Latency vs. Low FPS: Improve Performance for Chivalry

A guide to improving game performance by tweaking network and graphics settings.

Intro

Many players suffer from high latency, packetloss or low framerate. This guide will help you adjust your system to run the game more smoothly.

For a basic breakdown on what Lag is rather than low fps, this webcomic shows an excellent summary.

Solutions for PC & Linux are below. If you use a console;

• your max framerate is 30 FPS
  
• Your network is limited by XBL or PSN
  
• Use the dedicated Server Region option at the bottom of the Mode Select Screen to ensure you are playing within your own region; this will improve your ping greatly

Latency

Chivalry and Real-Time Swings

Chivalry uses a real-time swing system that is very sensitive to latency (ping)[en.wikipedia.org] and packetloss[en.wikipedia.org]. Most other games tend to use a hit-scan system with animations added to make it look nice.

High latency or packetloss in Chivalry will result in getting hit when it looks like the opponent is not swinging at you or you'll see people teleporting short or long distances around the map.

Acceptable latency/ping is less than 100.
You can view this on the Scoreboard by holding Tab (or on the Playerlist)

Acceptable packetloss is less than 3, but is ideally 0.
You can view this on the in-game Player List (press Escape > Playerlist)

Expect to get complaints and possibly Votekicked out of the match if your latency and packetloss go above these values.

Using a cable instead of Wifi will significantly reduce your packetloss and vastly improve your gameplay experience.

If your issue is teleporting opponents or people complaining/votekicking you because of high ping;

• Set your Chivalry Server filter to show servers that are <100 ms; You really need less than 100 for this game
  
• Check that nobody in your house is streaming/downloading & bribe them to stop if they are
  
• Set your router to prioritize your computer [www.howtogeek.com](not all routers are capable)
  
• Set a bandwidth limit on your family/roomate's devices/applications when they're not looking (don't make it too low or they'll get suspicious)
  
• Is your Wifi slow because all your neighbours are on the same channel as you? Change your router's wifi channel[www.howtogeek.com]. Stop playing on Wifi!
  
• Use a cable instead of Wifi and your router will usually prioritize it automatically. Stop playing on Wifi!
  
• Turn off your phone's Wifi; it may be downloading something in the background
  
• Tell Windows not to use automatic updates; change it to ask you before it downloads and updates[www.google.ca]
  
• Change Steam settings not to allow background downloads
  
• Allow Port Forwarding for Chivalry[portforward.com]

If your issue is endless lag where everyone runs in place after you join a server, please see this thread for a solution.

Tips from Retsnom, a long-time Chivalry player;

"Don't play on wireless. Wireless it the #1 reason for packet loss for most players, it also increases ping and other effects. Go and get 50ft network cable for like $30 or what ever length you need. It will be pre-ended and you can easily hide the cable between the baseboard and the carpet by tucking it between or if you have a handy friend you can actually run it through the walls and put in a plate to hide the holes.
If you are on wired then go to http://www.speedguide.net/ and run the tpc analyzer and you can use the tcp optimizer to make adjustments."

Note: The above are suggestions for issues that may be within your control; there is little you can do to affect your region's infrastructure or capabilities of your Internet Service Provider.

About Chivalry: Medieval Warfare

MINIMUM System Requirements:

OS: Windows XP
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz or AMD Athlon X2 2.7 GHz (a dual-core CPU is required)
Memory: 2 GB RAM
Graphics: ATI Radeon 3870 or higher, Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT or higher. 512MB VRAM.
DirectX®: 9.0c
Hard Drive: 7 GB HD space
Other Requirements: Broadband Internet connection
Supported controls:: Keyboard + Mouse, or Xbox 360 controller, Xbox One controller, or compatible XInput controller

Chivalry is a game developed on Unreal Engine 3. It runs on 2 CPU cores and the majority of its processes run on only one of those cores rather than balancing between multiple cores. For this reason, an older CPU with fewer cores and a higher clock speed will outperform a current CPU with many cores running at a lower speed. If you've got a game like Battlefield or CS:GO that "runs fine" on your system, you may experience problems with Chivalry because Chivalry does not use all of your processor cores like your newer games do.

Low FPS - General & PC

If your issue is that your game feels choppy and slow to respond, you likely have low FPS.

Your target FPS is 60. If you have a High Framerate Monitor (120Hz or 144Hz), your target is 120 (max in-game is 120).

A note on Macs; Many Macs are intended as a multimedia platform rather than a gaming machine. These likely use built-in graphics processors that may not powerful enough to game effectively with. The general solutions below for tweaking in-game graphics options or .ini files should be the same for Mac as it is for PC or Linux, but I do not own a Mac machine to compare with.

