Terrible Online FPS

[AussieDave 10]

What gives? I'm getting a good ping of around 50 and manage to get about 40-60 fps in offline play yet only play it seems to be capped at 30 FPS and normally hovers around 25 and is slow as anything.

---------- Post added at 10:35 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:22 PM ----------

I changed the settings to very low and I still get bugger all.

This really has to be one of the most poorly optimised games ever. It has no fluidity. Crysis looked 10x better and ran 20x better.

[Bulldogs 10]

Aiight, apart from the usual whine comparing Arma play to a completely different game....

Arma 2 multiplayer uses a different system in that most of the settings are assigned by the server (IE; Terrain detail, view distance, etc) so if you're running on low settings on single player and a server sets it on high settings then you're running on high settings. This is put in place to make sure everyone on the server is on the same playing field.

The other thing to ask is, what are you using to measure your FPS?

I only ask because it has been proven time and again that the FPS under both Fraps and Evga Precision while running Arma 2 are completely wrong and the only true way to measure performance is by the human eye response.

[AussieDave 10]

I run medium-high settings on singleplayer. multiplayer settings look about the same quality. i use FRAPS but my eye can tell me how laggy it is too

[Mattoso 0]

My eyes, my senses, my computer and my fraps tell me how is horrible the performance of this game... very frustrating...

Quad Core Q6600

4GB

EVGA 8800 GT 512mb ddr3 @ 675mhz

SATA II HDD

[AussieDave 10]

I'm on a slightly better rig but still getting shocking online performance.

Dual Core e8400 (3ghz)

4 gb ram

4870 512 mb ddr5

[Bulldogs 10]

It depends what you mean by shocking online performance. If you mean a constant low fps, as in the game is constantly slow (like watching a slide show) then don't know what's causing that (unless you're running Windows 7 in which case, there's your cause)

But if you're getting Lag and warping, as in seems like it's running smooth then you see payers jumping around the place, chopper keeps flying backwards, etc... well, yep, everyone gets that, hopefully it'll be fixed soon.

[AussieDave 10]

FRAPs says i'm getting 22fps roughly but I'd say less. Choppers don't seem to fly backwards but they stutter terribly. People stutter a lot too. Everything is laggy.

It seems much more laggy than regular games at 22 fps.

I'm on Vista 32 bit.

at one point the frame rate was a bit higher but seemed to be capped at 30. It would fluxuate between 25 and 30 frequently but never pass 30.

[Bulldogs 10]

Mattoso, just curious what you're running the game at?

What settings, and what resolution.

From testing on many machines on many settings I ran tell you that if you're running on an 8800 GT with a Q6600 on over 1280x1024 on high settings then you'll be lucky to break 30 fps, that's not the game design, that's just your machine struggling (the 8800gt is old and has trouble keeping up with Arma 2)

That said, unfortunately the q6600 is a bit slow too (unless it's very vastly overclocked)

It's a great CPU but it's the lowest end of quad cores so it's getting to become the old uncle that used to be cool (hurts I know, I was hoping that day would never come that the old boys - 8800/q6600 - would never die, but Arma 2 made it's stand)

---------- Post added at 12:40 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:39 AM ----------

Aussie : That shuddering is the net code. There's actually some tweaking the servers can do to stop it, but unfortunately most servers don't incorporate it so you keep getting it.

[-=seany=- 5]

Its because of the AI. test it yourself in the editor with fraps. More than 4 squads of twelve AI will "cap" your frame rate (eg: you become cpu limited). This happens even if the AI are 10km from you.

Here are my test results for any one interested:

1-3 squads = max FPS you can get with your gfx card/ refresh rate.

4-16 squads = you keep loosing about 10fps with every squad after 5, until you get to 16 squads, which gives me 33fps

Here's where it gets weird:

16->38 squads = I only loose 4fps, it goes from 33 to 29fps. Why does 4-16 squads result in a 77fps drop, but 16-38 squads give only a 4fps drop??

While doing this test I'm looking at the sky, so you can drop about 5 fps off the above numbers for real world performance.

Edited July 15, 2009 by -=seany=-

[Bulldogs 10]

The AI would cause more strain on the CPU so effectively changing from 4-16 is a lot of algorithms to take into account, after that I'm guessing it starts cloning algorithms (like telling 20 people to write a different story and getting 1 in every 12 stories being the same)

[kylania 568]

I just upgraded to a iCore7, dual 260s and my frame rate has plummeted in online play. The MENUs render at 70-80 FPS, but once in game (Domination with 20-40 people playing) I get 25 FPS or so, dropping to 11-16 FPS (and unplayability) after a while. A unitmate of mine with nearly the same specs gets 46+ with the same settings I have.

My old Core2Duo and 8800GT never did this, it was silky smooth FPS the whole time.

Changing in game video settings doesn't seem to affect it at all.

[-=seany=- 5]

The AI would cause more strain on the CPU so effectively changing from 4-16 is a lot of algorithms to take into account, after that I'm guessing it starts cloning algorithms (like telling 20 people to write a different story and getting 1 in every 12 stories being the same)

Well, I'm no programmer but one wonders why they would not start to "clone" it after 4 squads?

[AussieDave 10]

I get framerates of 20 online in empty servers.

[-=seany=- 5]

Empty, as in no humans? but there are still plenty of AI, no?

