Game Engine + Effect Heavy Fights

***Note: This is not a parry/dex bug thread. Please do not mothball it by lumping it with that mega thread back in Bugs.

My experience over the past year-plus has been that the combination of champions with heavy Vfx and lots of buffs/effects often produces less than optimal fight experiences—namely, frame rate drop, sudden lag, inexplicable mechanics failures as examples.

That experience has been fairly consistent and has worsened recently (last 2-3 months).

I’m not a programmer, but I would ask people like @dna3000 whether there is a possible correlation between the increasingly complex interactions in game, overall game responsiveness and game mechanics failures. I realize it’s likely to be very individualized (WiFi vs. data, device A vs. device B, old vs. new), but my anecdotal observations and conversations suggest that I may not be the only one finding this to be a common issue.

I should add: the Vfx of the game are stunning. The complexity keeps the game interesting. I’d hate to lose that—but I’d also like to have a more consistent experience as well. Whether this is a tradeoff is at the root of my question.

Civil, constructive discussion welcome.

Dr. Zola

Comments

SkyLord7000

iPhone can process fights really well. Seems like an android issue

rockykoston

iPhone can process fights really well. Seems like an android issue

2 different platforms, very different code I assume.

Mcoc has always been more optimized on iphones

OliverJW

I have similar problems in fights with some champions like the new scarlet witch(heavy and specials), Psycho Man(when he was released there was no problem, now his sp1 drops some frames), Mr. Sinister(sp1 and sp2), Odin(sp1), Ibom(sp2). These were some of the ones I remembered and when they release these types of attacks I don't even try to dodge because the game doesn't respond to my commands, I can only defend anyway.

rockykoston

@DrZola
Yes, as a QA I think this is somewhat true. For me personally fights against champs like void always seemed to produce more lag due to his animations.

However, on the new Android phones I can assure you there is no lack of processing power, it's more like the game isn't utilizing the GPU at all. Since the game isn't utilizing all the power of the phone, it's limiting itself and to a regular player it looks like either the game isn't optimized or their new phone is useless at this game. (None of these are true btw)

So, coming to next step, how to make the game actually use the full processing power of the game.

There are options on the latest Android phones that

1) remove all battery restrictions on the game app.
2) add the game app to exceptions list which will let it use as much memory as it's needed for smooth operation.
3) Enhance visuals. Turn this option to high or Extreme, if you have it and this will kick up your phone's gpu.

Yes, it sounds counter intuitive because ah, the phone is already lagging, why should we turn on enhanced Visuals. But on latest Android phones, this actually helps as it kicks up the GPU and utilizes it for more complex animations.

Also, it helps a lot if you reinstall a game and then restart your phone, in case the game gets real laggy after an update. This happens because the game code/fragments don't get updated correctly and leave cache traces as well, leading to lag problems on ANDROID.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Rocky

mattyben27

The lag has made it a longer process to clear content and use more units/ revives. I started another post about how this has a snowball effect on players to getting better summer of pain rewards and even help uncollected players become cavalier to be able to participate in Summer of Pain.

My lag has been awful on my less than a 1 year old s20 galaxy.

magnus_xix

@DrZola

3) Enhance visuals. Turn this option to high or Extreme, if you have it and this will kick up your phone's gpu.

Where's the option to do this? I can't find it in settings. @rockykoston

rockykoston

@DrZola

3) Enhance visuals. Turn this option to high or Extreme, if you have it and this will kick up your phone's gpu.
Where's the option to do this? I can't find it in settings. @rockykoston

@magnus_xix

It depends on the phone you have. There's a game boost app on some phones that will provide you with all these options. I've seen some variant of that app on Samsung and Xiaomi.

It could be a separate app or check within phone settings > Advanced tools or Special Features

DrZola

I run iPhone. And I still notice this. Sometimes it’s probably having too many apps open, but even closed and on private WiFi, it’s often a struggle.

Dr. Zola

rockykoston

Also, please don't forget to

1) Uninstall the game
2) Install it again
3) Restart the phone
4) Play

This has helped me so many times, even on my old phone.

Hammerbro_64

iPhone X here. Latest OS and all that. When fighting the SOP ghost with her phasing and Mysterio with his gas particles, it didn’t affect affect my gameplay but I definitely noticed fps drops.

