General Performance Optimizations
vizioNz
InversionNS2.com Join Date: 2003-12-21 Member: 24595Members, Constellation, NS2 Playtester
InversionNS2.com Join Date: 2003-12-21 Member: 24595Members, Constellation, NS2 Playtester
<div class="IPBDescription">Question for the Developers</div>I know you are all hard at work and we all greatly appreciate what you are doing. We also understand that you are understaffed in the optimization of the LUA code. I've seen great improvements for the initial release of Alpha on day 1 and I continue to see the game improve with the help of UWE and the support community and their hard work (Thanks Schimmel!). I was wondering if their was any estimated time of "attack" on optimizing some of the "set in stone" features throughout the game to improve general performance? At this point in development it is very clear that the only way to play the game and not experience the low client side tick rate experience to to have a newly built/high end computing machine. There are hundreds if not, thousands of possible beta testers that have purchased the game and just simply cannot play it due to performance requirements. Once again, I want to reiterate that I understand it's not a simple process and it takes time. I just simply want to reach out and hopefully open a dialog with UWE on when we can expect to see some general performance gains that are noticeable.
I am no game developer, but I do come from a development background (web). I understand the difficulty there is in creating code, testing code, optimizing code, etc, etc.; which is why I am not creating this topic out of anger or rage. I'm creating this topic as a way to hopefully create a large pouring of current players (not followers) that will stress the need for this to be overlooked and focused on more in future updates. I know Max is only 1 man and there is only so much he can do in a day., I just hope that the "game director" can point him in the direction of focusing on optimizing code and improving performance in each build released. I've tried to track bugs with my NS2BugReporter YouTube channel over the builds, but up until recently, I was unable to alpha/beta test the game due to the general performance issues. I've tried my best to find exploits/bugs/issues/gameplay problems/map performance issues and post them within the community for feedback and discussion. I just don't think many people can respond to these issues as most people can't currently play the game in its present state.
In order to record HD gameplay with FRAPS, you need to be able to take a 10-15+ client tick rate drop in game. Being able to take a FPS drop like this and still play the game effectively is very difficult and very few current beta testers are capable of doing this. I myself, running at semi-steady 70FPS, can see a drop below the acceptable 30fps in some parts of the currently public maps currently out right now. This causes sluggish gameplay and in the end causes a very difficult environment to test and report in.
Unfortunately, streaming NS2 is just not a possibility right now. In early releases, the capabilities were far greater, but recently it has grown much less capable and has almost become impossible, even with all the latest sharing communities and tools out there. Being able to stream matches, scrims and gameplay will open the door to more testers and investors in Natural Selection 2 project. At this point in time, streaming gameplay is "the thing" to do. I would hate for Natural Selection 2 to miss out on this possible opportunity to increase it's all-to-familiar small community. Being a daily players and seeing the same faces over and over again proves the point that there are many investors that aren't able to see what they invested in due to the current performance holding them back.
I was very excited to see the developers in a scrimmage recently with #156, as it gave them the chance to play the game in the manner it's being played on a daily basis right now. I'm sure they were introduced to bugs that they were aware of, but may have been unaware of how game breaking they actual are in daily gameplay. I don't know if it's just on my end, but I am noticing a lot more "Progress" updates on their tracking tool since the scrimmage, more than what we are used to seeing. You guys are on the right track with how you communicate with your supporters/investors, and if you begin to focus more on improving general performance gains in future builds, just imagine how much more activity and traffic that will produce...
I'm done rambling, hopefully I can get some feedback from UWE and their scope for improved gameplay in the near future.
Thanks!
<b>UPDATE:</b>
Sorry, I typed this on my phone and had to go back and make a bunch of edits when Cory replied to it.
I am no game developer, but I do come from a development background (web). I understand the difficulty there is in creating code, testing code, optimizing code, etc, etc.; which is why I am not creating this topic out of anger or rage. I'm creating this topic as a way to hopefully create a large pouring of current players (not followers) that will stress the need for this to be overlooked and focused on more in future updates. I know Max is only 1 man and there is only so much he can do in a day., I just hope that the "game director" can point him in the direction of focusing on optimizing code and improving performance in each build released. I've tried to track bugs with my NS2BugReporter YouTube channel over the builds, but up until recently, I was unable to alpha/beta test the game due to the general performance issues. I've tried my best to find exploits/bugs/issues/gameplay problems/map performance issues and post them within the community for feedback and discussion. I just don't think many people can respond to these issues as most people can't currently play the game in its present state.
