Bessarabia map bug? FPS issue?

[IceFire]

Over on UK-Dedicated we just debuted a new Odessa scenario and during the testing for the scenario I noticed an unusual FPS drop. Long story short I determined that if I look towards Odessa (or in the general direction of) there is a FPS drop.

I can take pictures of where I was flying later but I've determined it's not a online thing. It also seems to affect other people so it's not my system (to my knowledge).

I'm not exactly sure what is causing it but my FPS goes from a normal 90-100fps looking anywhere around on the map down to a stuttery 15fps when looking in the one direction. Key thing is that I'm several grids out (maybe 60 kph) from Odessa so it's not like I'm flying directly over the city. It's not even visible. But something is sucking the FPS up.

Can someone else confirm? Does anyone else know why this is?

[FlatSpinMan]

I find that map is hard to run, too. In one mission to attack an airfield, sorry, forget where but it's nowhere near Odessa, the game slows right down, even with just a few planes in the air.
In this case I think it's the high level of detail at the base.

[vpmedia]

The invisible airfield plates which they use to smooth out the runways are a real fps killer...the worst is Burma,Imphal field and Norway,Banf
If you remove them the framerate gets higher but on full real settings the aircraft tends to jump a lot due to lack of these smoothing plates.

[Zorin]

The invisible airfield plates which they use to smooth out the runways are a real fps killer...the worst is Burma,Imphal field and Norway,Banf
If you remove them the framerate gets higher but on full real settings the aircraft tends to jump a lot due to lack of these smoothing plates.

As we now have the ability to set smoothness via FMB, could these not be permanently deleted?

[IceFire]

The invisible airfield plates which they use to smooth out the runways are a real fps killer...the worst is Burma,Imphal field and Norway,Banf
If you remove them the framerate gets higher but on full real settings the aircraft tends to jump a lot due to lack of these smoothing plates.

Really? So that's what causes that... There is a very large grass airfield near Odessa so perhaps that is what is causing it. Still this seems worse than usual... I know what you mean about Imphal but my FPS doesn't drop when I'm 3 or 4 grids away. Not unless the effect is somehow exponential?

[katdogfizzow]

Yes Ive experienced these "fps sinkholes" too on tc_hawaii and and truk island. However, I believe it can be fixed because new version "truk v3.3" seems to have fixed the sinkhole over the main port. Maybe it was due too some detailed piers/objects...I think the piers were changed. Hard to say. but it was even doing it in the editor if you monitor with fraps

[EJGr.Ost_Caspar]

As we now have the ability to set smoothness via FMB, could these not be permanently deleted?


Probably for mission builder, but it should also be usable for 'normal' players, who just want to take a fast ride.

[Romanator21]

All I can say on the matter is that I definitely had huge issues running Bessarabia and Slovakia, etc. I wouldn't think about running the Solomons, but even on the small online maps I would encounter occasional, but drastic loss of frame rates. I noticed my laptop was getting really hot, but I dismissed it. Suddenly I got a "Blue Screen of Death".

Doh!

I took it apart and cleaned out 1/2 cm pad of DUST from the heat sink. Now it runs cool and I have no problems, and Bessarabia runs as smoothly as Smolensk. I don't have a top-of-the-line machine either.

Note: This has to be done every couple years or so, but it's recommended to take it to a specialist who knows what he's doing. You take a big risk going in there yourself.

[yogy]

I am responsible for this map (with several people contributing, incl. Caspar...). So, first of all, thanks for choosing the map! I never saw an Odessa-scenario, so it looks as if I gotta visit your server!

Concerning Bessarabia itelf:
1) The "basic map" has one of the highest numer of objects together with Slovakia, therefore it is only natural that it needs more resources then other maps.
2) If you want to play in the Odessa area, better use the Odessa-Online map which has a significantly lower number of objects.
3) Long story short I determined that if I look towards OdessaThis may also be caused by the concentrated mass of objects in Odessa (as in every city). Please check wether you have a similar effect i.e. if you look towards Berlin (which is located on the Berlin map :-P)

[EJGr.Ost_Caspar]

... or Leningrad.

[IceFire]

Hi guys! Many thanks for looking this up and replying!