Typically nothing happens unless both champs have lots of effects like Mojo and Aarkus or smth

unknown

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magnus_xix

@DrZola

3) Enhance visuals. Turn this option to high or Extreme, if you have it and this will kick up your phone's gpu.
Where's the option to do this? I can't find it in settings. @rockykoston
You have to turn on Developer Options to see the settings he's talking about. Then you'll see something called "Force 4x MSAA." That'll turn on what magnus_xix was talking about.

That sounds hella dodgy ngl

ItsDamien

@DrZola

3) Enhance visuals. Turn this option to high or Extreme, if you have it and this will kick up your phone's gpu.
Where's the option to do this? I can't find it in settings. @rockykoston
You have to turn on Developer Options to see the settings he's talking about. Then you'll see something called "Force 4x MSAA." That'll turn on what magnus_xix was talking about.
That sounds hella dodgy ngl

All android phones have access to the developer options. It's completely fine and safe to do. Android is build with customization in mind to allow users to do almost anything they want with their device and not be limited, like iOS.

Colinwhitworth69

My 2021 iPad Pro has no issues, but my 2018 iPad Pro does have some issues with the vfx. Not game-breaking, though.

DrZola

My experience finishing Cav EQ is a good example: 1.1, lanes relatively smooth running, but Sentry boss buggy, especially during his Special animation with a several buffs and effects.

The flow rate for each frame looks and feels staggered, as if the game was being rendered under a different rate of fps.

Does it affect gameplay? Certainly.

Dr. Zola

SHIELD4AGENT

I experienced this lag too, heavy vfx causes my phone to crash, get stuck in a fight, game freeze and even delay in loading screens... that's when I play on my phone Huawei Y6 Prime 2018 which is old now, but 2 years ago the game work fine when playing on my phone.
But when I play on my wife's phone a Samsung Galaxy S8+ she bought it in 2016, everything plays smoothly even the Vfx heavy animations like Doom's specials, CGR's, Apocalypse's, Professor X's and Psycho-Man's just to name a few, the game works fine It's like even as an old model, my wife's phone can still keep up with everything in the game.

Corkscrew

I wouldn't even necessarily say it's heavy vfx or complex character models that cause it. For a long time until I switched to a new phone, I would get massive frame drops or freezes from Cable's heavy and Deadpool's Sp2.

Cable's heavy is quite prolonged but probably not the longest in the game anymore.

Deadpool's is one of the simplest animations, but the number of times I got caught by Deadpool's SP2 was ridiculous just because the game would freeze as he was about to kick over, it would simply drop all the frames of the animation and next thing I know I'm taking it to the face.

I suspect that it was a particular quirk of that character's animations and how they interacted with my device and the game engine's attempt to sync timing windows.

rockykoston

@DrZola

3) Enhance visuals. Turn this option to high or Extreme, if you have it and this will kick up your phone's gpu.
Where's the option to do this? I can't find it in settings. @rockykoston
You have to turn on Developer Options to see the settings he's talking about. Then you'll see something called "Force 4x MSAA." That'll turn on what magnus_xix was talking about.

While I have tried this option from Developer menu, it did not fix the issue.

What I am mentioning is a special setting/app on some new android phones. This GAME BOOST feature can be found on phones which are as old as 2017-18.

If you do not have a special features menu in phone settings or a Game Boost app, then all you can try is a game reinstall.

TrashyPanda

I've felt there's been a memory leak for a while now, since things tend to get worse when some players play for extended periods. Like, having to restart the app after 5-10 rounds in the arena or things get unplayably choppy.

In my case, certain specials can be terrible, and impractical to evade due to lag. Sometimes when they weren't before. This especially goes for specials and attacks that create rock debris.

I don't mind all that much because I'm definitely playing on a potato, but I notice people with high-end devices having the same issues -- so uh, intradesting. *tilts head*

DrZola

I wouldn't even necessarily say it's heavy vfx or complex character models that cause it. For a long time until I switched to a new phone, I would get massive frame drops or freezes from Cable's heavy and Deadpool's Sp2.

Cable's heavy is quite prolonged but probably not the longest in the game anymore.

Deadpool's is one of the simplest animations, but the number of times I got caught by Deadpool's SP2 was ridiculous just because the game would freeze as he was about to kick over, it would simply drop all the frames of the animation and next thing I know I'm taking it to the face.

