Hard Light Productions Forums
General FreeSpace => FreeSpace Discussion => Topic started by: Shadow1 on January 27, 2015, 08:40:08 pm
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I have been using Freespace open for about a week now and my computer is having some lag issues. I have attributed this to my computers low graphical abilities. I was wondering how it would be possbile to run a mod/campaign without using FSO.
Thanks.
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Maybe you need to make sure you are using your graphics card? I had problems because my Laptop was using the integrated chip. Everything became excellent once I switched the dedicated on.
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When setting it up i selected the option to detect available cards. Is this correct?
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It should be somewhere in your nVidia Control Panel or Catalyst Control Center -- find the option where you can choose which GPU to use (the crappy but battery saving integrated one or the high powered nVidia or AMD one) -- select the FSO exe and set it to use the dedicated graphics card.
If not, you can also disable certain features to make it (usually) work on an integrated card as well.
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Also would it be possible to get the spec of your computer and a copy of your current command line out of the advanced tab on wxLauncher
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to directly answer your question, no: any modern campaign is going to make use of the many, many features SCP has added to FS so you'd need to stick with some classics like Derelict (original version, not SCP version), Homesick etc.
Though, do post your specs (and fs2_open.log (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=56279.msg1180359#msg1180359)) since these issues are often fixable.
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There's also the general issue that retail FS2 only supports modding in a very haphazard manner. It's easier in the long run if we were to look at your performance problems and try to fix them.
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I have been using Freespace open for about a week now and my computer is having some lag issues. I have attributed this to my computers low graphical abilities. I was wondering how it would be possbile to run a mod/campaign without using FSO.
Thanks.
What are your computer's specifications? If you don't know, then tell us the exact model number and we can look it up. If you don't know the model number, then there's software you can download that tells you some of the things that we need to know, such as what you have for either a video card or an onboard video chip (usually known just as "onboard video"), what you have for a CPU, and how much memory you have.
So, if you know your computer's specs, then all we really need to know are the following things:
- What you have for a video card or an onboard video chip
- What you have for a CPU
- How much memory you have
If what you have is a regular PC (not a laptop), then I suppose that it can also be good to know the size of your monitor and the resolution that you're trying to play at. I would also like to know which launcher you are using (go by the title at the top of its window). In addition, I'd like to what your in-game "Detail" settings are.
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One such software is CPU-Z, another (for more detailed info on the graphics part of it) is GPU-Z, both can be found in my signature.
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One such software is CPU-Z, another (for more detailed info on the graphics part of it) is GPU-Z, both can be found in my signature.
I was going to mention it if necessary (I was keeping it simple), but since it has been mentioned, I do recommend the "Zip" download instead of the "Setup":
ftp://ftp.cpuid.com/cpu-z/cpu-z_1.71.1-en.zip
The "Setup" installs it, but this program doesn't really need to be installed, hence the "Zip" option. You just download it, double-click it, and extract the files inside to a location of your choosing. Then, you open the program. That way, you don't have to worry about other programs or things getting installed along with CPU-Z.
When you go to open CPU-Z, you'll see a 32-bit version and a 64-bit version; if you have a 64-bit version of Windows, then you can open either of these. If you don't have a 64-bit version of Windows, then you can only open the 32-bit version.
GPU-Z isn't really necessary for this anymore because CPU-Z now has a "Graphics" tab. Sure, it has its uses, but for this, all we need is the Graphics tab in CPU-Z.
Note: The link to the "Zip" download on their page is incorrect. It points to the Setup version. If it were correct, then it would bring you to this page: http://www.cpuid.com/downloads/cpu-z/cpu-z_1.71.1-en.zip
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Yeah, the problem with not mentioning a reputable program is if you're not careful, a user can google for such a program and get a crappy one, especially if your search provider has been changed to one of those crappy ones like search conduit or somesuch (basically, I don't know the tech level of the person requesting support, so I offer advice and if their tech level is high enough, they will know their own method / favorite program and can disregard what I say anyways).
