New StarShip Traits

saross · March 2015

While this has been talked about I am sure it hasn't been pinpointed down properly.

Since DR we have had the Spec trees and several new StarShip traits released. Huzah on new things!

However it would appear that those new trees and traits might be causing some lag that I have noted and several others have seen in game. As this is more of a thing caused by these traits I will assume it is a bug and not only on my end.

Let me explain, traits like Pedal to the metal, Predicted algorithms, Supremacy, Anchored and other of the new traits which seem to be checking for certain characteristics seems to be causing issues with gameplay. In the other discussion board there's a video of said gameplay lag/rubberbanding.

I have with a few others run some test. Same group of players, only 30 minutes apart in the same private queued event. A good variety WITH the traits, and a good variety WITHOUT the traits.

The ones with the traits saw lag and rubber banding. Taking 4-5 minutes to take down Infected Space Advance.

While the ones without the traits saw significantly less lag and took 2-3 minutes to take down the same event.

If I run this on my old captains who are still level 50 and in an instance of other players who are less likely to have the traits above, than the lag seen is virtually zero.

These test that I have seen and done with others seems to lead me to believe that these traits are doing heuristics, either randomly or consistently checking to see if the ship they are on meets the requirements for the trait. Either moving full speed, stationary, running certain traits etc etc. These traits should only be triggered once the condition is met. IE if the ship is moving full speed or not. Or when FAW or some special trait is triggered. Not whenever in an instance with combat.

This was something also tested adding one trait back in until they were all back and slotted. The lag gradually become worse until you noticed the ship jumping spots, rubberbanding etc etc on a connection and computer that without the same traits are not seeing any of said issues.

This is a bug by all accounts. These traits are the cause of the lag for many and needs to dealt with accordingly. If these are resolved so they no longer are causing the issues universally for so many then I'm sure we'll stop seeing a lot of players complaining about the lag/rubberbanding. Which is a cause by these traits having this bug where they check constantly. Which means they are forcing extra back and forth communication between PC and server.

Change the traits to check ONLY when condition is met and you resolve a bug that will make everyone in game happy, and my bet, bring back other players who left due to the lag caused by this bug.

sf911 · March 2015

This confirms the suspicions many of us have had.
It also explains why higher DPS groups (which tend to have more stacking traits/abilities) tend to see even worse lag/rubberbanding.
I truly hope that this issue will be recognized and addressed soon as it can really spoil the gaming experience.

saross · March 2015

sf911 wrote: »

This confirms the suspicions many of us have had.
It also explains why higher DPS groups (which tend to have more stacking traits/abilities) tend to see even worse lag/rubberbanding.
I truly hope that this issue will be recognized and addressed soon as it can really spoil the gaming experience.

Would be nice to see fixes addressing issues that only makes the playerbase want to throw their computer away and not play. I know there are many players who fly better than me who have stopped playing because of how frustrating it has become to feel yourself stepping in your footprints twice in the same ISA...

section31agent · March 2015

Shill for Cryptic "IT IS ALL YOUR FAULT, PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN"

darkknightucf · March 2015

sf911 wrote: »

This confirms the suspicions many of us have had.
It also explains why higher DPS groups (which tend to have more stacking traits/abilities) tend to see even worse lag/rubberbanding.
I truly hope that this issue will be recognized and addressed soon as it can really spoil the gaming experience.

Solution: Add a few more blades (or hamsters) and make them dedicated instance servers, then streamline the code.

jaymclaughlin · March 2015

Another alternative would be to make the traits give flat % bonuses rather than stacking. That would remove a whole load of computational issues wouldn't it?

saross · March 2015

jaymclaughlin wrote: »

Another alternative would be to make the traits give flat % bonuses rather than stacking. That would remove a whole load of computational issues wouldn't it?

This could work out very good, or changing how they trigger.

thejoker767 · March 2015

The ability stacking would be a logical explanation . I have also noticed lag spikes when team abilities are being used ... the servers cant handle all the game load.

