Server lag?

[Ted]

Hello, please forgive this question if it's been asked many times before.

I'm just returning to CoH after many years and I played it for the first time today on a Windows PC that I purchased SOLELY to play CoH. (That's how much I've missed it! :) )

At a certain time in the day, the lag (Excelsior) became unbearable, and I'm just wondering if that is normal. I'm guessing yes... during high-traffic times, but I was a bit curious as nobody else in the chats (Global, etc.) were complaining about it, so I'm wondering if it's something with my system?

Are there optimum settings (graphic) that I should try to reduce any lag?

As I said, before that certain time (I think it was about 8:00 PM CST), things were running fine.

I'd be grateful for any help, as I am very excited to return to Paragon City.

Thank you!

[Astralock]

Welcome back to Paragon City and the Rogue Isles!

 

Does your computer have integrated graphics, or a graphics card?

 

I've been hearing from friends that Excelsior has been pretty laggy lately so that may be part of it, but I'm betting on another issue.

 

Edit: Another thought.  Are you seeing this lag in a zone that's being invaded by the Mapserver, per chance?

Edited April 6, 2023 by Astralock

[Marine X]

Depending on where you are the issue could be from many different things. If you are on a cable TV based (Coax) ISP, such as Spectrum or Cox, they utilize a Token ring network design. This means you pay for X amount of Bandwidth, your feed comes from a HUB that is fed with Y amount of total bandwidth. During off hours you can get as much of the Pie as your plan dictates, but during Peak Hours, Primetime, the HUB gives you a Percentage of the total Bandwidth available based on your plan. Before Streaming became so Common this was not as big a deal as it is now. A lot of people have found that using a VPN can smooth out the connection, especially if your connection to Homecoming hops through a troubled area, like Detroit, on it's way there. A VPN can be set up to avoid this.

 

Try running /netgraph 1, will let you see the connection as a graphic while in game, and will perhaps help you isolate the issue. You can also download and run Wireshark (free) that will let you see the hops from service to service you are using to get from you to wherever using a ping test. Good Hunting

 

Also if using integrated Graphics courtesy on @Biostem

Use the -usetexenvcombine launch parameter if you're running integrated graphics..

[Ted]

10 hours ago, Astralock said:

Welcome back to Paragon City and the Rogue Isles!

 

Does your computer have integrated graphics, or a graphics card?

 

I've been hearing from friends that Excelsior has been pretty laggy lately so that may be part of it, but I'm betting on another issue.

 

Edit: Another thought.  Are you seeing this lag in a zone that's being invaded by the Mapserver, per chance?

 

Thank you very much for the warm welcome! :)

My computer does have an integrated graphics. I guess I was told I didn't need a graphics card to play COH. Perhaps I was mistaken?

Yes, I guess I'm seeing the lag in a zone that's being invaded by the Mapserver. Not sure. Is there a way to find out?

[Ted]

8 minutes ago, Marine X said:

Depending on where you are the issue could be from many different things. If you are on a cable TV based (Coax) ISP, such as Spectrum or Cox, they utilize a Token ring network design. This means you pay for X amount of Bandwidth, your feed comes from a HUB that is fed with Y amount of total bandwidth. During off hours you can get as much of the Pie as your plan dictates, but during Peak Hours, Primetime, the HUB gives you a Percentage of the total Bandwidth available based on your plan. Before Streaming became so Common this was not as big a deal as it is now. A lot of people have found that using a VPN can smooth out the connection, especially if your connection to Homecoming hops through a troubled area, like Detroit, on it's way there. A VPN can be set up to avoid this.

 

Try running /netgraph 1, will let you see the connection as a graphic while in game, and will perhaps help you isolate the issue. You can also download and run Wireshark (free) that will let you see the hops from service to service you are using to get from you to wherever using a ping test. Good Hunting

 

Also if using integrated Graphics courtesy on @Biostem

Use the -usetexenvcombine launch parameter if you're running integrated graphics..

Thanks for your help, @Marine X!

