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Stuttery performance of AoC

willyfischwillyfisch Member
in General Discussion
Hello everyone.

The game still seems to run very stuttery (on all hardware) as seen in the latest gameplay video.
I've timestamped some examples in a Youtube comment:
Latest Youtube video with timestamps

I've also plotted a frametime chart during Apocalypse to highlight the issue:
https://www.reddit.com/r/AshesofCreation/comments/a7vxm4/can_we_talk_about_the_awful_performance_and/

I'm curious if Intrepid is aware of what is causing the issues as well as how and when they plan to fix them.
Please don't write a generic "the game is not out yet, performance will improve over time" answer, that is not helpful.

I could go on with this post on why this is extremely important to fix, why this type of bug is typically fixed in early development or not at all, why many games subconsciously feel bad to play because of issues like this, why some people seem to not notice it even though it seems to affect everyone, etc. but I'd like to keep it short and just get a technical answer to this.

Comments

  • NoaaniNoaani Member, Intrepid Pack, Alpha Two
    willyfisch wrote: »
    Please don't write a generic "the game is not out yet, performance will improve over time" answer, that is not helpful.
    There is quite literally no point in working on performance until you have all of the major systems in place.

    Ashes is probably a year away from having those major systems in place (realistically speaking), so don't you worry your pretty little self about performance just yet.
  • Wandering MistWandering Mist Member, Founder, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    This is literally one of the reasons why we are having a second testing period in APOC. Quoted from the Creative Director's letter:
    We can’t wait to hear your feedback on the updated performance, user interface, art iteration, and combat changes that you’ll see during this phase. We’ve learned a lot from our previous testing and we are using that knowledge to ensure smoother testing periods moving forward.

    So yes, I'm sure they are aware of the performance issues which is why they are doing more testing in APOC. While I definitely understand your concerns I would wait until we have done the next APOC testing before voicing anymore concerns.
  • AzathothAzathoth Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    The game has not been released for Alpha testing. Please don't use the current 'gameplay' footage as a generic assumption the game will have a stutter.

    Or do.
    57597603_387667588743769_477625458809110528_n.jpg?_nc_cat=105&_nc_ht=scontent-lax3-1.xx&oh=16e82247154b84484b7f627c0ac76fca&oe=5D448BDD
    +1 Skull & Crown metal coin
  • KarthosKarthos Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    I'm perplexed why you asked a question and then asked us not to answer it with THE ANSWER to your question.

    Since you won't accept 'the game is in development still" I'm going to go with aliens.

    Aliens did it.
    Aq0KG2f.png
  • TarlachTarlach Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    APOC ran well on my PC
  • MakinojiMakinoji Member, Warrior of Old, Kickstarter, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    karthos wrote: »
    I'm perplexed why you asked a question and then asked us not to answer it with THE ANSWER to your question.

    Since you won't accept 'the game is in development still" I'm going to go with aliens.

    Aliens did it.

    I am also going to say Aliens and Tulnar
  • RokoRoko Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    I'll go with Illuminati
    2PXdm1m
  • ShoklenShoklen Member, Alpha Two
    I'll go with Order 322.
  • JahlonJahlon Member, Intrepid Pack, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    willyfisch wrote: »
    Hello everyone.

    The game still seems to run very stuttery (on all hardware) as seen in the latest gameplay video.
    I've timestamped some examples in a Youtube comment:
    Latest Youtube video with timestamps

    I've also plotted a frametime chart during Apocalypse to highlight the issue:
    https://www.reddit.com/r/AshesofCreation/comments/a7vxm4/can_we_talk_about_the_awful_performance_and/

    I'm curious if Intrepid is aware of what is causing the issues as well as how and when they plan to fix them.
    Please don't write a generic "the game is not out yet, performance will improve over time" answer, that is not helpful.

    I could go on with this post on why this is extremely important to fix, why this type of bug is typically fixed in early development or not at all, why many games subconsciously feel bad to play because of issues like this, why some people seem to not notice it even though it seems to affect everyone, etc. but I'd like to keep it short and just get a technical answer to this.

    The entire reason they took down what they had for the last 7 months is to work on this exact problem.

    Wait until 20 August to judge it.
    hpsmlCJ.jpg
    Make sure to check out Ashes 101
    Ashes 101 on YouTube
  • CalicobardCalicobard Member, Alpha Two
    edited October 17
    The number one problem with ashes of creation right now. Is the poor performance when in a crowded town or city. FPS drops to zero and screen freezes for 15 to 25 seconds at a time then rinse repeat. This is a known issue with unreal engine 5. However the dynamic gridding technology that Intrepid is working to perfect is supposed to address this problem. In it's current state the game is almost unplayable in these locations (looking at you winstead) when server population in town is high.

