We gona get more options then 1 or 2+?
I mean, if you have a inbetween value then 2+ would make you hitch, and 1 would not make you fully utilise all vram, right?
Options avaible atm are "off", "0.5 GB", "1GB", "1.5 GB" and "2 GB+". (off here means use the old function)
If you wonder why there is not option above 2GB thats basically because there is no map which uses more than 1.7 GB total (loading all textures into the cache).
Beside that there will be a console command to set the exact vram amount the new texture handle should expect to be avaible.
Adding more options is not a big deal, but i think the current ones are enought
BTW i can also confirm that this improves hitching and the way ns2 handles the texture memory alot.
Could we just get an option that loads the entire game into ram? I've got 32 GBs so I'm not too worried...
It's not actually the Kodiak skins - but how NS2 handles textures, VRAM and RAM. In laymen terms, NS2 266 currently cant tell 1) How much VRAM you have 2) The difference between VRAM and RAM (due to how Windows Vista/7/8 works) - but your VRAM is always used first for textures. It's also loading the High-Res textures often off your HDD rather than your RAM at times (and thus, more hitching as your HDD accesses them)
I wonder if this explains the problems I've been having recently. I put NS2 on my HDD and I get major hitching that eventually leads to a bsod. I put it on my SSD and don't notice any hitching, but instead I get occasional crashes with an error report popup (which incidentally locks up if I click submit, forcing me to end the process via task manager)
It's not actually the Kodiak skins - but how NS2 handles textures, VRAM and RAM. In laymen terms, NS2 266 currently cant tell 1) How much VRAM you have 2) The difference between VRAM and RAM (due to how Windows Vista/7/8 works) - but your VRAM is always used first for textures. It's also loading the High-Res textures often off your HDD rather than your RAM at times (and thus, more hitching as your HDD accesses them)
I wonder if this explains the problems I've been having recently. I put NS2 on my HDD and I get major hitching that eventually leads to a bsod. I put it on my SSD and don't notice any hitching, but instead I get occasional crashes with an error report popup (which incidentally locks up if I click submit, forcing me to end the process via task manager)
Yes, ns2 on a hdd clearly has hitches. many of them will be adressed for 267, but its a ongoing process, so some will be fixed later.
IronHorseDeveloper, QA Manager, Technical Support & contributorJoin Date: 2010-05-08Member: 71669Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, Forum Moderators, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Subnautica Playtester, Subnautica PT Lead, Pistachionauts
edited July 2014
Not to hype things.. (because I am the poster child for hitching, being GPU bound, so mileage may vary) But..
Our internal build now performs better on my HD than the live build does on my SSD, according to my benchmarks.. (I've been asked not to post pics just yet :P )
Which is a first
We gona get more options then 1 or 2+?
I mean, if you have a inbetween value then 2+ would make you hitch, and 1 would not make you fully utilise all vram, right?
Options avaible atm are "off", "0.5 GB", "1GB", "1.5 GB" and "2 GB+". (off here means use the old function)
If you wonder why there is not option above 2GB thats basically because there is no map which uses more than 1.7 GB total (loading all textures into the cache).
Beside that there will be a console command to set the exact vram amount the new texture handle should expect to be avaible.
Adding more options is not a big deal, but i think the current ones are enought
BTW i can also confirm that this improves hitching and the way ns2 handles the texture memory alot.
Could we just get an option that loads the entire game into ram? I've got 32 GBs so I'm not too worried...
For clarity, the options Ghoul was referring to is strictly for video card memory, not system memory. If the engine has to use system memory to load textures it will introduce significant delays in each frame being processed. Not too mention, several hundred MBs (ideally a minimum of 25%) of available video card memory needs to be available to handle shaders, cinematics, and other effects.
So, even if you have 2GB video card, you can't max out the setting because the engine needs memory for all the other effects in the game. Generally speaking, it's safest to round-down when chosing the option on this setting.
I get occasional crashes with an error report popup (which incidentally locks up if I click submit, forcing me to end the process via task manager)
Speaking of these error popups... is it useful to submit them at the moment? Is somebody checking them, or do they pile up in some unread mail box?
Last time I checked the submit error doesn't do anything (or isn't being used). You're better off getting a dumpfile of the crash and making a thread in the tech forum.
Comments
Could we just get an option that loads the entire game into ram? I've got 32 GBs so I'm not too worried...
I wonder if this explains the problems I've been having recently. I put NS2 on my HDD and I get major hitching that eventually leads to a bsod. I put it on my SSD and don't notice any hitching, but instead I get occasional crashes with an error report popup (which incidentally locks up if I click submit, forcing me to end the process via task manager)
Yes, ns2 on a hdd clearly has hitches. many of them will be adressed for 267, but its a ongoing process, so some will be fixed later.
32GBs of Video RAM? Holy hell I thought my 4 GB was overkill.
Our internal build now performs better on my HD than the live build does on my SSD, according to my benchmarks.. (I've been asked not to post pics just yet :P )
Which is a first
For clarity, the options Ghoul was referring to is strictly for video card memory, not system memory. If the engine has to use system memory to load textures it will introduce significant delays in each frame being processed. Not too mention, several hundred MBs (ideally a minimum of 25%) of available video card memory needs to be available to handle shaders, cinematics, and other effects.
So, even if you have 2GB video card, you can't max out the setting because the engine needs memory for all the other effects in the game. Generally speaking, it's safest to round-down when chosing the option on this setting.
Last time I checked the submit error doesn't do anything (or isn't being used). You're better off getting a dumpfile of the crash and making a thread in the tech forum.