I am using integrated graphics. If I want to use that -usetexenvcombine launch parameter, how would I do that? I fear I'm not too savvy when it comes to Windows machines.

I am on Spectrum, so that may explain quite a bit.

[Marine X]

Here you go.

Open the Launcher and click on the 3 dots below right side of Ready.

 

Click settings, and enter -usetexenvcombine in extra launch parameters field.

 

Close out of Launcher, restart Launcher. Good Luck.

 

Edited April 6, 2023 by Marine X

[Ted]

Thanks so very much for taking time out of your day to include screenshots. Very helpful!

Now wondering if I should return this computer and get one that has a separate graphics card. LOL  

[Marine X]

I would see how things go, getting a laptop with a Discreet Graphics Card will be a major price jump, same for desktops.

[Ted]

8 minutes ago, Marine X said:

I would see how things go, getting a laptop with a Discreet Graphics Card will be a major price jump, same for desktops.

Yes, that's a good point. Right now, it's a mini desktop that fits on the desk. 

Mini Gaming PC, AMD Ryzen 7 4800U (8C/16T, up to 4.2Ghz) 16GB DDR4 512GB

I upgraded the ram to 32 GB.

Thanks again for your help, Marine X. :)

[Ted]

3 hours ago, Marine X said:

I would see how things go, getting a laptop with a Discreet Graphics Card will be a major price jump, same for desktops.

Hey Marine - I'm thinking I'm going to just invest in a decent desktop PC to run CoH. 

Could you suggest a MINIMUM level graphics card I would need?

Thanks!

[Captain Fabulous]

4 hours ago, Ted said:

Yes, that's a good point. Right now, it's a mini desktop that fits on the desk. 

Mini Gaming PC, AMD Ryzen 7 4800U (8C/16T, up to 4.2Ghz) 16GB DDR4 512GB

I upgraded the ram to 32 GB.

Thanks again for your help, Marine X. 🙂

If that's your processor you don't have Intel integrated graphics. You have AMD Vega graphics, which is far better. You could just find an add-in graphics card that will fit that machine. No need to buy a whole new system. But honestly, as the game is almost 20 years old you shouldn't need to even do that.

When you say "lag" do you mean you see a delay in moving and/or activating powers? Or is it just a really low framerate?

Edited April 6, 2023 by Captain Fabulous

[Ted]

3 hours ago, Captain Fabulous said:

If that's your processor you don't have Intel integrated graphics. You have AMD Vega graphics, which is far better. You could just find an add-in graphics card that will fit that machine. No need to buy a whole new system. But honestly, as the game is almost 20 years old you shouldn't need to even do that.

When you say "lag" do you mean you see a delay in moving and/or activating powers? Or is it just a really low framerate?

 

Thanks for responding, Captain. The delay seems to be in framerate. 

I did purchase a new system that I hope will help improve. The previous PC was so small (the size of a Mini Mac) that I wasn't sure there was room for an additional graphics card.

[Captain Fabulous]

1 hour ago, Ted said:

 

Thanks for responding, Captain. The delay seems to be in framerate. 

I did purchase a new system that I hope will help improve. The previous PC was so small (the size of a Mini Mac) that I wasn't sure there was room for an additional graphics card.

The biggest problem with integrated graphics is they often don't have a lot of allocated RAM, and what little they do have is shared with system RAM, so it's slow in comparison to a dedicated card. It doesn't mean you can't run CoH or other games, but you will often have to run at reduced resolutions, texture quality, and graphics settings because there simply isn't enough RAM to process a detailed high-resolution image at 60+ FPS. 

[Hyperstrike]

22 hours ago, Captain Fabulous said:

When you say "lag" do you mean you see a delay in moving and/or activating powers? Or is it just a really low framerate?

Yeah.  There's multiple phenomena that people lump in as "lag".

Latency, frametime (the time that passes between the generation of each frame), jitter (fluctuations in signal or display image), etc.
And latency happens almost everywhere.
Gets introduced on the graphics side.
Gets introduced on the controller side.
Gets introduced on the communications/network side.
Gets introduced in memory and storage media.