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[chaswick]

This is a simple thread to go over methods I have recently discovered to make the formerly unbearable bearable (12 fps to 30->120 fps) playing on my old laptop.  Any contributions appreciated.  Other threads are devoted to complaints, observations, musings.  These are steps I have taken which may allow you to enjoy the game on some level, if or until performance is improved.  For the stout of heart only.  The last is the best improvement I have seen.

These are all things I have found positively (and assuredly) affect the fps count.  These are listed in increasing order of negatively affected play experience:

1.)  Do not run any other processes.  Do not browse the forums.  Do not listen to music.  etc, etc.

2.)  Turn off temperature and weather.  These are mostly legacy, but i would guess they do provide some improvement.  Mine are off.

3.)  Make your starting settlement size the smallest it can be (3x3) using 'U,H,K,M' when selecting a settlement.  Some improvement.

4.)  Start your settlement in a glacier type area.  Maybe not necessarily only glacier (I tried 50/50 mountain, glacier).  Definite improvement.

5.)  Do not move up or down z-levels.  Do not dig up or down z-levels.  

6.)  This is the biggy (2 biggies actually).  Enable the FPS display in the init file to take advantage of it.  As you begin your settlement and navigate the area by moving the screen using up, down, left, right, the fps will begin to drop.  You can 'reset' the fps by using the 'tab' key to change the main GUI display.  This is accomplished by tabbing until you are at the display with the smallest play area viewable, and the minimap off.  It looks like:

[Play area][         MENU        ]

You will notice the FPS will jump (on my computer, almost 70 FPS)  Be patient, I did not tab too quickly (1 per sec about).  As long as you do not navigate the screen with up, down, left, or right, and do not change the main gui display with 'tab', this higher FPS will be maintained. You may not see what your dwarves are doing, they will do it fast though.  Wait a bit, and then change the GUI, navigate/designate, and reset the FPS again.  Playing this way is akin to taking sprints, stopping and looking around, taking a sprint, stopping etc.

I assume the last fix has to do with Toady's mention of empty space / black areas affecting performance.  This has made it possible for me to advance several months in a short amount of time and at least experience some of the game.  Hope this helps.

[infinity]

About the tabbing idea:

When paused at Z-level (L-17), I get:
[-------Play-------]: 30 FPS
[----Play-----][Map]: 40 FPS
[Play-][Menu-][Map-]: 93 FPS
[Play][----Menu----]: 93 FPS
[----Play----][Menu]: 45 FPS

When paused at Z-level (L-0) "the surface", I get my FPS cap of 150 FPS.

Unpaused at Z-level (L-17):
[-------Play-------]: 18 FPS
[----Play-----][Map]: 28 FPS
[Play-][Menu-][Map-]: 40 FPS
[Play][----Menu----]: 40 FPS
[----Play----][Menu]: 28 FPS

Unpaused at Z-level (L-0) "surface":
[-------Play-------]: 64 FPS
[----Play-----][Map]: 70 FPS
[Play-][Menu-][Map-]: 70 FPS
[Play][----Menu----]: 68 FPS
[----Play----][Menu]: 70 FPS

So at the surface, the play area doesn't seem to affect speed.  At any other Z-level, the play area affects speed.  If you want your game to run fast, just keep the surface visible.   I also agree that the 3x3 area in the site selection is very helpful for improving FPS.

Hopefully Toady will see this and notice where the problem is coming from.

[Karlito]

In your init file change your G_FPS_CAP to about 10.  This is your graphical refresh rate and it does not need to be set at 50.  This speeds things up considerably.

[MindSnap]

quote:Originally posted by Karlito:
<STRONG>In your init file change your G_FPS_CAP to about 10.  This is your graphical refresh rate and it does not need to be set at 50.  This speeds things up considerably.</STRONG>

THANK YOU!! that changed my fps from 20-25 to 100! stuff almost goes TOO fast now!!

[Sowelu]

4.) Start your settlement in a glacier type area. Maybe not necessarily only glacier (I tried 50/50 mountain, glacier). Definite improvement.

5.) Do not move up or down z-levels. Do not dig up or down z-levels.

Wow, yeah, you can totally enjoy Dwarf Fortress if you're just sitting around on a big sheet of ice with nothing to build with, cut down, or dig out!    

Could people verify if these still have the same impact in the patched version?  Some of the biggest FPS sinks should be gone entirely, now.

[ November 01, 2007: Message edited by: Sowelu ]

[Fretzy]

quote: Could people verify if these still have the same impact in the patched version? Some of the biggest FPS sinks should be gone entirely, now.

Yea... I can't make my FPS fluctuate much since the NEW new release (33a). It tends to max out around 90 for me on a 3x3 map with 7 dwarves. It drops if I add more area or more dwarves.