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Yeah, the problem with not mentioning a reputable program is if you're not careful, a user can google for such a program and get a crappy one, especially if your search provider has been changed to one of those crappy ones like search conduit or somesuch (basically, I don't know the tech level of the person requesting support, so I offer advice and if their tech level is high enough, they will know their own method / favorite program and can disregard what I say anyways).
Yeah, I remember now someone on Overclock.net receiving a recommendation to get CPU-Z, only the person giving the recommendation didn't tell them WHERE to get it - and no one else bothered to mention it either. So, the poor guy had no choice but to Google it, and he ended up on a third-party site offering the latest version, only this copy of CPU-Z's installer was contained in an installer that the site owner created, and this installer contained about 7 different piggyback programs! So, when I saw that, I stepped in and fixed everything. :) lol I facepalmed so hard that I nearly knocked my head through the wall behind me! hehe
So, I thank you for this reminder of how important it is.
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Wow, damn I totally did not realize you were the same person.
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Anyways, aside from the system info it would be somewhat helpful to know WHICH mods are being played. Some are more intensive than others. You can always play FSO without the media VPs, but I don't know that all mods provide the option (and even when they do, they don't always have lower quality assets for what isn't in the MVPs)
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Wow, damn I totally did not realize you were the same person.
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Who? What do you mean? Whatchyoo talkin' about Willis?!
No, seriously: I'm lost.
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Oh you're right.
I've never seen someone name TwoCables post on OCN, and I certainly have never seen an avatar of two cables with TRS connectors on the ends.
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Oh you're right.
I've never seen someone name TwoCables post on OCN, and I certainly have never seen an avatar of two cables with TRS connectors on the ends.
I was serious: I didn't know that you were saying, "Oh, you're the same TC from OCN". Yes, I am.
Were you trying to be rude here, or am I just misinterpreting you?
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I was joking. Didn't realize you were being serious or that the initial post was vague.
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I was joking. Didn't realize you were being serious or that the initial post was vague.
I think what made it seem less series was how lost I was. lol I was like, "same person? What? Is he talking to me? If so, then what does he mean? Did he just edit his post and I didn't see it? Man, I gotta ask." lol
I'm glad we got this cleared up though.
So anyway, yeah, it's me! :) Forgive me for my failing memory, but are you a regular on OCN? Did we get to know each other at all? I'm really happy to have run into someone on HLP who knows me from OCN.
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Maybe time for a thread split.
Im a more on and off lurker, I give my two cents occasionally, but I've seen you around. I've been posting a bit in the SFF section, but I tend to ignore the CPU and GPU as well as news sections due to the rampant my team is better than yours stuff.
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Maybe time for a thread split.
Im a more on and off lurker, I give my two cents occasionally, but I've seen you around. I've been posting a bit in the SFF section, but I tend to ignore the CPU and GPU as well as news sections due to the rampant my team is better than yours stuff.
Oh, ok (and yeah, I don't blame you one bit lol).
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FSOpen with no graphical enhancements or complex mods seems to run a bit lighter than stock FS2 on my system. Something is probably off with your setup.
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FSOpen with no graphical enhancements or complex mods seems to run a bit lighter than stock FS2 on my system. Something is probably off with your setup.
I don't want to be rude, but why say this when we don't know anything about his computer?
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The thing is since the mediaVPs are mostly graphics, they will mostly hit your GPU (though other assets like the animations and higher quality music take up more memory). Most of the CPU load is going to come from actually running the program, tracking what's going on in game and such. Thus, if it's a problem withgraphics overload, disabling the MVPs should be helpful, but if it's a CPU bottleneck, I can't see raking off the graphical features having a huge effect on performance.
but, yes without knowing what the system is (or even the specifics of the problem), it's hard to say where any problem might be.