Solutions for Low FPS

• Check your framerate in-game by using a console command; press ~ (located beside the 1 key), then type STAT FPS, then hit Enter
  • Green values are good, red is bad
  
  
• Use a better computer; check your performance here[www.systemrequirementslab.com] or see below to make your computer perform better
  
  
• Ensure the game is using your actual video card instead of a motherboard's onboard video processor (link is for NVIDIA, but you can search for your card)

If you've got two video cards, you should have an application that came with your dedicated card (usually NVidia or AMD/Radeon). Games will usually launch using the dedicated graphics card, but sometimes it doesn't recognize a game. The card's control application will let often you choose which programs use it. Try reading your card's user manual for more details on how to do this with a specific video card; there's way more cards out there than I can possibly cover in this guide.

The built-in video processor on the motherboard will probably say "Intel Inline Graphics" or something similar, and it's mostly meant for applications that have light-weight video requirements (usually operating systems, web browsers, word processing, etc.).

Disabling video recording software (Radeon Rptr, Open Broadcaster Software (OBS), or Fraps) should improve your FPS.

The ParkControl utility[bitsum.com] may improve system performance. Do not use ParkControl if your computer is already prone to overheating.

• Clean dust out of your computer's housing; this is causing your system to overheat and slows down performance
  
  
• Reduce your Ragdoll count in the Configuration - Video menu; drop it down to 2 or 3 for better performance
  
  
• Turn off Bloom, Vignette, Vertical Synch, Light Shafts, Depth of Field, and Motion Blur settings
  
  • Vignette will reset to On unless you modify the config file; Locate the UDKSettings.ini file under C:\User\Libraries\Documents\My Games\ChivalryMedievalWarfare\UDKGame\Config and change bEnableVignette=True to False, then Save the file
  
  
• Reduce your overall settings to medium, low or off (experiment to find the best framerate for your system)
  
  
• Reduce your video resolution (to avoid stretched image, use the same aspect ratio your current monitor uses[en.wikipedia.org])
  
  
  • You may have to create a new display resolution for the game to detect it; use your graphics card's control application to create a custom video resolution (as stated above, use the same aspect ratio as your maximum resolution for best results)
    
  • Example: 1920x1080 (HD) is the same aspect ratio as 1600x900, 1366x768, or1280x720
  
  
• If you're still having trouble, you can edit your configuration files for better performance;follow this guideline for best results[pcgamingwiki.com]
  
  An example to set your FPS to 120 In the UDKEngine.ini File:
  
  

  bSmoothFrameRate=TRUE
  MinSmoothedFrameRate=8
  MaxSmoothedFrameRate=120

  
  NOTE: if trying to uncap your FPS to 90 or 120, you must turn off Vertical Sync if your monitor is only 60Hz. If your monitor is 144 Hz, the game limits you to 120 or 90 FPS (varies by game mode). You can further control your monitor refresh rate with a 3rd party program[www.blurbusters.com].
  
  
• Set your SSAOQuality[en.wikipedia.org] to 0 in the UDKSystemSettings.ini file, but you must set the file to Read Only when you are finished.
  
  
• You can also try the Runescape Settings for Chivalry[pastebin.com]. If the first set of .ini files does not work, try this set[pastebin.com]. I highly recommend you back up your .ini files prior to attempting this and double-check your keybinds afterwards. This option should work for all platforms.
  
  
• Tibia offers a solution similar to Runescape, but even lower graphics. I highly recommend you back up your .ini files prior to attempting this. This option should work for all platforms.
  NOTE: Runescape and Tibia modes crash the game after a map change; try leaving the match and rejoining after the map changes.
  FURTHER NOTE: Chivalry has had minimum settings applied to some of the adjustments made in Runescape/Tibia modes and it will no longer allow going below some values. These config files will still work, but the end result will not look exactly like the screenshots you may have seen from before June of 2016.
  
  
• Some game maps are not optimized and your frames may be reduced (large maps or maps with lots of water will likely affect this)
  
• Large numbers of players on-screen may also cause dropped frames; playing on servers with higher than 24 players may cause framerate issues (Reddit and F|C servers typically have 32 or 40 player limits)
  
  
• NVidia card users with only one monitor may experience a slight performance improvement by changing to single display performance mode
  
  
• Reducing the number of Audio Channels in the Configuration > Audio menu can reduce some of the processor load on the CPU and may give a slight improvement on FPS

Low FPS - Linux

Note: I do not run a Linux system; the following are solutions from other players.

From /u/Kevinismus on /r/ChivalryGame;
I'd like to add a solution for my fellow Linux-users who have got NVIDIA graphics cards:
After turning down the graphics quality in Chivalry's menu (including the resolution), you may notice that the changes are not applied (i.e. there is no difference in terms of frame rate). In order to fix this problem, you have to set your system's display resolution manually (for example from 1920x1080 to 1280x720) via NVIDIA X Server Settings. Afterwards, you can start Chivalry, recheck the graphics settings and enjoy the game.
FYI: I'm using Linux Mint 17 Xfce (x64).

