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Performance problem
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RPGDot Forums > Gothic - Troubleshooting

Author Thread
thagen
Village Dweller
Village Dweller




Joined: 04 Jan 2003
Posts: 3
Performance problem
   

Ok, i've been reading around the forum now, and it seems this game has some kind of weird fps limiter or something. The game also seems to have a problem with Win XP on certain setups.

I have a p4 2.4ghz, 512mb ddr pc2700 ram and a gf ti4600, running win xp. I run it at 1280x1024, max graphics, and as long as i wait a little and don't touch any of the keys on my keyboard the fps goes up to 85 (v-sync on), but as soon as i touch a key on my keyboard it immediately drops to 22 fps!! This happens on any res and graphic setting by the way. Also, it still happens even if the key i press doesn't do anything in the game. This is just really weird.

Of course, i don't have this problem in any other games, and i get the performance i should in 3dmark2k1, UT2k3 etc.

Any ideas? Any detailed information about the ftp limiter or whatever i should call it? Problems with Win XP? Surely the game shouldn't drop 60+ frames just because of a single key press. I must solve this!


Edit: I forgot to mention that if i wait a little after i press a key on the keyboard the fps eventually goes back up to 85. Also, note that _nothing_ was happening on the screen when i tested this. It even happens in the bloody menus!! The game version is 1.08j, and i use the latest drivers for everything.
Post Sat Jan 04, 2003 1:19 am
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Gorath
Mostly Harmless
Mostly Harmless




Joined: 03 Sep 2001
Posts: 6327
Location: NRW, Germany
   

Your observations are correct. Gothic 1 is frame rate limited and has problems on some XP configurations.

The frame rate starts at ~20 fps and accelerates. If the pc is too slow to maintain the current frame rate, for example because textures are loaded or the AI is activated, the speed is reset to ~20.
A less naive explanation can be found in this forum.

Somewhere in the cheat guide, FAQ section I think, is a console command to increase the viewing distance to 400 and squeeze some more eyecandy out of the game. If you still have performance to spend you could activate FSAA.
A good place to test it is the area between the Old Camp castle entrance and the main gate. Activate the internal frame counter and walk.

The XP problems are often sound related. It seems the Miles Sound System doesnīt like SBLive! cards.

Both problems are fixed in Gothic II.
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Post Sat Jan 04, 2003 4:38 am
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thagen
Village Dweller
Village Dweller




Joined: 04 Jan 2003
Posts: 3
   

So you're saying that if the fps drops by only 1, it will go right back to 20 fps? I guess that explains it, and i don't have to worry about my comp being the problem, but i still think it's strange how i go down to 20 fps just because of a single key press. I guess it triggers something and drops the fps by a little, thus going back to 20 fps. It's just so sad to watch 85+ fps go down to 20 like that, hehe.

Guess i'll just start playing and see how it goes. I haven't played at all after seeing how the fps was acting all weird.

By the way, should my comp be able to maintain 85+ fps? (or any fps, just not as low as 20). Let's say on the lowest graphic settings and res, cause i tried it there, and i had the same exact problem. Can any comps do it?

So, to sum it up, this is just normal, and i should just stop worrying about the framerate and play the game?
Post Sat Jan 04, 2003 12:55 pm
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Gorath
Mostly Harmless
Mostly Harmless




Joined: 03 Sep 2001
Posts: 6327
Location: NRW, Germany
   

Constant 23 fps are fine. This is fast enough for all animations to look smooth. In a RPG you donīt need to react as fast as in a FPS. Ramp up the eye candy beyond the official options and be happy.

Hereīs a quote by one of the Gothic II (not one!) developers:
quote:
Finally 'll try to explain how the frame control in Gothic works.

Assume your high-tech-machine is able to _generally_ render 100 Frames per second.
But rendering is not the only task an RPG game have to compute, for instance the complex AI.
Another point is the big world...

Assume your are in the old camp, many NPCs,
many Objects,...
Every 1-2 seconds (just as sample) some loading and caching of objects, textures, AI, etc. has to be done.
For one or two frames you have an temporary FPS rate of 10 or lower.

Now, if you are "walking" and the frame rate changes to fast (100->10->100), you *would* see it in your animation. (very ugly)

Gothic has an frame control which slows-down too fast increasing of FPS rates.
The controller starts at 20fps and allow smooth frame rate increasing -- but if ONE frame take to long (lower than 20fps) the process starts again.


Tweaking:
http://www.rpgdot.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=10534
http://www.rpgdot.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=10600
http://www.rpgdot.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=61129
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Post Sat Jan 04, 2003 1:45 pm
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thagen
Village Dweller
Village Dweller




Joined: 04 Jan 2003
Posts: 3
   

Yeah, I'll live with 20+ fps, but i just had to clear this up.

Thanks for you help.
Post Sat Jan 04, 2003 3:18 pm
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