NS2+ Enabled = worse fps?

Gooch123 · October 2015

After build 276 dropped a lot of servers had to disable ns2+ because of red plugs and crashes. I noticed a huge boost in fps and thought it was due to the update. 2 days later when the mods were reintegrated my fps returned to its usual poor state. Today I hopped on a server running vanilla ns2 and lo and behold my fps skyrocketed yet again. My question is why does ns2+ cause slow down and is there anything I can do to counter it. Thanks.

GhoulofGSG9 · October 2015

From the modders news post about 267:

GhoulofGSG9 wrote: »

Okay build 276 will be published in about 8 hours.

I wanted to take the time to remind all of you to try to optimize your code towards runtime and to specially avoid using not "jit-able" functions unless you are forced to use them.

A overview of what functions are "jitted" and which aren't is available here (we are currently still using LuaJit 2.0.4 as 2.1 is still beta)

While doing the final build 276 tests with popular NS2 mods we realized that by now some parts of NS2 are rather highly optimized but the mod function hooking into them are not. Which causes at certain clients a difference from up to 50 fps between using the mod or running vanilla (NS2 without mods).

The CDT is well aware that this is not only the mod's fault but moreover caused by the NS2 class design and the lack of a proper modding API. However we hope to find a workaround which works out for all sides.

So if you have any questions about code optimization or there is that one locally declared parameter or function you can't access without using the lua debug library let us know here in the forum.

So mods can slow down NS2 quiet heavily if they are not optimized on runtime.

Some mod developers are currently working together with the CDT or as part of the CDT to optimize their mods so they do not influence the clients performance in such a critical way like in your case.

In case you notice mods beside NS2+ causing issues like this please inform the given mod developer and share my above quoted post with him/her

Gooch123 · October 2015

GhoulofGSG9 wrote: »

From the modders news post about 267:

GhoulofGSG9 wrote: »

Okay build 276 will be published in about 8 hours.

I wanted to take the time to remind all of you to try to optimize your code towards runtime and to specially avoid using not "jit-able" functions unless you are forced to use them.

A overview of what functions are "jitted" and which aren't is available here (we are currently still using LuaJit 2.0.4 as 2.1 is still beta)

While doing the final build 276 tests with popular NS2 mods we realized that by now some parts of NS2 are rather highly optimized but the mod function hooking into them are not. Which causes at certain clients a difference from up to 50 fps between using the mod or running vanilla (NS2 without mods).

The CDT is well aware that this is not only the mod's fault but moreover caused by the NS2 class design and the lack of a proper modding API. However we hope to find a workaround which works out for all sides.

So if you have any questions about code optimization or there is that one locally declared parameter or function you can't access without using the lua debug library let us know here in the forum.

So mods can slow down NS2 quiet heavily if they are not optimized on runtime.

Some mod developers are currently working together with the CDT or as part of the CDT to optimize their mods so they do not influence the clients performance in such a critical way like in your case.

In case you notice mods beside NS2+ causing issues like this please inform the given mod developer and share my above quoted post with him/her

ok thanks. Is there anyway I can disable NS2+ or is it a requirement if the server runs it? As far as i'm aware it's the only mod that messes with my fps. If not, is the creator of NS2+ doing anything to optimise it? Thanks in advance.

Frozen · October 2015

Did you try defaulting your ns2+ settings, maybe it is just one setting you changed messing you up

Gooch123 · October 2015

mattji104 wrote: »

Did you try defaulting your ns2+ settings, maybe it is just one setting you changed messing you up

yeah I have, it's the actual presence of the mod itself. I read somewhere the more lua your pc has to process, the worse the performance. I think that's what is going on here. I have a potato pc so any extra fps I can squeeze out is precious for me

Frozen · October 2015

Fair enough, my technical know-how in most cases amounts to reminding people to restart their device first before complaining it's not working

Nordic · October 2015

Have you gone through the settings in ns2+? I am not sure what is really causing you fps loss, but ns2+ does have a few features to improve fps.

2cough · October 2015

Could be any number of other mods which have not updated since the patch. Remember they mentioned a line needed to be removed? Personally I doubt it's ns2+. Ns2+ improves my fps what with low light settings etc.

IronHorse · October 2015

I would be interested in seeing a performance log of your issues.

Please type p_logall in the console after connecting to a server with NS2+ where you are experiencing poor FPS.
Let it run for 5-10 minutes.
When the round ends, or you quit, or the map changes, the log will end. (alternatively you can type p_endlog)

The log will be in your hidden folder %appdata%/roaming/natural selection 2/ and will have a file extension that is *.plog
Please zip it/ compress it, and then upload somewhere online and provide the link here for us to review.

Gooch123 · October 2015

2cough wrote: »

Could be any number of other mods which have not updated since the patch. Remember they mentioned a line needed to be removed? Personally I doubt it's ns2+. Ns2+ improves my fps what with low light settings etc.

This is an ongoing issue and predated the update. No, the only other mod I use is a crosshairs mod and the only other mods the server I play on use is shine administration.

Gooch123 · October 2015

IronHorse wrote: »

I would be interested in seeing a performance log of your issues.