In order to record HD gameplay with FRAPS, you need to be able to take a 10-15+ client tick rate drop in game. Being able to take a FPS drop like this and still play the game effectively is very difficult and very few current beta testers are capable of doing this. I myself, running at semi-steady 70FPS, can see a drop below the acceptable 30fps in some parts of the currently public maps currently out right now. This causes sluggish gameplay and in the end causes a very difficult environment to test and report in.
Unfortunately, streaming NS2 is just not a possibility right now. In early releases, the capabilities were far greater, but recently it has grown much less capable and has almost become impossible, even with all the latest sharing communities and tools out there. Being able to stream matches, scrims and gameplay will open the door to more testers and investors in Natural Selection 2 project. At this point in time, streaming gameplay is "the thing" to do. I would hate for Natural Selection 2 to miss out on this possible opportunity to increase it's all-to-familiar small community. Being a daily players and seeing the same faces over and over again proves the point that there are many investors that aren't able to see what they invested in due to the current performance holding them back.
I was very excited to see the developers in a scrimmage recently with #156, as it gave them the chance to play the game in the manner it's being played on a daily basis right now. I'm sure they were introduced to bugs that they were aware of, but may have been unaware of how game breaking they actual are in daily gameplay. I don't know if it's just on my end, but I am noticing a lot more "Progress" updates on their tracking tool since the scrimmage, more than what we are used to seeing. You guys are on the right track with how you communicate with your supporters/investors, and if you begin to focus more on improving general performance gains in future builds, just imagine how much more activity and traffic that will produce...
I'm done rambling, hopefully I can get some feedback from UWE and their scope for improved gameplay in the near future.
Thanks!
<b>UPDATE:</b>
Sorry, I typed this on my phone and had to go back and make a bunch of edits when Cory replied to it.
Comments
Max doesn't need to be directed to focus on optimizing. He knows how important it is, and I'm sure he would be tearing his hair out over it, if he had hair. He is always thinking of ways to improve performance, and, other then a few side tasks here and there, it has been his main focus for months. And, generally, almost every build has had performance optimizations, it is just that the really large optimizations usually involve reworking a whole system, that can take weeks/months to complete. In the meantime, we've made steady improvements to server tick rate, and Max is hard at work on figuring out some ways to speed up LUA. There is no ETA on when the game is going to be optimized, because it will always continue to be optimized even after release. And there is no ETA on when the game will be "playable" because it varies so dramatically from one person's system to the next.
We will keep chipping away at performance, and sometimes there will be small gains, and sometimes there will be big gains. And we are actively looking for an experienced engine programmer to help us out with that.
<!--quoteo(post=1872557:date=Sep 1 2011, 04:55 PM:name=vizionz)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (vizionz @ Sep 1 2011, 04:55 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1872557"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I was very excited to see the developers in a scrim recently with 156 as it game them the chance to play the game like it's being played on a daily basis right now. I'm sure they were introduced to bugs that they were aware of but were unaware of how game breaking they actual are in daily gameplay.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
We are plenty aware of the problems, we know which bugs are game breaking, we don't need to scrim in order to know what the issues are. However, there is only so much that can be worked on at one time, so just because something isn't getting fixed right away, doesn't mean its not on our list to address, as soon as we are able.
--Cory
Amazing stuff player, definitely looking forward to it's release to check it out, see what it's like :D
Thank you player, your work on Natural Selection 2 is greatly appreciated. When you are ready to test, let Tempest (Morbus) or myself know and we will attempt to get a trial run on one of our servers.
I know they devs are looking for more staff members to join the team, btw squeal, have u guys had any luck finding new talent or tough to find what you are looking for?
Can tell more about this and perhaps open a thread in the modding forum? Sounds really interesting