[uberubert]

My game tended to be kinda slow and sluggish with the new version (before this latest patch). Especially did I notice the game lagged when creatures and dwarves met in corridors (Which was fixed! yay!   )

BUT! Now with the re-release, it's much like playing the good old version, with nice speeds, no lags, no slowness whatso-ever! So, if you got fps/speed-problems, and haven't gotten the latest-latest version....
..:: Download it now! ::..
Move the save-folder to keep playing your game on your fortress! Fps improved! Crashes fixed! Wooo!

[Bien]

Try playing in window mode, it works for me!

[Mzbundifund]

My ol' compy runs a 5x5 map just fine, but too much liquid flow bothers it.  I was trying to get a 3x3 stairway through an aquifer with something like 30 constantly running screw pumps.  My FPS dropped by about 40 until I finished that endeavor.

So, like, don't play an aquifer map if your computer is old?  Or at least lay off the ridiculously fancy-shmancy pump chains.

[Shadowslasher]

Originally posted by Karlito:
In your init file change your G_FPS_CAP to about 10. This is your graphical refresh rate and it does not need to be set at 50. This speeds things up considerably.

INSANE! 35 CONSTANT TO 100 CONSTANT I LOVE YOU

[Torak]

quote:Originally posted by Shadowslasher:
<STRONG>Originally posted by Karlito:
In your init file change your G_FPS_CAP to about 10. This is your graphical refresh rate and it does not need to be set at 50. This speeds things up considerably.

INSANE! 35 CONSTANT TO 100 CONSTANT I LOVE YOU</STRONG>

It's not speeding the game up, it's just cutting off time between frames.

[Kayla]

I figured I could help out by explaining what and why these settings help out, plus add some of my own.

First off, the biggest thing that hurts my frame rate is pathfinding. Having animals run around, hurts the frame rate possibly more then having a big area. So, I usually cage all animals except a few wardogs, who I leash to ropes at keypoints in my fortress. This is because pathfinding (if I remember correctly), is done ever frame for every creature on the map. If animals are in cages, they don't have pathfinding on, thus it speeds the game up considerably.

Lowering the area is an obvious one, less things to keep in memory and process, then you have more time devoted to other things.

Temperature is a big one, Especially(!!!) if you have water or lava, as these are incredibly intensive on temperature. This is because everytime the temperature changes, I believe, it checks all the flow tiles (water, magma), and alot of the creatures for their maxinum or mininum resistances, and then deals accordingly (bursting in flames or freezing)

Having water or magma on the map, especially when you connect them to a channel and they start flowing, hurts frame rate, but this one isn't especially important. (I tend to have both a surface river and magma on my maps)

Back with the pathfinding thing, less dwarves, less pathfinding, less hurting your frame rate.

As for the whole frame rate when you go down Z-levels, I personally haven't saw this, mine seems to stabalize at around 80, regardless of whether I'm pictured on the surface, underground, or in the air.

Weather gives you an extra few FPS when turned off, and really, isn't needed at all. It makes your dwarves sadder, especially if they don't like rain or being outdoors, and so far, as far as I know, has no real disadvantages for turning it off. This probaly single-handedly jumped my framte rate by 20, with it off. No theories on why.

G_FPS, as was mentioned in an earlier post, deals with how many frames you 'see', versus how many frames are actually passing by. The standard human eye can only see about 26 frames a second, (not verified, could be off by a few), and most televisions have that frame rate in mind). 10 seems to be a bit too low for me, so I set it to 20. These seemed to help as well. This is probaly because, the less time it takes to 'render', the more time that it has to devote to pathfinding, and other things.

As for the first post, I believe Toady said he had fixed, or somewhat remedied the 'empty' or 'black' space bug.

Just for comparison purposes, the Pre-3D version ran at about 15-30FPS, which I thought was great. My current setup, runs at about 80-100 FPS, with a 6x6 area (usually around 40 Z levels), 10-15 dwarves, with a surface river and magma.

I hope this helps explain some, even if they are a bit obvious.

Kayla

Edit: Everything I said here is of my opinion, and may or may not be wrong, ignorant, or completely out of the ballpark. But experience tells me that what I said here is mostly true or as true as I can get without having the source code or Toady commenting.

[ December 19, 2007: Message edited by: Kayla ]

[Captain Goatse]

Please add

[VSYNC:NO]

and

[POPULATION_CAP:70]

Vsync is useless, and 70 dwarves are more than enough, I have every possible specialization, the Dungeon Master, eight guardsman, six military (all Mace Lords).

[veryinky]

The main tangible effect I've seen with weather is dry grass. When it rains, it turns dry grass back into green grass.

[Shades]

quote:<STRONG>The standard human eye can only see about 26 frames a second, (not verified, could be off by a few), and most televisions have that frame rate in mind). 10 seems to be a bit too low for me, so I set it to 20. These seemed to help as well. This is probaly because, the less time it takes to 'render', the more time that it has to devote to pathfinding, and other things.
</STRONG>

Everyone differs slightly but basically 30fps is 'smooth', however DF is tile based movement so the smoothness matters little, I play on 15 or 30 depending if I'm using my laptop of my desktop and only because that is how I initially set it. Don't really notice it either way.