[Bug] Laggiest Game Ever

from Demigod Forums

Me and another newbie were doing 2v1 against someone who isn't as bad.  The game resulted in a near stalemate with him trapped in his base and us slowly bringing in gold to upgrade gear to kill him with.

After what must have been a couple hours the game started to lag *really* badly.  Everyone had a reasonable ping (under 100-200) and Sim Speeds were between 7 and 10.

For me, my frame rate was fine (animations were smooth, etc.) but the game would play smoothly for about 1 second and then it would pause for about 5+ seconds.  This repeated for what must have been 45 more minutes (which equated to only a few minutes of game time).  What is odd is that it got progressively worse the longer the game went on even though nothing was changing (number of creeps on screen were the same as the citadel was reflecting damage back at them, killing them faster than they could kill it).

 

The only reason I stuck around was because I didn't want to take a loss.  Perhaps our opponent, who also didn't want a loss, alt-tabbed out which is what caused the problem?  If so the Sim Speed should accurately list him at 0/1.  Whatever the cause was the game was definately not enjoyable for the majority of it. :(

1,810 views 13 replies
Reply #1 from Demigod Forums Top

I hate to be evil but I think we're going to have to do more about those playing online who have really marginal systems.

Because of the real-time nature, the game will run at the speed of the slowest player.  :(

Reply #2 from Demigod Forums Top

ya steal pc specs so we know what people got before we play

Groupy 2 - Organize multiple applications into grouped tabs on your Windows desktop
Reply #3 from Demigod Forums Top

I thought that was what the Sim Speed was for?  To let others know if you are lagging the game due to a low frame rate (while ping represents network latency).  If that is not the case, what is Sim Speed for?

Reply #4 from Demigod Forums Top

By the time you get Sim speed, you're in the game.

Reply #5 from Demigod Forums Top

Sorry, I meant so at least we could identify who the lagger is.  In the game I was in the person who ended up being the lagger (once they left the game sped up tramendously) had a Sim Speed of 10 the entire time (higher than the rest of us).  Is this a bug with Sim Speed or am I misunderstanding how that works?

Reply #6 from Demigod Forums Top

I have a mid-high grade computer

quad core 2.4

2 gig ram

8600 GT NVidia

The game runs smoothly for a while then pauses for 5 seconds also. It is a constant pattern in the game and it is frustrating. I am playing with bots and this happens. What is the problem?

Reply #7 from Demigod Forums Top

Ah, yes. Micah - that was me. I remember that game - the game started lagging LIKE HELL. I did alt-tab and go watch some t.v after a while, but that was after the lag started.

And usually my comp runs it perfect - AND i have everything on low settings (duno why I think it looks better). My sim speed is usually the highest in all games (ten or nine) B)

Reply #8 from Demigod Forums Top

I hate to be evil but I think we're going to have to do more about those playing online who have really marginal systems.
End of quote

Please, please give the host option to make everyone run the game on lowest settings. I think most of time its people who have shitty comps think they can run it on highest settings and it just lags everyone.

Reply #9 from Demigod Forums Top

Quoting Frogboy, reply 1
I hate to be evil but I think we're going to have to do more about those playing online who have really marginal systems.

Because of the real-time nature, the game will run at the speed of the slowest player.  
End of Frogboy's quote

 

Would be great if the game ran a diagnostic benchmark that "autoset your graphics level for the ideal online play".

Reply #10 from Demigod Forums Top

Quoting [AC,
DalzK" reply="8" id="2101490"]
I hate to be evil but I think we're going to have to do more about those playing online who have really marginal systems.
Please, please give the host option to make everyone run the game on lowest settings. I think most of time its people who have shitty comps think they can run it on highest settings and it just lags everyone.
End of [AC's quote

You know that's a pretty interesting idea. I wonder how hard it would be to do that.

Reply #11 from Demigod Forums Top

or just not have the game run that way. the people with awesome computers shouldn't have to suffer from those who have "shitty" computers. All I am saying is if you have a good computer than it should run smooth no matter what you throw at it.

Reply #12 from Demigod Forums Top

Quoting Tai_Waukosen, reply 11
or just not have the game run that way. the people with awesome computers shouldn't have to suffer from those who have "shitty" computers. All I am saying is if you have a good computer than it should run smooth no matter what you throw at it.
End of Tai_Waukosen's quote

 

I agree with Tai_Waukosen, I paid for a good computer and your game with nice graphics.  Please don't cripple the game.

Reply #13 from Demigod Forums Top

Yeah, after you left that game DalzK the lag all dissappeared, which is why I suspect you are the culprit. :D

It would be nice if the game had some way of indicating which player(s) weren't getting their turn packets in on time.  As it stands now I've been in several games where the person lagging (as determined by when the lag goes away when they leave) is rarely the person with the lowest Sim Speed or the highest Ping.  Sometimes it was as with DalzK, where he had a Sim Speed of 10 and other times it was in a game that did have a player with a Sim Speed of 1 but it turns out he wasn't causing the lag, someone else was (8 player game, 3 players left at the same time and the lag ended).

Even better would be to limit the amount of late turns that a player can submit before the eject screen comes up for them.  As it stands now, as long as you have a ping you will never be ejected even if you are making the game totally unplayable for everyone.