51 réponses à ce sujet

[Dymiceasaharasiu]

I am not going to bother with EA support. I have dealt with their CS (
or lack thereof ) in the past. So this is more or less addressed to the
community.

The issue, for anyone not having it, is that in most fights, combat events get increasingly delayed over
time.
It's not a problem with the overall game performance - framerate is
fine, interface is responsive and even moving around continues to work
in real time. Only events that have an effect on creatures/player
combat reaction times get slower.

For example, if you give an
attack order, your character will move to thetarget mob immediately and
start performing attack animations, however there'll be no health
changes or damage numbers until much later.
Similarly, if you cast a
spell, you'll see the projectile fly to the target, but the effect will
be delayed. (Fireball is the easiest to see this with, the projectile
vanishes then later on there's an explosion).

It looks to me
like there's an event queue being overloaded and causing a backlog, but
I couldn't say exactly where. It has gotten so bad that I can no longer
play ( AS IN I CAN NO LONGER PLAY THE GAME I PAID FOR )
and my allies die in the fights because their heals did not register
before they died, even when I spam regen/heal/lifeward/potion they
still manage to die.

I have even reduced the game settings AND
my card settings to lowest possible, closed background programs down to
the point where the game looks like something from 1999... and it still
has combat lag. I refuse to beleive
this is a hardware problem and
its my fault. That is a response born of apathy. I think if I shell out
60+ bucks for a game it can atleast...
ya know... work. Just maybe.[smilie]../../../images/forum/emoticons/wondering.png[/smilie]

Modifié par Dymiceasaharasiu, 02 décembre 2009 - 01:47 .

[huldu]

Yeah, i have experienced this too. Old thread but the issue is still around. Some of you maybe dont even think of it or notice it. But as a fight goes on, it gets worse and worse. What causes this, who knows.

[Gorath Alpha]

Created 4 minutes ago (in the General Subjects Forum)

1. By definition, "Lag" is transmission delay over distance. You can't have any Lag when you have a one-player game like DA: O.

2. This answer was previously posted in the General Subjects forum.

3. You did not offer pertinent PC component details.

4. All of the flak about an old, or cheap, or defective, computer, are exactly what you should expect from offering so little information (with-holding the truth of the matter, in fact).

5. The first reply message to this (initial edit) point in this thread still remained incomplete.

P. S.   -- via Edit -- Now that the truth is out, we all thank you so much for waving a red blanket about nothing.  There was no wolf to give the alarm about, there is no fire, you do not have any complaint about the game.  You just have junk instead of a decent PC.  ("My rig is regular 2.5ghz intel single core cpu, 1.5gb ram and a x1650 agp")

For anyone else who has been misled by the more recent of the two opening messages of this thread, refer to the reference article describing the multiple ladders analogy regarding video syestems for gaming:

social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/58/index/575571

Gorath
-

Modifié par Gorath Alpha, 01 février 2010 - 03:38 .

[MingWolf]

Does this occur only during certain sized battles? Such as fighting two monsters vs. fighting twelve monsters? Also, what is your processor specs?



To the above reply:

(precision nitpicking mode)

Lag [verb]

1. to fail to maintain a desired pace or to keep up; fall or stay behind: After five minutes of hard running, some of them began to lag.



Websters (1913) definition:

(a.) Coming tardily after or behind; slow; tardy.



The usage of this term seems valid to me.

(/precision nitpicking mode)

[Dymiceasaharasiu]

ATI just released a new driver yesterday, attempting to see if that alleviates the problem or even does anything.



Intel Pentium 4 CPU 3ghz Dual Core (2 CPU's@ 1.5)



3 gigs ram

ATI Radeon 4600 -1024-

600 watt PSU



For me personally the two thigns that stand out are the dual cores and the 3 gigs of ram. I have heard of the occasional technical difficulties arrising from certain software when dealing with dual channel rams with only 3 gigs ( rather then 2 or 4 ); and also that Dual cores sometimes get finicky and 'picky' with some programs. I could add a dxdiag too I spose but, Id rather hear more feedback first.

[MingWolf]

The only discrepancy I see between your setup and the system requirements is the Pentium 4. It may be hyper-threaded with two logic cores, but its performance is not the same as a Core 2; single or dual, the requirement that Dragon Age and the odd recent generation game are looking for. To kind of get the idea, here is a little chart I found that roughly compares the performance of the processors: http://www.playtool....d/cpugraph.gif.



While what I am pointing out may possibly be the issue, I nonetheless hope that those new drivers work for you or that you find some solution to your problem.



Best

[huldu]

My rig is regular 2.5ghz intel single core cpu, 1.5gb ram and a x1650 agp. My computer runs the game decently enough. The only problem is this combat lag issue, which seems to appear only when fighting many monsters at same time. Your combat/ability animations pulls off just *fine* with *no* delay. Its the combat/ability itself that just doesnt "activate" for 5-10 seconds in worst case. Basically you're behind the mob swinging at it, yet nothing happens until a period time have passed, then you see the damage and abilities go off in a spam.

