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Game continually stutters

AuthorMessage
Survivor
Aug 22, 2009
2
I just sent an email to KI support, but thought I'd post as well for possibly a quicker answer. Starting a few days ago, my game stutters constantly while moving through certain areas (usually where there are a lot of people). The effect is that the screen freezes for maybe 1/4 second and then unfreezes for maybe 1-2 seconds. This happens continually when I'm moving. This was never a problem before. I have a quick computer and a mid-range gaming graphics card. I am hard-wired to my router and just did a speed test, getting about 22 Mbs download, 1 Mbs upload. I closed all other programs and even turned Aero off in Windows. I checked the task manager and the CPU is idle about 60% of the time. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Geographer
Aug 28, 2010
958
I have a good mid range Gaming computer, and I have had the exact same problem since the last Update.
I first notice it when riding my Panther, the tail stalls as it swings. When I attempt to ride, I go in the wrong direction sometimes. I have jumped to an empty realm, but the same issue shows up.
It's something that KI did in the last Update, as nothing on my PC has changed at all.
Please post whenever KI tells you, as the problem is on their end of things, not ours.

Archon
Oct 24, 2010
4952
pedker on Jul 6, 2013 wrote:
I just sent an email to KI support, but thought I'd post as well for possibly a quicker answer. Starting a few days ago, my game stutters constantly while moving through certain areas (usually where there are a lot of people). The effect is that the screen freezes for maybe 1/4 second and then unfreezes for maybe 1-2 seconds. This happens continually when I'm moving. This was never a problem before. I have a quick computer and a mid-range gaming graphics card. I am hard-wired to my router and just did a speed test, getting about 22 Mbs download, 1 Mbs upload. I closed all other programs and even turned Aero off in Windows. I checked the task manager and the CPU is idle about 60% of the time. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I've found issues lately with Triton Ave, after completion of the kraken quest it has a horrific lag. If does correct itself over time. Aside from that, I don't see any problems game-wide.

Delver
Apr 11, 2012
206
pedker on Jul 6, 2013 wrote:
I just sent an email to KI support, but thought I'd post as well for possibly a quicker answer. Starting a few days ago, my game stutters constantly while moving through certain areas (usually where there are a lot of people). The effect is that the screen freezes for maybe 1/4 second and then unfreezes for maybe 1-2 seconds. This happens continually when I'm moving. This was never a problem before. I have a quick computer and a mid-range gaming graphics card. I am hard-wired to my router and just did a speed test, getting about 22 Mbs download, 1 Mbs upload. I closed all other programs and even turned Aero off in Windows. I checked the task manager and the CPU is idle about 60% of the time. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Your computer probably has some trouble loading certain areas, because it additionally has to upload the other Wizards' appearances and their pets. I suggest that you check that your computer's tower isn't overheating, as this may have been causing your game to lag.

~Miranda Thundergem
Legendary Theurgist

Survivor
Mar 04, 2012
6
Part 1 of 2
Many have lag since the Azteca addition, and after later updates including the most recent pvp and tournament updates. From your description, it sounds like frame rate/processing lag (versus latency/networking lag). I think your video card isn't keeping up with the speed of rendering lots of moving/changing images. Easy suggestions:

Game Display Tweaks under the Options Tab (or click "Esc" in-game)

- Under the 2nd round icon, "Advanced Video Options": I perceive the most significant improvement in game video rendering speed by lowering Particles. On the rare occasions I want to see more snow from my snowglobes, I increase it. :) Turn Bloom, Smoothing and Shadows off. (Although I might prefer smoothing on, I don't perceive it improves resolution either.) I set Brightness at about the 75% point on that bar.

- Under the 4th round icon, "Gameplay Options": Change Overhead Names to anything other than 'Everyone'. To test if this is a significant part of your issue, choose "None" next time you're speeding through a crowded Commons realm. I notice a difference.

- Under the 1st icon "Video Options": If none of the above was effective, lower Graphics Detail and Texture Detail.

Maintenance
- Empty Temp and Downloads folders, ensure you've scheduled regular hard drive defrags and virus scans.
- Consider free programs that defrag your game history files (not the files that load each time you log in).
- Run a backup then identify & reduce the many unneeded background programs with CCleaner or similar. Some are big RAM hogs and there's no reason they run until when you actually open them.
- Download the most recent video card drivers available.
- Whenever I notice lag, I clear my browser cache.

Survivor
Mar 04, 2012
6
Part 2 of 2

The below should be effective if latency lag (the entire connection path to your computer) is the issue:

Hardware
- If your modem/router is more than two years old, buy or request a replacement. (Many paid ISPs replace them for free.) Replacing mine reduced game disconnections rather than lag.
- If no difference after that and the above Tweaks and Maintenance, if your card is 2+ years old, replace with 3-4GB (rather than the older 1 or 2GB) memory and a better type of memory.
- If CPU speed isn't about 2.00 GHz, is your fan working?

Operating System
- 32-bit Windows versions only recognize to 4GB RAM, from which part of your video card's RAM is deducted; see this under Properties or Control Panel>System. The W101 file loading uses 450-600K-ish of the remaining RAM; the Tweaks above will help reduce the strain. Yet my 32-bit processor with only 3GB RAM (and 32-bit Win7) displays the game with only occasional lag after the Tweaks above. My idle is 82-99% with lots of sites open, and 45-65% with W101 open.
- Win7 64-bit wants at least 6 GB RAM, so if you have Win7 & 4GB RAM, consider a reinstall of the x86 (rather than the 64-bit) Win7.

If lag continues, consider posting more detailed system specs so a computer expert could reply with more specific suggestions. Good luck! :)