Frame Drop / Lag spike

[keivi]

I saw this unanswered question below earlier, and I am having the same issue (I have modified the text to describe my situation). Original question can be found here 

 

 

I am hosting an MP game through Steam between a friend and I, and we've been running into a technical issue.  When the server is first started or after a fresh hard reset of the server, there will be no problems. However after about 3 hours of IRL time of playing on the server, there seems to be a weird frame drop or lag spike issue that arises for both of us. It does not matter where we are in the map, or our proximity to the zombies (and their quantity), as far as I can tell.

 

The issue appears to us like this:

>We will be walking/killing zombies

>A 0.5 - 1 sec screen freeze will occur

>We lose control of our characters while the zombies move normally under the freeze (we cannot visually see this but I am assuming it is happening via input communications through the server to our client)

>The freeze is released and the zombies teleport their appropriate moving distance (and inevitably always biting our face)

>We die a slow and horrible death from something beyond our control and rage furiously

 

The occurrence, once it has begun, will proc every 30 seconds or so. Sometimes more or less. The strange thing is, the server ping never reaches beyond 40 ms for me and the game runs perfectly smooth (my rig can definitely handle it, even with the server). The server only reaches 40-50% memory capacity so there is not a memory issue. If there is something I can provide in order to help provide more information let me know. 

 

This was a problem even before the easy co-op mode when playing with a Steam version of the game. However, this issue DOES NOT occur when playing the non-steam version of the game (LAN server).  This bug is in-effect making fast shamblers completely unplayable as getting bitten or scratched is inevitable in nearly all encounters with zombies. Shamblers are kind of ok, but still sometimes you die (with extreme rage). Then again, we will probably resort to playing the non-steam version to remove this problem for now.

 

In case you need log files etc, please let me know where to find them. Thanks!

[Zapiboss]

Maybe you should try to desactivate the steam overlay then if it works well in the non-steam version.

[EnigmaGrey]

As Zapiboss says, that should be the only difference.

[keivi]

The Steam overlay was already off so that is not the issue.

 

I think it has to do with being able to host a LAN server (ping 7 with non-steam version) vs hosting an open server (ping 30-40 with steam version). The problem is there only with an open server, not with the LAN server. The ping itself is still a non-issue even with open server so I don't know what is causing this problem.

[EnigmaGrey]

When logging on to the Steam server, are you including both a LAN IP and a IP in the appropriate fields? If not, the client is likely sending your packets out into the internet, just to come back at you.

 

If this is a co-op server thought, it might not be possible to play LAN currently.

[keivi]

This is a Co-op IWBUMS server so apparently there is no possibility to add any LAN IP anywhere. I can probably circumvent the problem by starting the -nosteam server via SteamCMD and renaming all the relevant files to my match my current world.

 

The problem with the Co-op steam version is still there. You can find some examples of this problem (like the link I posted) but no one has come up with a solution yet that I could find.

 

Thanks for your suggestions in any case.

 

EDIT: I am the one hosting the co-op server. Also, the problem with the -nosteam server is that I cannot invite any friends that are not in my local network, such as Steam friends.

[EasyPickins]

10 hours ago, keivi said:

>A 0.5 - 1 sec screen freeze will occur

 

If the client 'freezes' frequently, it is most likely due to Java running out of heap space (memory).  The pauses are then due to the garbage collector running over and over trying to free memory.  Once this happens, the only solution is to quit the client.  This is more likely to happen with the 32-bit client, so play the 64-bit client whenever possible.  I don't know why this would only happen with the Steam-enabled client though.

[keivi]

Thanks EasyPickins, that was the case.

 

I was starting the game from Steam with the "Play Project Zomboid" which apparently defaults to the 32-bit client. I had the -nosteam zomboid server running from the 64-bit .bat file which resulted in me thinking it's somehow the steam version causing the problem.

 

Complete user error on my part. Thanks for your quick help. 

 

This also begs the question, why is there a "Play Project Zomboid" option in the first place? Maybe some type of information label or warning could be in order for people hosting servers in order to avoid this (unless I'm the only dumbass doing this ).