Focused Feedback: 64-Bit Client

[Leandro]

64-Bit Client

• Mac OS X 10.15, codename Catalina, removes support for 32-bit applications. We have been hard at work for the last couple of months upgrading the client and all server components to 64-bit, while Manga has been working on a new version of Island Rum that uses the 64-bit version of Wine to run the game in Mac and Linux. This patch, fingers crossed, is the culmination of those efforts.
• When launching the game you will have the option for 32-bit of 64-bit clients in Tequila.
  • 32-bit is (and will remain) compatible all the way back to Windows XP.
  • 64-bit is highly recommended, and will be required for Mac users once OS X 10.15 is released.
• DirectInput, the library used to handle mouse, keyboard and joystick input, did not work correctly under 64-bit Catalina; it has been replaced with standard Windows messages. In general you should not notice any difference, but make sure all your binds work, and if you have a strange gaming mouse with too many buttons, make sure they all work.
• If you have a Mac, even if you're not currently running Catalina, please contact Manga if you want to help test the Island Rum Beta. We have been conducting tests with a small pool of Mac users, and all the obvious issues have been fixed, but we do not want to push the Island Rum update for everybody until we know it won't break anything.
• Linux users can still run the 32-bit client under Wine so they're less of a concern, but if you want to test the 64-bit client, be aware that it is dynamically linked and you will need to install the Visual Studio 64-bit runtime. The 32-bit version is statically linked to maximize compatibility.
• Because the new client requires some libraries that are no longer compatible with the existing client, they are housed in two new folders: hc-bin32 and hc-bin64, while the data files are in hc-beta. I get that the folder spam is getting a bit annoying, but we honestly don't have a better solution right now. We're working on it.

Bug Fixes

• Characters that crash on the first login after creation and become corrupted will now be cleared out by the dbserver instead of staying in the character list.
• Fixed crash when clicking Accept on the SG Settings interface when no fields where editable.
• Make it somewhat less likely for defeated enemies to be twisted into pretzels:
  • Overhaul ragdoll parameters. The spring and dampen settings must have been different in older versions of PhysX, because the ones in NwRagdoll did almost nothing; which is why everything was so limp.
  • Fixed joints (for all bones that don't have a spherical or hinge joint with special parameters) are apparently not working correctly, so replace them with a hinge joint that has a very small range of motion.

Edited August 11, 2019 by Leandro

[Piyerus]

I'm trying out the 64 client on Windows and everything seems to be running smoothly. However.. I have to protest one of the bug fixes. "Make it somewhat less likely for defeated enemies to be twisted into pretzels"?? This was a FEATURE, not a bug! If my knockback can't break every bone in the enemy's body, then what's the point of having ragdoll to begin with?

[Seren]

fyi - Avast is investigating the 64 bit as a virus.  Therefore couldn't load it at this time.  Even though I  told them I trusted it, they would not allow it.

 

Edited August 11, 2019 by Seren
addition to post

[Number Six]

6 minutes ago, Piyerus said:

I'm trying out the 64 client on Windows and everything seems to be running smoothly. However.. I have to protest one of the bug fixes. "Make it somewhat less likely for defeated enemies to be twisted into pretzels"?? This was a FEATURE, not a bug! If my knockback can't break every bone in the enemy's body, then what's the point of having ragdoll to begin with?

Heh. Well, it didn't make it in, but my suggested patch note was "Ragdoll is still broken, but it's broken in new and different ways." So you'll probably still see defeated enemies in some anatomically improbable positions, even if they don't collapse into a limp pile of jello anymore.

[Number Six]

4 minutes ago, Seren said:

fyi - Avast is investigating the 64 bit as a virus.  Therefore couldn't load it at this time.  Even though I  told them I trusted it, they would not allow it.

 

That's fairly normal for overzealous AV. New executable, never seen anywhere before, not signed by one of the Chosen(TM) big software publishers.

 

It's a huge problem for small, independent developers.

[Kriiden]

64 bit CoH! woo! Do we have a time table on when this is going to go live? I figure Soon (tm), but it wouldn't hurt to ask. My primary gaming computer, which is on its way here from storage, is a 64 bit PC. I know Coh will run on it either way, but I'm looking forward to being able to use all that much more memory.

Edited August 11, 2019 by Kriiden

[Vanden]

Been trying out the 64-bit client, haven't noticed any real issues. We'll have to try to get a mothership raid or Hamidon raid running on Justin to see if our modern machines are still bottlenecking.

