Texture loading 'lag'/ texture flickering

[Sevenblarg02 10]

Hi,

I'm experiencing slow loading textures and - probably unrelated - flickering textures.

(Please find my system in my signature as reported by cpu-z)

I'm usually getting up to 23 fps. Arma2 is not installed on the same harddisk as Windows or the Swapfile. I'm starting the game with the following switches: -winxp -maxmem=2047 -cpucount=4.

texture loading lag: it looks like very briefly there is no texture for an object (bright white), then there's a blurry texture which get more detailed after a second or so.

texture flickering: for example if I use the binoculars to look at a house, there is constant flickering, as if the texture goes below the surface and back all the time.

It seems I can't attach a screenshot, so I'l type my gamesettings.

Settings are in Geman, I'll try to translate because I didn't find an option to change in game language:

Viewdistance: 1600,

3d resolution: 1680x1050,

Graphics RAM: High,

Shadow details: high,

postprocessing effects: disabled,

texturedetails: normal,

everything else set to normal.

Vsync is forced off, pictures rendered ahead is set to 8 (as mentioned in one of the optimization threads).

The game version is 1.02.

I think I read most of the optimization threads, and tried many of the tricks described there.

Any hints to get rid of the texture loading lag and/or the flickering textures appreciated.

[thr0tt 12]

Turn everything to low should remove most the texture lag. This problem only occurs on faulty hardware which many of us here in the troubleshooting forums have but the fault only occurs with the game which is really unlucky.

[Tincup 10]

Turn everything to low should remove most the texture lag. This problem only occurs on faulty hardware which many of us here in the troubleshooting forums have but the fault only occurs with the game which is really unlucky.

This could be faulty hardware, but its not. If you have bad hardware, this problem would present itself in other games, or heavy gpu activity. This game is poorly coded and/or optimized, this is why most people are having texture lag and artifacts.

[private plowjoy 0]

Hi,

I'm experiencing slow loading textures and - probably unrelated - flickering textures.

(Please find my system in my signature as reported by cpu-z)

I'm usually getting up to 23 fps. Arma2 is not installed on the same harddisk as Windows or the Swapfile. I'm starting the game with the following switches: -winxp -maxmem=2047 -cpucount=4.

texture loading lag: it looks like very briefly there is no texture for an object (bright white), then there's a blurry texture which get more detailed after a second or so.

texture flickering: for example if I use the binoculars to look at a house, there is constant flickering, as if the texture goes below the surface and back all the time.

It seems I can't attach a screenshot, so I'l type my gamesettings.

Settings are in Geman, I'll try to translate because I didn't find an option to change in game language:

Viewdistance: 1600,

3d resolution: 1680x1050,

Graphics RAM: High,

Shadow details: high,

postprocessing effects: disabled,

texturedetails: normal,

everything else set to normal.

Vsync is forced off, pictures rendered ahead is set to 8 (as mentioned in one of the optimization threads).

The game version is 1.02.

I think I read most of the optimization threads, and tried many of the tricks described there.

Any hints to get rid of the texture loading lag and/or the flickering textures appreciated.

My advice, be sensible with the in-game settings.

Move everything to Low or Normal. Test the game. Does it run well? Yes? Up one of the settings to Normal or High. Test the game. Does it run well? No? Turn the setting down and turn another up. Test the game. Etc, etc, etc.

[Basil Brush 10]

This issue has been raised many times before, the is no fix for the problem and no one from BIS will comment so you know what that means...

[Dogtags 0]

Turn everything to low should remove most the texture lag. This problem only occurs on faulty hardware which many of us here in the troubleshooting forums have but the fault only occurs with the game which is really unlucky.

:D Sorry had to laugh, that was funny.

[bangtail 0]

This issue has been raised many times before, the is no fix for the problem and no one from BIS will comment so you know what that means...

It works fine for me and many others so I'm not sure what "that means"

@ OP : Set your texture detail to "Normal".

[wooly-back-jack 10]

come on eth be honest mate, you and the many others who have SLi 200 series cards and 6+ gig of ram lol :)

[bangtail 0]

come on eth be honest mate, you and the many others who have SLi 200 series cards and 6+ gig of ram lol :)

You guys can't have it both ways. When it suits you, the argument will be that A2 doesn't work on even the most high spec machines and now it's only BECAUSE I have a high spec machine that I can play A2.

I have more than one machine here and even on the lower spec boxes, switching texture detail to "Normal" alleviates the texture loading problems. You might still get the odd "white head" etc, but it's not something I would consider game-breaking.

I'd like to be able to set it higher than that, but it's a viable workaround until 1.03 arrives. I find the fact that the patch is taking a while very encouraging. I think it will go a long way to solving some of the more prevelant issues. Obviously, it won't remedy everything but we already knew that.

