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Game runs poorly on laptop, even in lobby, Windows Vista

Togakure Bujinkan Autodueller Civs Faction Group: Members Posts: 369 Joined: Jan 11, 2010 For a few weeks now I've been running the game on a loaner laptop due to my main PC having a dead HDD controller (new mobo awaiting arrival). I have been able to run other games on this laptop, including a few that are much more graphics-intensive and list higher system requirements than DW. Yet for some reason I'm having problems in DW. Basically, when I first log onto the client everything runs fine. Then after a minute or so the mouse cursor gets extremely slow, like it's trailing through mud. When I run the tutorial or an event, same problem: The graphics are very slow, almost like a slideshow. I have tried lowering the slider bars in the options window to just below the first notch, and that barely does any help. I have updated the video drivers, Direct X, etc with no positive results. But for the game to be "laggy" even if I'm just sitting in the chat lobby, something isn't right. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions? In case anyone is wondering, I have the laptop plugged into my regular speakers, monitor, mouse, and keyboard. I'm running 1280x1024@60MHz The data on the video card is below, in case that helps. Quote:     Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator Driver for Mobile Report Report Date:        03/01/2010 Report Time[hr:mm:ss]:    02:37:18 Driver Version:        7.15.10.1666 Operating System:        Windows Vista (TM) Home Premium* , Service Pack 2 (6.0.6002) Default Language:        English DirectX* Version:        10.0 Physical Memory:        2037 MB Minimum Graphics Memory:    8 MB Maximum Graphics Memory:    358 MB Graphics Memory in Use:    147 MB Processor:        x86 family 6 Model 15 Stepping 13 Processor Speed:        1596 MHZ Vendor ID:        8086 Device ID:        2A02 Device Revision:        03 *  Accelerator Information  * Accelerator in Use:        Mobile Intel(R) 965 Express Chipset Family Video BIOS:        1518.0 Current Graphics Mode:    1280 by 1024 True Color (60 Hz) *  Devices Connected to the Graphics Accelerator  * Active Monitors: 1 Non Active Notebook Displays: 1 *  Monitor  * Monitor Name:        Generic PnP Monitor Display Type:        Analog Gamma Value:        2.20 DDC2 Protocol:        Supported Maximum Image Size:    Horizontal: 14.0  inches             Vertical:  11.0  inches Monitor Supported Modes: 640 by 480 (60 Hz) 640 by 480 (72 Hz) 640 by 480 (75 Hz) 720 by 400 (70 Hz) 800 by 600 (60 Hz) 800 by 600 (72 Hz) 800 by 600 (75 Hz) 1024 by 768 (60 Hz) 1024 by 768 (70 Hz) 1024 by 768 (75 Hz) 1280 by 1024 (60 Hz) 1280 by 1024 (75 Hz) Display Power Management Support:     Standby Mode:    Not Supported     Suspend Mode:    Not Supported     Active Off Mode: Supported *  Notebook  * Monitor Name:        Generic PnP Monitor Display Type:        Digital Gamma Value:        2.20 DDC2 Protocol:        Supported Maximum Image Size:    Horizontal: Not Available             Vertical:  Not Available Monitor Supported Modes: 1280 by 800 (60 Hz) Display Power Management Support:     Standby Mode:    Not Supported     Suspend Mode:    Not Supported     Active Off Mode: Not Supported * Other names and brands are the property of their respective owners. ......................... vet wv gateautumn Posted Mar 1, 2010, 10:45 am

Togakure Bujinkan Autodueller Civs Faction Group: Members Posts: 369 Joined: Jan 11, 2010 Still no ideas? Hasn't someone else had a similar problem? The fact that the game runs like crap even in the lobby is a real issue. Sometimes the game speeds up to normal, but when it does it only lasts a few seconds or so. What could be causing such a huge performance problem? What ever it is, it's related to the client itself. Any suggestions on what options should be selected? ......................... vet wv gateautumn Posted Mar 5, 2010, 1:58 pm

*Dark Tempest* The Black Legion Darkwind Guru Mutants Faction Group: Marshals Posts: 2,049 Joined: Jan 27, 2010 No idea what causes this Togakure, but my beast of a gaming laptop occasionally notices the slowdown that you are mentioning. It is usually very brief, but it is noticeable. ......................... vet wv marshal pvp2 Posted Mar 5, 2010, 2:11 pm

Togakure Bujinkan Autodueller Civs Faction Group: Members Posts: 369 Joined: Jan 11, 2010 I've had the view distance and particles sliders almost to zero every time I play, and they seem to offer little improvement. I have also selected the checkboxes in options for reduce CPU usage and disable compiled VA's, but have no clue what those actually do. I have not checked the force triangles box, as I don't know what that does either. When I first start the client it runs smoothly for about 30-45 seconds, and then bogs down. Even with minimal players logged in and no events running, the chat lobby gets very sluggish. I'm not talking about a delay in communication, but a graphics lag. The mouse moves like it's going through mud when the client is active regardless of actual activity. I have tried both D3D and OpenGL without seeing any difference. With all drivers up to date, all unnecessary system processes turned off, and having just the website and client open, it is very bad. The fact that other games which require 2-3 times as much system requirements are fully capable of running on this laptop with usually no change to default settings. ......................... vet wv gateautumn Posted Mar 5, 2010, 2:24 pm

Togakure Bujinkan Autodueller Civs Faction Group: Members Posts: 369 Joined: Jan 11, 2010 Since it's going to be a while longer before my desktop is repaired, I was checking to see if anyone had some ideas or suggestions yet on how to boost the performance of the game on this system. Does anyone have a link or post that explains what the different options settings do, such as "Force Triangles"? I'm wondering if some of those options might help, instead of just reducing the particles and view distance to almost nothing. ......................... vet wv gateautumn Posted Mar 19, 2010, 8:50 am

