Possible stutter fix (for rented COOP servers).

[TokaiTele]

So, after a few hours of testing on my server today I'm fairly confident that we have found the cause of the stutter, at least on COOP Custom servers.

The stutter seems to be caused by the bots spawning in. We changed the respawn dpr to 1.0, this means no bots spawn between points (RespawnDPR=1.0). To check if we still get stuttering, and hey presto, no stuttering! Now obviously it is too early to tell if this is a proper solution. I also set the maximum bots to 40 because having no bots spawn in between points make the game too easy. I shall tweak other bot settings to make the individual bots harder, but I'm fairly confident that this is a fix, at least for my server. I asked if people who had stuttering before are no longer experiencing it and they confirmed that it worked for them.

So, if anybody has a COOP server and is willing to corroborate my findings to help recreate this possible fix then please let me know your results.

You do still get stuttering, but this is only when a point is capped/destroyed. The bots spawn in and cause stuttering.

I'm apprehensive to say that this is a conclusive fix but it certainly points in the direction of the bots (assets) loading in.

[Ass Grenadier]

I've noticed similar problems in local play. Game would hiccup on each objective clear, which is likely to be caused by spawn wave.

[Mox <<AD>>]

We haven't had any noticeable problems like this... What kind of hardware do your host run your server on?

[TokaiTele]

Opprinnelig skrevet av Mox <<AD>>:

We haven't had any problems like this... What kind of hardware do your host run your server on?

Well, I'm not sure if the problem is specific to rented server hardware, although it could be.

These are my settings for my server (rented from GTX Gaming):
Location: London, UK (Instant Setup)
DDoS Protection: Up To 1Gbps (FREE)
Hard Disk: SSD Enterprise Drive (Included)
CPU Clock Speed: 3.8Ghz (Included)
Dedicated IP Address: Yes
CPU Priority: Normal CPU Priority
SSD Hard Drives: Yes
VIP Ticket Priority Support: Normal Fast Support Please
Priority Support: No


I might ramp up the cpu priority and clock speed - extra cash!! But I'm not sure if these settings and/or the server hardware is the culprit. I could be wrong though.

[Mox <<AD>>]

Opprinnelig skrevet av TokaiTele:

These are my settings for my server (rented from GTX Gaming):
Location: London, UK (Instant Setup)
DDoS Protection: Up To 1Gbps (FREE)
Hard Disk: SSD Enterprise Drive (Included)
CPU Clock Speed: 3.8Ghz (Included)
Dedicated IP Address: Yes
CPU Priority: Normal CPU Priority
SSD Hard Drives: Yes
VIP Ticket Priority Support: Normal Fast Support Please
Priority Support: No


I might ramp up the cpu priority and clock speed - extra cash!! But I'm not sure if these settings and/or the server hardware is the culprit. I could be wrong though.

Some low price server hosting companies are running on piddly atom cpus that just aren't up for the task. That doesn't seem to be the case with these guys but Holy hell those prices are painful.... Are you paying £100+/month for hosting?

[tarAn-OD]

On a vanilla server the maximum bot is only 12 so this is why nwi perhaps are not seeing this.

this is far too easy if you want a hardcore setting, so most community servers increase this to something between 20 and 30, greater the number the greater the stutter, all players in the above test noticed stutter, so its not local.. when no bots spawn was set the stutter was only as points were capped or counter attacks were triggered

[TokaiTele]

No mate. £5.70 per month (10 player slots, obviously a pvp server will be more expensive) I'm fairly confident that it is not the server but the bots spawning.

[Mox <<AD>>]

Opprinnelig skrevet av TokaiTele:

No mate. £5.70 per month. I'm fairly confident that it is not the server but the bots spawning.

Ah... They don't specify how many servers are sharing the CPU though... But yeah 40 bots will likely cause a bit of hickup but I'm fairly certain that the level of the impact is related to how many resources is available to you.

[TokaiTele]

Opprinnelig skrevet av Mox <<AD>>:

Opprinnelig skrevet av TokaiTele:

No mate. £5.70 per month. I'm fairly confident that it is not the server but the bots spawning.

Ah... They don't specify how many servers are sharing the CPU though... But yeah 40 bots will likely cause a bit of hickup but I'm fairly certain that the level of the impact is related to how many resources is available to you.

I think that maybe we are talking at cross-purposes. The server runs fine. No problems at all. Now, when the bots spawn in, say 10 bots, some people experience stutter client-side. If I increase the bot spawn to 40 bots the stutter is much greater. I think it might be the asset loading rather than the server hardware.

So, if for instance, I put the bot respawn to 0.1 (that means the bots spawn in more frequently when they are shot) the stutter is present, but only minor. If I increase the dpr to (0.7) the stutter is much greater.

[[57th] AngryHatter]

It's CPU usage that causes our servers to stutter. It goes from less than 5% usage to 90% and then we all stutter.

[Konrad]

It's a balance between the spawns and the amount of server resources available. It can be addressed by reducing spawns or increasing resources.

[TokaiTele]

Opprinnelig skrevet av Konrad:

It's a balance between the spawns and the amount of server resources available. It can be addressed by reducing spawns or increasing resources.

Ok I'll look into that. Although, many people are suffering from stutter and that is the reason I have posted this thread. It might help point the devs in the right direction.

[TokaiTele]

Opprinnelig skrevet av 57th AngryHatter:

It's CPU usage that causes our servers to stutter. It goes from less than 5% usage to 90% and then we all stutter.

That's interesting, I shall see if I can monitor the cpu usage.

[=BB= Pudfark]

Opprinnelig skrevet av Mox <<AD>>:

We haven't had any noticeable problems like this... What kind of hardware do your host run your server on?

Trying to be helpful.....I didn't have stuttering on my server either. I ran and will run again in the near future my server which is a AMD APU 7870 @ 4.1ghz, 16 gig of 1800 RAM and IGFX onboard. All drives are SSD. The only stuttering encountered was client side to include me at one time and some of my group. All of that has been fixed by each of us.

When I rented a Sandstorm server it did stutter back in the middle of December. So, I had the provider, at additional cost, allocate more of the server resources to me and only after that expereinced stutter client side. Seems it was worth it? Then found out content and control server side was going to be delayed and I shut that server down.

Hope this helps some?

[tarAn-OD]

cpu usage is fine, with no spikes, a simple fix for nwi would be to stagger the bot spawns..and might improve gameplay as all bots spwaning in one mass is like lemmings to the slaughter.

we did try dpr. to 0.1 and 10 bots so bots spawned more regularly, which showed less stutter but you could still see it.

[TokaiTele]

I've monitored my server cpu usage and it never goes above 15%. What would be helpful is if somebody who rents a server, and is suffering from stutter, could turn off the bot spawn between points. Just to verify if my findings are correct or not. I know this is a bit of a pain, but a quick 10 min session should be sufficient.