High performance private hives

[barrance 22]

Just wondering about something that came to me while playing the other day. Is it a) possible, and B) if so does anyone know of any private hives out there that are designed to get the best performance out of peoples machines?

I just thought this after joining a private hive recently. Its brilliant, and for the near future I cant see myself playing anywhere else, but the only slight downside is that they have a good twice the normal number of zombies. Now, im not against that as a gameplay mechanic at all, I think its awesome (if youre gonna fire your gun in a town you better make dam sure theres a good reason!) but the only thing I have noticed is more significant fps slow downs, even in only moderate/small size towns.

Anyway, this got me thinking. As ive read that servers can peform better/worse than others, down to server set settings such as grass draw distance (and im sure others) would it not be possible for someone to set up a private hive of which the whole purpose was to get the best performance possible?

I dunno, for example having a reduced number of zombies (but say, a much higher hit damage or something?) and low grass distance/high levels of fog and whatever else can be done to get an extra few fps out of peoples machines who need a bit of pandering to!

So yeah, is it possible? And if so...do they exist? Id be all over it like a rash, and I get the feeling quite a few others would too!

edit: oh and also, removing empty tin cans etc. from the loot table! Would that not reduce the cpu load by a fair whack?

Edited February 1, 2013 by Wiggle Baron

[disorder 344]

Whoops, my bad

Edited February 1, 2013 by disorder

[aussiestig 681]

If the whole purpose is to get excellent frame rates, you're going to get a heap of players. A heap of players = bad performance. But it's not just down to the fact there are 50 players on the server, it's the dead players, dead zombies, and also the amount of zombies around the map ie. if there is one player on a server in elektro, there will probably be max 70 zombies on the whole server, but if there are 50 players in most of the towns on the map, that's a whole load of zombies.

tl;dr performance is more relative to the amount of people playing than anything else.

[barrance 22]

Thats cool, just make that a part of the server construction as well. So, a server with lets say a max of 25 players or something, and then low zombie count, short draw distances etc. Even if it only made a difference of a few fps, I know I for one would be an instant convert!

And then if it seemed to be popular, surely a few more servers similar to it could spring up? Just given the insanely demanding nature of the Arma2 engine + dayz, I think there will be a massive demographic of people happy to play with a few less zombies and few less visual goodies for the sake of playability. I can vouch 100% for the fact that increased fps = increased enjoyment in dayz. When servers are running well I find it so much more immersive, not just with fluid framerates, but the freedom this then allows you to keep a better watch around you with alt-running etc. As soon as that fps starts to drop i tend to look around me less, as I cant really see much anyway with a jerky, jumpy look around to the side.

so yeah, its surely doable? And surely if the fps lag is due to the persons limited cpu for example, then the framerate changes comes down more to the individuals location/number of nearby zombies etc.? Sure the server weight might have some bearing, but again, if you reduce the max capacity anyway...game on?

[plrsniper 87]

There are servers that down the view distance. In my case i walk away from those servers because with a limited view distance it becomes very dull.

The only thing that affects your FPS is the number of objects rendered. Remove the grass (or in short, reduce your object detail) to minimum and you gain about 70% FPS. And you gain another 50-70% by turning off post processing. This is because each object has their number of polygons to render and then have post processing applied to them.

When you go into Cherno or Elektro you will find your FPS makes a significant drop because the number of objects (buildings, loot, zombies) needing to be rendered (or culled, that too takes performance) increases exponentially.

I have 80 - 100 FPS out in the middle of Chernarus but when i walk into Chernarus it drops to 30 - 40 FPS. I have set all but texture quality and video memory to low or disabled.

I have a I7 2600K CPU at standard clock and a GTX580 graphics card.

I wish i could have a stable >60 FPS but under the ArmA 2 engine this will never happen because it's not a good rendering engine. It could have been if the right choices where made but it just isn't good right now.

[barrance 22]

...i swear this is a thread full of people missing the point somewhat lol

Of course, turning off post processing/AA etc. makes a huge difference to performance. But this all has absoloutely nothing to do with this thread. Until recently I have spent alot of time playing dayz with every setting bar none on very low/off if possible, a draw distance of 500, at 1024x768. This thread is coming from someone (and i know a large amount of other people) who aren't keen gamers (to be completely honest I fucking hate computer games, dayz is just in a different world) so as such have shitty standard home computers not designed for it.

