Tile Loading Lag

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by NRailer, Jan 11, 2021.

  1. NRailer

    NRailer New Member

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    Hi all,

    Apologies if this has come up before. I've got an issue which I imagine may be CPU based but in truth I haven't really a clue. I've not had a Windows machine for personal use for a while having been an early Mac convert, but I'm sure my machine is fully capable of beating the issue inspite of being a laptop, but I have run out of ideas of how to fix it. Let me explain...

    I'm still new to TS having only racked up around 70hrs or so since Black Friday - the whole reason for buying it was centered around playing this game. When I bought the game I started off with the WCML South from Euston to Birmingham route and experienced a poor FPS rate, noticing I couldn't punch much above 24fps. OK, so I know having read up on the route there were/are still multiple issues with that route and the updates that have followed haven't really solved the problem completely as yet. But, at the same time, I noticed every 30 seconds or so whilst driving, I would notice a greater degree of FPS drop when it would stutter - going from the 21fps or so down to 13-14 for 3-5 seconds. Always without exception in the same parts of the route.

    I thought this had something to do with AI trains coming in to view, so tried quick driving without other trains on a Quick Drive scenario but this would unceasingly come up still. Reading up on the issue I discovered this was a tile loading issue as roughly every 1k of route mileage is made up of an individual tile that loads up when you get within a certain distance of it. Having understood this, I since started noticing the same phenomena on other routes such as the WCML North and WCML Over Shap, South London, London to Portsmouth, GEML and others - basically every route I own.

    Desperately looking for a solution, I initially thought I needed to do some serious graphic optimisation. I started as suggested with the in app graphic settings, moving from High to Medium and down to Low, but found no noticeable improvement. I downloaded the NVIDA settings control panel and did a bit of work there following some informative videos - still no better. I then started making adjustments within the Resource Monitor under the Performance tab in the Task Manager, but that didn't really do all that much either. Interestingly, when I set all graphics in the game to their highest settings I don't have any noticeable issues with the rest of the routes FPS wise (all fairly consistent) and usually nothing lower than 30 at least, so I'm fairly convinced I have enough power in the hardware (deats below).

    Nothing I've tried works but I'm 100% convinced its a tile loading up issue - and not the level of detail embedded within the graphics of the routes.

    Does anyone have any ideas on how to solve this please? All the forums I've seen where this is mentioned date back several years and suggest people buy an SSD, but as far as I know I have one, so this can't be the answer. The more I've tried to deal with it the more it's come to bother me and now makes TS far less enjoyable to play, as, like a constant itch, I keep noticing and anticipating it coming every time I load it up ruining my experience.

    Anyway, my set up is as follows :
    Rig : 10th Gen Intel i7-10750H (12MB Cache, up to 5.0 GHz, 6 cores)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6GB GDDR6
    16gb RAM
    512gb SSD
    electriQ 35" WQHD 100Hz monitor.

    Many thanks for reading my post, and further gratitude bestowed if you can help me with the issue! All the best to you...
     
  2. Tomas9970

    Tomas9970 Well-Known Member

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    I once solved this by extracting all game packages (.ap files) using RW tools but it was troublesome to maintain. I could choose to either keep the .ap files and have effectively double install size or delete the .ap files and have them pointlessly redownload with every game verification or update.
     
  3. Peter Hayes

    Peter Hayes Well-Known Member

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    NR
    I would advise you NOT to extract and/or delete the .ap files that is just not on - it defeats the whole idea on how TS runs.
    Have you set up FREESYNC as GSync compatible in the NVCP? I'm not sure if this monitor is GSync Compatible.
    If possible can we see your NVCP settings?
    Your video card may be a little weak for certain routes and with such a large monitor it could be struggling at certain times.
    Tile boundaries do cause stuttering - but they can be minimised with a good setup and a matched sytem.
     
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  4. TimeSlicedDanny

    TimeSlicedDanny Active Member

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    My potato PC always stutters on tile loading on modern routes, less so on old routes, as they tend to have less assets. I have an SSD and a graphics card (same as yours) that is much better than the cpu, so I guess the cpu is and always will be the bottleneck. My son's much better PC stutters very little on the same graphic settings.
     