Please type p_logall in the console after connecting to a server with NS2+ where you are experiencing poor FPS.
Let it run for 5-10 minutes.
When the round ends, or you quit, or the map changes, the log will end. (alternatively you can type p_endlog)

The log will be in your hidden folder %appdata%/roaming/natural selection 2/ and will have a file extension that is *.plog
Please zip it/ compress it, and then upload somewhere online and provide the link here for us to review.

OK, would you like me to do it on a vanilla server too?

Gooch123 · October 2015

2cough wrote: »

Could be any number of other mods which have not updated since the patch. Remember they mentioned a line needed to be removed? Personally I doubt it's ns2+. Ns2+ improves my fps what with low light settings etc.

I use all the performance enhancing tweaks on NS2+ but the fps is boost is minimal compared to playing vanilla NS2. On modded NS2 I play 720p resolution and everything off. Start with 60+ fps, dips to around 40 in combat and 25 late game. With vanilla ns2 I can turn on high textures, lighting, AA and still get 80 fps at the start with dips to around 60 and 40 fps endgame.

GhoulofGSG9 · October 2015

Gooch123 wrote: »

IronHorse wrote: »

I would be interested in seeing a performance log of your issues.

Please type p_logall in the console after connecting to a server with NS2+ where you are experiencing poor FPS.
Let it run for 5-10 minutes.
When the round ends, or you quit, or the map changes, the log will end. (alternatively you can type p_endlog)

The log will be in your hidden folder %appdata%/roaming/natural selection 2/ and will have a file extension that is *.plog
Please zip it/ compress it, and then upload somewhere online and provide the link here for us to review.

OK, would you like me to do it on a vanilla server too?

A plog from a vanilla server would be helpful but isn't necessarily

IronHorse · October 2015

@Mendasp (maker of NS2+) is on the case and has already found a few performance hogs - some of which were in vanilla this patch!

Mendasp · October 2015

Mind sharing your PC specs? I tested both on my current PC (i5 2500k/GTX770) and my older one (Core 2 Duo E8500/AMD HD4870) and the game ran the same on vanilla/ns2+.

I'd also like to see what NS2+ options you're using, when you're in a server with NS2+ type "plus_export" in console and it'll create a ExportSettings.txt file inside %appdata%\Natural Selection 2\NS2Plus

And the current graphical settings for NS2 would be helpful too.

IronHorse · October 2015

This is a long shot but just out of curiosity can you ensure your atmospheric slider is at 0?

Gooch123 · October 2015

Mendasp wrote: »

Mind sharing your PC specs? I tested both on my current PC (i5 2500k/GTX770) and my older one (Core 2 Duo E8500/AMD HD4870) and the game ran the same on vanilla/ns2+.

I'd also like to see what NS2+ options you're using, when you're in a server with NS2+ type "plus_export" in console and it'll create a ExportSettings.txt file inside %appdata%\Natural Selection 2\NS2Plus

And the current graphical settings for NS2 would be helpful too.

These are my NS2+ settings: http://www.filedropper.com/exportedsettings
My ingame settings are 720p resolution with everything except particle quality off (for some reason high particle quality give me 5 more fps).
Specs are as follow:
Intel Core 2 Duo E8600 @ 3.33 ghz
8gb ram
AMD Radeon 7570

Gooch123 · October 2015

IronHorse wrote: »

I would be interested in seeing a performance log of your issues.

Please type p_logall in the console after connecting to a server with NS2+ where you are experiencing poor FPS.
Let it run for 5-10 minutes.
When the round ends, or you quit, or the map changes, the log will end. (alternatively you can type p_endlog)

The log will be in your hidden folder %appdata%/roaming/natural selection 2/ and will have a file extension that is *.plog
Please zip it/ compress it, and then upload somewhere online and provide the link here for us to review.

here is my log: http://www.filedropper.com/log_3
The game only ran for around 5 minutes before it crashed, only happens when I'm taking plogs apparently.

IronHorse · October 2015

That was your log.txt not your *.plog file

No way to assess performance with the log.txt file

Please review the last 2 sentences of my post on where to find your plog

It does look like you are using multiple mods on your client though - for the sake of diagnosing can you disable them in the meantime please?
Mod menu -> deactivate -> click restart button

Gooch123 · October 2015

IronHorse wrote: »

That was your log.txt not your *.plog file
No way to assess performance with the log.txt file

Please review the last 2 sentences of my post on where to find your plog

It does look like you are using multiple mods on your client though - for the sake of diagnosing can you disable them in the meantime please?
Mod menu -> deactivate -> click restart button

Yeah reading the latest log it looks like I have a load of mods enabled but the only ones I have are fastjoin and some crosshairs from workshop. Maybe the others are maps that are needed server side? I'll delete everything in my workshop folder

IronHorse · October 2015

Deleting alone won't do it, as steamcloud will just redownload them on game launch and they'll still be active.
Deactivate them as well as instructed.

Gooch123 · October 2015

IronHorse wrote: »

Deleting alone won't do it, as steamcloud will just redownload them on game launch and they'll still be active.
Deactivate them as well as instructed.

Problem is fixed now, actually met @Mendasp ingame, turned out it was the lighting bug that was fixed this patch. Thanks for all the help! You can lock the thread.

IronHorse · November 2015

Hence why I was asking about the atmospheric slider

Glad it's resolved now

NS2+ Enabled = worse fps?

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