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See, the reason is, the FSOpen engine has had bug fixes / enhancements to the collision code (that takes the most from the CPU, and causes most of the lag if you have a decent GFX card). Plus, support for SSE2, and other things. So, it would seem like FSO ran lighter, unless your system is in the < 500 MHz range and / or < 1GB RAM range, then you might start having problems, but even then, just turn the detail settings down (the same way you would have to with retail running that setup).
Probably safe to say FSO runs lighter than Retail.
just like 7 (and now 10) run lighter than Vista IIRC.
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The boyfriend has a new Asus laptop with NVIDIA Optimus in it. We spent a week figuring out why some of his games lagged like hell, while other games refused to play. Apparently the Optimus system controls when to use the mainboard chipset and when to use the actual GFX card, with the intent of saving power. It unfortunately made the GFX card non-selectable for games, literally disconnecting it when it isn't needed, which was whenever he wasn't running a game executable, making the card non-existent as far as the option menu was aware. We managed to shut that option down and he could use his GFX card normally, all games working.
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See, the reason is, the FSOpen engine has had bug fixes / enhancements to the collision code (that takes the most from the CPU, and causes most of the lag if you have a decent GFX card). Plus, support for SSE2, and other things. So, it would seem like FSO ran lighter, unless your system is in the < 500 MHz range and / or < 1GB RAM range, then you might start having problems, but even then, just turn the detail settings down (the same way you would have to with retail running that setup).
Probably safe to say FSO runs lighter than Retail.
just like 7 (and now 10) run lighter than Vista IIRC.
You're right: 7 is closer to XP in performance. I don't know about 10 yet... (and I probably never will, hehe).
The boyfriend has a new Asus laptop with NVIDIA Optimus in it. We spent a week figuring out why some of his games lagged like hell, while other games refused to play. Apparently the Optimus system controls when to use the mainboard chipset and when to use the actual GFX card, with the intent of saving power. It unfortunately made the GFX card non-selectable for games, literally disconnecting it when it isn't needed, which was whenever he wasn't running a game executable, making the card non-existent as far as the option menu was aware. We managed to shut that option down and he could use his GFX card normally, all games working.
It's not really a card; it's a chip that's soldered to the motherboard. Also, try to avoid thinking of it as being "disconnected", but instead, it's just a matter of which chip is being used: the NVIDIA Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), or the Intel GPU. So, it's not disconnecting it; it's just not using it.
Do you or does your boyfriend know how to uninstall drivers? If not, then please allow me to show you how (it's very easy). Do you or does he know how to download and install drivers directly from a manufacturer's website (such as NVIDIA)? I mean, the only way to have a chance of making Windows stop using the Intel GPU and to only use the NVIDIA GPU is to uninstall both drivers for the Intel and NVIDIA GPUs. After that, go here:
http://www.geforce.com/drivers
On this page, click the green button labeled "AUTO DETECT YOUR GPU". Or, if you know exactly which one it is, then select it from the list above in the "Manual Driver Search" section.
Either way, after you've downloaded the installation package to your computer, double-click it to begin the installation process. Note: please be careful with this installer because it contains things that you won't want. To avoid these unwanted things, please do this (after you open the installer, of course):
1. Click "AGREE AND CONTINUE"
2. Click "Custom (Advanced)"
3. Click "NEXT"
4. Deselect "3D Vision Controller Driver"
5. Deselect "3D Vision Driver"
6. Deselect "HD Audio Driver" (if, for some reason, you end up not having audio for certain things, then you can always re-run this installer in this manner that I'm describing here in order to ONLY install this driver)
7. Deselect "NVIDIA GeForce Experience"
I think some people here will disagree about not installing NVIDIA's GeForce Experience software, but I see that software as completely unnecessary, and it can even be irritating kinda like how Windows Update can be irritating.
So yeah, after you do this, restart your computer and then try to see if Windows is now only using the NVIDIA GPU. If so, then I will be very happy that we succeeded!!! :) If not, then we will find a way.
