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Framerate in Defera (And other areas)

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
Something is causing my computer to chug whenever I am in space above Defera. It happens in some other places too, like the map in the level 10 KDF episode where you have to clear 3 satellites and 3 freighters.

Defera speeds up some if I drop my settings ALL the way to minimal, but other systems don't.

I've been playing since the very end of closed beta on this laptop and never really had too much trouble. I can't play at max settings, but "medium" on the quality slider is fine.

my Specs:

Gateway FX 17" performance laptop P-7805u
Intel Core2 Duo P8400 2.26GHZ
4GB Ram
Geforce 9800m GTS 1GB Video Ram
Windows Vista 64bit
1440X900 (desktop and in game)

I'm using the 258.96 drivers, but the older ones (from June-ish) were doing it too

Heat was an issue during the peak of summer, but I got one of those Antec cooler platforms with a 10" fan to move the heat.


So, is this happening to a lot of people, or is there some setting I am missing?

Is the problem the amount of objects, particles, etc in those systems? I know Defera has tons of those tiny asteroid chucks + the planetoid ring-dust, so is the system just "overpopulated?"
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2010
    Just did Cold Case on another char today, and had the draw distance turned down.

    It was fine until it started drawing all of the tiny rocks (right before you get into Defera's rings) then it slowed down to 3FPS

    So, hopefully in the future they can ease up on the amount of density of those things? At least somewhere you end up fighting later. Argh.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited October 2010
    Definitely seems to be an issue of trying to "Light" all of the little meteors and space dust and such, because its less severe with LOW lighting, but in some places its still too slow to play.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited October 2010
    Something is causing my computer to chug whenever I am in space above Defera. It happens in some other places too

    You're probably onto something. I'm currently having a problem where I can usually reproduce a hard-lock crash above the Deferi homeworld. Been playing since closed beta and never had this problem until weekly episodes were introduced.

    I've experienced the same crash in other areas but I noticed it first during the space battle above Defera in "Cold Call". My FPS drops and the screen will flicker at a certain point on this map. Eventually it produces a crash under different resolutions and minimal video settings.

    I think some graphics issues were introduced with weekly episodes. I have a ticket open with tech support with my problem. No solutions so far other than to try reducing video settings and resolution which just seems to make it take longer to crash.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited October 2010
    me to.. i was force to stop playing around sept 28th becasuse the lag and the fps was so bad i couldnt even play, i ask, and ask cryptic for help and they wont help or tell me why this happen,,
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited November 2010
    Where the hell is it, I cant seem to find it:p

    thanks
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    Apologies for necro'ing a thread, but this has been happening to me too. I don't experience lag in most places even with my modet connection, but as soon as i warp in to Defera it all goes to hell.

    Was there ever a fix for this?
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    My suggestions:

    **Fiddle with Anti-aliasing (hereafter AA).
    Try turning it down, or turn it off and then use your graphics card's control panel to force a little AA on the game.

    I get better performance when I use my card to force AA instead of using in-engine AA.

    AA can be a major culprit of performance issues in debris-field type situations because theres alot of edges.

    **Fiddle with lighting and shadows, especially shadows.
    I run with high light quality, but I find turning shadows to medium creates anywhere from a 20 to 30 FPS performance increase.

    Shadows are also usual suspects in situations like this because the more objects there are interacting the more complex shadow casting becomes at high settings.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    i have the shadows set low anyway, but ill try the AA thing. Thanks.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    pr1983 wrote: »
    i have the shadows set low anyway, but ill try the AA thing. Thanks.

    Let me know how it turns out. :)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    I'm running the mission Cold Call mission on lowest possible graphics, still very low framerate...
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    which graphics card are you using? Maybe it's outdated and time for an upgrade or if not then depending on how old the computer is maybe the power supply isn't outputting as much as it should be and it's effecting the graphics cards ability to properly process high load areas like Defera? Also you might want to manually set your virtual memory to a higher setting then what windows is currently automatically setting it to. As long as you have enough free space to do it upping or even doubling/tripling it might help.

    Sorry I can't be of more help but those are the only things I can think of right now.

    Oh one other thing, did you recently update the drivers for your graphics card and if you did or if it was done automatically was the performance better before the update?
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    I play it on an AMD Dual Core 2Ghz laptop with 4GB RAM. I have an ATI Radeon 4200 HD 1GB card. I'm only having problems with extreme framerate drops in the Defera system. Normal gameplay runs smooth most of the time.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    I'm glad I found this thread. I've been playing every day for 3 months, and every single time I go to Starfleet Academy the FR drops so bad that even if I turn down everything it's still slow and choppy. Sometimes i can go to a sector and the frame rate is perfect. Game looks crisp and moves very smooth, and other times in other sectors i have to deal with the FR because I just don't have the patience to constantly turn the GFX up and down based on where I'm at.

    Thanks so much for posting your concerns.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2012
    Majority of the framreate issues in sto are due to the following:
    • UI perfomance - minimise your hud asmuch as possibe, disable damage floaters and only have tageting active for team/friends/fleetmates
    • Shadows - set to low or disable
    • Number of people in the zone (pc and npc) - not much you can control here, but if need be look for the lowest populated instace if in esd and such
    • AA settings - disable the ingame AA and enable to 8x (dx9) or 16x (dx11-beta) via your video card control pannel
    • post proccessing - disable
    • the particle setting - disable

    Those use the most system resources.

    There is a thread on what settings affect what aswell as recommended options to help get the most out of your system.
    STO Performance and Frame Rate Guide v1.1
  • jayfresh11jayfresh11 Member Posts: 133 Arc User
    edited July 2012
    I had a similar issue with frame rates when ever I went to star fleet academy. I have an nvidia geforce 540m, which isn't the best for gaming. I would never be able to max out the settings unless I was using a lower resolution, or the game would lag quite a bit. This also occured a lot while playing it in 3d mode. I discovered the troubleshooting section, which is on the very bottom of the video tab in options. If you click on the troubleshooting bar, it will give you more options, such as switching your directx, and also adjusting the amount of your video memory limit. I think auto is the default, but the amount of video memory, is small in auto. You have the option of choosing from 128mb up to 1024mb +. When I changed my video memory to 1024mb, which is the amount I have, it made a world of difference. I am able to play it on 1080p, with most of my settings maxed out. I put all of the details to 200%. I also play on very high quality in 3d, and there is very little if any lag.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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