[AussieDave 10]

Often it's seemed empty. Hard to tell. When you can't even walk without immense lag you give up playing quite quickly.

So are you meaning to say that when there are 20 or so active people in singleplayer, my FPS will be just as fucked? Great. This game is definitely getting returned.

[-Snafu- 78]

It depends what you mean by shocking online performance. If you mean a constant low fps, as in the game is constantly slow (like watching a slide show) then don't know what's causing that (unless you're running Windows 7 in which case, there's your cause).

What do you mean? I am running Windows 7 64 and everything is fine.

[sandzibar 0]

there is definitely a higher resource usage in MP than SP.

my framerate and soundcard starts crapping out in MP play, yet both are fine in the most stressful of SP missions. its not internet latency.. cos lag wise its fine. theres is something else at work here..

[Bulldogs 10]

It's not a key Windows 7 issue, many people are running perfect on Window 7, but at the same time many people have issues with Windows 7 (myself included, well only a slight issue) but not any other operating system. The reason for that being obviously that Windows 7 is a beta.

---------- Post added at 01:21 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:20 AM ----------

Forgot to add, the reason why they don't clone after 4 squads is for randomization. Could you imagine having 30 squads if 1 in every 4 squads was doing the exact same thing, not as noticeable at 1 in every 16.

[bushlurker 46]

If you're not happy with Fraps FPS reporting for whatever reason you could try This.

It takes its values directly from a new internal script command and therefore - I guess - is gonna be about as accurate as you can get...

Plus it gets the entire Fraps process out of the loop...

MP compatible too, I believe...

B

P.S. Windows 7 has been fine for me too - god knows why, but while trying just about every 32 and 64 bit version of every windows I could find, the best was win7 x64 and the worst was actually win xp 32bit sp2!..... hehe - it seems to be different for everybody at the moment... bit of a hardware lottery..

It'll all get fixed...

Edited July 15, 2009 by Bushlurker

[kylania 568]

The thing is, I don't need to know exactly how many FPS I'm getting, I just need my $1400 worth of computer to run $1400 better than my 2 year old computer.

[Mattoso 0]

Mattoso, just curious what you're running the game at?

What settings, and what resolution.

From testing on many machines on many settings I ran tell you that if you're running on an 8800 GT with a Q6600 on over 1280x1024 on high settings then you'll be lucky to break 30 fps, that's not the game design, that's just your machine struggling (the 8800gt is old and has trouble keeping up with Arma 2)

That said, unfortunately the q6600 is a bit slow too (unless it's very vastly overclocked)

It's a great CPU but it's the lowest end of quad cores so it's getting to become the old uncle that used to be cool (hurts I know, I was hoping that day would never come that the old boys - 8800/q6600 - would never die, but Arma 2 made it's stand)

---------- Post added at 12:40 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:39 AM ----------

Aussie : That shuddering is the net code. There's actually some tweaking the servers can do to stop it, but unfortunately most servers don't incorporate it so you keep getting it.

Hey Buddy,

I ran at 1280x1024@85hz in Vista 64 SP1 (up to date).

Shadows is off

Post Processing is off

Terrain is High

Objects is High

Memory is Very High

AA @ AF are off

what more.... uhmmm

I'm playing the demo, not decided yet if I will buy the game. Probably will wait until they fix these issues.

Regarding the hardware vs Heavy games, I'm definitivaly in favor. New technologies are always wealcome, I love that, but I would like to be sure that the game can run above consitente 40 FPS at least. But every day I read a new thread from the guys that have super computers and just can run the game like my old Quad Core Q6600 and my almost retired 8800GT.

If there is a hardware in the world capable of executing this game with that average performance, then I will consider an upgrade.

[Jackdaniels 10]

If it's the Ai causing the fps to drop then why bother making a game that is primarily based on coops? They should of focused more on a PvP game. I made lots of good PvP for Ofp, but since Bis totally ignored the PvP community for this game, I'll be dammed if I make a single map for this game. All people are stuck with now is Evolution, that has that much bloody Ai you cannot even play the game lol. What is the point in having a large map that you cannot place lots of Ai on without suffering a massive drop in FPS? This game would of been a huge hit if they had worked on the PvP more.

Edited July 16, 2009 by Jackdaniels

[Bulldogs 10]

Hey Buddy,

I ran at 1280x1024@85hz in Vista 64 SP1 (up to date).

Shadows is off

Post Processing is off

Terrain is High

Objects is High

Memory is Very High

AA @ AF are off

what more.... uhmmm

I'm playing the demo, not decided yet if I will buy the game. Probably will wait until they fix these issues.

Regarding the hardware vs Heavy games, I'm definitivaly in favor. New technologies are always wealcome, I love that, but I would like to be sure that the game can run above consitente 40 FPS at least. But every day I read a new thread from the guys that have super computers and just can run the game like my old Quad Core Q6600 and my almost retired 8800GT.

If there is a hardware in the world capable of executing this game with that average performance, then I will consider an upgrade.

Try running at 75Hz, and make sure 3d resolution is also set to 1280x1024, and set AF to very high, set video memory to normal, and set terrain and object detail to normal.

Try it like that and if it runs ok turn shadows on and polay with some other settings.

If that doesn't work wait til Patch 1.3 is released before you consider buying to see if these issues have been fixed.

Other than that, you may want to think about overclocking your CPU. It's old but you can still get some nice life out of it with a good OC.