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Railworks performance

Unread postPosted: Wed May 30, 2012 10:28 am
by SCLJim
Today I was testing my cars and noticed a super slight stutter or hesitation in performance. Mostly when viewing a train going by, stationary camera, at a 90 degree angle. Thinking it was my own cars, I looked at other rolling stock and noticed the same effect. I then checked my FPS and things were rolling along at 85 fps during the stutter. Is this just a common quirk for Railworks?

Re: Railworks performance

Unread postPosted: Wed May 30, 2012 12:55 pm
by arizonachris
Yes, it is, which is why a while back, RSC introduced the "FPS Lock" I keep mine set at 30 frames, keeps things nice and smooth (even tho sometimes it's under 14 frames !**conf**! )

Re: Railworks performance

Unread postPosted: Wed May 30, 2012 1:02 pm
by PamBrooker
Its called a micro stutter and is sen all the time in fsx.. The FPS lock will help most people, but if it doesnt there are other things that can be done as well. A quick search on the web will give you tons of information..
Pam

Re: Railworks performance

Unread postPosted: Wed May 30, 2012 1:02 pm
by Machinist
arizonachris wrote:Yes, it is, which is why a while back, RSC introduced the "FPS Lock" I keep mine set at 30 frames, keeps things nice and smooth (even tho sometimes it's under 14 frames !**conf**! )

Tweaking the settings in game, especially the Shader Quality to Low (I have an average rig) I've been playing quite smooth even in the range of 10-14fps.

Re: Railworks performance

Unread postPosted: Wed May 30, 2012 1:22 pm
by SCLJim
Thanks for the info everyone. To be honest, I've barely played the game except for testing the rolling stock I've been working on. So after noticing the issue I wanted to make sure it wasn't something in my models. I'll do a little more research and see if I cant tweak the performance.

Thanks again!

Re: Railworks performance

Unread postPosted: Wed May 30, 2012 2:57 pm
by SCLALINE
its probably not your models, try turning down the anti-aliasing as well

Re: Railworks performance

Unread postPosted: Wed May 30, 2012 3:46 pm
by SCLJim
SCLALINE wrote:its probably not your models, try turning down the anti-aliasing as well


Yeah I put a a lock on at 60 fps and it seemed to help a lot.

Re: Railworks performance

Unread postPosted: Wed May 30, 2012 3:48 pm
by BNSF650
How do you lock it?

Re: Railworks performance

Unread postPosted: Wed May 30, 2012 4:20 pm
by SCLJim
On the start screen go to 'settings' then on the far right side, under command line options there will be options to lock at 30 and 60 fps.

Re: Railworks performance

Unread postPosted: Wed May 30, 2012 6:00 pm
by BNSF650
Is this in the game itself?

Re: Railworks performance

Unread postPosted: Wed May 30, 2012 6:12 pm
by arizonachris
BNSF650 wrote:Is this in the game itself?


There are several tick boxes in the first settings screens to lock frames at either 30 or 60 frames.

Re: Railworks performance

Unread postPosted: Wed May 30, 2012 6:57 pm
by Machinist
Thre is also a pre-load Steam command, so you don't need to check boxes on splash screen everytime you start TS2012:
On Steam | Library | Installed Games list (to the left of screen) | right click on Train Simulator 2012 | left click Properties | General tab | Set launch options (for advanced users only! stated by Steam on the screen!)
Code: Select all
-FPSLimit=30

As stated in another thread, even you if you have a high-end machine is advisable to set it to 25 (instead 30) which is more than enough for "normal" human eyes (mind in fact) and also to assure more smoothness in eventually heavy areas on routes.
Doc.

Re: Railworks performance

Unread postPosted: Wed May 30, 2012 10:30 pm
by peterhayes
Doc
This may be so:
As stated in another thread, even you if you have a high-end machine is advisable to set it to 25 (instead 30)
,
but the purists will tell you that the fps limit ideally should be an integer of the refresh rate, ie 15 (too low), 20, 30 and 60. That way there are less calculations going on between the cpu and gpu.
I use an nVidia card and now with nVidia Inspector, I set AA/AF to application controlled but set up the fps limit to 30, and under vertical sync set that to adaptive and choose half the refresh rate (Triple Buffer = on). That now provides a seamless experience that doesn't exceed 30 fps and stops those ridiculous FRAPS figures like 2560.

There is some texture loading lag (micro stutter - more like macro stutter in some instances) with TS2012 particularly wiith some routes and scenarios and running TS2012 off a dedicated SSD can have some positive results. I still see fps drops under certain conditions but they have gone in a flash when installed on an SSD, no hesitation or jerkiness.

IMHO you can't equate FPS to what the human eye can discern, its like comparing apples to pears. There is no evidence that the human eye cannot distiguish between 15 fps and 60 fps, we've even got 300Hz TV's for a clearer sharper picture. A PC monitor is not a movie projector or an old TV where you needed 24 fps to avoid jerkiness etc.

Bring out the Battys !*roll-laugh*!
Regards
PeterH

Re: Railworks performance

Unread postPosted: Wed May 30, 2012 10:38 pm
by PapaXpress
You may want to review these threads:
viewtopic.php?p=38116#p38116
and then more of the same:
viewtopic.php?p=47040#p47040

It really comes down to frame rate, probably one reason why the 680GTX does so well with RW3.

Re: Railworks performance

Unread postPosted: Wed May 30, 2012 10:58 pm
by Machinist
peterhayes wrote:Doc
This may be so:
As stated in another thread, even you if you have a high-end machine is advisable to set it to 25 (instead 30)
,
but the purists will tell you that the fps limit ideally should be an integer of the refresh rate, ie 15 (too low), 20, 30 and 60. That way there are less calculations going on between the cpu and gpu.
Thanks Peter,
Once I use to play between 10 and 16 then I have no choice other than set my limit to 15fps !*roll-laugh*! Well, at least till your carrier pigeons land with my 460 on beaks! !*salute*!