Renderer Version 2.0 Feedback

[joewillburn]

Hi Supertesters,

We'd like to thank you all for volunteering to test the new graphics renderer, Version 2.0. In this thread we'd like to ask for your feedback. Your experience, suggestions, bug reports and other anomalies you may encounter during the testing process.

Remember, please be as descriptive and clear as possible. The easier it is for us to understand your feedback, the better it will be for us all. We're looking forward to seeing what you have to say!


Version for low-end PCs (New Renderer)

We are paying a lot of attention in version 0.40 to the game performance. The new renderer was originally developed keeping in mind requirements and limitations of older PCs and laptops. Our goal was to achieve a sufficient FPS (frames per second) on Intel HD Graphics 4000 video adapters. We tried to minimize the visual difference between the new and the old render. Playing on low settings shouldn't give any advantage, for example, increase visibility of the enemy.

Performance increase on low-end PCs was achieved by reducing the data about the objects to a minimum: we compressed information about color and normal maps, and added support of minimum palette of materials. Though the type of renderer has not changed – it's still the same deferred shading with dynamic light sources and shadows and physically accurate lighting. All stages of the renderer have been rewritten from scratch, an internal representation of data was also optimized which should improve stability on 32-bit systems with low amounts of RAM.

Unfortunately, a great number of changes and a great variety of PC configurations require a radically new approach to testing. For the large-scale testing we will select a few dozen of players with different PC configurations and will give them access to a special version of the game which allows playing with the new renderer. Based on the results of this test we will make a decision whether to include the new renderer in the future update or not. Sign up to participate in renderer testing in Preferences tab of your profile by checking the box "Participate in closed testing of the upcoming updates" and pressing "Submit".

We will continue development of a new renderer, adding new features which will work only on high quality graphics settings.

Watch the video comparing both renders on a couple of PC configurations. One has Intel HD4000 video card, the other has GeForce 8800 GTS (corresponds to the current minimum system requirements of Survarium). Thus, the new renderer will not only increase the performance on low end PCs, but will further decrease minimum system requirements (still allowing to play with at least 30 frames per second). We've made this video using one of the replays in Survarium 0.34a. You can download the replay and check how well your PC handles it. And you will get more fps with the new renderer!

[joewillburn]

Today you will now be given access to the new version of the in-game renderer, V2.0. Please go into the game options menu, select "graphics" and there you will find the option to select Version 1 or 2. Upon selecting number 2 please restart your game client.

Now, we have a few very important tasks for you to complete.

1. Has the performance improved for and how much? A comparison of FPS between the old and new renderer, in other words.

2. Which locations work better and worse for you. What's the best and worst experience with regards to the new renderer performance throughout various locations.

[Davik_Heragon]

As mentioned above, please share your feedback in this topic and do not hesitate to address minor or critical issues.

[-Sikzo-]

I guess I better put my system in here as well, for others to understand and to compare

OS: Windows 10 x64
CPU: AMD FX-8350 OC @4.5GHz
RAM: 16GB DDR3
Graphics: AMD R9 380 4GB OC

Test #1:

General performance:
-------------------------------
My FPS on Tarakanovsky Fort, Cologne and London have improved by ~40 FPS, so I now have 90-120 FPS on average, even during gunfights. The frames still dip down by around 15 FPS when looking at wide, open fields, such as the swamp area on Rudnya (as an example).

I will gather more data either later today or tomorrow, pereferably on all maps.

Bugs:
-------------------------------
- The texture streaming seems to be bugged - When I switch between tiers in the shop really fast, some textures have a very low resolution, and it stays that way, unless I "reload" the tier, by slowly switching between them. Something similiar happens in-game, when I turn around really fast. Small areas, like rocks and smaller objects, have very low-resolution textures when I do that. The ground textures are fine though.

- I had one crash in the lobby, without doing much. I was writing in general chat and then waited for a few moments - Suddenly, the game crashed. I've sent the bugtrap error report.

- The sky looks weird - It has very low resolution clouds(?) - I don't know if it's intentional, so I just mention it as well.

General opinion:
-------------------------------
I think Dima is doing great work. There are still some things to iron out, but all in all, the new renderer is doing what it is supposed to do: Increase the performance for low-end systems.

Keep up the good work, and well done so far! :)

[Wo_oT]

I am getting scarce FPS drops but they happen at the worst times like a fire fight. I also have seen some foliage models "freak out" just a bit. I have vert synch off but I am still capped at 60fps. Is this on purpose? Can I remove the cap somehow and see how far I can go?

[Davik_Heragon]

Wo_oT: On what maps does this occur and what are your settings?

[Wo_oT]

The lasers on claymores are a translucent white now 0.0 only for this renderer or everyone? Awful idea if intentional. Also if I am using a holo sight like on the ash and I look at smoke from a smoke grenade the reticle completely disappears.

[Davik_Heragon]

The lasers on claymores are a translucent white now 0.0 only for this renderer or everyone? Awful idea if intentional.

No, most likely due to the new renderer. A lot of effects including light effects are missing.

[Wo_oT]

Wo_oT: On what maps does this occur and what are your settings?

Everything Ultra except motionblur is off. The map was cologne for the ASH. The lasers on traps were white on that map and on low settings on fort.

[Davik_Heragon]

Everything Ultra except motionblur is off. The map was cologne for the ASH. The lasers on traps were white on that map and on low settings on fort.

Well, the settings don't have any influence on the game at the moment. viewtopic.php?p=244399#p244399

[Braconnier]

Mamayev :
Encountered freezes like 5~6 seconds and fps drops too. also got a freez and crash. sent bug report.

Also i would notice, that i have changed the digital vibrance control slider to 65% so the render is less "washed".
it seems that for me the fps is steadier than actual renderer, but i am still "cpu bottlenecked". start match (waiting time) at around 90~100 then in game it's more like 35~50 sometimes more depending "landscape" but smoother.

[joewillburn]

Thank you for your valuable feedback everyone!

[colers25]

First of all, why in the everloving hell do i suddenly have formatting options JUST IN THIS SECTION OF THE FORUM.

Seriously, its bloody absurd that supertester status is required to get formatting options.



As for the renderer;

Brightness needs to be looked at critically; currently, everything is absurdly bright no matter the gamma level

Tarkanovsky needs its distortion effect ASAP. Wasn't the lack of it one of the main reasons why the renderer was kept as a closed beta test?

[Davik_Heragon]

Brightness needs to be looked at critically; currently, everything is absurdly bright no matter the gamma level

Gamma as in the ingame gamma settings? You can't change that.

EDIT: I thought I'd give the new renderer a go with my bad laptop. The results were... interesting.

Specs:

RAM: 4GB
Processor: Intel Core i3 M330 2.13 ghz
Windows: 64-bits


Average FPS on Mamayev Kurgan: 5

[karat805]

Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-5930K CPU @ 3.50GHz (12 CPUs), ~3.5GHz
Memory: 32768MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 32668MB RAM
DirectX Version: DirectX 11

Card name: AMD Radeon R9 280X
Manufacturer: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
Chip type: AMD Radeon Graphics Processor (0x6798)
DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_6798&SUBSYS_30041043&REV_00
Display Memory: 2795 MB
Dedicated Memory: 3051 MB
Shared Memory: 3840 MB
Current Mode: 1920 x 1080 (32 bit) (60Hz)

New renderer:
Average FPS: 140
Drops to FPS: 50-60 (feels like drops became more rear)

Old renderer:
Average FPS: 80
Drops to FPS: 30-40 (regular drops)