[Gorath Alpha]

You may just have to bite the bullet and lower your settings a great deal more, or else upgrade that computer. It's pretty far below the minimum that the game accepts, you know (especially that antique, obsolete CPU). Where did the configuration utility set the game's settings, and did you leave them there?

[roybm]

Gorath Alpha wrote...

You may just have to bite the bullet and lower your settings a great deal more, or else upgrade that computer. It's pretty far below the minimum that the game accepts, you know (especially that antique, obsolete CPU). Where did the configuration utility set the game's settings, and did you leave them there?

or lower them more than what it set them at.  I noticed that auto setting feature tends to aim a little high on some computers.
My old socket 939 amd it set my system at high and still lagged a lot lol
I think people need to pay more attention to system requirments on games.  Just because it says Core2 duo does not mean ANY dual core cpu will work.

[roybm]

blah double post sorry

Modifié par roybm, 19 décembre 2009 - 06:38 .

[MingWolf]

roybm wrote...

I think people need to pay more attention to system requirments on games.  Just because it says Core2 duo does not mean ANY dual core cpu will work.

Its one of those things that are just so deceptively misleading to most consumers purchasing software and games alike.  One can only wish that companies like Intel or AMD would adopt a standardized linear scale on rating the performance of their processors that ultimately appear on the system requirements box of the game or software being purchased.  The same can be said about video cards also. 

To be honest, without actually looking at performance chart, I would have no idea the differences between the various processors.  Its easy to assume, for example, that a Core 2 Dual with twice the clockspeed of a Core 2 Quad performs roughly the same when in fact this is not exactly the case.  Even some game developers/employees believe this.

Modifié par MingWolf, 19 décembre 2009 - 06:53 .

[mexer]

I have too this ****ing problem with lags !!!

[Titius.Vibius]

4600? Its kinda vague but if you ask me this GPU is rather weak.

[2484Stryker]

I've noticed this too. Initially it was OK, where some of my spells would take a couple of seconds before registering, but now at the final battle, it's just ridiculous. NONE of my attacks will connect until much later, yet for some reason I still manage to take damage. This lag makes the game nearly impossible to play.



Now, I realize my computer is old, but still, with the lowered graphical settings and shutting almost everything off, I should not be noticing this degree of lag, especially when FPS IS STILL DECENT. The lag also DOES NOT IMPROVE when I lower the graphic settings down further.



Who knows, maybe my CPU is just THAT OLD.

[Gorath Alpha]

By definition, Dragon Age should never experience any transmission delay, because there is no multiplayer element. It is a single player game. It may run slowly, if the hardware is old or slow, but the OP was complaining about a CPU roughly [b}HALF[/b] as powerful as the Recommended Processor, and well below minimum. He should have expected exactly the sort of thing that he was getting.

If your CPU is as bad as that one, get used to what you are seeing, you are simply too far behind. Don't forget that FPS is related more to GPU than to CPU, save that a bad CPU bottlenecks a good GPU.

G

Modifié par Gorath Alpha, 23 janvier 2010 - 04:40 .

[Creesen]

I have the same issue, which I used to only notice ocasionally and now notice more and more and my machine is:

AMD 64x2
Core proc 6000+
3.10 GHz
2GB of RAM with XP sp3
Video Card is Nvidia 9600GT

I notice it with spells and taking health poultices, and such.

Modifié par Creesen, 23 janvier 2010 - 12:25 .

[Excalibut_2102]

I think its gonna be your CPU... Maybe gorath can clarify but I have no idea what a Core 2 Single CPU is, which is whats stated as a minimum requirement. I thought it was just a regular single core proc, and when I initially bought the game I played it on a 3ghz P4 CPU and a 7900gt 256mb card with 2gig of ram. Heck, I could play the game on medium settings on the 7900gt with pretty much no slowdown (granted I didnt even get to denerim). But I noticed this combat slowdown or lag or whatever you want to call it, and put it down to a slow outdated processor, and didnt even bother trying to troubleshoot it. I just stopped playing and waited till I could get a new PC. I have a quad core cpu now and I dont get this problem at all.

[Gorath Alpha]

Creesen wrote...

I have the same issue, which I used to only notice ocasionally and now notice more and more and my machine is:

AMD 64x2
Core proc 6000+
3.10 GHz
2GB of RAM with XP sp3
Video Card is Nvidia 9600GT

I notice it with spells and taking health poultices, and such.

There is no hardware problem with those components, but a 9600 GT is a modified 8800 GT, and it shares with those the on-again, off-again, driver problems that nVIDIA has been troubled by ever since the 8800s were brand new, and my only suggestion is first try the very newest Geforce drivers, or if you are up to date (and whatever Microsoft is offering on its updates pages, is never particularly current -- go to nVIDIA first, always), then go back to the original drivers on the video card's CD, and work forward from there. 