[GetRidOfWires]

Is there a step by step list of instructions for installing the 64-bit Mac client? I don't want to guess or start off on the wrong foot. Thanks.

[Replacement]

44 minutes ago, GetRidOfWires said:

Is there a step by step list of instructions for installing the 64-bit Mac client? I don't want to guess or start off on the wrong foot. Thanks.

Restart Tequila and look to the left. You'll see it there.

 

--

 

I fired up the 64bit, I didn't notice any problems.  What are some good ways I can test this?  I'd like to help put this through its paces, kind of drawing a blank on how best to do that short of a community event.

[molleafauss]

64 bit client works reasonably well (100+fps in pretoria). But it seems I can't login with the 32bit beta client (wanted to compare the fps)?

(Can login perfectly with 64 and live 32...)

And yea, I've typed the password a few times correctly so it's not that I've forgot the password...

[Asacledhae]

6 hours ago, Number Six said:

That's fairly normal for overzealous AV. New executable, never seen anywhere before, not signed by one of the Chosen(TM) big software publishers.

 

It's a huge problem for small, independent developers.

Yes, i got the same issue with an unlikely file.. My Antivirus "Warned" me that Tequila was about to download a "suspicious" Physxloader64.dll, which it got blocked.. Ironically, after re-validating through Tequila, everything seems to be in order.. I did try the 64bit client too, and works just like the 32bit one, even though the loading times are slightly shorter..

 

My ping was higher than normal, but hey, it's Justin, and i'm on the EU.. 😆

[Leandro]

4 hours ago, GetRidOfWires said:

Is there a step by step list of instructions for installing the 64-bit Mac client? I don't want to guess or start off on the wrong foot. Thanks.

Please contact Manga. You need a new version of Island Rum that installs it separately from your regular install. We are being extra careful with it.

[GetRidOfWires]

4 hours ago, Replacement said:

Restart Tequila and look to the left. You'll see it there.

 

--

 

I fired up the 64bit, I didn't notice any problems.  What are some good ways I can test this?  I'd like to help put this through its paces, kind of drawing a blank on how best to do that short of a community event.

Macs use Island Rum and have to install a 64-bit version of Wine as well. It's not as straightforward, unfortunately.

[Tater Todd]

I'm using the 64 bit client and I have not seen anything crazy yet.  The game looks and run great btw.  Like many have said a Hamidon or full Mothership raid would be a good test.

[Bubbleguts]

Loaded 64 bit client fine. Didn't seem to be using more than about 1.5 gb of memory, though.

 

Is this to be expected or should the client start utilizing the "More than 4 gbs of memory" that 64 bit clients usually are capable of using.

 

Running:

Intel i5 7600k

32 gbs Ram

Nvidia 1080

Windows 10 LTSC

[Tater Todd]

Okay, so I'm not tech savvy so bear with me.  I encountered a tremendous amount of lag in Talos Island while I was hanging out near the Merit Vendor.  I think the lag has something to do with the PhysX engine.  I noticed the more leaves that fell from a nearby tree the further my ping dropped.  In fact it dropped so low that the game crashed when I tried to flee to the Talos Island Transit Station across the street.  I also noticed that once I turned around and moved about ten feet back towards the Transit Station the game would have a brief ping hiccup and return to normal.  I believe my settings on BETA is the same that it is online...tuned up to Ultra for everything graphics wise.  I didn't encounter this PhysX issue anywhere else in BETA 64 but I can go to different places with trees in COH to further test it out if you like?

I also hung out at the same spot on live just a few minutes ago with no PhysX issues whatsoever.  The issue also might be my small amount of RAM or Graphics card.

Running:

Intel i7-6700k
16.834 GB Ram
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070
Windows 10 64 Bit

My FPS info is at the top right of my screen.


 

[GetRidOfWires]

I installed the MacOS 64-bit beta on my MacBook Pro (15 inch, 2018, i7) running Mojave 10.14.6 this morning.  I got several error messages during the download with some files listed as not downloading correctly, but the game ran fine. Before logging in I quit Island Rum Beta and restarted it, and the scan did not find any file errors. I did NOT get the warning message that the game "will need to be updated for future MacOS versions", so it looks like Mojave recognized everything as 64-bit. Created a character and ran him around Atlas without any issues.

 

So far so good!

