Why So Many Stutters Now?

Discussion in 'TSW General Discussion' started by chieflongshin, Oct 14, 2021.

  1. chieflongshin

    chieflongshin Well-Known Member

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    I've gone to give Dresden a whirl today, first time in a fortnight I think. By golly is it stuttering away, has something changed with the update?

    Im on an i9-10900, 2080ti, 32gb ram, SSD drive.

    Running on ultra at 140% and normally I get between 60-80fps route dependant. Playing today I'd say every 40 seconds or so it's dropping down to 25fps for a second, pausing and carrying on.

    I need to do some more investigating on other routes, I know we've always had the tile load stutter but this seems more prevalent
     
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  2. Jinoss17

    Jinoss17 Well-Known Member

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    In my experience, Dresden is one of the worst routes in terms of stuttering. BML is much much better despite being superbusy. Never tried Boston Sprinter because it's too buggy.
     
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  3. wxtr7

    wxtr7 Well-Known Member

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    I've noticed that the tile load stutter has gotten significantly worse since the 4.26 update. Before that, I don't think I really noticed it except for a few routes (LIRR mainly), now it's every route every couple of seconds.
     
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  4. Stephen Crofts

    Stephen Crofts Well-Known Member

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    I noticed sehs was also more stuttery after one of the recent updates.
     
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  5. Ravi

    Ravi Well-Known Member

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    The Meissen branch seems to be the culprit. The journeys have been fixed but it is now clear to see why it was cut in the first place. It is like the monkey paw granted the community wish.
     
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  6. xi haoyu china

    xi haoyu china Active Member

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  7. Jinoss17

    Jinoss17 Well-Known Member

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    I don't agree. Meissen branch is a bit heavy but for me the most issues occur between Dresden Neustadt and Hauptbanhof.
     
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  8. xi haoyu china

    xi haoyu china Active Member

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    same problem, near a town called dresden i have fps performence problem
     
  9. Haribo112

    Haribo112 Well-Known Member

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    I know you're Chinese and trying your best, but it's so funny to me that you say "a town called Dresden" as that is literally half the map... :p
     
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  10. xi haoyu china

    xi haoyu china Active Member

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    from what i saw, dresden is a big town which looks like a city near the station. Dresden has very small population and demographics and its qualified as a town. most people have not heard of Chongqing, it has 16 million population but dresden is a town compared. Dresden is a big town. So it is a small city I think.
     
  11. chieflongshin

    chieflongshin Well-Known Member

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    I cant imagine a city with 16million people. London is bad enough.
     
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  12. BjornGroen02NL

    BjornGroen02NL Well-Known Member

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    The Netherlands has a population of 17 million, imagine almost all of them in one single city :o Man that sounds super busy. Also I love how almost all threads on these forums lately go off-topic so quickly ;)
     
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  13. xi haoyu china

    xi haoyu china Active Member

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    yes
     
  14. trainsimplayer

    trainsimplayer Well-Known Member

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    It's the 12th biggest city in Germany, with over half a million people.

    Which for most countries is a normal sized city.
     
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  15. conniethunder

    conniethunder Well-Known Member

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    Try what I did, it's helped me with stuttering:

    Set your virtual RAM (Swap file) to a fixed file size of 1.5 * RAM and put it on a fast SSD different to your Game drive.
     
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  16. Jinoss17

    Jinoss17 Well-Known Member

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    The guy who opened this thread said he's on SSD already ...
     
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  17. conniethunder

    conniethunder Well-Known Member

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    You need a different drive to the game though. That wasn't specified. Also, windows uses a manged size by default. A fixed size is better.
     
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  18. Jinoss17

    Jinoss17 Well-Known Member

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    That's not true. Have you seen his spec? I mean it's one of the best possible PC configurations. The problem is elsewhere.
     
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  19. Johan H

    Johan H New Member

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    I think conniethunder meant that the swap file and game should be on different drives.
    Pls correct me if I'm wrong.
     
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  20. chieflongshin

    chieflongshin Well-Known Member

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    This is the only game that stutters, don’t get me wrong there other games I have to wind my neck in a bit on but this does it on low settings too
     
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  21. conniethunder

    conniethunder Well-Known Member

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    Yes.
    The swap file is used to decompress the 'huge' pak file during gameplay. You will see your HDD light on during these stutters.
    By having a fixed swap file, it's like having another chunk of fast RAM, but as I said, it needs to be on a different drive to where the game runs from.
    e.g. My swap file is on my Windows C:\ drive because I have my steam collection set to run from my D:\ drive.
    If you run your steam games from C:\ drive, try setting the swap file on another drive (assuming you have one).
    I hope people understand my point now :)
    EDIT:
    All I can say is that it works well for me because I'm on a potato - 2.8Ghz, 4 core and only 4GB RAM!
    Also, if you recall, all this stuttering started with Rush Hour releases. This is when they added 2-3 times the compression on the DLC .PAK files with the update to U.E.!
     