I suspect that it was a particular quirk of that character's animations and how they interacted with my device and the game engine's attempt to sync timing windows.

The Deadpool Sp2 is a notorious frame drop example that was simple for anyone to reproduce, but I forget the explanation from the team for why it was difficult to fix.

That type of frame drop/lag/freeze is what I get regularly in what I would generically call “boss fights,” although opponents aren’t all technically bosses.

Dr. Zola

rockykoston

I've felt there's been a memory leak for a while now, since things tend to get worse when some players play for extended periods. Like, having to restart the app after 5-10 rounds in the arena or things get unplayably choppy.

Memory Leak has been in this game since 2016, that's why I just stopped doing arena.

Also the grind is too much there.

DrZola

I wouldn't even necessarily say it's heavy vfx or complex character models that cause it. For a long time until I switched to a new phone, I would get massive frame drops or freezes from Cable's heavy and Deadpool's Sp2.

Cable's heavy is quite prolonged but probably not the longest in the game anymore.

Deadpool's is one of the simplest animations, but the number of times I got caught by Deadpool's SP2 was ridiculous just because the game would freeze as he was about to kick over, it would simply drop all the frames of the animation and next thing I know I'm taking it to the face.

I suspect that it was a particular quirk of that character's animations and how they interacted with my device and the game engine's attempt to sync timing windows.
The Deadpool Sp2 is a notorious frame drop example that was simple for anyone to reproduce, but I forget the explanation from the team for why it was difficult to fix.

That type of frame drop/lag/freeze is what I get regularly in what I would generically call “boss fights,” although opponents aren’t all technically bosses.

Dr. Zola

To the individual(s) who disagreed with several comments above: Could you please elaborate? Do you not get any lag or frame rate issues with buff-heavy or Vfx-heavy fights? Or have you not experienced what @Corkscrew and others described with Deadpool or in other game modes?

I’d like to understand whether this issue is unique to those of us who experience it.

Dr. Zola

unknown

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Corkscrew

To the individual(s) who disagreed with several comments above: Could you please elaborate? Do you not get any lag or frame rate issues with buff-heavy or Vfx-heavy fights? Or have you not experienced what @Corkscrew and others described with Deadpool or in other game modes?

I’d like to understand whether this issue is unique to those of us who experience it.

For me personally, it's more clearly put as, I get lag in, but not limited to, VFX heavy fights.

Lately, I've had an almost reverse issue. At approximately the same time each day, the game suddenly gets a lot faster. As if it's done a garbage dump and freed up a stack of memory. I can't say with any certainty if it's the phone or game that does it since I'm not suddenly going to notice if Gmail is suddenly faster... but it's noticeable in game play.

The problem is that instead of dropped frames, I get dropped inputs.

DrZola

To the individual(s) who disagreed with several comments above: Could you please elaborate? Do you not get any lag or frame rate issues with buff-heavy or Vfx-heavy fights? Or have you not experienced what @Corkscrew and others described with Deadpool or in other game modes?

I’d like to understand whether this issue is unique to those of us who experience it.
For me personally, it's more clearly put as, I get lag in, but not limited to, VFX heavy fights.

Lately, I've had an almost reverse issue. At approximately the same time each day, the game suddenly gets a lot faster. As if it's done a garbage dump and freed up a stack of memory. I can't say with any certainty if it's the phone or game that does it since I'm not suddenly going to notice if Gmail is suddenly faster... but it's noticeable in game play.

The problem is that instead of dropped frames, I get dropped inputs.

On the dropped inputs question: for me, I’ve noticed the space for blocking/parrying just above the specials bar has become less reliable. In a long fight, my hands drift down the phone, but a parry done by tapping just over the power bar used to work, but no longer does. It’s as if the space I’m supposed to touch has migrated slightly.

Dr. Zola

DNA3000

***Note: This is not a parry/dex bug thread. Please do not mothball it by lumping it with that mega thread back in Bugs.

My experience over the past year-plus has been that the combination of champions with heavy Vfx and lots of buffs/effects often produces less than optimal fight experiences—namely, frame rate drop, sudden lag, inexplicable mechanics failures as examples.

That experience has been fairly consistent and has worsened recently (last 2-3 months).

