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A lesson in Lag. (Community)
A lesson in Lag. // Communityseiya fayeDec 9, 2002, 5:28pm
Greetings fellow AW users,
This may be an odd post, but if anyone out there can answer it, let me know. I have a basic understanding of what causes lag, in buildings that is, and I also know how to rid of some of it too. I was curious if anyone knew anything about lag elimination in building, or any information on it that I can further study or something. I am not looking for any type of lag information, only on building and what causes it and how to eliminate it. Please give me a gram or reply to this. Whatever it is you.... people do here. THANKS! =] -Seiya Faye ps. A less laggy world is a better place to be in. ananasDec 9, 2002, 5:46pm
Besides lots of polygons / stuffed areas :
Worst for me (software rendering) is light second are large animated textures third moving objects In theory, you can reduce lag by building with gaps, that's why the old ground objects all have been slightly below zero level. I am not sure how much difference that really makes though. [View Quote] strike rapierDec 9, 2002, 7:16pm
A bot that can detect cell data limit is also usefull... not using hundreds
of objects on the same move commands etc, they just cause allot of lag cause the vectors have to be calculated. - Me [View Quote] anarkissedDec 9, 2002, 8:56pm
Optimization of a build takes a number of things into account.
Firstly, the objects you use. The more variety you choose, the more it will slow the browser down. Try to be more creative with fewer objects. Example, if you have 20 objects in one build and 10 in the other, the 10 build will appear all at once in half the time. Downloading slows the browser down. You can test this by dumping your cache and seeing how the reload goes since things easily download as you build leading to the deception that it is fast loading. The longer the names in the objects, the less you can fit in a cell and this may affect performance. The objects themselves, how they're built, can affect. If the texture is too detailed (heavy) or the object created with too many polygons, then the object will lag you. Create a few samples and face them each in turn with your framerate monitor turned on (view menu, framerate will appear in your browser's status bar at the bottom) and compare them. Usually the more realistic it looks, the more it'll lag although many object makers have the skill to work around that. Try to use a few carefully placed objects to suggest the effect you are after rather than piling on lots of little things. Work your build as if you are designing for theatre, not reality. Another thing to consider in building is your object description and command fields. Again, the more text characters you have, including excess spaces or unnecessary fancy bits, the more "heavy" your build will be. In the command issue, if you have a dozen objects that all want to have the same command, like a move or texture for instance, put the command into one object below the build, some small thing you can set even just outside the actual build area. Example: create texture wood5 name=wall Then on the walls in question: create name wall This will cause everything named wall to carry the texture wood5 Pick a small name. Not something like "mausoleumwalls" and no spaces! Remember, the less text you use, the less you'll fill the area. Ideally pick objects that already have the texture you want. Lighting, don't put your light in your candles and light bulbs and fireplace. Nice concept, dumb idea. Instead make some careful choices and put in an object centrally that will simulate the effect of the lighting you want, like if you have a circle of torches, put the lightsource underneath the center! Light is a huge lag. Don't use it if you don't have to. Another tip few seem to know, the more your objects overlap the more they'll lag. Like a pile of rocks. Jammed into each other one over the other, the browser has to constantly compute how they intersplice and how it would look. Lag city! Lastly, Terrain. The textures AND the shape. terrain is bad for lag. If you're in a world with really interesting terrain you will have to work harder to optimize. If you are a caretaker creating terrain, smooth it out, use a lot of the same levels, keep the sloping and rolling and valleys and peaks sensible. Remember, the more you go up and down and up and down, the more lag you'll have. Create your terrain textures carefully to conform to recommended AW guidelines. While building, check your framerate monitor. Get a friend with a weaker computer to come check it out too. Wander around facing different directions and identifying when the framerate drops. Find out what number of fps on YOUR system equates with intolerable lag on your friend's system. Just because your computer is strong doesn't mean you shouldn't care about the lag you cause to others. If your computer is so slow you're just used to the lag and you think it's par for the course, wrong. Nope. You may have to suffer till you can get a better machine but you can still wind up making things very bad for others. I knew one builder with this problem. She was incaple of recognizing lag because she was so used to crashing and freezing constantly. Her move commands were calculated on a machine so slow that the rest of us saw things flying at lightspeed! Enlist the help of someone with a computer that is the opposite of yours and let them help you refine so you are suited to the widest audience. After all, we build to show off, not just to have, right? makiDec 9, 2002, 10:26pm
The question was never directed towards building in a world, yes strike,
there are public building worlds in which you can create lag - in fact, I don't believe Seiya owns a world. awmaki.com [View Quote] goober kingDec 10, 2002, 2:40am
Good ol' Strike: Content to stick his foot in his mouth, rather than
actually *help* someone. No wonder he was miffed about my NG2tNG assessment of him: I was right. :P [View Quote] -- Goober King The NG2tNGs never lie... gooberking at utn.cjb.net seiya fayeDec 10, 2002, 4:35pm
Hey thanks for the info guys, especially anarkissed, yours was very helpful,
lag pro. =] like I said earlier, a lag free environment is always better for us all. Thanks again! -Seiya Faye ps- As for Strike, remember what you were taught in school, there will always be an ass in the 'whole' existince of mankind. [View Quote] strike rapierDec 10, 2002, 4:51pm
sw comitDec 11, 2002, 5:04am
In a nutshell:
1. lighting in complicated areas. 2. multiple masking in a tight area. My forest for example is almost nothing but masks on rocks. Owch X_X 3. moving/rotating objects 4. complicated objects. Anyone remember the flagpole plague? lol 5. astart,astop,adone command objects, such as those used to texture objects. If set to 0 delay, it uses the browsers frame rate. Recommended you set it at 500. 6. pictures can cause lag too. Especially high res ones, obviously. [View Quote] kelleeDec 11, 2002, 5:57am
and TVs with an update of less than 40..... *shudder*
Its even worse when you have a visitor from some where other than America . [View Quote] 1. lighting in complicated areas. 2. multiple masking in a tight area. My forest for example is almost nothing but masks on rocks. Owch X_X 3. moving/rotating objects 4. complicated objects. Anyone remember the flagpole plague? lol 5. astart,astop,adone command objects, such as those used to texture objects. If set to 0 delay, it uses the browsers frame rate. Recommended you set it at 500. 6. pictures can cause lag too. Especially high res ones, obviously. ananasDec 11, 2002, 7:27am
I doubt this one. Large textures affect the download of course but
not the framerate I think. [View Quote] kahDec 11, 2002, 5:24pm
"kellee" <kellee at my.activeworlds.com> wrote in
news:3df6efdc at server1.Activeworlds.com: > and TVs with an update of less than 40..... *shudder* > > Its even worse when you have a visitor from some where other than > America . That depends on your download speed, even though AW's downloading is especially slow (stupid idea to use IE for it). KAH |