Eth

Edited July 26, 2009 by BangTail

[fitzee 7]

come on eth be honest mate, you and the many others who have SLi 200 series cards and 6+ gig of ram lol :)

I'm yet to see any texture popping on my machine with 9800GX2, 4 gigs ram, 3 gig core2quad and vista64. I've only had the full game since yesterday tho, so I may be premature. I'm yet to touch the campaign, but haven't had any problems or framerate troubles in the single player missions or editor exploration.

I did have some texture popping in the demo, but I think it was because I had vid mem set lower and object detail on low. Kinda funny but with the full game I run vid mem on default instead of med, object detail on normal instead of low, terrain on normal instead of low, and PP on low instead of off and I get same fps or better.

@OP - Maybe try setting mem to default, I'm pretty sure it uses most vid ram that way.

[wooly-back-jack 10]

yes, setting to default does help some. (why is that normal setting even there? and why does it default to it?)

oh and Fitzee, try multiplayer..that's the place where funny things happen :)

[bangtail 0]

yes, setting to default does help some. (why is that normal setting even there? and why does it default to it?)

oh and Fitzee, try multiplayer..that's the place where funny things happen :)

The "default" setting definitely helped in A1. Some people say it helps in A2, others say it causes trouble. I find "Very high" for texture memory is the best setting for me while setting the texture detail at anything above "normal" can cause the textures to load slowly.

Eth

[wooly-back-jack 10]

Im all lows and very lows me mate lol

[bangtail 0]

Im all lows and very lows me mate lol

Hopefully the patch will go some ways to helping you set things a bit higher :)

Eth

[=wfl= sgt bilko 10]

I usually do a slow 360' sweep when I spawn and now an then to load in textures. It reduces texture load lag (and ups my fps slightly) when I finally move out.

This is an old trick from playing large BF2 PRMod maps on mid-spec hardware and same reason why one should not use first run of benchmarks for reference.

Note, it'll only ease up on the texture load lag. It will not reduce flickering or any of the other problems described in this forum section.

Edited July 26, 2009 by =WFL= Sgt Bilko
Spelling fool

[Snowwhite 10]

Texture Flickering is fixed in Nvidia control panel (or nHancer) by Forcing Mipmaps to Trilinear.

Loading lag is mainly due to HD access I think and I also experience it (like 90% of users here probably)

Hope that helps m8

[Greg 0]

Sevenblarg02, your game and computer are behaving completely normal. I experience everything exactly as you describe.

[randir14 10]

I used to have this problem really bad but I found out it was because I had video memory and textures both on very high, using only 512mb video card. Setting both of them to normal has reduced the problem and made performance better. And honestly it's hard to see any visual difference unless you're up close and looking for it.

[Blueshift 10]

Try -openal ? And/or last Nvidia drivers ? (there are said to improve perf)

Edited July 27, 2009 by Blueshift

[skypine27 0]

I am having the same problems, but only after I switched to Windows 7

ARMA II ran perfectly on my system with Windows Vista 64 and a GTX295. I upgraded to Windows 7, and boom, the game is slow as hell (texture lag) and tons of things flicker white and/or static (like on a TV). For example, on the menu screen, when do the pass over the carrier, all the windows on the V-22 flicker static, and the harriers have no texture. I am running the latest nvidia drivers.

Snowwhite:

I cant find a "mip map" setting at all in the nvidia control panel. Has anyone else fixed this problem? What is -openal?

Thanks guys

[-TwK-Danny 0]

"Default" video memory setting actually reduce ingame performance. If you load up the editor and place yourself randomly at some places, check fps with fraps, and then change back to "veryhigh" (without moving) youll notice a few fps boosts (4-5fps boosts).

[Snowwhite 10]

Snowwhite:

I cant find a "mip map" setting at all in the nvidia control panel. Has anyone else fixed this problem? What is -openal?

I'm not on my Windows install right now but it could be that it's a nHancer feature only.

I don't use the Nvidia CPL anymore anyway, better to use nHance m8 (more tweaks and better profile manager for games)

Good luck n post back with update ;)

[Blueshift 10]

What is -openal?

Using -openal in your shortcut like you used -winxp or -maxmem=2047.

This fix cut me half of graphic corruption I encountered.

Last NVidia's drivers (well, at least 190.38) are said to boost performance quite good but I still didn't tried.

[Basil Brush 10]

Ok can all the fanboys stop denying this without proof, I have proven this problem exists on my setup now please prove it doesn't on yours or shut up.

[bigduksixx 15]

Ok can all the fanboys stop denying this without proof, I have proven this problem exists on my setup now please prove it doesn't on yours or shut up.

Well I have a low spec machine and I don't have any problems. Maybe you need to optimize you rig a bit?