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Cryptic, your UI isn't fit for purpose.
ufpterrell
Member Posts: 736 Arc User
Ok Cryptic, we need to talk.
For years now we know that you've struggled with the game engine, it was never a suitable choice in the first place but you've done what you can and muddled through.
However, your UI is bad. So bad in fact, it's an embarassment when compared to other games in the genre. I recently came back to play STO when they released the new FE and the T6 Vesta (my favourite non hero ship in the game) from WoW:Legion which has been consuming so much of my game time lately. WoW's UI... well... it just WORKS. Minimal input lag, easy to use and well presented with countless options for customisation with mods (which is sadly something that will never be possible in STO).
STO's UI? Well in many ways you could barely call it functional. You have so many seperate panels, abilities, BOFFS, power management, pet hangers, your ship panel with HP/Shield plus your character panel in the top corner with the map and mission objectives. The resources this UI hogs is frankly incredible. I struggle to even make 60 FPS in sector space with this droppin down to 40-50 FPS on average. This makes for really jerky game play even on a Gysnc enabled 144hz monitor.
If I turn off the UI with ALT+F12? Guess what happens, instant 144 FPS. This means I'm getting at times a 100 FPS decrease due to the UI. Just let that sink in a minute, 100 FPS... that's HUGE. The fact that my FPS doesn't increase or decrease when altering graphical settings just goes to show that it's not a problem with my PC rendering the game or processing CPU in the slightest, it's ALL down to the UI being utterly unoptimised and badly coded. Input lag has always been terrible, if the UI was well optimised but had input lag I could perhaps live with it but currently it's eating all of my FPS and isn't even doing it's job well.
It's not fit for purpose and I would really like to think that you, Cryptic, are going to do something about it... because frankly... it's VERY off putting especially after playing other MMO's which do a very good job of their user interface while ALSO running on what would be considered an ancient game engine by todays standards.
Please Cryptic, get on top of it or it's going to cause the game problems in the long run. The fact I can run Witcher 3 on nearly max settings and STILL maintain a smooth 60FPS shows that you have some real work to do optimising this game.
For years now we know that you've struggled with the game engine, it was never a suitable choice in the first place but you've done what you can and muddled through.
However, your UI is bad. So bad in fact, it's an embarassment when compared to other games in the genre. I recently came back to play STO when they released the new FE and the T6 Vesta (my favourite non hero ship in the game) from WoW:Legion which has been consuming so much of my game time lately. WoW's UI... well... it just WORKS. Minimal input lag, easy to use and well presented with countless options for customisation with mods (which is sadly something that will never be possible in STO).
STO's UI? Well in many ways you could barely call it functional. You have so many seperate panels, abilities, BOFFS, power management, pet hangers, your ship panel with HP/Shield plus your character panel in the top corner with the map and mission objectives. The resources this UI hogs is frankly incredible. I struggle to even make 60 FPS in sector space with this droppin down to 40-50 FPS on average. This makes for really jerky game play even on a Gysnc enabled 144hz monitor.
If I turn off the UI with ALT+F12? Guess what happens, instant 144 FPS. This means I'm getting at times a 100 FPS decrease due to the UI. Just let that sink in a minute, 100 FPS... that's HUGE. The fact that my FPS doesn't increase or decrease when altering graphical settings just goes to show that it's not a problem with my PC rendering the game or processing CPU in the slightest, it's ALL down to the UI being utterly unoptimised and badly coded. Input lag has always been terrible, if the UI was well optimised but had input lag I could perhaps live with it but currently it's eating all of my FPS and isn't even doing it's job well.
It's not fit for purpose and I would really like to think that you, Cryptic, are going to do something about it... because frankly... it's VERY off putting especially after playing other MMO's which do a very good job of their user interface while ALSO running on what would be considered an ancient game engine by todays standards.
Please Cryptic, get on top of it or it's going to cause the game problems in the long run. The fact I can run Witcher 3 on nearly max settings and STILL maintain a smooth 60FPS shows that you have some real work to do optimising this game.
