering enabled?

If you've an ATI graphics card, try going into Catalyst Control Center and ensure that the Morphological Filtering checkbox under Gaming Graphics is not checked. Morphological filtering is a post processing filter that is supposed to help smooth out edges in games. Morphological filtering often considers text to be full of edges, which might be why the appearance of the kill console on your screen is causing your sudden FPS drop.

This would also explain why switching to your integrated graphics card would resolve the issue, especially if it does not support morphological filtering.

If that doesn't work, could you provide a brief summary of your computer specifications?

[Dusty]

I turned everything off for Soldat in the nVidia control panel but that didn't seem to change anything.

I'm not sure if the iGPU fixed it after all. Played a couple of rounds some days ago and the fps went bad after two rounds. Kind of gave up with Soldat after that, having the display in the iGPU instead of the separate GPU was a huge hassle anyway and it made the performance worse for other applications.

My specs however:

Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
CPU: Intel i5 3570K
GPU: Asus GeForce GTX 660
MB: Asus P8Z77-V LX
OS on Samsung 840 Pro, WD RED 1TB as a storage drive. It doesn't matter which drive I choose for the installation

[Adam]

I turned everything off for Soldat in the nVidia control panel but that didn't seem to change anything.

I'm not sure if the iGPU fixed it after all. Played a couple of rounds some days ago and the fps went bad after two rounds. Kind of gave up with Soldat after that, having the display in the iGPU instead of the separate GPU was a huge hassle anyway and it made the performance worse for other applications.

My specs however:

Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
CPU: Intel i5 3570K
GPU: Asus GeForce GTX 660
MB: Asus P8Z77-V LX
OS on Samsung 840 Pro, WD RED 1TB as a storage drive. It doesn't matter which drive I choose for the installation

soldat only stopped lagging and having fps drop when I rebooted but still it has fps drops and lags sometimes

[Lapis Lazuli]

That's a considerable setup. Let's see if the issue can be resolved by trying a different version of Soldat.

Could you post your average FPS now, along with your lowest and highest peak FPS?

Then, try testing the latest beta candidate and note any differences you experience.

If that doesn't help, try an older version of Soldat.

[Dusty]

The fps counter doesn't really make sense. I tried all of the three versions, and right now 1.6.5 stuttered even though the fps was 99-105 according to the counter and a stable 100 according to Fraps. On 1.5.0 and 1.6.6rc I had the same fps but it was as smooth as can be. Strangely enough if I started recording with Fraps, my fps went up to 250-300 on all of the versions and even 1.6.5 was smooth.

There is not much logic in my problems. While writing this reply, I started all of the versions again. Both 1.5.0 and 1.6.5 had ~1000 fps while 1.6.6rc1 was 800-950 with the exact same settings and scenario. Sometimes the problems come up instantly, sometimes after five minutes and sometimes I can play some rounds without problems. Also sometimes restarting Soldat helps, sometimes it doesn't. The randomness really makes testing it a lot harder. Also since 1.5.0 and 1.6.6rc1 have no active servers, making a proper comparison between these versions is close to impossible.

Anyway, 1.6.5's fps summed up: sometimes it's 100, some other day/game it may be 350 and sometimes ~1000. Whatever it is, it doesn't seem to have any effect on whether the game is running smoothly or stuttering.

[Lapis Lazuli]

Very weird. Just to rule out the option, could you try disabling your audio devices in the device manager? How many audio devices do you have in your PC? Are you using an integrated sound card or a secondary audio device (such as the HDMI Audio Out on a video card)?

[Dusty]

Very weird. Just to rule out the option, could you try disabling your audio devices in the device manager? How many audio devices do you have in your PC? Are you using an integrated sound card or a secondary audio device (such as the HDMI Audio Out on a video card)?

I just recently started using an USB DAC (NuForce Icon 2), earlier I was using an integrated Realtek chip. Didn't notice any changes. However now that I disabled my audio devices, the fps goes down to 66. The game is a lot smoother than it is when it's stuttering but not as smooth as it could be.

Here are the results, same results with :
Start with the audio device enabled -> ~100 (sometimes smooth, sometimes laggy) -> disable audio -> ~66 -> end the round and start a new map -> ~66
Audio disabled -> ~66 -> enable -> still ~66 -> pick a new map through the menu -> still ~66
Setting the sound quality to low in Soldat's config -> no effect
Choosing "No sound" in the config -> same as disabling the audio device

[Shoozza]

I'm very interested in resolving this thanks Lapis Lazuli for asking good questions.
I think I get this issue myself but I'm not sure what the reason is.
Since you confirm that the bug appeared in 1.6.4 I guess I'll have to look into all the changes between the two versions.
Hopefully we can figure out what's causing this without me going though hundreds of commits...