    Last edited: Oct 15, 2021
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  22. 5cip

    5cip Active Member

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    conniethunder so for 16 gig ram what for a pagefile size i need ? my game is on g:/ drive :D
     
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  23. conniethunder

    conniethunder Well-Known Member

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    Windows normally manages it from the size of your RAM to 2xRAM, but a fixed size is recommended to help with drive fragmentation.
    A fixed size is usually 1.5 x RAM, so for you, 16 or 24GB should work better.
    Remember that SSD's/NVME's don't have the life expectancy of HDDs.
     
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  24. box215

    box215 Active Member

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    It's actually quite misleading
    There are that many people because the area that is considered "Chongqing" is ridiculously massive.
    The actual population density is far lower than what we'd consider a proper city in the West - say like London or New York
    The population density of Chongqing is even less than Dresden
     
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  25. Teflon490

    Teflon490 Active Member

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    If you have 32GB+ RAM, DISABLE the page file. Been running like this for about 6 years now with 0 issues. No need to count anymore how big it should be or where to place it.
     
  26. Kevinsim1046

    Kevinsim1046 Active Member

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    I am running on an HDD, i5, GTX970, and 8GB RAM. Dresden is unplayable for me, the stuttering is so bad that it can land up pausing for like 30s at some points on the journey. I see DTG Natster released a list of things the team are working on with regards to Rush Hour, and this issue was not on the list which concerns me, as this is game breaking.
     
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  27. Teflon490

    Teflon490 Active Member

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    HDD combined with 8GB of RAM is simply unusable for such a demanding game like TSW2, sorry. The new RH routes take usually somewhere between 10-12GB of RAM on my system, so I would consider at least an SSD and 16GB of RAM as the minimum to enjoy it (mostly) stutter-free.
     
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  28. chieflongshin

    chieflongshin Well-Known Member

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    My pc and I'm sure others may be to the contrary of this. :|:)
     
  29. Teflon490

    Teflon490 Active Member

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    Well, I am sure everyone's definition of "usable" is different, as it is mostly subjective, especially if you have to do with what you have.
     
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  30. maxipolo12

    maxipolo12 Well-Known Member

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    Now I'm waiting for the fanboys who say there is no any stuttering in the game :D
     
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  31. Kevinsim1046

    Kevinsim1046 Active Member

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    From my experience, I would have to disagree with this. I run the game on ultra, and yes I do not get 60fps, but 30fps is fine for me, I actually am so used to it, that I don’t even notice the frame rate anymore. Every now and then I will get a minor stutter here and there on routes, and when Dresden came out, I did have more stuttering than other routes, but it was playable. Now it’s so bad that I have just given up even trying! It’s just a stuttering mess, I have even lowered all setting to low, but same issue, just better frame rate when it’s not stuttering.

    I would love to get a new gaming PC, but after what I just spent getting into cycling….it will be a while before my budget allows a new mean machine.
     
  32. conniethunder

    conniethunder Well-Known Member

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    I've already proved it runs on a potato.
    Crashes and stuttering are apparent across all PC and console specs.
    I'm trying to test whether or not it's the PAK compression added since the UE update.
    My swap file advice has helped me with Disk drive latency, ie stuttering - Check Your Hard Drive Light!

    If you try this and it helps, report back.
    I did forward my findings to Matt P., so tech support might be interested in feedback.
     
  33. 5cip

    5cip Active Member

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    i created a pagefile its a lil bit better but not like before the update 2 days ago
     
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  34. bsrdj

    bsrdj Member

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    i9 10900 32gb ram evga-2080ti ssd drive same as your pc chieflongshin got same bad stutters after update. before update not as bad.
     
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  35. chieflongshin

    chieflongshin Well-Known Member

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    Glad to know I'm not the only one.
     
  36. 5cip

    5cip Active Member

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    dresden becomes now totally unplayable so many stutters thats incredible i start to dislike the ue engine
     
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  37. redrev1917

    redrev1917 Well-Known Member

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    All the below have had a positive effect on reducing stutters and freezes. Crashes also seem to be reduced with the exception of the last one which then increases them back to previous levels.

