AOC - General Information

[Pyros]

Originally Posted by balouch

Again from official forums



Looks like it's not an isolated freak incident.

And no one said so, but everytime someone tells you there might be a driver issue with your specific system, since some people can actually run the game fine, you call them fanboys and then wave some more FRAPSed videos of how bad the game runs on your computer. Either get your ass to fix it or just shut up. And yeah it might be on their end, but if people with the same system as you can run it fine, it also means that while they probably fucked up compatibility with certain drivers, you could get the shit working. If you don't want to, no one is forcing you to play the game.

Oh and when you post something, then figure out you could add something else, edit your post, don't make consecutive posts, it's annoying.

As for vanguard, this is not vanguard at all. Vanguard ran like shit for everyone, but it ran shittier for some people, as in more crashes and more stuttering than the usual crash and stuttering. AoC can actually run fine for some people, and totally shitty for others, but still there's an improvement when some people can actually get a decent framerate.

[Flight]

In all the years I've been on FoH no-one ever made my ignore list, not even jayrebb or Sam Deathwalker. balouch is about a gnats cock away atm. Where do you put people on ignore here anyways ?

On the pre-order, at least we get to grab the names we want.



For people with technical problems, I've made a number of posts on technical specs in this thread. They may or may not help you, but worth looking up. The client is still in beta, they absolutely are running a lot of debugging code and, importantly, textures aren't compressed yet. On top of that the number of people playing just about quadrupled overnight.

If its still like this come release Funcom want shooting, but lets wait and see.


Posting this again, pay attention to what the important parts of your rig are. And its been said a fuckton of times in this thread, upgrade your memory above 2Gb, most especially if you are running Vista. If you can get on the forums check the sticky at the top of the technical forum and read through the thread :



1. Central processing unit (CPU)

medium, depending on which video card you use you will need a stronger processor. Nvidia cards draw their power greatly on the processor and thus generate extra load. ATI cards operate at maximum speed pretty much independent of the processor. In both cases the game itself requires a considerable deal of continuous processing. I used to have some clear results here but those are always from ageofconan (the game itself) + the debugger which swallows up huge resources. The mainstream thing that we are able to see is that the load is almost never divided over 4 cores (if you have a quadcore) but over either 1 or 2 cores. Mostly 2 cores but the more I test the more I start believing that it's the debugger that makes us see that while once it's gets stripped (at should be gone at releasetime) we might very well see that only 1 core is really doing the work here. Because I don't have the option of disabling that debugger and get clear readings I'm suspending all cpu testings till further notice.

The only thing I can tell you is that most of the time 1 core is up to 70-90% (pretty much always) on a Q6600 and a second core is at 50%. The other 2 cores are at rougly 10%. That's why I see mostly. Exceptionally 4 cores are used but it might be the debugger using them under Vista instead of the game and it's engine. I expect the cpu load to be less at releasetime when the debugger is gone


2. Random access Memory (RAM)

The amount of memory installed in your computer is absolutely critical to running this game smooth. The game itself has been developped as a 32-bit executable with LA (large address awareness) enabled. What does this mean? 32-bit executables are by design restricted to 2GB per running process on a 32bit OS. (ageofconan32.exe = 1 process = the whole game) As you zone to the inn or other zones, the executable size in memory will try to cache all this information (= keep it loaded in memory in the form of ageofconan32.exe growing in memory usage size) to give you a smoother gaming experience. I have noticed that the "working set" of the executable grows to as large as 2.6GB (since latest checkup), this is how much of your physically present RAM is being used by the game. If you don't have that amount of free ram BEFORE starting up the game, your game will slow down after zoning enough times and slow down even further over time until you restart it to make the game use less memory again. For this reason you need under XP at least 2.5GB in your computer to run this game smooth and under Vista at least 3GB. Aside from the physical usage there's also the virtual size (the actual size of the process) which I have seen to grow as large as about 2.9GB after zoning alot. It used to be up to 3.5GB in betaclients before 14april but that is gone.