This is actually not the first usage of the Bessarabia (or the Slovakia map for that matter) on the UK-Dedicated servers. It's beautifully done and there are currently three scenarios being run on it for just UK-1. I think UK-3 has some more scenarios. We like the maps very much!

To answer some questions:

1) This, so far as I can tell, is not a problem specific to my computer as it was an issue with others playing on the map as well. I have had some problems recently so that was my first thought. But if it was then I would be more likely to have problems all over the place but in this case the answer is no.

2) For this scenario the Odessa Online map is being used rather than the full map (great idea to do that). In the other scenarios we use the Iasi online map which has no performance issues like this.

3) I checked to see if this was a concentration of objects problem. I'm pretty good at recognizing this but I wanted to be sure. Berlin causes no such slow down. Neither does Leningrad. Sure the FPS drops when you're over the cities... makes sense. The FPS dropping because you're looking in a specific direction but not looking at anything resource intensive is a bit different! :)

4) I believe I know what causes the FPS loss. I flew around just now on the Odessa online map and my normal fps is around 100 fps to 130 fps. That is looking at different villages and other objects from 50 to 2000 meters. I even flew over Odessa where the numbers were between 80 to 100 fps depending on the field of view. If I go narrow angle field of view (displays more objects) I may see 55 fps. So in other words I'm doing pretty well :)

Now... this time around when I was looking at one specific airbase the fps dropped to a stutery 30 fps. It's not your normal 30 fps. Sure it says the number but it's just not smooth at all. Even mouse movements are effected slightly.

I've highlighted the base in question so others can try to replicate.
http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l509/cczerneda/IL-2%20Sturmovik/th_odessa.jpg (http://s1121.photobucket.com/albums/l509/cczerneda/IL-2%20Sturmovik/?action=view&current=odessa.jpg)

The key thing in all this is that the problem exists even when you're say in grid BC11 looking in the direction of this base. Otherwise we'd just plan around not using that particular airstrip.

Someone else check it so I don't seem crazy :)

[Romanator21]

Well, you're not crazy...

I tried it out and I had good FPS over the whole map. But when looking at the one airfield, I noticed a drop in frame rates. However, I suffered no stutters.

It's a mystery.

[yogy]

That's the big main Odessa airfield. It is a once-only-used type, but I don't know by heart what could be special about it apart from the barracks there - but they are also not very special :-P. And then maybe there was that big KZ-like* fence around it?
(* erm... it reminded me to Auschwitz just th efirst time I saw that object - sorryx for maybe not being PC...)

==> No clue what could be the cause :(.

[KG26_Alpha]

I'm not exactly sure what is causing it but my FPS goes from a normal 90-100fps looking anywhere around on the map down to a stuttery 15fps when looking in the one direction. Key thing is that I'm several grids out (maybe 60 kph) from Odessa so it's not like I'm flying directly over the city. It's not even visible. But something is sucking the FPS up.

Can someone else confirm? Does anyone else know why this is?

Hi guys! Many thanks for looking this up and replying!

This is actually not the first usage of the Bessarabia (or the Slovakia map for that matter) on the UK-Dedicated servers. It's beautifully done and there are currently three scenarios being run on it for just UK-1. I think UK-3 has some more scenarios. We like the maps very much!

To answer some questions:

1) This, so far as I can tell, is not a problem specific to my computer as it was an issue with others playing on the map as well. I have had some problems recently so that was my first thought. But if it was then I would be more likely to have problems all over the place but in this case the answer is no.

2) For this scenario the Odessa Online map is being used rather than the full map (great idea to do that). In the other scenarios we use the Iasi online map which has no performance issues like this.

3) I checked to see if this was a concentration of objects problem. I'm pretty good at recognizing this but I wanted to be sure. Berlin causes no such slow down. Neither does Leningrad. Sure the FPS drops when you're over the cities... makes sense. The FPS dropping because you're looking in a specific direction but not looking at anything resource intensive is a bit different! :)

4) I believe I know what causes the FPS loss. I flew around just now on the Odessa online map and my normal fps is around 100 fps to 130 fps. That is looking at different villages and other objects from 50 to 2000 meters. I even flew over Odessa where the numbers were between 80 to 100 fps depending on the field of view. If I go narrow angle field of view (displays more objects) I may see 55 fps. So in other words I'm doing pretty well :)

Now... this time around when I was looking at one specific airbase the fps dropped to a stutery 30 fps. It's not your normal 30 fps. Sure it says the number but it's just not smooth at all. Even mouse movements are effected slightly.

