Game speed very erratic

[Eric Ongerth]

Since Alpha 19 the game speed has been kind of crazy part of the time. With no obvious cause, the game will suddenly move as quickly as if I had turned it to 2x although I am still set at 1.0x. This condition will continue for several minutes and then the game will begin to move slowly as if I had set it to 0.5x. Overall it is behaving too fast or too slow about 10-15% of the time, and the rest of the time the speed of the game engine is normal as expected.

I am aware that AI processing and pathfinding consume much of the game's thinking ability and can slow the game down. So I am explicitly not referring to these known sources of difference in the game speed. I am referring only to a VERY distinct and noticeable difference that has only been occurring recently. It's very strange that it comes not only in the form of a slowdown but also, sometimes, a speed-up.

Sometimes when one of these conditions occurs, it lasts for the rest of the game and makes it essentially unplayable. I have had some limited success with just saving the game and exiting, then starting the program over and loading the save.

[elexis]

Thanks for reporting this.

The game indeed goes into fast-forward mode in case there was lag before. The idea was to compensate lag in multiplayer-mode (though I'm not convinced it actually works as intended).

This issue is not new to alpha 19 but exists since many releases, see also ​http://wildfiregames.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=18797 and #3309.

Since the fix of #3309 (alpha 19), the effect should be limited to one or two seconds though. That's why I'm not sure what happens in your case.

Do you experience this in singleplayer or multiplayer? Can you upload a replay (commands.txt) where that happens?

[Eric Ongerth]

Thank you for explaining the reason for it. I've seen that feature before, sometimes helping units catch up when they fell behind in a turning motion of a formation or when negotiating varying terrain but trying to stay together as a group. (Or maybe that's another distinct type of hurry, different from the fast-forward you're talking about).

It seems like the idea of (limited to just a couple of seconds) occasional fast-forward to compensate for lag could be useful. But this is definitely lasting a long time, not just seconds. When it happens, it remains in effect for at least a minute or two, and sometimes for over five minutes.

About an hour ago, I lost a game very quickly when the engine went into fast-forward and stayed that way until the end. Everything went so quickly that I lost track of my usual build order completely and found myself with a failing strategy.

This is single-player mode only. I have never used multiplayer. I should also mention that I never use developer mode, just ordinary single-player, typically 2 artificial opponents and size 4 ("normal") territory.

I will try to record a replay but currently I have not saved one for this report. Will do so soon. Thank you.

[Eric Ongerth]

One closely related issue I wish to add: It's somewhat disturbing to know that the game actually has the ability to respond quickly and smoothly to commands, and that it ordinarily does not offer that to the player but makes it available only when in "fast-forward" mode to catch up. We can make a distinction between the game operating slowly due to processing burden (citizen and soldier actions take a long time to complete, and that is understandable and okay) and UI lag. If the game has the ability to eliminate UI lag, especially in moving the viewport, it should do so at all times! When the game slows down due to heavy processing (especially when there are several factions and the populations are large) that can be accepted. The part that really is bothersome is the UI slowdown that seems to accompany it. This is the first time I've seen potential evidence that maybe the UI could remain smooth even when the actions of the population get slow. That would make the game much more enjoyable.

[elexis]

Replying to eric o:

turning motion of a formation or when negotiating varying terrain

Units in formation are allowed to run instead of walk.

this is definitely lasting a long time, not just seconds.

If you are really playing alpha 19, then it must somehow repeatedly fast-forward.

I will try to record a replay but currently I have not saved one for this report.

Replays are saved automatically, see Main menu -> Tools & options -> Replays If you select one and click on delete, it shows you the filename. If you replay one of those games, does the fast-forward-effect also happen?

With regards to comment:3: If you have "performance-lag", then both simulation and GUI will lag. If there is network-lag in multiplayer mode, the GUI will run smoothly. The only means of compensating network-lag is to fast-forward the game for that player (which indeed is not that useful as that player can't control the game anymore).

[elexis]

We got no other reports of timer-related problems as in #3713, #3714, #3715. The related functions have not been changed. Likely something messed up with either your operating system or the installation.

[Eric Ongerth]

Thank you. I must apologize for not updating these reports. I agreed with the suspicion that all three were linked, and it was strange enough to make me suspect my installation as well. So in January I reinstalled and none of the three issues have repeated.