I will try removing pilot/intel abilitys , if that can work it might be worth loosing a bit of dps to get better playability lolll

saross · March 2015

thejoker767 wrote: »

The ability stacking would be a logical explanation . I have also noticed lag spikes when team abilities are being used ... the servers cant handle all the game load.

I will try removing pilot/intel abilitys , if that can work it might be worth loosing a bit of dps to get better playability lolll

Remember that when you are in an STF or other queued event that it isn't JUST yourself and the server sending data back and forth. The server is also sending your information to your team mates as well.

Add in the fact that some skills are doing constant checks if you are moving, stationary, FAW on, etc etc and that's a lot of back and forth chatter JUST to communicate skills around.

welcome2earf · March 2015

There's also a simple hardware issue - the amount of additional calculations are staggering...it is going to push this old code pretty hard. Perhaps a rubberband may be some sort of hardware upgrade server-side?

But yeah. In any case, I do suspect the new features and traits are part of the culprits. Perhaps they should simplify them so they aren't as conditional, so not as many checks need to be ran?

saross · March 2015

welcome2earf wrote: »

But yeah. In any case, I do suspect the new features and traits are part of the culprits. Perhaps they should simplify them so they aren't as conditional, so not as many checks need to be ran?

If they were more conditional it would actually be better. IE Pedal to the Metal only would start counting the moment engines are max. Anchored would only trigger when the ship's engines are at 0 or when the ship stops sliding perhaps. The other skills should only run while in Red alert for example and once your ship started firing maybe?

As it is right now it seems to be constantly checking if the ship is in the state where it has to check to see if the conditions are met.

welcome2earf · March 2015

saross wrote: »

As it is right now it seems to be constantly checking if the ship is in the state where it has to check to see if the conditions are met.

That's kinda what I was trying to say...if some of the traits became more of the types that didn't NEED to check ship state, it might help, hence NOT so conditional...?

saross · March 2015

welcome2earf wrote: »

That's kinda what I was trying to say...if some of the traits became more of the types that didn't NEED to check ship state, it might help, hence NOT so conditional...?

Then I misunderstood what you said.

welcome2earf · March 2015

saross wrote: »

Then I misunderstood what you said.

lol yeah...well in any case, yeah...the game engine is taking a hit due to all of the added features we're throwing in there...

It reminds me of the power grid in a slum of Mogadishu or Kinshasa where you have a literal web of random power chords, extension cords and splitters all dangled about all over with reckless abandon, over taxing the nacent grid and creating a hazard to boot. lol

saross · March 2015

Myself and a few others have been compiling some videos of runs we have done. For the most part we've been able to find a few issues... Our lag will all but disappear when we remove all Starship traits, and the Pilot tree.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLKRoq-ejx0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NU_UKIcvvLs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5cmDDaNTKc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7Zx0ZKpv0M

Simply question that comes up, why would removing skills and traits meant to be use decrease lag? It shouldn't matter in the end. The game should work the same with or without the skills and traits if things are working as intended or at optimal levels. There needs to be some serious addressing here because I know friends who are quitting because they use these traits and don't want to play the game anymore because of the lack concern that something in game might be the cause of everyone's lag.

Let's point out that it has been long enough where people have the great skills.. They have the trees, and many have max trees. Which means that doing things with random groups who have these lag causing skills increases, and will increase with each passing day. They either need to be disabled until a patch is put in to fix them, or a series of updates every patch addressing them, even if only one at a time.

Anyone debugging who wants to test these things with me I am MORE than ready to show and assist with these issues. Ignoring the issues caused by these too long will only result in one thing, more and more people leaving. Those who don't see lag, who don't use these skills won't see a problem until multiple of them are combined together and with a group using them. But one day as more trees are added/expanded. More traits are added, eventually we'll end up with far more bugs and lag from the skills/trees that no one will want to play.

I love this game. Let's get this fixed before that day arrives, please?

New StarShip Traits

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