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What is lag?
Lag is the experience in delay caused by packets of information which are delayed it its delivery, a slang
term for latency issues.
In Graal, users with lag around 100+ are called laggers, but usually caused by geographical distances,
rather than network connection problems.
What are some causes of lag?
Lag can simply be related to three main causes.
Inefficient Computer Processing Power
Even though your network may be fast, your computer could still have a difficult time trying to process the outgoing
and especially incoming data packets or rather computer information. This is worsened when other online applications
are running such as Messenger programs and Internet Browsers.
Inefficient Server Processing Power
Lag can be experienced too when the user's network submits a request which is not yet cached in the computer
or network. Another reason would be when the incoming or outgoing data requires a large amount of processing
before it can be transferred. The bandwidth of an area where packets can pass through smoothly may be disturbed when
there are too many people accessing it at the same time. This especially affects online gaming and multiplayer enabled games.
Inefficient Network Performance
This affects lag when for example, the network is unable to handle the amount of incoming/outgoing packets. Routers
too play a part in this cause since faulty routers would interupt the smooth transfer of packets. Packets too will take longer to transfer when there is a large number of routers inbetween the host and the destination.
How does Ping affect you in-game?
In many multiplayer online video games, players often use the term "MS/Ping/Lag" to refer to the network latency seen between their computer and the other player or to the server depending on the game itself.
Low amounts of ping are usually desirable since they allow smoother game play with more updates of game
data in the averaged milliseconds. In Graal, "lag" is often based on "high ping" or "low ping" which actually
depicts the speed of transfer for packets of game-data.
Simply put, more lag results in a longer transfer
duration for data packets.
What is Spiking/Frog Warping?
Many of you UN players would definitely encounteredthe term "Spiking" before while you were playing in-game.
Spiking tends to be the general term used when there isa sudden increase in Lag. There have been players who
have constantly encountered problems where their own lag constantly increases than decreases so here are some helpful tips and ways to reduce the chances of spiking cases.
What are some ways to prevent Spiking/Frog Warping?
There are many ways to prevent your ping from spiking/frogwarping.
Here are some simple but effective ways to do it.
1) Turn off your firewall. Using a firewall can cause your lag to spike more since the packet is being filtered leading
to the longer duration for the packet to travel.
2) Turn off all other un-necessary internet programs such as MSN, browsers and most importantly, turn off all current downloads.
3) Make sure your computer is connected via Local-Area-Network (LAN) and then disconnect the router from the modem.
4) Turn off the Wireless Zero Configuration service which
searches for alternate networks every few mintues by going to
"Start -> Run -> type Services.msc -> Scroll down
to Wireless Zero Configuration -> right click and select Properties->
click Stop -> wait for the service to stop -> click OK".
5) Start> Run> type "cmd" > type "ipconfig /flushdns"
Types of lag
Many of you wonder whether lag is basically the cause of only problem or rather whether there is only one type of lag.
However, in reality, there are three types of lag that are commonly seen. They are:
Client Lag
Client lag is seen as a momentary freeze of everything on the client's screen, leading to an inconsistent frame rate.
In this state, the entire screen appears to be frozen; no animation will occur and the UI will be completely unusable
(except for your mouse cursor).
Client lag is caused by poor performance of the game client. The most common client lag is caused when the game is loading new data and/or is low on free (physical) memory. Client lag may be momentary (less than a half second) or long (several seconds or more).
Network Lag
Network lag is perceived as unresponsiveness to your actions and/or jerky movement of other players/monsters. Unlike client lag which completely stops all actions, when there is network lag, the user can still do certain minor actions.
While network lag can affect a large number of users at the same time, most often, it only affects a handful.
Server Lag
Server lag appears much like network lag, and often the user cannot tell the difference between the two. All of the examples of network lag apply to server lag as well.
The primary difference is that server lag tends to affect many users all at the same time. Server lag is caused by poor performance on the servers. This can happen when there are too many player on a single server machine or due to problems in the code.
How do you reduce FPS lag?
Since you now know more about the problems when you suffer from FPS lag, let's now look at ways and means to
reduce it to ensure a better and smoother game play environment. Here are some simple yet effective ways to
reduce FPS lag.
1) Ensure that your pc is kept cool and not overheated.
2) If your pc has been on for a long time, restart it before
loading Graal.
3) Keep all drivers up to date especially video drivers.
4) Set your pagefile to a fixed size like 1024min/1024max,
and put it on your fastest harddrive.
5) Defragment your harddrive(s).
6) Disable unnessesary drivers and windows services.
7) Close background applications/processes.
8) Lower your resolution.
9) Lower texture resolution.
10) Get a better cooler and overclock your system.
11) You can also clear out the FILENAMECACHE.exe monthly, it can get overloaded and possible corrupted.
Thank you to WaDaFack for editing this post for Graal. (Originaly posted on Unholy Nation forums)
and
Thank you to Yuna of GunZ Online for posting this on another gaming forum. (Posted on GunZFactor) |
01-04-2009, 04:03 AM
Low FPS/Lagging/Spiking Compilation
Linear Mode