note: on a default 32-bit windows XP or Vista for that matter, no processes are allowed to grow over 2GB even though the maximum limit of a 32-bit process is 4GB per process. The game will simply crash when it reaches that size unless you make modifications. (you may be experiencing this right now). If and let me stress that only IF you have 3GB or more (4GB preferably) you can configure your Vista or windows XP installation to allow processes to grow over 2GB (at the cost of decreasing your OS's reserved kernel mem however...) so they no longer crash but instead run smoother. This change may be better OR worse for you. On page 4 (post 73) I explain how and why. Do this at your own risk and NEVER if you don't have 4GB of memory in your computer installed. Windows XP 64-bit and Vista 64-bit are by default enabled to allow up to 4GB for any 32-bit process do this so they do not require changes and your executable will not crash when it reaches 2GB on such an OS. Just make sure you have 3GB or more in your computer

note: 4GB is the ideal amount needed to run this smooth along with whatever other stuff you run on your OS (services, background apps, the OS memory itself) Vista will even use the extra memory to help cache other stuff. I have 8 and beyond 4GB you do not notice much more improvement in speed and smoothness so 8GB is NOT necessary for running ONLY this game while having all other apps closed. However having 8GB will help cache other stuff under Vista as well as allow you to simultaneously run a bunch of other windows programs. This is luxury however, not a must have. 3GB is must have minimum for smooth AOC gaming and 2GB means running the game at decreased performance. This is inevitable

note: the speed of the memory is completely trivial when compared to the actual amount of memory.Having e.g 1066 Mhz mem instead of 667Mhz will only yield a 1-3% memory read speed increase which you don't even feel or notice at all ingame

note: although increasing your RAM from 2GB to 3GB is in essence not a direct increase in fps but instead makes the game play and loading/zoning feel alot smoother, it should be noted however that if you lack alot of RAM your FPS will be affected through stuttering etc. Running the game with 1GB e.g will give such problematic play (enough to feel 'unplayable') Having 2GB is therefore a bare minimum for running at all while 3GB is the minimum for running smooth. 4GB is a good standard. More memory with Vista 64 gives you better HD access caching

note: Any 32-bit executable is by design limited to a max of 4GB physical memory usage and a non-modified 32-bit OS further limits it down to 2GB. If the 32-bit executable is marked for "largeaddressaware" (= allowed to grow to 4GB instead of 2GB) and the 32-bit operating system is set to allow largeaddressaware-processes to grow to 3GB instead of 2GB in mem size, then the executable can grow a bit bigger up to 3GB at a cost. (this is the reason in the first place while all 32-bit OS's further limit down all 32-bit processes to use a maximum of 2GB: because the OS itself can only address 4GB in total and wants to reserve 2GB for it's own (=kernel) operations and play it thus safe) For this reason the ideal situation is to have 6GB or more mem in your computer and have Vista 64-bit as OS. It safely has 2GB for itself and still 4GB free to let the 32-bit executable grow to it's maximum so the game feels like one big smooth train

3. Graphics processing unit (GPU)

Critical impact!! This game uses pretty advanced graphics that are at or a bit ahead of it's time. This allows for a visually stunning game under ideal circumstances with future hardware. I have been able to run at 1900*1200 at high graphic settings in a quite smooth way using the 8800GT. A retest with 2 of those in SLI showed that sli does not make any difference in the current game client. Recommended however is a latest gen of graph card for smooth play (nvidia 8800series or ati 3XXX series and up) The graphics card therefore is well worth your money for this game, more than buying the latest processor in any case. The raw clock speed is what makes or breaks fps currently. SLI does NOT work currently! Hope they will fix it soon so I can update this section. The game uses huge textures. Upon measuring videocardmemory usage I noticed that outdoors 512MB is saturated all the time on resolutions 1600*1200 and up. Get 768 or more memory on the card if you can.

note: as of today the game still has some technical issues that cause extreme drops in fps. All players are subject to this regardless their vid card (I talked to many ingame) Even with 2*8800 in sli running at low settings in the lowest resolution you still have this so it's not solvable by hardware. How bad is it ? Well it's like this: you stand still in a high graphs environment and notice 25-65 fps. As soon as you start sprinting or doing a 360° mouselook you may experience insane drops to below 1fps (= extreme stuttering) for a few sec due to the fact of missing precompiled shaders in the shaders cache database. EDIT: as of the april 19 build we now have a solution for this problem!! On page 6 (post 116) I explain why it happens and how to fix the stuttering yourself.