Gorath
-

[Jalinnet]

I will say this. I had massive lag during combat and large outdoor areas even with my settings turned down. DESPITE exceeding recommendations for ALL specs. Everyone was telling me I needed a new CPU, a new graphics card, a new sound card, that I must have viruses or spyware... it was frustrating.



I finally just opened my tower case, got a can of compressed air, and used it on ALL the fans. I'd cleaned my PC before, but never given the fans much attention. I used it on the vents around them, everything. I got out a TON of dust bunnies, and now? When I turn on Dragon Age I have EVERY setting maxed and the game runs flawlessly.



You don't think about dust having a big impact on your computer's performance, but it absolutely can. I'm mentioning this so you can try basic options before you go buy an expensive upgrade. Maybe it'll work, maybe it won't. I just know I wish someone had suggested it to me instead of telling me my computer was crap and recommending expensive hardware/software upgrades that didn't help.



My specs, for comparison:

Microsoft XP Home

3 GB RAM

2.61 GHZ

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5000+

ATI Radeon HD 4600 512 MB

Realtek Audio Output

[Gorath Alpha]

Your hardware component breakdown is equally decent, although you do need to learn that there is no current HD 4n00 card numbered that way. ATI dropped the name suffixes with the HD 3n00 cards, and now uses "50" where the suffix previously was "Pro", and "70" for "XT". The old Vanilla cards (no suffixes) are the ones with a "30" at the end.

Both of the HD 46n0 cards are more than adequate for this game.

Gorath

[Jalinnet]

Actually, I know my card is a 4670. I was just using that as a blanket term.

[Joseph Silver]

Gorath, we are using the term "lag" to describe delay in general, not just transmission delay. Many of us who meet more than the recommended requirements are experiencing this problem, not just people with "junk" PCs.

Anyway, I have observed that this problem comes up more often when there is a large number of powers (talents or spells) being used. When I am in the Deep Roads fighting deepstalkers, I rarely if ever encounter this problem because virtually all deepstalkers have the same handful of powers. However, during the defense of Redcliffe, where there is a large variety of powers used by the defenders (two-handed, dual-wielding, archery, etc. powers), the problem is most severe.

This doesn't seem to be a video card issue as my FPS remains consistent throughout the battle. It's just the effects of powers that are being delayed.

Edit: Setting the process priority to High and turning off persistent gore helps mitigate this problem, but only for a time.  Eventually, the lag will resurface, probably due to the memory leak problem.

Modifié par Joseph Silver, 24 janvier 2010 - 04:02 .

[Gorath Alpha]

I've been wanting to separate out the slowed loading processes from other slowdowns.  I don't make the preference for the word "slowed" over "lag" any kind of fetish, but there is a valid use for the computer version of the word when you have multi-player situations, and that tends to spill out of its category. 

I've been using computers for almost 40 years now, and what I started with is junk by now.  The only PC component that annoys me enough to regularly elicit "crap" or "junk" epithets is the contihnued terrible Intel video device prresence in far too many PCs.  Only with the latest terribly overpriced i5 CPU models has Intel closed the gap with ATI and nVIDIA with regard to IGPs.  There is a graphics chip sharing the package with the CPU cores on several i5 models, and it is finally running at a competitive speed with the better IGPs. 

The issue seen in thios thread is common to CRPGs, where multiple on-screen NPCs have AI scripts that are all running at the same time (typically in a mob scene of combat).  Older, slower CPUs can't keep up when that happens.  Even a newer CPU may have difficulties when there is a lot of combat sound that an onboard audio chip demands decoding on, and the total amounts to an overload.  Bethesda's Oblivion could do that, while Fallout 3 was better in that regard. 

A separate, relatively high-cost audio card that contains appropriate decodong processing is the only fix, short of shutting down combat sounds.  There are mods to help Oblivion, such as "Quiet Feet". 

It's also important with Vista and Windows 7 to scale way back on background services (although XP can have too many of those as well).  A few sessions with "Clean Boot" diagnostic procedures are a very good investment. 

Gorath
-

Modifié par Gorath Alpha, 24 janvier 2010 - 04:53 .

[Joseph Silver]

We could be on to something here. I don't know anything about modding for Dragon Age, but perhaps someone can make a mod to mitigate some of these problems?



Another thing, I remember that on my first playthrough, where I didn't use any mods, I experienced little combat lag. Could this be a mod issue? I don't know if the others here are using the same mods that I'm using, but this could be something to check.

[Gorath Alpha]

My use of user-created mods tends to be very conservative, and I typically run a new one as a solo for quite a bit before testing it with other mods I've enjoyed using, but I also don't have the patience to create my own mods. Good modders, same as good programmers, need to be patient and somewhat compulsive in nature. I am not patient.

I learned COBOL, and FORTRAN, and the Mini-computer PL, RPG, in self- defense, so I could supervise programmers properly back when I was involved in IT. I learned BASIC and C when I was teaching in college, but never overcame my natural weakness as a programmer.

The only appropriate desciption for my current skill with any Toolset or Construction Set is "Dabbler".

G