ID:2200309
 
Resolved
Attempts to acquire gamepad info caused major periodic slowdowns on some systems. Now, Dream Seeker recognizes when gamepads are added or removed and only does a search for attached gamepads at those times (and at startup).
BYOND Version:511.1368
Operating System:Windows 10 Home 64-bit
Web Browser:Chrome 55.0.2883.87
Applies to:Dream Seeker
Status: Resolved (511.1369)

This issue has been resolved.
Descriptive Problem Summary:
For a really long time I've believed that the engine has some sort of issue with its render timing. Like clockwork every certain amount of ticks there is a very slight hang. The newest beta version (511.1368) made this hang extremely noticeable. The demo provided, at least on my machine, hangs roughly every 2 seconds. I gave the demo to a friend and had him get 511.1368 and it also had a very noticeable hang on his machine. The issue also occurs in all of my projects, even ones I haven't touched in many years.

Numbered Steps to Reproduce Problem:
see demo

Code Snippet (if applicable) to Reproduce Problem:
http://files.byondhome.com/Reformist/StepIssue.zip
(ignore the file name, I was testing something else)

Expected Results:
Framerate remains smooth

Actual Results:
Slight hang periodically

Does the problem occur:
Every time? Or how often?
All games I've played
In other games?
All of my projects
In other user accounts?
Yes
On other computers?
Yes

When does the problem NOT occur?
Not sure, I've noticed it for years. I'm only posting this now because the latest beta made it much more pronounced.

Did the problem NOT occur in any earlier versions? If so, what was the last version that worked? (Visit http://www.byond.com/download/build to download old versions for testing.)
I downgraded to 511.1367 and the hang still exists as I've known it for years.

Workarounds:
None.

I'll take a look on Monday. But I'm wondering: do you have a large number of different sprites being displayed? The renderer will basically load textures until it can't, at which point it does a complete purge and starts over. That sounds consistent with your hang.
My soccer game has the same issue after updating.
In response to Tacurumin
It's not a new issue though, he said.
In response to Lummox JR
I have tested on the previous two beta versions (511.1367 and 511.1366), we can feel a very slight hang like he said, but on the new beta version (511.1368) the hang is much more noticeable, like Reformist said "every 2 seconds".
In response to Lummox JR
The demo only uses like 3 different icons, on a really small map, with only like 4 mobs or so. It still hangs.
I think I'm getting this too: every couple seconds, Dream Seeker completely freezes for a quarter of a second.

I think this is less noticeable on my more powerful desktop than on my laptop.

I only started noticing it one or two beta builds ago.
I'll see if I can reproduce this and get back to you.
Gah! I downloaded your demo only to find out you included no source code; it's a .dmb and an .rsc only, which is useless to me as a demo. Please send the actual source code.
In response to Lummox JR
My bad. http://files.byondhome.com/Reformist/StepIssue_src.zip

Ignore the step_size change nonsense. I am also in the process of trying to figure out another issue I'm having with client.fps's smooth gliding acting funky under certain circumstances. The demo just happens to portray the hang issue without me needing to write another one.
Thanks for the updated file. I added some more grass turfs to help make the issue clearer.

I'm seeing a very, very slight and occasional stutter; I'm wondering if that could at all be related to the gamepad code, as I really didn't see anything with gamepads plugged in. What I'm not seeing is anything very severe, or even all that regular; it's not happening on a 2-second basis for me.

Can you verify that you also are seeing much changed performance between 1367 and 1368? That would help narrow down some possibilities. If they look about the same, that would be helpful to know too. In fact, any build info you can pin down (e.g., problem first appeared in X.Y, problem got worse/better in X.Z, etc.) would be good.
In response to Lummox JR
I can't pinpoint a build it first started in, but it got much worse in 1368. Reverting to 1367 the hang isn't nearly as bad.
I made some changes under the hood to the way gamepads are enumerated, and in subsequent tests the minor stutter I was seeing vanished. I suspect my diagnosis was correct.
Please retest this in 511.1369 and let me know what you see.
In response to Lummox JR
Seems fixed to me.
In response to Kaiochao
Awesome. I'll see if others see the same result, and if so I'll add this to the release notes.
Completely fixed. Thanks. :)
Issue fixed to me too, thanks !
Lummox JR resolved issue with message:
Attempts to acquire gamepad info caused major periodic slowdowns on some systems. Now, Dream Seeker recognizes when gamepads are added or removed and only does a search for attached gamepads at those times (and at startup).
I'd like to revisit this issue. I previously had no problems with this happening until i updated to the latest build yesterday(511.1369). Like mentioned in the OP, it will hang up every couple seconds for a brief moment.

I have no problems on previous builds.
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