    This is not a game I'd be willing to pay $15 dollars a month to play in its current state. This needs to be fixed and fixed soon. The reputation of Intrepid as a serious MMO game company is on the line. This should be fixed before anything else is done. Game needs to be playable and right now during peak times it just isn't. This needs to be fixed and fixed properly before there is any more talk of looking forward to beta.

    I said what I said. No apologizing for being truthful. Fix this lag and screen freezing or this game is over before its even begun.

    Stay Frosty my Friends, Calicobard
  • ChicagoChicago Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Calicobard wrote: »
    The number one problem with ashes of creation right now. Is the poor performance when in a crowded town or city. FPS drops to zero and screen freezes for 15 to 25 seconds at a time then rinse repeat. This is a known issue with unreal engine 5. However the dynamic gridding technology that Intrepid is working to perfect is supposed to address this problem. In it's current state the game is almost unplayable in these locations (looking at you winstead) when server population in town is high.

    This is not a game I'd be willing to pay $15 dollars a month to play in its current state. This needs to be fixed and fixed soon. The reputation of Intrepid as a serious MMO game company is on the line. This should be fixed before anything else is done. Game needs to be playable and right now during peak times it just isn't. This needs to be fixed and fixed properly before there is any more talk of looking forward to beta.

    I said what I said. No apologizing for being truthful. Fix this lag and screen freezing or this game is over before its even begun.

    Stay Frosty my Friends, Calicobard

    100000% agree, and this is coming from a game that teases 500v500, I can run basically all games even UE 5 games in max graphics at about 75 fps, but ashes I can barely run on low and it's basically impossible to enter a T4 node, it's not even just the times with high players, the nodes them self cause such a big performance drop it's ridiculous, performance was a phase 1 goal, and as of now this game is extremely harmful to people's PCs to even launch the game, this NEEDS to be fixed before this game is advertised, but as always it won't be
  • ilovezombiesilovezombies Member
    Noaani wrote: »
    willyfisch wrote: »
    Please don't write a generic "the game is not out yet, performance will improve over time" answer, that is not helpful.
    There is quite literally no point in working on performance until you have all of the major systems in place.

    Ashes is probably a year away from having those major systems in place (realistically speaking), so don't you worry your pretty little self about performance just yet.

    That's funny because Tim Sweeny says that Developers of Unreal Engine 5 games need to factor in performance from the beginning, and not the end.

    "Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has explicitly stated that developers need to factor in performance from the start of the development process, not leave it until the end. He attributes many of the performance issues seen in some Unreal Engine 5 (UE5) games to this "out-of-order development" practice. "
  • willyfischwillyfisch Member
    Performance and input latency is usually not something you can fix at the end of development. All the systems have to be designed and built with that in mind.
    It was clear 7 years ago that this was not done and they would have to restart with a lot of the development to fix it. 7 years later is too late to be able to fix it. This game will never run smooth, with consistent FPS and low latency.
    I understand this is not a deal breaker for most people, but for me personally, if it doesn't feel buttery smooth and responsive, I will not be playing it.
  • Undead CanuckUndead Canuck Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    ilovezombies wrote: »
    Noaani wrote: »
    willyfisch wrote: »
    Please don't write a generic "the game is not out yet, performance will improve over time" answer, that is not helpful.
    There is quite literally no point in working on performance until you have all of the major systems in place.

    Ashes is probably a year away from having those major systems in place (realistically speaking), so don't you worry your pretty little self about performance just yet.

    That's funny because Tim Sweeny says that Developers of Unreal Engine 5 games need to factor in performance from the beginning, and not the end.

    "Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has explicitly stated that developers need to factor in performance from the start of the development process, not leave it until the end. He attributes many of the performance issues seen in some Unreal Engine 5 (UE5) games to this "out-of-order development" practice. "

    Kind of hard to factor in performance for UE5 and all the changes when the game was built in UE4. Since Epic updates their engine pretty often, I guess people have to complete the build process within a release.

    willyfisch wrote: »
    Performance and input latency is usually not something you can fix at the end of development. All the systems have to be designed and built with that in mind.
    It was clear 7 years ago that this was not done and they would have to restart with a lot of the development to fix it. 7 years later is too late to be able to fix it. This game will never run smooth, with consistent FPS and low latency.
    I understand this is not a deal breaker for most people, but for me personally, if it doesn't feel buttery smooth and responsive, I will not be playing it.

    I haven't had any stuttering and have had pretty consistent FPS (other than the first week. That sucked, but what do you expect for the launch of Alpha). So I dispute the 'This game will never run smooth...'.
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