[Dusty]

I have to point out I've had the FPS issues on W7 since I assembled my computer about half a year ago. I hadn't played Soldat on a computer with W7 before, only on XP. Now that I'm back to my own place (was at dad's for the summer) my ping has been mostly fine.

[Mittsu]

use these settings, maybe it will solve it. Everytime i set my own settings in new releases i've had lags, so i started to copy the settings from my old Soldat (don't remember versions now) and it ran smooth, it helped a couple of other people too. I have no idea which one of these settings actually helps so just try to copy all of it.

[GRAPHICS]
Adapter=1
Color_Depth=32
Refresh_Rate=Default
Dithering=0
Swap_Effect=1
BackBuffers=2
Interface_Status_Alpha=200
Gradient_Background=0
Compatibility=1
Antialiasing=0
Texture_Filter=2
Software=0
Bonus_Colors=1
Max_Particles=258
Bullet_Trails=1
Player_Indicator=1
Sniper_Line=0
Weather=0
Interface=Default
Smooth_Edges=0
Window_Resize=0
Screen_Width=1280
Screen_Height=720
Resize_Filter=2
Gamma=100
MiniMap_Transparency=230
Enable_Animations=0
Render_Background=1
Max_Framerate=70
Fps_Limit=1
High_Resolution_Timer=0
Scale_Interface=0
Map_Background_Color1=clBlack
Map_Background_Color2=clBlack
Force_Background_Color=0

[Lapis Lazuli]

omg xD I cant stop laugh from this thread.

Im really sorry but its epic when on PC that run every game without sweat(stalker, HL2, crysis) but soldat after 1.6.4 update is lagging and few people came here and ask to turn off something in graphic card setting to make it work xD EVEN "disabling your audio devices" xD again sorry but its stronger than me xD if disabling something could work why before no one have that problems?

The troubleshooting process can be somewhat complicated at times. In asking as to whether the people suffering this issue had multiple audio devices, I am attempting to determine whether there's a hardware or software issue we're facing. My suspicion is that there's a low-level issue with how Soldat manages its interrupt requests. In a computer, an interrupt request is a hardware signal sent to the processor that temporarily stops a running program and allows a special program, an interrupt handler, to run instead. Interrupts are used to handle such events as data receipt from a modem or network, or a key press or mouse movement.

In this case, Dusty has noted that disabling the additional (and unused) audio adapter provided a somewhat smoother experience. I imagine there's some difference in how Windows XP and Windows 7 handles their IRQ priorities, and integrated audio devices (especially Realtek Integrated Audio) are typically poorly optimized. They often force themselves into a higher IRQ level then they need, or make requests when they aren't even being used. Typically, your x86 style of PC will have 15 IRQ channels available. Disabling a device that's occupying one of those (especially needlessly) essentially "removes a step" that the system has to go through in the course of a typical processor cycle.

Unfortunately, I don't know how to proceed further without asking Dusty to do some pretty invasive testing on his rig. Mittsu's suggestion is worth a shot.

However, if you're willing to do a bit of dirty work, then I would suggest removing your peripheral audio device and re-enabling the integrated device to see if there are any changes.

Does your video card have an HDMI out? And do you have a monitor or TV with speakers you can hook it up to? Try disabling all of your audio devices and running it through the HDMI out of your video card, and see if the hitches still occur.

[Dusty]

Can't try it with HDMI, I'm lacking the monitor and of course the cable too.

Like I mentioned, I set the DAC up a couple of days ago and had been using the integrated device for the rest of the time. There hasn't been any notable changes since switching.

Mittsu's suggestion doesn't seem to help.

[Lapis Lazuli]

Well, it seems like you've reported the issue on Mantis, so all I can really tell you to do at this point is to try changing the settings for your video card, and the usual shpiel about updating your drivers and the like.

I wish I could assist, but hopefully as more users contribute their computer specs to the issue we can determine whether its a hardware issue or some underlying problem in Soldat.

[Bonecrusher]

Can't really play ctf due to massive lags when there are a lot of particles on my screen(auto weapon bullets). I believe this started with the release of 1.6.5

[homerofgods]

I have/had same problem. My spec:

CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM)i7-2600 CPU @ 3.40GHz
RAM: 8gb Win 7 64'
GPU: AMD Radeon HD 5800 Series
Monitor: SyncMaster P2770H/P2770FH (Digital)

I tested every soldat config, updated my gpu drivers and tried different settings in Catalyst Control Center without fixing the problem. I even tried forcing Vsync and liit fps using other programs than soldat. It seamed that nomather what I did I could not set a stabile 60 fps (same as my monitor), when the fps dropped to 58 I would get stutters.