note: not all graphic cards appear to be "well compatible" with AOC. For example the latest badass 9800x2 series are known to give you trouble and low performance in many cases most probably due to bad driver support. all 8800series are rocksolid choices for this game as long as they have 512MB ram on them as an absolute minimum. Don't use a card with less memory !! All latest gen ATI cards such as 29XX and 3XXX series appear to be doing well

note: since 22 april and beyond, more GPU hungry stuff has been enabled in the beta-client. Therefore, as of now the sky is the limit since there is no longer any setup that can run the game at max settings. It is however possible with the latest gen hardware to achieve a framerate of 25-50 all the time without having to disable the game's beauty. I plan to implement a software tweak guide at releasetime once the video options are final (they keep changing currently in the betaclient)

4. The disc subsystem (HD or a RAID of HD's)

important and severly underestimated. This component does not increase your fps in any way (at least not to a noticeable degree) but DOES effect exclusively ALL ZONING experiences which is pretty much from launching the game to going in and out of zones nonstop (in tortage e.g) The sky is the limit here since the game dir is over 24GB as it is today and parts of that are being loaded into memory as you zone. I have tested the game while running it off a latest generation 7200RPM harddrive (samsung 400GB) and later on a RAID 0 of two WD Raptor 10000RPM disks. My god the difference is day and night. With the single 7200RPM disk the loading screens take double the time and I can listen to up to an entire song while zoning into the game. On the raid system I could only hear the part of the women with the high voice and I never hear the rest of that song because I'm already ingame. This feels so good. If I had the money I would buy a 32GB HyperOS hyperdrive to run the game on because it would be blazing fast then no doubt. I can only imagine how good that must feel but I'm already very happy with the raid0 system. Adding more than 2 drives to the raid0 made a further improvement in loading times but only marginal like 10% (not worth it imho) For smooth experience ofc you have no data or anything else running off your game disk or raid system except the game and maybe the OS (peferably even only the game itself and nothingelse)


tips and tricks to run the game smooth(er):

1. Turn off "bloom" in advanced graphics options and set shadows to "from characters only". This may almost double your fps if it was enabled before
2. (optionally) turn off AA (4-25 fps gain on average). AntiAliasing= a GPU hungry technique to improve the visual quality of a game even further
3. Run the game off a seperate fast disk or raid system (where you only install the game and put no other data or programs) This noticeably helps the loading times during zoning and launching the game
4. close all other running programs and antivirus before playing AOC and defragment at least twice a week. Use simpleconfig.exe in your gamedir to perform a compression while you sleep (takes ages!)
5. Run the game fullscreen!
7. Backup your gamedir before and after every patch
8. Remove the stuttering (page 6 post 116)

[balouch]

I love how people talk about their ignore list, like I give a shit if you your tampon isn't strong enough to deal with what I post.

OH and stop posting your noob guide. Everyone knows that shit already.

[Flight]

Note the advice about spending a few bucks to get your memory above 2Gig, the load times - optimize your hard drive - and for fuck sake use a GFX card with a MINIMUM of 512 Meg; I'm pretty sure most of the ATI 1950 pros have 256 meg so therein may lie balouchs problem. Might want to underline that in his fucking noob guide.



Seriously, how do I put this fuckwit on ignore ? Better still, can someone ban the nugget. The guy makes Jayrebb sound like Henry Kissinger.

[balouch]

Learn to read I posted twice I have 4 gigs RAM.

And if you can't figure out how to put someone on ignore then STFU about making computer guides. Ty in advance.

[Inconsiderable]

Thanks for that wall of helpful text. Here, let me help you in return:

[balouch]

That might help him.

Maybe you should write a 4 page fucking memo to him and fill it with bullshit about PC basics that every idiot who has had a PC longer than a year already knows.

[balouch]

More from official boards

Specs:
C2D E6300@2,53Ghz
8800GTS 640
4G DDR2 667
Vista x64 Ult

From what i've been playing around the graphics debug mode(ctrl+~) I found that disabling the depth pass gives me a 3x increase of fps in Tortage. Disabling soft particles brings out all the particles that im not seeing.