For these people who will always have all the settings turned down to the absoloute lowest, there is still however some discrepency performance wise server to server, as the individual servers settings dictate the minimum setting possible for a variety of settings. These include to my knowledge the view distance of the 'fog', the minimum object detail of the grass (you can turn the grass off in your settings with object detail, but a minimum amount of grass is enforced by the server to prevent people from exploiting this to see ghillies hiding in the grass for example) and im sure some others.

So my question is, coming from the angle of someone who has done absoloutely everything possible to maximise performance (every config, launch parameter and in game setting tweak possible, nvidia control panel settings, ramdisk etc.) what else can be done server side for people like myself to get a bit extra out of our computers? If for example there are servers that have the minimum draw distance of grass set to half that of an "average" server, and a maximum view distance of 500, and half the number of (much stronger...) zombies, and a max capacity of 20 or something, would it then not be possible to make a server of which the whole point is providing a place for people with shit computers to have a better crack at playing it? Granted it would serve absoloutely no purpose to people with good computers (as they want to be able to see further than 500 metres..) but they can just stay away. I just want to know, if in ANY way, it would be possible for someone to host a specifically aimed "high performance for shit computers" server?

[plrsniper 87]

There is but one solution for someone who has a bad computer... Upgrade the components one by one, don't go for the new stuff but buy second hand stuff. You will find great performance products for less than 30% of their retail price if you just keep an eye open.

I am sure there are servers that remove everything that bogs slow computers down but you cannot escape the downsides to this no matter how your twist and turn it. You will have areas where your computer will not be able to handle the load and there will be players who have the computers to do so.

I am sorry i can't be of much help in finding said servers. All i know is some servers have limited their view distances to remedy the problem. To me it sounds like you are looking for a server with a 100 meter view distance though... How fun is that?

[barrance 22]

yup i know i can never escape from it completely, but as I said before, even if a "high performance" server just meant i got 18fps in big cities instead of 15 or something like that it would be a huge bonus to me.

And ive thought about trying to upgrade bits of computer, but bear in mind I dont, and I will never use this computer for any game other than dayz. Ever...like...ever. Full stop...

Ever.

So yeah, if im upgrading a processor, or buying a new graphics card, then im literally suddenly spending an extra £50-100 or something simply so I can get a few more fps in Dayz. And yeah, thats not going to happen. Not for a long time anyway. Me and my girlfriend are living well below the breadline at the moment. Was genuinely a struggle to justify buying Arma in the first place, let alone upgrade my computer to play it!

So yeah, if that is possible then (all the tweaks ive talked about so far, decreased view distance, less zombies, less loot, small capacity) has anyone done it? I guess its unlikely, as I presume most people who are going to be setting up their own servers, are also likely going to be people who have invested a fair amount of money in their gaming computers. Can't imagine many people with a £1000 computer compensating the quality of their own server for people like myself to have it running better! But, you never know! :D

[Mos1ey 6301]

What are your system specs and have you tweaked your settings and config at all to try and improve your fame rate?

[Dr. Goner 661]

Also, by lowering the objects rendered to very low, you're able to spot all the scattered loot around crash sites and random loot spawns easier. I found my first Mtn. Dew twenty feet from a random loot site in this way. It's a win win.

You can really improve on your problem by adjusting the video settings in game. There are elaborate youtube videos on this subject.

Edited February 1, 2013 by DrGonzo

[barrance 22]

ahhh come on guys, i answered that so clearly already lol

Can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that every single last possible tweak that can be done, I have done (and with good results!)

But all its done is turned my piece of crap into a slightly better optimised piece of crap (still hasnt stopped me thoroughly enjoying dayz since mid last year, but the more the merrier when it comes to dayz!)

E7300 2.66ghz dual core

GTS 250

4gb ram

Does the job...barely lol

30-35fps in the middle of nowhere

20-25 in small towns

10-15 in cherno/elektro