If you end up with display problems after doing this (because you will no longer have a driver installed for the Intel GPU), then I would like to believe that installing a NORMAL driver for the Intel GPU would be safe. Let's not worry about that right now though because we might not have to.
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Odd. Normally you can go to nVidia Control Panel and manually specify which GPU to use. Is this a new... "feature"? :shaking: :ick:
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See, the reason is, the FSOpen engine has had bug fixes / enhancements to the collision code (that takes the most from the CPU, and causes most of the lag if you have a decent GFX card). Plus, support for SSE2, and other things. So, it would seem like FSO ran lighter, unless your system is in the < 500 MHz range and / or < 1GB RAM range, then you might start having problems, but even then, just turn the detail settings down (the same way you would have to with retail running that setup).
Probably safe to say FSO runs lighter than Retail.
just like 7 (and now 10) run lighter than Vista IIRC.
You're right: 7 is closer to XP in performance. I don't know about 10 yet... (and I probably never will, hehe).
The boyfriend has a new Asus laptop with NVIDIA Optimus in it. We spent a week figuring out why some of his games lagged like hell, while other games refused to play. Apparently the Optimus system controls when to use the mainboard chipset and when to use the actual GFX card, with the intent of saving power. It unfortunately made the GFX card non-selectable for games, literally disconnecting it when it isn't needed, which was whenever he wasn't running a game executable, making the card non-existent as far as the option menu was aware. We managed to shut that option down and he could use his GFX card normally, all games working.
It's not really a card; it's a chip that's soldered to the motherboard. Also, try to avoid thinking of it as being "disconnected", but instead, it's just a matter of which chip is being used: the NVIDIA Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), or the Intel GPU. So, it's not disconnecting it; it's just not using it.
Do you or does your boyfriend know how to uninstall drivers? If not, then please allow me to show you how (it's very easy). Do you or does he know how to download and install drivers directly from a manufacturer's website (such as NVIDIA)? I mean, the only way to have a chance of making Windows stop using the Intel GPU and to only use the NVIDIA GPU is to uninstall both drivers for the Intel and NVIDIA GPUs. After that, go here:
http://www.geforce.com/drivers
On this page, click the green button labeled "AUTO DETECT YOUR GPU". Or, if you know exactly which one it is, then select it from the list above in the "Manual Driver Search" section.
Either way, after you've downloaded the installation package to your computer, double-click it to begin the installation process. Note: please be careful with this installer because it contains things that you won't want. To avoid these unwanted things, please do this (after you open the installer, of course):
1. Click "AGREE AND CONTINUE"
2. Click "Custom (Advanced)"
3. Click "NEXT"
4. Deselect "3D Vision Controller Driver"
5. Deselect "3D Vision Driver"
6. Deselect "HD Audio Driver" (if, for some reason, you end up not having audio for certain things, then you can always re-run this installer in this manner that I'm describing here in order to ONLY install this driver)
7. Deselect "NVIDIA GeForce Experience"
I think some people here will disagree about not installing NVIDIA's GeForce Experience software, but I see that software as completely unnecessary, and it can even be irritating kinda like how Windows Update can be irritating.
So yeah, after you do this, restart your computer and then try to see if Windows is now only using the NVIDIA GPU. If so, then I will be very happy that we succeeded!!! :) If not, then we will find a way.
If you end up with display problems after doing this (because you will no longer have a driver installed for the Intel GPU), then I would like to believe that installing a NORMAL driver for the Intel GPU would be safe. Let's not worry about that right now though because we might not have to.
My reply was meant to the OP in case he happens to run a laptop with Optimus also. :) As I said we fixed the problem, turning the feature off entirely. I didn't know what other word to use besides disconnect, in dutch it's the same word for both 'not using' and 'removing' (afschakelen/ontkoppelen), I should have said disable but the word didn't come to mind at the time when I wrote it, as it ofcourse doesn't physically disconnect in any manner.
