SP and COOP Profiling (Ubi Dev read please)

[braiog]

I was hoping that with a subsequent patch, you could make it so that the settings for SP and COOP were handled individually.

IE, in SP, I have settings maxed out, and my 6800GT has no problem running it. But when I opt to do COOP (when it works), I have to go in and change all my settings to low in order to get the best results (I don't understand why, since graphical processing has little to no effect on latency)

But it would be nice if it had the ability for auto assigned profiles whether you play SP or COOP. Just a thought. http://forums.ubi.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

[Pygmalion1]

You know that you could make 2 different profiles. one SP and one Coop profile until patch comes out

[DrCactus]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by braiog:
... I have to go in and change all my settings to low in order to get the best results (I don't understand why, since graphical processing has little to no effect on latency)
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

You sure about that? Im no graphics expert or anything but, i know that if my graphic settings are too high then I lag hard. Maybe its for different reasons but when i lower the graphics quality, and not the resolution, it runs fine. This applies to other games as well. So am I nuts to think that its because of the high graphics that lag me or what?

[pretend3r]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Pygmalion1:
You know that you could make 2 different profiles. one SP and one Coop profile until patch comes out <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

you also that makes no difference, profile has no effect on your graphic settings.

[braiog]

Yes I'm rather sure about it. Not to say I'm correct as correct can be, but I am A+,i-Net+, Network+ and a MCP; so I have a good understanding of the underlying mechanics.

Your GPU handles the majority of the brunt from graphics processing. When you maximize your settings, your GPU is under a heavier load. The CPU handles the remainder of what the GPU can't take care of. If too much of a stress is made on the GPU, a large load is given to the CPU, which uses more cycles on taking care of this than on other requests (such as the network card, which does not have a processing unit on the PCB)

Since CPU cycles from the CPU are being used primarily for the GFX card's needs, less are available for the NIC, and thus information is sent and received either more slowly due to TCP/IP flow control, or the processing of that information is slowed, since the CPU cannot handle the needs of the NIC and GPU as well as usualy due to the GFX overhead.

Now, some people have an incorrect ideal of what "lag" and "latency" are. If your game's animations skip, many people call that a "laggy" game. Lag has nothing to do with it. Your network card, which is responsible for the transmission and receiving of data to and from your computer, does not, in any way, affect the graphic performance of your computer. The 4 main aspects of your computer which control that are: CPU Clock Rate, Size/Performance of Memory, Graphic Card Memory Size/Bus/Capabilities, and your Hard Drive's Disk RPM and Cache size, as well as data access method (SATA vs IDE vs SCSI, etc.)

When your animation starts skipping, it is because the GPU is so overloaded, it has to DROP entire frames of the animation to keep up with the current demand being made of it.

During this time, the NIC's responsibility is merely the send and receive of positional data of the client, actions, such as taking out the gun, firing bullets, etc. This is known as the netcode. When netcode is "bloated", as it has been deemed by many people for SC:CT's MP, then it sends too much data, or is not designed to process the data at a quick enough speed. This causes effects that you see which are more appropriatly deemed as "lag effects".

When you have a high latency, it can be due to many reasons. TCP uses a Switch Packet Circuit, meaning that info you send to a host can take multiple different paths to get to the final host. That means different data can get to the host at different times. Some paths have more congestion, or lower bandwidth, and TCP determines which paths are best to take in order to increase performance.

However, if your NIC is suffering because it's sending out data or receiving it too fast or slow, then you're unable to send information to the host which it needs to process in game. This can result in you skipping around (or others seeing you skip), disconnects, timeouts or other problems.

As many have seen, the COOP seems to show MANY servers that are on braodband connections with poor pings. In today's game market, the only feasible reasons why these servers show as being so low are: Game Code errors or bloated net code.

So basically, your graphic settings put an additional load on your computer that can tie up the CPU significantly, which reduces its ability to deal with other process or hardware that needs it. When a game is running, it is given a higher than normal priority, meaning more CPU cycles are devoted to it. If you alt-tab out, the OS gives the desktop and other programs you focus to more priority; and that is why people still in your game may get odd effects when you ALT TAB out as host or client. Hopefully what I've said here makes sense.