Unexplained lag: can we get some people to test please?

[Sierra Lee]

Hello! I'm running into an odd problem with one of my game's navigation screens: some users report crippling mouse lag and others do not. I don't experience it myself, so I'm having a hard time testing. It doesn't seem to be because the CPU is getting overused (in fact the fastest computers are the ones reporting lag), so I am puzzled as to what the reason might be. I've tried to look through the documentation and forums for anything about this, so if anyone has an idea about the possible cause, please let me know!

However, I think it might be easier to just show the project. Here is a sample version with only the navigation screen:
https://mega.nz/#!SsUVgJzS!4o1Oc7Egv3BF ... J-JMHFsa2Q
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxZR9 ... 1JjdzRDY3M

Users that report lag report that the lag is just as bad in this version. So I would be very grateful if anyone reading this thread could download it and report if they have serious lag when trying to navigate. For any programmers reading, do you have any theories about why this might be causing lag only on some systems? I'm pretty much baffled at this stage.

Thanks!

[SuperbowserX]

In the future, can you upload to Google Drive instead? It's more faster and reliable then mega.

Also, great job with this game's art and programming! It looks really really nice, and I can tell a lot of effort went into it.

Anyway, honestly, I'm not getting the lag error. After you click to enter/exit an area, the mouse does hang for a bare split second, but it's largely unnoticeable and is not a problem when playing.

Do you think maybe the fastest computers are running this game with other apps in the background?

[indoneko]

Does it happen to all OS or only certain OS (like windows 10, especially with NVidia graphic card) ?

I'd like to help you test it, but mega is a pain to download (as I need to install it's app first). Can your reupload it on dropbox, gdrive, mediafire or anywhere else that doesn't require software installation?

[Sierra Lee]

I've added a Google Drive link to the OP. Please use the Mega link if you can, though.

Also, great job with this game's art and programming! It looks really really nice, and I can tell a lot of effort went into it.

Thanks! It's been in development for several months, I hope to show it off here when we release the first version publicly.

Anyway, honestly, I'm not getting the lag error. After you click to enter/exit an area, the mouse does hang for a bare split second, but it's largely unnoticeable and is not a problem when playing.

Do you think maybe the fastest computers are running this game with other apps in the background?

The lag we're worried about is when moving the mouse around the screen, FYI. But thanks for testing!

I doubt background apps are likely to be the problem - it's not like CPU/memory/disk are anywhere near maxed. I was sent video with Task Manager + the game, and the usage looks normal. The strange thing is that when I changed the navigation to optimize, CPU usage dropped 50% but lag increased! That's part of what baffles me about this.

Does it happen to all OS or only certain OS (like windows 10, especially with NVidia graphic card) ?

I'd like to help you test it, but mega is a pain to download (as I need to install it's app first). Can your reupload it on dropbox, gdrive, mediafire or anywhere else that doesn't require software installation?

It's been tested on Windows 8 and Windows 10 and I don't think there's any pattern between those two. I've wondered about graphics cards myself, but I don't know what everyone uses. Mine isn't NVidia.

Anyway, there's another link in the OP now. But FYI, you don't need to install software to use Mega: just click "Download in browser."

[indoneko]

OK, I've tested your game, and I can confirm that there's a slight delay, but none of that crippling mouse lag. In fact, I run firefox with 100 tab open along with this game, and I can still play this game properly.

One thing to notice though... the processor usage is skyrocketing whenever I move the mouse in your game - even in the game/start menu screen. So I tried adding # in this line (to disable the mouse config) :

Code: Select all

#    config.mouse = { 'default' : [ ('system/mouse.png', 0, 0)] }

and the lag seems reduced significantly...

FYI, I use Renpy 6.99.12.4 on Windows XP on an AMD Athlon X2 machine (old, eh?)

[PyTom]

I don't recommend config.mouse, since it does lag on some configurations.

[Sierra Lee]

Okay, so maybe we're zeroing in on the mouse as a possible problem?

I don't recommend config.mouse, since it does lag on some configurations.

Is there something else I should be using instead? Or are you suggesting that it's better not to have a custom mouse for the sake of performance?

OK, I've tested your game, and I can confirm that there's a slight delay, but none of that crippling mouse lag. In fact, I run firefox with 100 tab open along with this game, and I can still play this game properly.

I appreciate you testing, thanks!

[PyTom]

Or are you suggesting that it's better not to have a custom mouse for the sake of performance?

Correct. Some drivers are introducing multiple frames of lag into the visual system, which makes the custome mouse code untenable. At some point I'll be replacing it with a different approach, but I haven't had the chance to do that yet.

[Nyankar]

Mouse delay here, it's VERY annoying -.- also i have a "decent" rig. https://puu.sh/vkBrJ/758bfb5e39.jpg