This was the only thing that helped me:

Righck soldat icon and choose xp compatability mode:
http://i.imgur.com/hvjK5.png [^]
Then mess around with Vsync, Fps limit and high resolution timer. (having only Vsync on and play fullscreen works best for me)

Does this help?

[Dusty]

I've gone through a couple of days without notable lags even though nothing in the system has been changed. Soldat's logic just blows my mind from time to time.

The only thing that might have something to do with this is that I changed the Windows theme to classic but soon after reverted it back. Now I have a custom theme and have no lags even with aero enabled. Disabling it didn't help earlier though.

[Flesh420]

I'm running windows 7 and getting lag in single player after a bit.  I've an eight-core and Radeon HD 5xxx series. It seems even with Admin privileges turned on when I go into Soldat's config and turn on AA it will turn off by itself somehow then I get the choppy game-play.  I've tried everything to fix this with no results, and I'm not even sure if AA is causing it or what ... but I should be able to play this game silky smooth.  For about 2 minutes it's nice and smooth then at random times it gets choppy and sluggish for a min then goes away, then repeats randomly.  Catalyst AI is off btw and no program is causing it.

Edit: I can't confirm this totally, but seems to be true: The choppy spurts happen less frequently whilst playing deathmatch.

[Adam]

happening since 1.6 for me

[homerofgods]

You tried in 1.6.7 right?

AA= Antialiasing?
Antialiasing doesn't work.

Did you try Righck soldat icon and choose xp compatability mode:
http://i.imgur.com/hvjK5.png ?

[Flesh420]

Yea I've tried everything.  I'm not pc illiterate so I tried just about everything before posting on here.  Disable audio devices etc. Etc.   Yep AA= Antialiasing

[homerofgods]

Do you play in fullscreen or windowed? any difference between those two?
In my experience, Fullscreen seam to limit fps to 60, while playing in window mode and use fps limit=60 isn't really limiting to 60 but more like 55.

[Flesh420]

Tried both to no avail.  At first, when I tried windowed, I thought it was fixed but it just took a bit longer for a random choppy outburst.  I've even tried unistalling and reinstalling drives also to no avail.  Like the game is smooth as could be but then for bout 30 seconds it breaks into a choppy outburst, goes away, then comes back for another 30 seconds at random times.

[homerofgods]

Try this together with xp compatability mode



If that doesn't atleast help I don't know

[Flesh420]

Still no improvement.  Later tonight I'll try the latest 1.5 version and see if I still get the choppy crap.  Thanx for trying to help me

[homerofgods]

1.5? You know 1.6.7 is out right?
The issue is reported in mantis
many of us have it, it started to get annoying/worse after switching to win7, but I think it has allways been there. I've got the issue aswell and I do get laggs in every version, even the super old ones.
The devs say we need to upgrade directX to help the situation, it is a priority among other things and it takes time

[Flesh420]

Lol yes, but sometimes downgrading helps.  Cool, now I know It's nothing hardware related on my end.

[darDar]

Did you install the patch or a full install?
Depending on how large your soldat folder is, the game can get very fps-laggy.
My latest soldat folder was 14.2 GB large (screens, demos, ... )
This made the game very laggy for me and a clean re-install solved a few problems for me.
The best thing to make your game less laggy is to unselect fullscreen and set window size to 90-99.
Sometimes it helps to activate the FPS limiter and play around with the FPS- Limit a bit (set it to 60, 150, 300, 600 and try it out)

Select 640x480
Close all background tasks which might cause fps issues (browser + media tools)
There is also a FPS optimization tool called 'Gamebooster' - It might help if you get lucky.

^
That's why I'm scared of switching to Win7/8 since everything runs super smooth now.
XP forever 

[Flesh420]

It was a clean install but I'll try to reinstall it.  This is the first game I've had any issues regarding win7 off the top of my head, at least something not fixable.

[Dusty]

I've gone through a couple of days without notable lags even though nothing in the system has been changed. Soldat's logic just blows my mind from time to time.

The only thing that might have something to do with this is that I changed the Windows theme to classic but soon after reverted it back. Now I have a custom theme and have no lags even with aero enabled. Disabling it didn't help earlier though.

My probelms returned after temporarily moving to another place. Was fun while it lasted bleh

[homerofgods]

Just necroing a bit to say this:

After I updated my gfx-card and bought a 144hz monitor I'm running Soldat as smooth as it can be. No stutter and no tearing

gfx: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780
Monitor: ROG SWIFT PG278Q