Stuttering still over 3 years! Any help?

AstroCat · #1 01-13-2009, 03:31 AM

I'll try and make this quick.

When IL2 came out it stuttered and we tried everything but nothing worked so I gave up on the game.
I came back in 2005 and tried everything on multiple systems but with HardwareShaders=1 enabled it always stuttered so I put the game aside.
Now, in 2009 I've come back and it still stutters with HardwareShaders=1 enabled!

All these different systems and configurations. Hundreds of tweaks of every kind, countless hours spent but still it doesn't work.

IL2 is the best WW2 sim out there, I really enjoy the game but the terrible stuttering when using water 1/2/3/4 just kills it for me. The stuttering is worse when the land meets the water. It is the same as it has always been on every system I've ever tried. If I turn off HardwareShaders=1 it doesn't stutter and if I turn it on it does. Oh, you can put water at 0, and it does help some and even water=1 is ok, but still stutters some, but really the goal has always been water=3/4 using the shaders.

Is there any help for this, some unknown trick I've missed through all these years? Or have people just done the acceptance dance that no matter what water 2, 3 and 4 stutter and that is just the way it is?

Thank you for the help! I just wanted to try one more time to fix this issue.

DD_crash · #2 01-13-2009, 08:38 AM

What version are you running?

AstroCat · #3 01-13-2009, 11:30 AM

I have installs of both 409b1m and 408m but I've been mainly working with 409b1m.

Bearcat · #4 01-13-2009, 11:55 AM

Current System specs............

AstroCat · #5 01-13-2009, 12:54 PM

Sure ...

Here is my DXDIAG.

Basic current system:
CPU: E8400
MB: GIGABYTE GA-X48-DQ6 DDR2
Mem: G.SKILL 4GB(2 x 2GB) DDR2 1000 (Running 800 1:1 4-4-4-12 2.1v)
PS: CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX
DVDR: SAMSUNG DVD±R SH-S203B
HD1: Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB
HD2: Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD7500AAKS 750GB
OP: SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S203B
Case: P182
HS: Thermalright Ultra-120
Fans: 5 x 120mm S-Flex Scythe
TC: Arctic Silver 5
Vid: EVGA 9800GX2
Sound: X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Pro Series
OS: Vista64/XP

The real culprit is HardwareShaders=1 because even at Water=0 or 1 I get some stutters, although better than 2-4. Shaders off is the only way I can get rid of them completely.

Thanks for the help!

KG26_Alpha · #6 01-13-2009, 04:52 PM

Try these conf ini settings, don't forget to back up your original:

[Render_OpenGL]
TexQual=3
TexMipFilter=3
TexCompress=0
TexFlags.UseDither=1
TexFlags.UseAlpha=0
TexFlags.UseIndex=0
TexFlags.PolygonStipple=1
TexFlags.UseClampedSprites=0
TexFlags.DrawLandByTriangles=1
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=1

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=2
TexLarge=1
TexLandQual=3
TexLandLarge=1

VideoSetupId=3
Water=2
Effects=1
ForceShaders1x=0

PolygonOffsetFactor=-0.15
PolygonOffsetUnits=-3.0

AstroCat · #7 01-13-2009, 05:38 PM

Yeah, those settings are what I am already trying. I've tried tweaking everything I can think of and still always the same stutters with HardwareShaders=1, if I make that 0, it runs with no stutters.

AstroCat · #8 01-13-2009, 07:00 PM

What is the setup of anyone who is able to run the game with no stutters? Just make a Crimea quick battle and fly around the coast and I'll get these periodic little "ticks". The higher the water # the more consistent they appear.

I know the game will hitch once and a while like all games do, texture buffering and such things but this is definitly not just that because it is just related to the water and the shaders.

It would be just awesome to find a real fix!

Codex · #9 01-13-2009, 08:47 PM

I'm not familiar with nVidia cards but there is a common issue with multi GPU cards (both ATI and nVidia) causing stutters in IL-2. I suspect this may be the culprit, try lowering the AA down to 2x in the video card drivers, this fixed the problem on my 4870x2.

A more general stutter issue I had relates to drives. It is also recomended on Gigabyte boards to use the Intel ACHI drive controller rather than the Gigabyte one. I'm assuming all your drives are SATA so connect them to the Yellow sockets, make sure you have ACHI enabled in the BIOS and have the Intel INF drivers installed v8.3.1.1011.

Hope this helps.

AstroCat · #10 01-13-2009, 09:02 PM

I even turned everything down and off in my driver settings. No Aniso, No AA, Only High Quality, No triple buffer, no vsync etc... As well as setting to just 1 GPU and it still stutters. Only shaders off will make them go away.

Yeah I just defraged and both drivers are SATA, and ACHI is enabled. I would think this kind of pause would not be so effected by Shaders on or off.

Can you really fly around in perfect mode near a shoreline and get no stutters or little 150ms ticks at all? That is just amazing. I've tried the game on so many different systems and configurations and I've never been able to get rid of it.