*sam* The Salthill Sluggerz Darkwind Guru Renegade Group: Lead Developer Posts: 16,780 Joined: Jan 19, 2006 Sorry Tog, I don't have any specific ideas here. The fact that it runs ok for a short period before going bad is strange. The DW graphics engine is based on "last generation" technology so it's not a surprise to see some more graphically advanced games running better than it -- this means they're making more appropriate use of the graphics hardware. Reducing particles and view distance effectively reduces the polygon count, which in many cases helps frame-rate. Your problem must be something different. Force triangles and disable compiled VA's are both options which help with some specific Windows graphics drivers. Worth a try, but again the fact that you run ok for 30-45 secs is the unusual thing here. Can you open up task manager (ctrl/alt/delete) and watch the darkwindClient process as you open it up and run it? Is the CPU use and/or memory use stable for a bit and then going waaay up? ......................... marshal vet deathrce1 paintladder combat1 wv ped1 cont slay2013 Posted Mar 19, 2010, 9:24 am

lordbam Nephilim Rising Darkwind Guru Anarchists Faction Group: Members Posts: 1,410 Joined: Dec 9, 2007 Maybe cpu scaling that scales down cpu speed? Maybe overheating? I know it is far fetched... ......................... vet wv zom0,3,0 Posted Mar 19, 2010, 9:45 am

LoSboccacc Omnia vincit armor Darkwind Guru Renegade Group: Members Posts: 523 Joined: Feb 23, 2010 or you can see if you can from the bios or something to increase the ram of the video adapter or increase the agp aperture size ......................... vet wv Posted Mar 19, 2010, 9:52 am

Togakure Bujinkan Autodueller Civs Faction Group: Members Posts: 369 Joined: Jan 11, 2010 *sam* said: Can you open up task manager (ctrl/alt/delete) and watch the darkwindClient process as you open it up and run it? Is the CPU use and/or memory use stable for a bit and then going waaay up? I just tried it, and it is as you mentioned. After first loading the client the CPU use was about 46k, and after 2-3 minutes it jumped to 126k. Sometimes it will drop back down for a few seconds, but that might be once in an hour or not even for 3-4 hours. I could try the force triangles option and see what effect that has. It's the only option setting I haven't messed with yet. As for overheating, I don't think that's the issue. I have the same problems regardless if the laptop was just turned on or if it's been running all night. I have the laptop plugged into my desktop monitor, so that is helping keep the temp down as well. And there are no options in BIOS to adjust the GPU speed or memory use, it's locked at 8MB minimum and 358MB maximum according to the data. I have shut down all background applications other than the client, internet, and required system programs. Sam, you mentioned the CPU use so maybe that can provide some clues. EDIT: The CPU use listed above is during very low server population/activity, I have noticed that during the real busy times the CPU use can be up above 256k. And those speeds are both in and out of events. Even just sitting in the lobby and I have a sluggish mouse while the client is active. ......................... vet wv gateautumn Posted Mar 19, 2010, 10:21 am Last edited Mar 19, 2010, 10:23 am by Togakure

LoSboccacc Omnia vincit armor Darkwind Guru Renegade Group: Members Posts: 523 Joined: Feb 23, 2010 if you feel like experimenting you can try to run the client within linux using the ubuntu wubi installer which usually* doesn't destroy you pc: http://wubi-installer.org/ so that we may tell if it's a window problem or the hardware which is just not enough * safety not guaranteed ......................... vet wv Posted Mar 19, 2010, 10:45 am Last edited Mar 19, 2010, 10:46 am by LoSboccacc

Togakure Bujinkan Autodueller Civs Faction Group: Members Posts: 369 Joined: Jan 11, 2010 Due to the fact that it isn't my laptop, then I'll pass on any experimental procedures. Besides, I hate Linux like it was the plague. The game is mostly stable on this computer. It lags almost all of the time, making turns take forever because the mouse moves so slowly. But it still runs, and that's what matters most. As long as the other squad members don't mind me boosting the turn time to 45 seconds or so, then it's not bad. I don't get the fluid motion and badass graphics level that my other desktop was capable of, but it'll have to do for now. So if this problem can't be solved, I'll still be around. But it would be greatly appreciated if I could figure out what's causing the problem. I really miss having the game run smoothly. ......................... vet wv gateautumn Posted Mar 19, 2010, 10:51 am

*sam* The Salthill Sluggerz Darkwind Guru Renegade Group: Lead Developer Posts: 16,780 Joined: Jan 19, 2006 You could try reducing the game resolution, 800x600 is the minimum usable resolution (from the Options button in the lobby) ......................... marshal vet deathrce1 paintladder combat1 wv ped1 cont slay2013 Posted Mar 19, 2010, 12:16 pm

Togakure Bujinkan Autodueller Civs Faction Group: Members Posts: 369 Joined: Jan 11, 2010 Tried that, no difference. The resolution was too small for me though, was like watching ants scurry around with a grain of sugar. ......................... vet wv gateautumn Posted Mar 19, 2010, 1:14 pm Last edited Mar 19, 2010, 1:15 pm by Togakure

Togakure Bujinkan Autodueller Civs Faction Group: Members Posts: 369 Joined: Jan 11, 2010 I just check the CPU use in processes, it's only at 67k yet still lagging badly in lobby. Starting to think that isn't the issue. Still, I can shut down the client and reopen it, and again for a minutes or two it will run perfectly before it lags again. ......................... vet wv gateautumn Posted Mar 20, 2010, 6:30 pm

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