Standing Jumps (split from Minkata Shard Updates)

[Hoikas]

The framerate limit limit is in place because PRP loading blocks the main thread and "draw" is called every time you load an object. The cap should really be bumped up to 60 at the very least. Preferably, it would be removed and loading would be refactored into a thread.

[Christian Walther]

To expand on Hoikas’ terse explanation: To our knowledge the only purpose of the frame rate cap was to keep the progress display while loading ages working. It would otherwise draw after loading every single object from a PRP file, slowing things down a lot because most of the time would be spent drawing rather than loading stuff.

In the H-uru fork, the capping code was simply moved, so that it only affects the loading progress display now, and no longer the gameplay. It was also raised from 30 to 60 FPS, but there’s no real need for that for just a progress bar. (It would only lead to a noticeable slowdown though if your computer takes a significant fraction of 1/60 second to draw a progress bar, which I don’t expect. I have done no measurements though.)

During the game, removing the cap makes no difference at all on slow computers that don't render faster than 30 FPS by themselves - they still make one “update”, one “draw” call. The cap only affects faster computers, those skip the “draw” calls if less than 1/30 s have passed since the last one and only do “update” calls until that time. (Potentially a lot of them, if updating takes much less than 1/30 s, which is what’s upsetting the jumping physics.)

johnsojc, what you mention has more to do with network latency than frame rate.

[Deledrius]

During the game, removing the cap makes no difference at all on slow computers that don't render faster than 30 FPS by themselves - they still make one “update”, one “draw” call. The cap only affects faster computers, those skip the “draw” calls if less than 1/30 s have passed since the last one and only do “update” calls until that time. (Potentially a lot of them, if updating takes much less than 1/30 s, which is what’s upsetting the jumping physics.)

Removing the cap does make a difference in other ways though. Even on my rather slow system (by modern standards, at least; it's about the same age as Uru itself) there's a massive difference in framerate which translates to smoother camera movement, and the cursor doesn't lag around the screen which is a huge boost for the feeling of sluggishness. I guess I'm just in a sweet-spot because I do experience a noticeable and more enjoyable visual experience, but haven't had any usual physics behaviour (at least none related to this issue .

[Hoikas]

Sorry about the terseness--I should know better than to wake up late and try to talk Plasma before dashing off to molecular biology lab

[janaba]

So, this sounds all very positive as a kicking off of the frame rate limitation wouldn't affect the overall
performance and gameplay even on older/slower systems at all, but rather in the contrary would improve
the fun and be a treat for the eyes and the senses ...

Only thing that comes to mind is something that went along with the unlocking is the so called 'Relto or nose dive',
which sporadically happens on the Gehn Shard and as of late on the TOC Shard as well ... I don't know if this is
directly related, but Branan attributed this 'bug or behavior' to the unlimited FPS while hoping this to be removed
along with future PhysX upgrades, please read this mention here ...

However, as I've stated in that mentioned thread, I'd prefer smoothness and quality over comfort if I had to choose...

[D'Lanor]

Only thing that comes to mind is something that went along with the unlocking is the so called 'Relto or nose dive',
which sporadically happens on the Gehn Shard and as of late on the TOC Shard as well ... I don't know if this is
directly related, but Branan attributed this 'bug or behavior' to the unlimited FPS while hoping this to be removed
along with future PhysX upgrades, please read this mention here ...

However, as I've stated in that mentioned thread, I'd prefer smoothness and quality over comfort if I had to choose...

Sporadically for you perhaps but for me it happens practically every time (though only on first arrival when we link in at the dock). In fact this affects other ages as well. Regions seem to grow outside their normal boundaries for a short time at link in, which can be bad if they are near link-in points.

Personally I don't see much smoothness enhancement so if I had to vote on this I'd be a party pooper.

[johnsojc]

... Personally I don't see much smoothness enhancement...

I'm afraid I agree. But then again, that may be due to my mediocre graphics. I tend to run full screen (1600x900) and I see a lot of jerky motion. I do appreciate the update to wide screen formats... I no longer look like a bean pole and horizontal distortion is much less noticeable.

[Hoikas]

I just baked a fix for that bug, actually. I'm about to step through the execution of the link in process in the debugger to verify it.

BTW, it *seems* to be that your avatar is not positioned correctly for the first couple of steps of the simulation in each age (O.o).

[Annabelle]

For what I have experienced (sorry to get in this topic so late),

The slower systems (Duo-Core 512 Mb Video card) are affected but not that much. The first thing you can notice is the camera smoothness. For the new faster systems (Quad-Core 1 Gb Video Card and more), you can actually enjoy doing combo jumping & double jump and long range jump like you are used to do them on slower systems.

On Gehn: having a slow or a fast PC doesn't matter for jumps.

On Minkata & MOULa: it's day and night for jumps. (at least for now)

[Ehren]

The Relto dive is thought to have to do with the unlocked framerate? I wouldn't think it is. TOC had an unlocked framerate a long time ago, but only more recently did the Relto dive start to happen to me. And now it happens every time I go to Relto on TOC.