    1. Starting on foot and taking over a service rather then starting in a service.
    2. Setting weather conditions to light or heavy rain.
    3. Running night time services compared to day time services, even dusk/dawn sees improvement compared to day time running.
    4. Run the first 3-4 mins then restarting.
    5. Forcing steam to run gamr in DX12

    I tested all these using the same services on Dresden, Baston and London Commuter with consistent results across all 3 (same service pattern not the actual same service as that would be impossible with time, although I did run some services in differing months to verify improvements in might over day where possible) . Boston and Dresden are now at the stage where they both run better than originally.did as London has never ran anything but a stuttering me as the results are a vast improvement
     
    Last edited: Oct 16, 2021
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  38. PegasusLeosRailwayFanatix

    PegasusLeosRailwayFanatix Well-Known Member

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    i am also experiencing the stuttering and laggy as well in some part as well, but its not only in Dresden route, the london brighton line as well, especially when at victoria station like many others who is experiencing it as well. The train also cut in and out as well, with almost all of the route hour route. We got to tell them when they go live on this coming Tuesday.
     
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  39. pterocles#7018

    pterocles#7018 Active Member

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    I hope I am not the only one who just want to play with a game I paid for without DIY - ing my computer.
     
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  40. Stephen Crofts

    Stephen Crofts Well-Known Member

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    This
     
  41. solicitr

    solicitr Well-Known Member

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    That's the nature of PC gaming. Every new advancement in graphics puts new demands on systems, and older ones can't handle them.

    (I note with amusement that DTG are still claiming 8GB of RAM are adequate. Bollocks! My meter says that Riesa-Dresden can use up to 9.2 GB of RAM all by itself, without the system overhead!)

    [Edit: note that I'm running in trans-Ultra graphics mode; obviously turning down to High or Medium would lighten the load. Graphics do burden system RAM as well as VRAM]
     
    Last edited: Oct 17, 2021
  42. Mr JMB

    Mr JMB Well-Known Member

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    This is a really sore point. The game is already of niche interest. Now we are seeing that the normal level of your PC required for a good experience requires 16GB of RAM. I was in a high street store last week and none of the computers had that much. Sure they weren't gaming PCs, but if you can't even target rail enthusiasts with mid-range hardware then you are shrinking the playerbase to miniscule levels.

    I feel the RH routes are a year or two ahead of their time. In a few years the mid-range hardware will be fine, but it isn't now, and it isn't for the majority of console users. The models used and the lifelike timetables will not need scaling up in the future, they are already fully modelled, so once the hardware catches up then all will be well. But the first era of dot-com firms tells you that there is huge risk to being too far ahead of the curve...you might survive and prosper later on, or you might not.

    It would be a shame for the game to fall flat through bad reviews and criticism of poorly made software, when really DTG are visionaries in terms of the scope they want, but are not fully appreciating the frustrating experience of trying to play their game right now on current hardware.
     
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  43. Jinoss17

    Jinoss17 Well-Known Member

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    Completely disagree. If a RTX2080TI cannot run this game, the problem is within the game.
     
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  44. Quentin

    Quentin Well-Known Member

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    A new generation console (if you can find one!) will play the game quite happily without breaking the bank. But PC sims have always required fairly high end PCs (the requirements to play most flight sims are higher than TSW), I remember when MSTS first came out, my PC struggled.
     
  45. solicitr

    solicitr Well-Known Member

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    Since when is an RTX 2080 "midgrade" hardware?
     
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  46. Jinoss17

    Jinoss17 Well-Known Member

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    The guy I quoted said that "RH might be ahead of the current hardware". This is simply not true.
     
  47. solicitr

    solicitr Well-Known Member

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    The quote you specifically used said "I feel the RH routes are a year or two ahead of their time. In a few years the mid-range hardware will be fine."
     
  48. Jinoss17

    Jinoss17 Well-Known Member

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    I don't understand what you are trying to say. RTX2080Ti in a couple of years will be a medium range GPU, but still will not run TSW smoothly if the game won't be optimised.
     
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  49. Sharon E

    Sharon E Well-Known Member

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    I do believe that we all know that the amount of stuttering is also route dependent. I run CRR a lot and hardly ever get a stutter on it, even after the latest update. Interesting note is that CRR run fairly consistently in mid 50's for fps. Take a route like Brighten, I have a marked increase in stutters as well as a frame rate that is in the 70's - 90's when it doesn't drop into the 20's for short periods with the stutter. I am running a year old gaming machine with i9 9900, 32 gb ram, the game is on a SSD drive, video NVidia geoforce 3070 with 8 mb ram on it Can't say anything on Dresden since I have not run it. Should note, I do not have DX12 enabled.
     
    Last edited: Oct 17, 2021
  50. pterocles#7018

    pterocles#7018 Active Member

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    I would happily invest on upgrading my laptop IF and ONLY it will improve fps and minimise stuttering.
    Please advise.
    I have already ordered an additional 8GB RAM as I only have 8 at the moment. 16GB RAM should do the job, shouldn't it?
    I have i5 9300, which is neither good nor bad (I think). Though as this is a Dell G3 laptop I doubt it can be swaped to anything better.
    VGA is a GTX 1650 which may be poor also. If you advise to change what would be your choice?
    Thanks for your help.
     

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