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BlackSun

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Anyone remember when Zomboid was rendering the "visibility arc" on a tile by tile basis like this?

 

image.thumb.png.b8c890878bec7bde586db22cacf2507a.png

 

When the smooth rendering was first introduced, it destroyed my FPS, it was a slaughter.

I could disable it in options though, and everything ran just fine and was playable.

 

That option seems to be gone now - and so are my frames. The last version with hard edges ran comfortably well - and now, the latest update removed the option...? I couldn't find anything. Can I edit the options.ini to get it back, or anything like that?

 

Upgrading my machine is just not possible at the moment, and I finally found friends interested in playing Zomboid, so... pretty please?

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On 24.7.2018 at 4:17 PM, EnigmaGrey said:

I tested it on everything from hardware from 2005 to current and it didn't affect FPS in any way. All it did was cause doors and other tiles to become invisible, causing far more trouble than it was worth, having it still available in the game.

 

What're your computer's specs?

Really? IDK if it's different from what it was back then, but back then, turning it off helped my gameplay.

I'm running an M11x R1 with 8GB of RAM installed, with the CPU being the most problematic for PZ I'd assume, as GPU mostly runs at ~30-60% utilization.

 

The first releases on Desura back then worked perfectly, then a big update released promising great performance improvements, and it wrecked mine. A few builds later, I could play it again, after disabling the smooth edge. That was true for up to the version I was playing in 2015 - whichever that was.

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Yeah, I see what you mean. 1.3 GHz really isn't enough for the game. Make sure you force the Intel Control Panel to use the nVidia chip, not the GM45.

 

Try changing the resolution to something smaller, like 720p. Might be all it needs to at least be playable.  

 

You can also go back to the old vers. of the game. I'm not 100% sure the Lowest option is there, but it'll be available under the Betas tab. Just right click PZ and go to Properties then Betas, and select build 38.30 from the drop down menu. It may run better regardless, as we had to make some tough calls with the cars build in terms of supporting low spec machines. 

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I'm having plenty of headroom myself, but I'm a little surprised it's causing such troubles, as @MrCouper here is playing on an Atom laptop with just 2GB of RAM, intel graphics and a slower CPU in the first place (not without an issues, but he seems to do fine :)). He's on 32-bit Windows 10 forcefully (the CPU is 64-bit but you can only install 64-bit Linux there because of 32-bit UEFI limitation), so that might be a difference.

 

I wouldn't really suggest downgrading to 32-bit Windows though, especially on ram that plenty, but maybe try fiddling with options and making sure nothing is hogging the performance? Paradoxically try setting some options higher, as maybe that will move the GPU utilization higher reducing CPU load – shaders come to mind, but try various stuff. Check the battery settings too – both in Windows' and  Nvidia's control panel if you don't have anything set to power saving mode.

 

At a last resort you can reinstall OS or even try a different Windows version or if adventurous enough a Linux, but it's too much to ask for a single game, unless you start seeing troubles with other titles.

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2 hours ago, EnigmaGrey said:

Yeah, I see what you mean. 1.3 GHz really isn't enough for the game. Make sure you force the Intel Control Panel to use the nVidia chip, not the GM45.

I know it's still not much, but hey, at least gimme some credit for the 1.7 overclock, okay...? :cry:

 

... GM45? You mean, dedicated GPU vs. Intel HD? The R1's still got a hard switch, all honest, manual labor, no automation here. So I'm running on the GPU, of course. As for the resolution - I can't go lower than 800x600... and older versions - I don't even think our rental server supports older versions. Even if it did, the caaaaars. We really love those, it's awesome.

 

So, in conclusion:

My foldable box here's showing its age, yes, but more importantly - there is no way to switch that smooth renering off any more, just to check? Not even a command line or unlisted .ini thing...?

 

PS: Yes, it can run Crysis. Crysis 1. =D

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Good news: EasyPickens has managed add the lowest lighting back, using a different method to get it to work properly.

Bad news: This may mean the game no longer can be run without shaders, something that's held the game back pretty severely over the years. So many nice things you can do with shaders. :( It's quite possible I'm wrong and this is just limited to the lowest lighting setting, but by using shaders for this, it should help the game's performance. 

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On 31/07/2018 at 7:42 AM, EnigmaGrey said:

Bad news: This may mean the game no longer can be run without shaders, something that's held the game back pretty severely over the years. So many nice things you can do with shaders. :( It's quite possible I'm wrong and this is just limited to the lowest lighting setting, but by using shaders for this, it should help the game's performance. 

I think you meant with shaders? If not, how running the game with shaders (forcefully) enabled holds the game back? Isn't whole weather effects being done on shaders? If so, then I doubt they will be disabled for anything other than low end machines. Shaders generally should be pretty lightweight and use GPU to offload CPU (which is more of a problem for Zomboid from what I know). The only problem with shaders may be with compatibility on older cards, particularity old integrated intels.

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I tested it on everything from hardware from 2005 to current and it didn't affect FPS in any way. All it did was cause doors and other tiles to become invisible, causing far more trouble than it was worth, having it still available in the game.

 

What're your computer's specs?

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14 hours ago, Faalagorn said:

I think you meant with shaders? If not, how running the game with shaders (forcefully) enabled holds the game back? Isn't whole weather effects being done on shaders? If so, then I doubt they will be disabled for anything other than low end machines. Shaders generally should be pretty lightweight and use GPU to offload CPU (which is more of a problem for Zomboid from what I know). The only problem with shaders may be with compatibility on older cards, particularity old integrated intels.


Yes, shaders will be mandatory in Build 40.

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