For some reason all shadows seem to bug more or less.

I've tried drivers 175.12, 174.53 and Im now using 169.25 which someone said here in the forums that they should run fine :/

You'll lose some GUI when disabling the depth pass but gain 3x fps

edit: oh yeah and my fps previously was something between 8-10 in Tortage now 30+

Lol, so you have to turn off shadows and other settings to barely hit 30+ FPS with an 8800 GTS and 4 Gigs of RAM?

Yeah, sounds like a wonderful engine to me.

[Twobit Whore]

If anyone here has access to the beta boards you would damn well know how many threads there are titled 'Game is unplayable' or something similar, describing people with decent systems having similar issues. This is not an isolated incident and every retaliatory post just cements the feeling of Vanguard deja-vu.

Hell, all you have to do is log in and read chat. It's nothing but 'man this runs like ass' 'how do i climb' 'runs great for me I have XXX xXXxX XXx XXXX XxX XXXX spam of computer parts and I get 50 fps by the log near that fire over by that dude.' 'Well I have such and such and my performance is bad' 'ITS BETA OMG' Repeat ad nauseum.

[Kato Danzo]

Originally Posted by Flight

In all the years I've been on FoH no-one ever made my ignore list, not even jayrebb or Sam Deathwalker. balouch is about a gnats cock away atm. Where do you put people on ignore here anyways ?

I've got around 30 people on ignore at the moment; I guess that makes me a bad person. ;(

[Greyskye]

Um, yeah, anyway. Running this on a:

amd 3800x2
XP Home
2gb avg. ddr2 ram
hitachi 250gb hd
7600gt
on-board sound
1280x1024

So far, it's a decent MMO in my opinion. I'm not in love with the button-mashing, but after 4 years as a Bard eh, okay. The game doesn't manage to really break any barriers with this system, but it's interesting enough I think to stick with.

Quests up to lvl 10 seem plentiful but as mentioned many times earlier, one starting area will get old.

Speaking of old, load times on my rig are a bit annoying. I'm sure part of that is on my end, but while my system isn't that good, it's not too far off what alot of folks have I'd wager.

Overall I like the graphics. Some of the character animations are a bit...awkward but I think they did a good job of capturing a jungle feel around Tortage which is the only area I've seen in-game. I'm toying with the idea of grabbing a 9600gt with my tax refund. I think that might be enough of an upgrade for this. And I range from 8fps-30ps in-game at the default medium settings.

The last new MMO I played was LotRO and this actually reminds me of that game somewhat. I can see myself enjoying it for a couple months, but unless the high-end is ready both pvp and pve I'll probably move on. I think Funcom would have been well-served to follow LotRO's lifetime subscription deal. I think this game could use an extra cash infusion upfront to help it long-term.

Just my 2cp.

[Ashes Emberblade]

Originally Posted by balouch

More from official boards



Lol, so you have to turn off shadows and other settings to barely hit 30+ FPS with an 8800 GTS and 4 Gigs of RAM?

Yeah, sounds like a wonderful engine to me.

I have pretty much the same system and average 40 fps on high. My load times are atrocious, though. Easily 10 minute load from character select into character creation, Tortage, etc.

[balouch]

Originally Posted by Ashes Emberblade

I have pretty much the same system and average 40 fps on high. My load times are atrocious, though. Easily 10 minute load from character select into character creation, Tortage, etc.

If it makes you feel better, you're not alone:

INCREDIBLY Slow Loading

[Dom Devore]

I don't know what people are bitching about. I'm playing at 1680x1050 with everything maxed except AA which is at 2x, AF is at 8x. I get a solid 30 fps.

8800 GTS 320mb
C2D 6300 Oc'd to 3ghz
2 Gigs of ram

[Ashes Emberblade]

Originally Posted by balouch

If it makes you feel better, you're not alone:

INCREDIBLY Slow Loading

Actually I'm pretty sure most of my problem stems from the fact I'm using an ancient ATA 133 HD that hasn't been defragged in a year.

=p

P.S. You're obsessing.