From CuddlyNeedle;
Note: This guide is for Nvidia cards, and this works for other games except for step #5.
Hello, one other Linux gamer. I use Linux Mint 17.1 64-bit with the Cinnamon desktop. With these settings I manage 120fps with high settings on linux. There is almost no difference from Windows (Maybe the frames are a little less stable). Don't believe? 101 buttery frames in the SS on Linux. I swear.
http://i.imgur.com/oXGNmLM.jpg
Download proprietary GPU drivers.
a. open start menu
b. search Driver Manager
c. Open
d. Choose your GPU driver (Mine is nvidia-331, it will probably say recommended) http://i.imgur.com/ZnOUCLx.png
Download CompizConfig Settings Manager
a. open start menu
b. search software manager
c. open
d. enter password
e. search Compiz
f. install all that is in these two screenshots
http://i.imgur.com/fiZDLfl.png
http://i.imgur.com/xlqtIRM.png
Edit proprietary GPU settings (Only for Nvidia, sorry AMD users!)
a. open start menu
b. search nvidia x server settings
c. open
d. under X Screen 0, go to OpenGL settings
e. Untick Sync to VBlank (So it is inactive) http://i.imgur.com/r7asbpc.png
f. quit
Edit CompizConfig Settings Manager
a. open start menu
b. search CompizConfig Settings Manager
c. Click ok to the warning
d. Click composite plugin http://i.imgur.com/XkHi0UP.png
e. Tick Undirect Fullscreen Windows (So it is active)
f. Press back
g. Click opengl plugin http://i.imgur.com/5vAjYmm.png
h. Make sure sync to vblank is unticked
i. exit
Unlock FPS (Different for Linux users)
a. Open steam library
b. Right click Chivalry Medieval Warfare
c. Properties
d. Local Files
e. Browse Local Files
f. Go to UDKGame folder
g. Go to Config folder
h. Open defaultengine.ini with any text editor
i. Copy these three commands under [Engine.Engine] http://i.imgur.com/T2w1iSm.png
bSmoothFrameRate=TRUE

MinSmoothedFrameRate=0

MaxSmoothedFrameRate=120
j. Save

Note to AMD users, I do not know if you have the same problem as Nvidia users do. Install your proprietary GPU drivers, and try to find the option to turn Sync to VBlank off. This setting is in CompizConfig Settings Manager, but there is also that setting in Nvidia's X server settings. Also enable Undirect Fullscreen Windows in Compiz. You can use this guide as sort of an outline to see if this helps you.
Extra tidbit of information, the default GPU driver is nouveau on Linux. This is an open source video driver. While this is good for everyday use, it is not good for gaming. This is why we download proprietary drivers from your GPU's website.

Update courtesy of FrankyFire:

With the release of Ubuntu 16.04 the open source driver is developed by AMD. The proprietary catalyst driver will not work with Ubuntu 16.04 anymore. Also the new driver works better than the "OLD" (it will not be developed anymore) proprietary driver. AMD users should install radeonsi or update to ubuntu 16.04 (with the update it will automatically install radeonsi and remove the old fglrx).

Low FPS - Mac

I do not have a Mac or pretend to know much about them.

Macs do not have what would be considered a gaming GPU; most are media-oriented and are considered underpowered by PC Gaming standards

The file tweaks listed in the PC section above should work as long as you have access to the Mac files.

To find your local files:

Open Steam > Right Click Chivalry > Properties > Local Files > Browse Local Files
You should now be in Chiv install directory. Go to /UDKGame/Config/.

The original instructions were from a player who posted some suggestions on reddit.

Outro

I hope this helps out someone; I had to tweak quite a bit to hit 60FPS, but my gameplay and overall experience improved immediately.

R


*Edited multiple times for formatting. Updated Runescape and Tibia links & notes Sept 2015. Added ParkControl utility, computer cleaning vid and cleaned up formatting Oct 2015.
Updated with system requirements and architecture notes Feb 2016.

[ken oh�����������������]

does any other linux user know how to fix packet loss? i only have it in this game

[Nanini Linux]

it seems way better now under linux with amdgpu driver... I will test more

[P4TRYOT]

Its nice to know, you have troble to play at the game ? Ho! buy a new pc.

[Reiður]

@n.i.c.k92 we use Steam's Refund system for refunds.

[lvdsvl]

MW runs perfectly smooth while DW stutters like hell. i really want my money back for the dlc

[[DBH].Whismerhill.{SSgt}]

a new information for those with performance issues. the tutorial is apparently not a good place to test performance particularly you may observe a Framerate drop when dismembering, it's apparently normal see thread : http://steamcommunity.com/app/219640/discussions/0/343787920139175625/

[Reiður]

@FrankyFire; thanks! Added your comment.

[FrankyFire]

Please update the comment in the Linux section for AMD users at the end. With the release of Ubuntu 16.04 the open source driver is developed by AMD. The proprietary catalyst driver will not work with Ubuntu 16.04 anymore. Also the new driver works better than the "OLD" (it will not be developed anymore) proprietary driver. AMD users should install radeonsi or update to ubuntu 16.04 (with the update it will automatically install radeonsi and remove the old fglrx).

[Reiður]

Added a section for how to find your Chivalry files on Mac. The file tweaks in the PC section should work for Mac as long as you find the correct files.

[Reiður]

Fixed up some formatting; should make it a little easier to read.