Slowdown problem spoiling my enjoyment of the game
 

new on here- so appologises if this has been asked elsewhere (I did search)

SH4 - patched to v1.4.

PC specs are fairly decent = Q6600 @ 3.3, 4gb RAM @ 1100, and 8800GTX

SH4 runs nicely at 1900x1200 with 2xFSAA etc, but occasionally I get massive slowdown - like the frame rates drop by a factor of 6-10 !

But it is completely cured by alt-tabbing out of the game, and alt-tabbing back in - and then performance is perfect again- until another slowdown

could happen say once after 50 mins of play - it seems random

any ideas please ?

If you are close to a big task force or convoy or close to port your frame rate will drop . I wouldnt think it would be very noticable with your comp specs though . You say you have AA @ 2X . I run AA @4X and AF @4X . What is your AF running at . Maybe drop your rez down a bit and screen refresh rate to 70Hz if its higher .

You know, I had that problem but quite a while ago. I think patches finally fixed it--don't remember what I did? Make sure you are patched to 1.4

very odd indeed. your computer is twice as powerful as mine and I dont have that problem. Its probably some simple setting. Play around with the graphics settings and see if that changes anything.

Try and take a peek at this thread. Made my SH4 run silky smooth and look very pretty as well: http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=128517

sorry for the delay in answering- ISP problems !!

after investigaton seems my performance is related to the water effects when shots miss and hit the water, and also the water shooting up around the sub ....

I'm surprised - I've even disabled FSAA and its still a problem - any ideas please

I have a vague memory of this happening to me at one point. I think it was sound related. I know I resolved it but I can't remember specifically what it was. Try updating your audio drivers and tweaking your settings (Windows configuration, not game configs) to see if it has any effect.

JD

thanks - thats one thing I hadn't thought about !

will try that - and let you know the result

well I'm not sure how I fixed it ! - more experimentation needed

but I changed the swap file to a different drive to that which had SH4 on it (i've 4 gig of RAM though so that shouldn't matter)

I disabled the on-board soundcard - which I wasn't using but was enabled (I'm using a Audigy 4 Pro)

and I disabled "CSS" on my Audigy 4

whats actually fixed it I have no clue !! but hardly any slowdowns now .... bizarre !