Tatwi

Major

Contributor

Re: What one optimization item would you like SOE to focus on? - ReachCast Episode 4

After not playing since early March, after giving up on the game due to how hopelessly bugged it had become (it was literally unplayable, with the world flashing, people flying around, and de-sync issue), I decided to give it a whirl again this past week. I did not have the world flashing issue, nor did I have the issue where everyone was completely messed up, jumping all over, but I did experience a de-sync issue where I couldn't interact with the world, but others could kill me (my grenades/mines did not explode and my hits did not register, but I was there in the world to be shot).



I have read a lot of posts on the official forums dating back in most cases to release regarding the world flashing issue and the de-sync issue, so I would say that both of those should be the top priority for "optimization" as they make it impossible to play the game.



Performance wise, the game played pretty much the same on my computer as it did last September. which is alright I suppose, but could be better. My issues, in order of importance are:



1. Massive "hitching" when flying anywhere near a battle and when taking damage. I go from 70 FPS to 0 FPS and usually end up slamming into something, due to losing control of the game.



2. 5-20 FPS in modest battles (24-48 people) stinks. Frankly, I can play other shooters with more players and have more consistent, playable FPS (40 - 60). Why does PS2 dog it so much with so few players, yet it's supposed to offer "massive battles on an epic scale" or some similar nonsense?



3. Hit registration stinks. Sometimes I have these amazing moments where I take out 3 guys at once and I can't help but think it's because their hits aren't registering, just as mine some times fail to register. Reliable, consistent hit detection in a FPS is very important.



Graphically, the game is great and runs great. It always has. I get 70-80 FPS flying around alone on Indar with my ancient Core2 Q8200 / GTS450 / 8GB DDR2. However, like I said in beta: PS2 is a shooter game, not a terrain generator and we more consistent frame rates when fighting.



The FPS meter in PS2 is also inaccurate. While it may say 20 FPS, often there is so much hitching/stuttering in fights that whole seconds go by without any frame changes at all. That's BIG issue performance right there, because it makes it extraordinarily hard to mouse-look/aim.

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