RS windowed mode - lag

[OldJoe]

Hi.

I hope this is the correct place for this question.

 

I've recently begun playing RS after a while out, and i have been getting some unsual lag.

I have tried Firefox, Chrome and IE, but i still get the same thing. My hardware isn't the problem, it's an C2D [email protected], 4gb and a ATI 4670. I have looked at the activity, but none have been 100%.

When i have it in 'full' windowed mode, it sometimes lag. But when i have it in a smaller window it flows perfect. I have also tried different Java versions, but nothing happening.

I do not get this sort of lag on any other games that i play.

 

Two pictures to explain:

 

Lagging randomly.

[spoiler=http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/3737/screenshot2012013019364.png]

 

 

Free from lag.

[spoiler=http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/3737/screenshot2012013019364.png]

 

 

Any ideas or suggestions? I always do other stuff while online on RS, so fullscreen is no option.

 

Thanks.

[Lord Paul]

Heh, join the club of random lag spikes. The Bot nuke really messed up the game for some people. Though it is weird that you only lag when it's not in fixed.

 

Have you tried swapping between DirectX and OpenGL or tried the RS client?

[Randox]

Can you be more specific with the kind of trouble your having? People mean a lot of different things when they say lag.

 

Do you mean lag spikes, where you seem to lose connection, real lag where the game consistently takes time to respond, or is the game stuttering, where it pauses briefly every couple of seconds.

 

Since it sounds like, for whatever reason, the system demand is part of the problem, you might try using full screen instead of resizeable. Full screen mode is easier for the computer to deal with and might help you out.

[D. V. Devnull]

Hi, OldJoe... I see exactly the problem you're having, and I'm having the same issue on the following...

 

Single-Core Intel P4 Non-HT @ 2.4 GHz

Windows XP, FF 3.5.x-series, Java 6u29

2 GB RAM

ATI Radeon HD 4650 AGP

 

...and I can tell you it is not your fault. In fact, it is totally out of your control, and is a problem that must be fixed by Jagex themselves. Literally speaking, until they fix whatever they did wrong around the time of the Bot Nuke and/or Dominion Tower changes, most everyone is going to continue to lag horribly. Combined between my own experience and what I've been able to gather off of here and the RSOF, the RS Java Applet is restricting itself and what it is doing with the browser all to a single core on many systems, without regard to how many you have. The result ends up being that the bloat-code which comprises the RS Java Applet is currently overloading a single core and causing exactly what you and I are seeing. Worse, the larger the area that you want it to render on, the worse it lags. Heck, I'm getting the worst end of it here with only having a single core. Oh well, here's to the long wait for Jagex to make their code more lightweight, although I have this ugly feeling that they'll never actually fix what they've done wrong. :(

 

~D. V. "It's Jagex's fault, because they're overloading a piece of your system." Devnull

[Randox]

Just touching on what DV said, I just learned about the single core problem myself. Apparently, the multi core support is coded and in the game, but its currently disabled until they finish testing it or whatnot. I also don't think their in a hurry, because they feel a lot more limited by memory constraints than processor (probably something to do with the default memory usage cap that Java has). Multicores seem to be able to mitigate it a bit by moving all the java overhead onto the other cores. Here's to hoping they release their announced fix sooner rather than later.

[OldJoe]

Just touching on what DV said, I just learned about the single core problem myself. Apparently, the multi core support is coded and in the game, but its currently disabled until they finish testing it or whatnot. I also don't think their in a hurry, because they feel a lot more limited by memory constraints than processor (probably something to do with the default memory usage cap that Java has). Multicores seem to be able to mitigate it a bit by moving all the java overhead onto the other cores. Here's to hoping they release their announced fix sooner rather than later.

Aha i see. I guess i'm supposed to focus on the game and not doing other things as well, which takes cpu usage.

But at least i know the issue now.

 

It's not just the game that freezes, it's the computer too. But i did try and run it alone - full window (no video, not nothing on my 2nd screen), and so far no problems. But it good to know it's not on my end that the problem is at least.

 

Thanks!

[D. V. Devnull]

As an offside note...

I also don't think their in a hurry, because they feel a lot more limited by memory constraints than processor (probably something to do with the default memory usage cap that Java has).

Heck, Oracle and Browser makers have made it so that Jagex is not constrained anymore. They've been implementing "-Xmx256m -Dsun.java2d.noddraw=true" parameters for some time now. Problem is, Oracle and Browser makers even let Jagex override my own settings to jump the RAM Heap to 384 MB and keep 2D DirectDraw turned on, which causes me problems to no end regarding maintaining performance. I wouldn't be at all surprised if others are having issues due to being unable to set their own tweaks. :(

 

 

 

@ OldJoe -- If Oracle (and Sun MicroSystems) had never split Java away from the browser like this, I think things would be running less laggy and allowing for better multitasking. But that's just me. :-?

 

 

~D. V. "Knowing the [bleep]ed-over feeling..." Devnull