1 FPS

[Abbittibbi]

Hi!

I am trying to play this game under linux ubuntu with proton compatibility. First it does not work on Proton above version 5. That being said, it does launch, load saved game and get me into it without problems, the rendering is stunning and the models looks beautiful.

It will not load the vulkan rendering process but works fine on openGL settings. No matter how high or how low I set all other settings, it will not go past 4FPS mainly staying at one FPS, so the game basically do not move.

I've look at some youtube, asked linux forums, asked google and even submitted the question my 3 cats comitee, no one has a solution about this, it is depressing. I have this megalomaniac size map, now in 1991, so yes, there are over 60 towns, 300+ industries, and I have well over 200 trains and over 1500 other vehicules.

My system is:
-linux ubuntu 20.04(up-to-date)
-MB: Zenith II extreme alpha
-CPU: AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3990X(128 core)
-64GB RAM
-GPU: Radeon RX6900XT(latest driver installed)

Basically the latest high tech, it should not be such a poor performance, especially with the fact that I just copied this saved game file from my windows 7 based computer, on which it is running fine, ahem around 15-18FPS...

After 6 hours of reading and tweaking, results are the exact same, 1FPS.

Can anyone help with ideas or solutions? Except of course by telling me to install windows... I am just happy not to use microsoft spying software anymore.

[Huperspace]

game is native linux compatible.
Threadripper is the wrong cpu for games that cannot use more than 4-6 cores and need "speed".

[Abbittibbi]

Originally posted by Huperspace:

game is native linux compatible

Ok, and then, what do you mean, that I should simply remove compatibility tick mark about proton?

[Huperspace]

yes

[mmmcheesywaffles]

I'm really guessing. Not tried any Distro in a few years. But in th ehope I put you on the right track [pun intended ;p ]....

Most likely cause imho is that the multi-core implementation is not optimised well enough. Naturally the Devs are more likely to have optimised what they can for Windows usage and perhaps there is a difference in the handling on your OS?

The game is , as you know, very CPU intensive and most management of the game and system I/O will be through one main core.

The only suggestion I have is that you try to reduce all other usage of that main core while you play. So, cut any I/O apps such as comms; chat; old drivers [though that probably doesn't hit Linux as hard as Windows as I think Linux only loads them AFTER they are specifically called?]

Certainly ANY improvement may confirm my suspicion. Good luck.

[Abbittibbi]

@Huperspace

Sweet, that was it, thank you very much. You are very kind answering me so quickly and with the right solution, so very much appreciated. Disabling Proton, and all compatibility tools made the trick... THE GAME WORKS FINE!!!

Now with some trials...

I did try to launch the game with vulkan rendering mode, that still does not work, give me internal error popup dialog box. In openGL mode howerver, it is working just fine, as it should, it give me a very satisfying 19FPS average with some peaks at 23-25FPS.

Now I will try with all texture graphic setting at top.

I guess I owe you a drink of some description, thank you again!

Hopefully this will also help other players. TPF2 on Linux.... YAY!!!!

BOOOO MICROSOFT(add to this a familiar insulting middle finguer motion)!

[mmmcheesywaffles]

Congrats. It would be interesting to know what difference the Proton switch actually makes.
btw my last post was delayed in posting due to a phone call, I was tempted to delete it, but it might still have some value.

[Abbittibbi]

Originally posted by mmmcheesywaffles:

Congrats. It would be interesting to know what difference the Proton switch actually makes.
btw my last post was delayed in posting due to a phone call, I was tempted to delete it, but it might still have some value.

Yes, indeed. I did notice some ''windows'' folders being installed on my linux system when I attempted to install Anno 1800 thru lutris(and wine), that did not worked fine either, the version available on lutris has no full description, so I don't know if all DLC are in with it. As I am on a satellite based poor ISP provider with limited download, I cannot risk the 30GB download without full knowledge.

However, and back to Proton, I am guessing it's emulating some parts of windows/microsoft, as some internal windows coding or files are needed to run games/softwares on linux. With it installed, it seem minimal files are requires, the downloads are quite small, average 250MB.

Nevertheless, TPF2 is now working fine without it(both proton and the windows files), so much so, I can now delete the game from my old windows based system. First game to work fully and much better on this new Linux computer. No turning back to windows...

[mmmcheesywaffles]

I decided to do a little research since I had no idea what Proton is :D. Again, I am just guessing and maybe some of the more knowledgeable readers will take something I say and
use it as a catalyst to understand and explain what is really going on. It is definitely NOT good to just be guessing on such an important issue.

Proton, per the WiKi, appears to be Valves version of a Wine type API. So it is interesting that REMOVING the compatibility causes a speed up and on the face of that it suggests your Distro is already offering some of the core functions that Proton would take on. So in effect doubling the processing time for some features. There may be other switches in your Distro that will tweak performance even more.

The file size issue needs to be treated as a secondary thing as most players will, thankfully, not have that problem. Perhaps the problem lies in a duplication of some of the I/O, with both the Distro and Proton creating caches for part of the processing of the game. Caching can really add to the CPU usage so any that can be but out should be. Cutting edge hardware often uses fiirmware caches to speed up I/O.