  5. trev123

    trev123 Active Member

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    As above you need a decent PC. I see the Intel i7 10750H is a Laptop. I have recently upgraded my desktop PC to an Intel i5 10600K. See the comparisons between your CPU and mine here. https://gadgetversus.com/processor/intel-core-i7-10750h-vs-intel-core-i5-10600k/#:~:text=Comparison of the technical characteristics between the processors,,cores, 12 threads, a maximum frequency of 5.0GHz. My GPU is an Asus Strix GTX 1060 6GB graphics card. I'm also running TS off of a Seagate Firecuda 2TB Hybrid HD. See this video that I have made with virtually if at all stutters. My old CPU was an Intel i5 2500K and this route used to stutter like mad every 30 seconds or so and also using the 1060 card. My conclusion on how to get rid of the stutters is to have a decent CPU an SSD may help.
     
    Last edited: Jan 25, 2021
  6. trev123

    trev123 Active Member

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    I'm glad you said that. I was just using a bit of psychology here. If I had said that there was no stuttering someone would have come along and said that they saw some. :)
     
  7. Pookeyhead

    Pookeyhead Well-Known Member

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    Sometimes you have to in order to edit something, or install a reskin etc.
     
  8. andy.malcolm

    andy.malcolm Active Member

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    What I do if I need the GEO file from an AP to install a reskin, is open the AP with 7Zip and copy the GEO out of it instead of extracting the whole lot.
     
  9. NRailer

    NRailer New Member

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    Hi all, thanks for your help on this one. Yes, I admit I plumbed for the laptop - regrettably I don't have the space for a desktop so after hours of research this seemed to be the best option for my budget.

    Peter - I haven’t unpacked any of the .ap files, except one (I think the DTG Class 91) I did a while back via TS Tools in order to try (unsuccessfully I might add) to get a scenario to work on the GEML as the required train stock doesn’t load in, but this is by the by.

    I am still very green as I didn’t know what GSync or FreeSync were before reading your posts. It turns out that my monitor is FreeSync compatible and I turned it on after reading your post and only then did the Setup G-Sync option in the NVCP come up. I have to admit I have noticed a definite improvement so your call on a good setup and matched system has been proven.

    However, I have noticed a new (small yes) but annoying issue which has occurred which I hadn't recalled having seen before (or at least hadn't noticed). That of screen tearing. Despite doing a screen tear test through the magic of YouTube which proved I didn't have any, I've noticed a lot of this going on which didn’t appear to have existed before. I have disabled VSync and have again altered the in game graphic settings but honestly I haven’t managed to make much headway. One thing I do notice (and maybe this is a TS issue that I am unaware of), is that it only seems to display in a maximum of 60Hz, despite my monitor being able to go up to 100Hz.

    Anyway, here are some screen caps of my Nvidia control panel. Please feel free to give me some ideas if you have any.
    upload_2021-1-13_17-5-1.png

    upload_2021-1-13_17-5-16.png

    upload_2021-1-13_17-5-33.png

    upload_2021-1-13_17-10-53.png

    Again, many thanks for your time it is really appreciated and has already improved my gaming experience. All the best to you.
     
    Last edited: Jan 13, 2021
  10. Reef

    Reef Well-Known Member

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    I never use V-sync for the exact reason you've noticed, screen tear.

    If however it's definitely that that has you noticing improved performance then I suggest you limit the games fps output (I do this too btw)

    Option 1) If you launch via the Steam interface (an option I never recommend)
    • Launch Steam
    • Either left click on Train Simulator in the left hand side games list and then right click on "Manage" or right click on the cog that's hover labelled "Manage" over on the top right (ensuring that Train Simulator is the focused game on your Steam library by right clicking on the game from the left hand side games list first)
    • Right click on "Properties" from the drop down menu that appears
    • At the bottom of the "General" window that has now opened you will see "Launch Options"
    • type in the following into that field exactly as shown here > -FPSLimit=30
    • Close the properties window ( [x] in the top right) and launch game as normal
    Option 2) If you use a desktop shortcut created from the RailWorks64.exe located in your RailWorks folder (my preferred way of launching TS)
    • Right click on the desktop shortcut
    • Left click "Properties" at the bottom of the list
    • In the properties window there will be a field Next to "Target:" which should have the file location of the .exe it's related too, click on the target field text and scroll to the far right of the text right to the end after RailWorks64.exe"
    • leave a space (hit spacebar once) and then enter -FPSLimit=30
    • click apply, close properties window and launch game by double clicking shortcut icon
    30 fps is plenty enough for TS and offers an overall more stable and smooth experience, I never need to use (and have a active distaste for) G-Sync but I suggest you try my fps limit advice and then try it both with and without G-sync.

    As an aside there are other really useful launch parameters you can use in TS and add them after the above, just make sure you leave a single space between the end of the last parameter and the - symbol of the next one.
     