I’m not a programmer, but I would ask people like @dna3000 whether there is a possible correlation between the increasingly complex interactions in game, overall game responsiveness and game mechanics failures. I realize it’s likely to be very individualized (WiFi vs. data, device A vs. device B, old vs. new), but my anecdotal observations and conversations suggest that I may not be the only one finding this to be a common issue.

I should add: the Vfx of the game are stunning. The complexity keeps the game interesting. I’d hate to lose that—but I’d also like to have a more consistent experience as well. Whether this is a tradeoff is at the root of my question.

Civil, constructive discussion welcome.

Dr. Zola

Possible: yes. Precisely in what way, might be more complex than it appears. For example, the obvious guess is that more complex graphics take longer to render, and if the phone can't do it fast enough it could start skipping frames. Skipping frames then can lead to timing issues or certain abilities that rely on specific timing to go awry. That's one possibility.

A more subtle possibility is that some kind of visual or other effect requires resources - graphical resources, sound resources, whatever - that aren't loaded into memory at the time they are needed for some reason (memory management glitch, or the phone thought it needed the RAM for something else) and that causes the game to have to fetch those resources from flash - which is thousands of times slower and can cause game hiccoughs while waiting for that data. Any time you are scrolling around in the game and see a graphic that is basically blank with a spinning icon and then the graphic appears a couple seconds later, that's almost certainly what's going on. If that happens in the middle of combat. that can be problematic.

It could also be that it isn't the *appearance* of those things that is causing the problem, but the changes in the game client that make it possible that cause or contribute to the problem. Meaning turning these things off or dialing them down might help, but it could also have no significant effect. The problem is "under the hood" not in the things players actually see. You can imagine if the game client does a lot of calculations to do something, and then at the last instant is told not to show it to the player, problems can still happen.

Definitely possible, but also might be happening in a way difficult to track down and correct.

DrZola

***Note: This is not a parry/dex bug thread. Please do not mothball it by lumping it with that mega thread back in Bugs.

My experience over the past year-plus has been that the combination of champions with heavy Vfx and lots of buffs/effects often produces less than optimal fight experiences—namely, frame rate drop, sudden lag, inexplicable mechanics failures as examples.

That experience has been fairly consistent and has worsened recently (last 2-3 months).

I’m not a programmer, but I would ask people like @dna3000 whether there is a possible correlation between the increasingly complex interactions in game, overall game responsiveness and game mechanics failures. I realize it’s likely to be very individualized (WiFi vs. data, device A vs. device B, old vs. new), but my anecdotal observations and conversations suggest that I may not be the only one finding this to be a common issue.

I should add: the Vfx of the game are stunning. The complexity keeps the game interesting. I’d hate to lose that—but I’d also like to have a more consistent experience as well. Whether this is a tradeoff is at the root of my question.

Civil, constructive discussion welcome.

Dr. Zola
Possible: yes. Precisely in what way, might be more complex than it appears. For example, the obvious guess is that more complex graphics take longer to render, and if the phone can't do it fast enough it could start skipping frames. Skipping frames then can lead to timing issues or certain abilities that rely on specific timing to go awry. That's one possibility.

A more subtle possibility is that some kind of visual or other effect requires resources - graphical resources, sound resources, whatever - that aren't loaded into memory at the time they are needed for some reason (memory management glitch, or the phone thought it needed the RAM for something else) and that causes the game to have to fetch those resources from flash - which is thousands of times slower and can cause game hiccoughs while waiting for that data. Any time you are scrolling around in the game and see a graphic that is basically blank with a spinning icon and then the graphic appears a couple seconds later, that's almost certainly what's going on. If that happens in the middle of combat. that can be problematic.

It could also be that it isn't the *appearance* of those things that is causing the problem, but the changes in the game client that make it possible that cause or contribute to the problem. Meaning turning these things off or dialing them down might help, but it could also have no significant effect. The problem is "under the hood" not in the things players actually see. You can imagine if the game client does a lot of calculations to do something, and then at the last instant is told not to show it to the player, problems can still happen.

Definitely possible, but also might be happening in a way difficult to track down and correct.

Excellent. Confirms my gut feeling as well as what I feared.

And I like that you spelled it “hiccoughs” and not “hiccups.”

Dr. Zola