Statpanels causing display stuttering?

ID:2577254
 
Jun 4 2020, 4:23 pm
Was there at some point a BYOND update that messed with statpanels by any chance? I never used to notice jittering/stuttering/choppiness in older versions using statpanel, but now it's quite present even when simply displaying some basic info about the player's character.

https://streamable.com/8l0c7v
It's somewhat noticeable in the webm, but running the test project first-hang really exemplifies the issue properly.
Code is as bare-bones as could be just for some testing
/world
    icon_size = 32
    fps = 40
    turf = /turf/water

/turf
    icon = 'turfs.dmi'
    grass
        icon_state = "grass"
    water
        density = 1
        icon_state = "water"

/mob
    icon = 'player.dmi'
    step_size = 4

    var
        health = 100
        maxhealth = 1000
        mana = 10
        maxmana = 100
        strength = 50
        defense = 30
        fatigue = 0
        experience = 50
        level = 1000
        hunger = 25
        hydration = 100
        tmp
            move_time
            move_state

    verb
        test()
            set category = "blank tab"
            // only exists to add a mostly-blank tab in the statpanel

        movekey(dir as num, state as num)
            set hidden = 1, instant = 1
            if(state)
                move_state |= dir
                if(!move_time)
                    moveloop()
            else
                move_state &= ~dir

    proc
        moveloop()
            set waitfor = 0
            move_time = world.time
            while(move_state)
                step(src, move_state)
                sleep(world.tick_lag)
            move_time = null

    Stat()
        if(statpanel("test"))
            stat("Level", "[level]")
            stat("Experience", "[experience]/100")
            stat("","")
            stat("Health", "[health]/[maxhealth]")
            stat("Mana", "[mana]/[maxmana]")
            stat("Strength", "[strength]")
            stat("Defense", "[defense]")
            stat("","")
            stat("Fatigue", "[fatigue]%")
            stat("Hunger", "[hunger]%")
            stat("Hydration", "[hydration]%")
            stat("","")
            stat("Location", "[x],[y],[z]")

/client
    view = "18x18"
    perspective = EDGE_PERSPECTIVE

https://a.pomf.cat/wrgdlo.7z
Link to download the 7z of the test project.

I hope I'm not just dumb as hell?
Jun 4 2020, 4:53 pm
I definitely notice more stuttering when moving in this test project with the test statpanel open. (40fps is also not as smooth as it could be, but that's an entirely different discussion.)

I've seen something similar (worse) before: having a stat that changes (like "Location") inside a statpanel displaying a list of graphical objects (like an inventory) causes much worse stutter.

My theory has been that it's because of the Location stat label updating whenever your coordinates change, causing the entire statpanel to redraw in some extremely inefficient way.

More frequent statpanel updates = more frequent stutter.
More information displayed = longer stutter.

As always, steer clear of statpanels whenever possible, but an optimization here would definitely help a lot.
Jun 4 2020, 5:15 pm
In response to Kaiochao
Kaiochao wrote:
(40fps is also not as smooth as it could be, but that's an entirely different discussion.)
Feel free to elaborate unless it's completely out of the scope of this issue, always willing to absorb info.

I've seen something similar (worse) before: having a stat that changes (like "Location") inside a statpanel displaying a list of graphical objects (like an inventory) causes much worse stutter.

My theory has been that it's because of the Location stat label updating whenever your coordinates change, causing the entire statpanel to redraw in some extremely inefficient way.
Just tested without that, and the choppiness has definitely seemed to mostly subside.

More frequent statpanel updates = more frequent stutter.
More information displayed = longer stutter.
Yeah absolutely, was more so just perplexing to me because it never seemed to be this bad in the past.

As always, steer clear of statpanels whenever possible, but an optimization here would definitely help a lot.
Oh yes, definitely. In any actual project/game hud based info displays (you really don't need most of that info always being shown) is the go-to, but I noticed this issue with statpanels so I figured I'd ask.

Thanks for replying so quickly, Kaiochao.
Jun 4 2020, 10:43 pm (Edited on Jun 4 2020, 10:59 pm)
In response to Dayoak
Dayoak wrote:
Kaiochao wrote:
(40fps is also not as smooth as it could be, but that's an entirely different discussion.)
Feel free to elaborate unless it's completely out of the scope of this issue, always willing to absorb info.
I just meant that since my monitor has a 60hz refresh rate, games look smoothest at 60fps.

In theory, on a 60hz monitor:
- At 10fps, every rendered frame lasts 6 refreshes. This is consistent, but very choppy.
- At 40fps, every other frame lasts two refreshes. This is less consistent than 10fps, but it's a lot faster.
- At 60fps (or higher), every refresh shows a new frame. Consistent and as fast as possible.

Unfortunately, there's no way to actually achieve a perfectly smooth, high framerate on BYOND, due to precision issues (and especially network conditions, for online, though "network conditions" also seem to be in effect when joining your own local server). Still, 60 definitely looks smoother than 40 to me. By setting client.fps high and world.fps low, you can make the client do the work of smoothing animations between world ticks... but that doesn't work perfectly either.

It might be worth bumping my "Vsync/Unlimited FPS" feature request from almost a year ago:
http://www.byond.com/forum/post/2490606
Jul 10 2020, 9:00 pm
I noticed this on other games as well, I think its just a BYOND issue (with the latest version maybe)