  11. Peter Hayes

    Peter Hayes Well-Known Member

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    Sorry but it is counter intuitive to limit the fps for a FREESYNC or GSync Monitors as they display immediately what frames the cpu sends to the gpu. It is best to have them run unlimited for TS. They are totally different technology to a plain LED/LCD monitor.
     
  12. Peter Hayes

    Peter Hayes Well-Known Member

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    If you set the refresh rate in the NVCP at 100 Hz it should translate to the in TS - in the NVCP choose "Change Resolution" - the set the resolution to native and refresh rate to 100HZ. Set the same resolution in TS 20XX
    My recommendations:
    GSync set to full screen and windowed and make sure you run run TS in Borderless mode.
    Texture filtering negative LOD Bias - ALLOW (clamp doesn't work)
    AA Gamma Correction - ON
    Low Latency Mode - ULTRA
    Anisotropic Filtering 16X
    Anti Aliasing Mode - ENHANCE the application Setting (uses the power of the gpu as well as TS settings)
    AA Setting - 8X
    AA Transparency - MultiSample
    MaxFrame Rate - OFF do NOT limit
    MFAA - ON
    VSync - OFF - not needed for a FREESYNC/GSync Monitor if set up correctly.
    Threaded Optimization - AUTO

    Just try these - let them settle in for a few sessions to get the best effect.
    Good Luck!
     
  13. Thanks Reef. Will definitely try that FPS limiter. Any other you recommend ?
     
  14. Reef

    Reef Well-Known Member

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    I don't doubt that it's counter intuitive, it's just the way it is, it's been reported over countless reddits and other gaming forums for FPS (First Person shooters) and Sims alike that G-Sync causes screen tear at too high of an fps.

    I'm only passing on what's worked for me and countless others

    Btw I have a 144hz G-sync monitor, still won't use G-Sync due to tearing.
     
  15. Reef

    Reef Well-Known Member

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    Yeah definitely.
    EnableAsyncKeys - Allows you to speed up game time (great if waiting at a red for an ai or testing scenarios you've made) by pressing Ctrl+Shift & 1 through to Ctrl+Shift & 5 (1 = normal time up to 5 = max speed)
    -SkipIntro - Does what it says.
    -NoSplashScreens - Again what's on the tin
    -SetFOV=XX - change XX to a numeric value I think 70 is game standard I use either 80 or 85 this is superseded somewhat by the in-game FOV slider but I still use it as this sets my default view and I can still adjust per cab view with the slider if needed
    -followaitrain - This allows you (whilst in exterior cams) to jump to another consist as long as it has a driver assigned (a.i. or otherwise) read this Steam community link for more info > https://steamcommunity.com/app/24010/discussions/3/1636418037482304004/
    -allowJump - Tbh I can't remember exactly why I have this, I'm not sure if it's needed for the above followaitrain to work and at this point I'm reluctant to remove it, that's why I thought I'd add it here anyway, I'm sure someone with a few more functioning brain cells will be along at some point to clear that up.

    Two notes:
    1) Enableasynckeys oddly doesn't require a - symbol in front of it I don't know why, I tend to put this as my first command (ensuring there is a space after " if adding after RailWorks64.exe" in a desktop shortcut environment)
    2) Always make sure there is a space between each command like so.. EnableAsyncKeys -FPSLimit=30 -SkipIntro -NoSplashScreens -SetFOV=XX -followaitrain -allowJump
     
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  16. Peter Hayes

    Peter Hayes Well-Known Member

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    Btw I have a 144hz G-sync monitor, still won't use G-Sync due to tearing.
    Sorry but then it is set up incorrectly - You cannot get screen tearing with a Gsync monitor properly set up.
    I'm only passing on what works for me and countless others!!!:)
    Who gets high fps with TS2021? I cannot get anywhere near 144 fps - wish I could.

    FYI: -allowJump ---- Allows jumping AI trains in scenarios: Railworks America • View topic - Command line options (I helped catalogue many of these several years ago).
    Just be aware: -EnableAsyncKeys - ctrl-shift-1 through ctrl-shift-5 will at least speed up the clock can interfere with the brakes introduced recently with the Canadian route where the braking level is increased/decreased with CTRL + Shift + 1, CTRL + Shift + 2.
    With that command line option activated you can <ctrl>-left-click on an AI train and you'll be following that train in an outside camera view. You can jump back to your own train by pressing any normal camera key, like 1 for cab view or 2 for external flying camera.
     
    Last edited: Jan 14, 2021
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  17. Thanks Reef and Peter. I saved the info and RWA link for future reference. At the moment I am only using the FPS limiter. which works great !
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 19, 2021

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