It was a drag anyhow for the bf and me as we are living a long-distance from eachother and I mostly had to do it with screenshots and telling him what to change. It also doesn't help that the dutch interface has entirely different words for the NVIDIA features and he tends to get impatient jumping back to console gaming if he fails to get it going after a few attempts. If he's a geek at all, he's certainly no computer geek. :lol: No, I'm well aware how to handle drivers, the post was meant as an example to the OP, in case he'd have an "OMG I use Optimus, could that be it" moment. But thanks.
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FSOpen with no graphical enhancements or complex mods seems to run a bit lighter than stock FS2 on my system. Something is probably off with your setup.
I don't want to be rude, but why say this when we don't know anything about his computer?
Because if base FSO uses fewer resources in terms of CPU, memory, and GPU on my machine than there is no good reason it should use more of these resources on his machine. IIRC base FSO doesn't require any recent shader models, executables without SSE are available, there's just nothing obvious that FSO would require that would mean that it would suddenly start requiring more of a given resource on any system, even a particularly old one. This leaves the probable cause of any problems as something being wrong with the setup in general, such as having a bugged build, or having mods or features inadvertently on or off. All it would take is accidentally having post processing flagged on, or not turning off GLSL, and the game will start doing things that Vanilla did not.
I would recommend that he run with "-nospec -noglow -noenv -nonormal -no_vsync -no_glsl -old_collision" flags only, and see how his performance is.
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Odd. Normally you can go to nVidia Control Panel and manually specify which GPU to use. Is this a new... "feature"? :shaking: :ick:
I did a little bit of Googling before I posted, and I found no one saying that there was an easier way to make it only use the NVIDIA GPU.
My reply was meant to the OP in case he happens to run a laptop with Optimus also. :) As I said we fixed the problem, turning the feature off entirely. I didn't know what other word to use besides disconnect, in dutch it's the same word for both 'not using' and 'removing' (afschakelen/ontkoppelen), I should have said disable but the word didn't come to mind at the time when I wrote it, as it ofcourse doesn't physically disconnect in any manner.
It was a drag anyhow for the bf and me as we are living a long-distance from eachother and I mostly had to do it with screenshots and telling him what to change. It also doesn't help that the dutch interface has entirely different words for the NVIDIA features and he tends to get impatient jumping back to console gaming if he fails to get it going after a few attempts. If he's a geek at all, he's certainly no computer geek. :lol: No, I'm well aware how to handle drivers, the post was meant as an example to the OP, in case he'd have an "OMG I use Optimus, could that be it" moment. But thanks.
Oh, that explains everything. Thank you, and I apologize for missing that!
FSOpen with no graphical enhancements or complex mods seems to run a bit lighter than stock FS2 on my system. Something is probably off with your setup.
I don't want to be rude, but why say this when we don't know anything about his computer?
Because if base FSO uses fewer resources in terms of CPU, memory, and GPU on my machine than there is no good reason it should use more of these resources on his machine. IIRC base FSO doesn't require any recent shader models, executables without SSE are available, there's just nothing obvious that FSO would require that would mean that it would suddenly start requiring more of a given resource on any system, even a particularly old one. This leaves the probable cause of any problems as something being wrong with the setup in general, such as having a bugged build, or having mods or features inadvertently on or off. All it would take is accidentally having post processing flagged on, or not turning off GLSL, and the game will start doing things that Vanilla did not.
I would recommend that he run with "-nospec -noglow -noenv -nonormal -no_vsync -no_glsl -old_collision" flags only, and see how his performance is.
I still say that we need to find out what his computer's specs are. They could very well be low enough that there's nothing he can really do about it without upgrading. Once we learn what his computer's specs are, we can go from there. That way, he wouldn't have to read anything that he might not HAVE to read.
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If you think Optimus is bad already, just try getting it to work with Linux.