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Do you by chance have a framerate limit in STO? Cause it's usually on by default.
I am expiriencing the same, with on/off... Not showing the UI means immediate 50-60% increase in FPS.
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
Odd... This is actually a fairly common experience... I've seen people mention it before (which is that made me test it in the first place).
Are you guys honestly serious when you say you suffer no FPS drop with or without the UI enabled? Just pressing U to open up inventory and the character panel in space reduces FPS to or less than 20. The UI is broken, my system has nothing to do with it.
Current Specs:
Motherboard: MSI X99S SLI Plus MS-7885
CPU: Intel Haswell i7-5820K OC'd to 3.6Ghz
RAM: 16Gb DDR4-2133
GPU: Nvidia GTX 970 4Gb
More than enough to run this game optimally.
Also, why not compare it to another MMO's UI? I only mentioned WoW because it's what I've playing recently, so obviously I'm going to compare the two. They're both old games, except one has had a dev team which was willing to maintain and update the foundations of the game instead of pushing the latest lockbox.
EDIT: How about we all post screen shots of the game with and without the UI enabled? I'd be surprised to see that none of you are getting severely hampered FPS because of the UI. Unless it's also an issue with the DX11 render.
Looking for a dedicated Star Trek community? Visit www.ufplanets.com for details.
This. It's always bugged me, and I hoped that they would have at least improved this after 7 years. Otherwise the UI is fine to me. I like the fact that it allows me to move and resize windows, rearrange the HUD, and change the scaling quickly and easily. It's mainly the "grab" delay that irritates me.
"Special Envoy" Lifer.
Much of what you've quoted there is to do with CONTENT updates, not back end engine tweaks and reworks. The lighting system and the way in which kits work etc are some of the notable exceptions. Pretty much 2/3 of that list isn't even related to what you're quoting me.
What settings do you use? And what are your system specs? Do you use DX9 to render? It may be an issue not just with the UI (because there is one, there's no point trying to deny it) but with the way in which the game utilises higher end hardware. There is still an issue with the "show high detailed objects" graphical option not utilising as much GPU power with it set to on regardless of control panel settings.
Looking for a dedicated Star Trek community? Visit www.ufplanets.com for details.
My character Tsin'xing
That's a frame rate limiter. Again, you don't have a clue what you're doing or talking about.
It seems highly unlikely for you to be having better performance than me given that you half half as much RAM, a slower CPU and a model down in GPU to my system.
Also, as the poster just stated the reason you're getting 60fps constant is because of vysnc which ties the refresh rate to that of your monitor (60mhz in your case). In the Tzenkethi BZ just now FPS was dipping as low as the mid 30's with UI on and 144 FPS constant (which is my monitor refresh) without the UI enabled.
Looking for a dedicated Star Trek community? Visit www.ufplanets.com for details.
By the way. You also said you turned it off and still saw 60fps. So again, you don't know what you're doing or talking about.
Ok. And how many of them have their frame rate limited? They don't say so you pulling them out as if they somehow bolster your standpoint is weak at best.
I just turned off my limiting and tested what the OP said using the in game fps counter and I get a difference in frame rate as well. It depends on which screen. Inventory slows things down by maybe 6-10 fps with all the "items". Journal on the other hand barely changes. It's a sign of unoptimized code which, given the history of the game, is understandable. There's an early access game I play which suffers from the exact same thing on inventory type screens and is a very well known issue amongst people that play the game. i.e. it's not the graphics itself, it's all the items the game has to go through to sort out etc before getting around to rendering them.
But whatever. There's a group of you that always come into these threads claiming there's nothing wrong and the game is perfect. People could post videos and you all would still claim it was in their imagination. Carry on.
You are quite correct about the RAM usage, however what I'm getting at more than anything else (I didn't communicate this well) was the fact my RAM clock speed is signifantly higher than yours. Thus better performance for what RAM is being utilised by the .exe.
Looking for a dedicated Star Trek community? Visit www.ufplanets.com for details.
Can I have popcorn too btw?
Looking for a dedicated Star Trek community? Visit www.ufplanets.com for details.