I've highlighted the base in question so others can try to replicate.
http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l509/cczerneda/IL-2%20Sturmovik/th_odessa.jpg (http://s1121.photobucket.com/albums/l509/cczerneda/IL-2%20Sturmovik/?action=view&current=odessa.jpg)

The key thing in all this is that the problem exists even when you're say in grid BC11 looking in the direction of this base. Otherwise we'd just plan around not using that particular airstrip.

Someone else check it so I don't seem crazy :)


Well, you're not crazy...

I tried it out and I had good FPS over the whole map. But when looking at the one airfield, I noticed a drop in frame rates. However, I suffered no stutters.

It's a mystery.

From the first page of this thread.

The invisible airfield plates which they use to smooth out the runways are a real fps killer...the worst is Burma,Imphal field and Norway,Banf
If you remove them the framerate gets higher but on full real settings the aircraft tends to jump a lot due to lack of these smoothing plates.

Did some testing and had no problems with low FPS

Perfect mode tested Nvidia 9800GTX+ also Nvidia GTX 570

Tested on 24" Samsungs locked at 60hz with V-synch on.

Had the same results with both cards no loss of FPS 60+
Maps tested
Bessarabia
Odessa
Iasi

IL2 1946
v4.09m
v4.10
v4.101
UPv2.01
Screen shots from last config.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v119/alpha1/Bessarabia1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v119/alpha1/Bessarabia2.jpg

[IceFire]

Yep that's the base...

So two of us have it for sure (probably three or four confirmed based on our online tests).

Just so you know my configuration:

Core i7 870
Asus P7P55D-E
4GB Mushkin Blackline DDR3 RAM
GeForce GTS 250 512mb

So in other words it shouldn't be a problem. I've flown extensively over many maps in many situations and this is a unique case so far as I know. Even compared to the Burma maps and the custom airbases there. I will double check my results there.

[KG26_Alpha]

Post your OGL settings

I'll compare them to mine.

Your GTS250 is the same as my 9800GTX+

[IceFire]

Post your OGL settings

I'll compare them to mine.

Your GTS250 is the same as my 9800GTX+

From the config.ini file...


[Render_OpenGL]
TexQual=3
TexMipFilter=3
TexCompress=0
TexFlags.UseDither=1
TexFlags.UseAlpha=0
TexFlags.UseIndex=0
TexFlags.PolygonStipple=0
TexFlags.UseClampedSprites=0
TexFlags.DrawLandByTriangles=0
TexFlags.UseVertexArrays=1
TexFlags.DisableAPIExtensions=0
TexFlags.ARBMultitextureExt=1
TexFlags.TexEnvCombineExt=1
TexFlags.SecondaryColorExt=1
TexFlags.VertexArrayExt=1
TexFlags.ClipHintExt=0
TexFlags.UsePaletteExt=0
TexFlags.TexAnisotropicExt=1
TexFlags.TexCompressARBExt=0

TexFlags.TexEnvCombine4NV=1
TexFlags.TexEnvCombineDot3=1
TexFlags.DepthClampNV=1
TexFlags.SeparateSpecular=1
TexFlags.TextureShaderNV=1

HardwareShaders=1

Shadows=2
Specular=2
SpecularLight=2
DiffuseLight=2
DynamicalLights=1
MeshDetail=2
VisibilityDistance=3

Sky=2
Forest=2
LandShading=3
LandDetails=2

LandGeom=3
TexLarge=1
TexLandQual=3
TexLandLarge=1

VideoSetupId=17
Water=2
Effects=1
ForceShaders1x=0

PolygonOffsetFactor=-0.15
PolygonOffsetUnits=-3.0

[KG26_Alpha]

The only differences I see between our configs are the following

TexFlags.DrawLandByTriangles=1

LandGeom=2

[IceFire]

Maybe it's the extra long draw distance combining with something else? It's literally the only place where I have this problem to the best of my knowledge.

Still... I'll investigate and report back.