[Number Six]

51 minutes ago, Tater Todd said:

Okay, so I'm not tech savvy so bear with me.  I encountered a tremendous amount of lag in Talos Island while I was hanging out near the Merit Vendor.  I think the lag has something to do with the PhysX engine.  I noticed the more leaves that fell from a nearby tree the further my ping dropped.  In fact it dropped so low that the game crashed when I tried to flee to the Talos Island Transit Station across the street.  I also noticed that once I turned around and moved about ten feet back towards the Transit Station the game would have a brief ping hiccup and return to normal.  I believe my settings on BETA is the same that it is online...tuned up to Ultra for everything graphics wise.  I didn't encounter this PhysX issue anywhere else in BETA 64 but I can go to different places with trees in COH to further test it out if you like?

Thanks, this is a known issue that I'm looking into. It is very likely PhysX related.

 

There are a couple of PhsyX changes in this build that apparently got missed when the patch notes were being prepared. The amount of debris that is allowed to exist was increased for the Medium, High, and Very High settings. Also:

• When particle physics quality is set to "High" or above, mutual collision is enabled between all PhysX objects. This means that junk from Propel will stack up instead of passing through other debris, bullet casings, trash, and leaves will bounce off of and can even come to rest on it, etc. These objects also affect each other, so pushing leaves around causes other nearby objects to move (depending on their mass). It's really fun to roll a gravity controller and push the junk around to see how it all interacts now.
• When physics quality is set to "Very High", the simulation step resolution is increased by 50%, and the step rate is allowed to scale up to 120fps rather than being capped at 60fps.

While this all seems to work fine most of the time (provided you have a spare CPU core with enough horsepower), there have been scattered occurrences of extreme frame rate drops for no apparent reason. Leaves seem to be a common cause of this, I've also experienced it with rocks left over from earth assault powers. It doesn't happen all the time, just sometimes, and when it does it completely murders your framerate.

 

My current thinking is that we may need to scale back the increased debris limit some, or implement some form of dynamic scaling that removes objects if the scene can't be processed fast enough. I'm also probably going to disable certain collisions between small objects (for example leaf-leaf collisions or bullet casings colliding with each other), while still allowing them to interact with larger objects, though that will require some fx data changes to properly categories the items.

 

In the meantime, the easiest way to get out of it if you run into this on beta is to set your physics quality to "Medium". The problem shouldn't occur at that level, and changing the setting instantly clears out all debris from the scene.

[whynrdy]

Maybe it's just because I'm newly back to CoH and haven't kept up on the Homecoming scene, but how do we "contact Manga" to get the 64bit MacOS Island Rum to test?

[Replacement]

19 hours ago, GetRidOfWires said:

Macs use Island Rum and have to install a 64-bit version of Wine as well. It's not as straightforward, unfortunately.

Correct.  I am an idiot that missed the word "Mac."

[Widower]

11 minutes ago, whynrdy said:

Maybe it's just because I'm newly back to CoH and haven't kept up on the Homecoming scene, but how do we "contact Manga" to get the 64bit MacOS Island Rum to test?

PM @Mangaand presumably he'll send you the instructions.

 

[Zep]

Have leveled a Warshade all the way to 3 on the x64 test server.

 

Frame rate in AP comparable to live. Have seen no issues. 

 

[maboroshix]

Hello guys,

 

Brand new player (in every aspect.. I've never played CoH at any time so this is entirely new to me) -- I was able to create and login just fine using the first, regular 'Homecoming' client. However whenever I select the 'HC Beta 64 bit' client and try to log in, it says 'the account name or password that you have entered is incorrect'. This is after closing out, selecting the regular 'Homecoming' client and logging back in with the password just to make sure (it worked). Why is it not allowing me to log in to test out the 64 bit client? I even changed my password for good measure, logged in on the regular 'Homecoming' client with the new password, and had no problem. I could not log in using the 64 bit beta client however. 

 

Just a heads up, not sure what I am doing incorrectly if anything, but it seemingly does not work for me. Thanks for all the hard work you guys put in to get this going.

[Number Six]

If you just recently created your account, it probably doesn't exist on the beta server, which has its own separate authentication. Generally we refresh that only every once in a while -- this round it was done shortly before the beta server was patched.

[maboroshix]

6 hours ago, Number Six said:

If you just recently created your account, it probably doesn't exist on the beta server, which has its own separate authentication. Generally we refresh that only every once in a while -- this round it was done shortly before the beta server was patched.

I see, ok and I guess that means I won't be able to try the 64 bit beta client for a while then. Thanks very much for the quick reply guys.