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Any tips for reducing lag?

6,886 CaesarSeizer  5.2 years ago

I'm in the process of creating an M18 Hellcat, which has roughly 650 parts at the moment. Most of the detail is done, and I'm trying to test it for performance. However, I keep hitting extreme lag (1-2 fps) when moving quickly or going up/down hills.

Does anyone have any suggestions for ways that I can reduce the inherent lag of the design (either through XML or changing parts) without altering my settings?

A screenshot for reference:

Screenshot only seems to be displayed intermittently— here's the URL in case it doesn't show up: https://i.imgur.com/3AjcV8T.jpg

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    @HIimTOTALLYaLlama oh my gosh thank you

    +2 3.1 years ago
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    Change the AI air and ground traffic to none, physics low, and the image effects off and if those don't work then set everything to low and it should stop lag

    +2 3.8 years ago
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    15 FCOM

    ??? I don’t know man I got a new iPad just recently and it can handle almost anything that I download my old iPad Air to would perform very horribly and besides I’m not a creator myself so I don’t really know

    5.1 years ago
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    13.4k DemonSniper8

    @CaesarSeizer lol, might want to consider picking up something newer... Or if you're on a limited budget, then an HP Compaq Elite 8300 SFF is what I have, and used they can be pretty cheap. It's a great starter system, and runs SP great.

    5.2 years ago
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    6,886 CaesarSeizer

    @DemonSniper8 It's all integrated, unfortunately— the computer is 8 years old as well, so it's definitely showing its age at this point

    5.2 years ago
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    6,886 CaesarSeizer

    @BogdanX Thanks for the tip! I've set it properly for all of the detail pieces, and it has somewhat improved the lag, although it's definitely still noticeable. As an aside, do you know if disabling aircraft collisions for overlapping parts also decreases lag?

    +2 5.2 years ago
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    13.4k DemonSniper8

    @CaesarSeizer do you have a GPU or is it just apple's integrated graphics?

    5.2 years ago
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    6,886 CaesarSeizer

    @DemonSniper8 I'm on a mac unfortunately, so no changing power settings :(
    Thanks though!
    It'll be a little bit before I'm at a point where I can release it, even privately, but if I haven't fixed it by then, I'd be glad to have you give it a go!

    5.2 years ago
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    13.4k DemonSniper8

    Things not to do with actual in-game...
    If on windows (maybe mac, not a mac guy tho) go into your power settings for your pc and set it to high power mode, this will increase your cpu's performance, and can help lag spikes. Lower framerate max (using framerate mod) and lower image quality, shadows, no anti-aliasing, no reflections in game.
    I'd be happy to be a tester for you if nothing works :)

    +1 5.2 years ago
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    Hi there,
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    +3 5.2 years ago
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    14.5k Mod

    To fix the issue with the screenshot not showing up sometimes, remove the S from the 'https' in the link.

    5.2 years ago
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    35.7k ThePilotDude

    @CaesarSeizer yeah, I have had similar results, where I can run much larger creations on high settings, which is part of the update, but for some reason for me my framerates go up and down like crazy, but it doesn't ever actually freeze

    5.2 years ago
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    6,886 CaesarSeizer

    @ThePilotDude Weirdly enough, it works way better in 1.8 than 1.7! All lag seemed to disappear when I played it on a device with the beta installed.

    5.2 years ago
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    35.7k ThePilotDude

    Have you updated to 1.8.1? If so, it appears to be causing more than a few people (me included) similar problems with lag and framerates

    5.2 years ago
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    6,125 Hypn0

    less pistons, rotators,

    5.2 years ago
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    6,886 CaesarSeizer

    Thanks for the suggestions and compliments, everyone! Here's an update on what I've tried so far, and a bit of clarification.


    First thing: I don't believe that raw part count is responsible for the lag— I have a few other vehicles with 200+ more parts than this one, and they run buttery smooth on my device.


    Second thing: Reducing settings doesn't seem to help much either. It gives a big bump to fps when driving forward on level terrain, but as soon as I start going up/down hills or over rough terrain, I get the same lag I had before.


    Third: I'm in the process of setting calculateDrag to false on every single part in the tank, but it's slow going, using just a combination of the overload mod and copy/pasting it into the XML file. I've finished doing the equipment (I've also set disableAircraftCollisions to true on everything I've done as well), and it does seem to have helped it to a degree. Does anyone know a way to add the setting to every part simultaneously in the XML file?


    EDIT: Lastly, with the new version of Unity in 1.8, it seems to work amazingly smooth in the beta. All lag disappears whatsoever! In the event that I can't get the lag fixed, I'll just hold off on publishing it until the release of 1.8.

    Again, thanks for the tips!

    +1 5.2 years ago
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    Wow dude that looks amazing!

    +1 5.2 years ago
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    24.4k NoGoCars

    Disable mods, turn down graphics. That's what I do when running large stuff.

    +1 5.2 years ago
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    28.3k goboygo1

    use scaled hard blocks instead of fuselages, also calculateDrag = false?

    +2 5.2 years ago
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    6,939 Falconhawk

    make stuff with less parts my man.-

    +1 5.2 years ago
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    15.7k Stormfur

    you know you don't need imgur to post images i find it easier to go ![](pic link). just stating if you didn't know that

    +1 5.2 years ago
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    If you want to reduce part count, you can make panels that are for example, 15 units long, a single 10m long fuselage but scaled to 1.5. It's a great way to save parts on big builds.

    +5 5.2 years ago
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    10.5k Xenotriver

    The tank is amazing. And the only way to turn down the lag is to change video settings and resolution. If it is not in the options, it is in the files. Just set it to 800x600 and it Will work smoothly. It just won't look any good.

    +3 5.2 years ago