The little talked about BZ2 Stuttering.

[NostalgicRCB]

I want to share this because many people who know about Battlzone 2 complain about this to me. I finally have the solution or at least for my setup. This solution may be known to veterans already but I want to share my story.

I had stuttering issues for years with Battlezone 2. Some maps it was hardly noticeable but others it was annoyingly consistent. Basically the frame rate would not drop but I would see this slight stutter every 5 seconds or so. When I finally upgraded to a set of high end CRT monitors (hard to find these days) it was more noticeable than ever. I really began to think of the possible different causes it could be. I ruled out my machine as the cause because I have tried every setting imaginable and even wrote my own game engine similar to battlezone which preforms flawlessly even under serious stress.

Now back to Battlzone 2. It seemed to go away for awhile if I ran -slow audio but again on certain maps it would start up again. Which the game clamped with Vsync on, triple buffering, and a awesome monitor capable of 100hz I was ready for some prime time Battlezone 2. Back on my Windows 98 machine ages ago I used to play with no music which bumped up the frame rate a lot. This is terrible because Battlezone2 has some of the best music I have ever heard in a game period.

At my wits end I finally explored into the game settings a file that has your prefs saved. In it there is an area that makes note of this 1/10th pause where your cpu gets stuck falling behind the gpu. I set my target framerate to 100 the same as my monitor and know its gone. Battlezone 2 for the first time stays smooth and I finally feel like I can play the game the way I was meant to despite playing it all these years. Please pass this information around.

A special thanks to the developers that have helped keep this great game alive. Without Battlezone 2 I would have never wanted to attempt making games myself.

[Zero Angel]

Good find. I also noticed a slight responsiveness increase by turning off triple buffering.

[Commando]

I did get the pause in the past, haven't had it for a while. It was noticeable when you were turning, but not so much when driving in a straight line.

Currently I have tripplebuffer on but vsync off, as it reduces screen tearing without the 60 fps cap.

[Red Devil]

i was getting the stuttering for a minute or so after entering jabbapop/z28 public game.

[NostalgicRCB]

I have never dug into the code behind battlzone but would love to if I got my hands on it.

I would assume the devs have a sort of tweening implemented but based upon my experience with Battlezone if the game slows down then EVERYTHING slows down. I would like to know how closely the logic is tied to the video framerate because I read many on many different forums over the years that people with a really high framerate have a unfair advantage. This I think is solved by the rate in which servers tick to each client. My own game engine runs at 30 ticks and the framerate locked at 60. If the video drops it doesn't affect the gameplay/physics.

I wish the stuttering was talked about more because I feel a little silly for not diving into the Gameprefs sooner. This problem has been a thorn in my side for years! However it rarely occurred to me on a machine 20x overkill for Battlezone would I have to do such a thing considering BZ already has many options to tweak in game already. My theory on why the stutter was worse on some maps (size didn't matter either) was the existence of multiple faces not culling correctly or overlapping geometry on the terrain. This is only a hunch tough because some maps could have errors. I know my engine freaks out if 2 surfaces occupy the same space. The hardware just can't decide which to render.

How exactly does the fog work in BZ2? The only time I see a difference is if I have it at 100% or completely off. My only other complaint about BZ2 is the mouse lag but is this intended? I've watched videos of people playing BZ2 and they have instant response time when aiming. I have got used to it over time but if anyone can shed some light on this it would be appreciated. Turning on extra frames to render ahead of the video card actually make the input delay worse.

[Nielk1]

BZ2 has disconnected rendering and game logic loops TMK.

[NostalgicRCB]

Makes sense. I remember when all we had was 1.2 the game would de-synch itself slowly even over LAN. The delay between shots was nearly a second which got worse as the game progressed. I used to try crazy things like putting the server in a ramdrive, really short Ethernet cables, and even a beefy cisco LAN to try and fix the problem.

[Nielk1]

Makes sense. I remember when all we had was 1.2 the game would de-synch itself slowly even over LAN. The delay between shots was nearly a second which got worse as the game progressed. I used to try crazy things like putting the server in a ramdrive, really short Ethernet cables, and even a beefy cisco LAN to try and fix the problem.

That wouldn't fix the issue, the network was already far faster than the game's TPS when you are on lan, let alone the slower multiworld.
The problem was bad data.

Look up desyncing in RTS games. It is a big issues. BZ2 does it a lot due to the welding on of FPS, which means that, unlike other RTS games, BZ2 has a resync system. Only recently did games like Starcraft 2 get the ability to replay a game up until the point of desync (or some time before) and then continue it.

[Zero Angel]

NostalgiaRCB. Did you ever try using the console command 'multiworld.frequency 2' while in the pregame lobby? It was practically necessary in 1.2 to change the MWF to that number, though some people preferred to use a setting of 1.

The default MWF in 1.3 is already at an ideal setting (it's also at a large-ish number, but thats because 1.3 has changed the way that MWF works).

[GSH]

My only other complaint about BZ2 is the mouse lag but is this intended? I've watched videos of people playing BZ2 and they have instant response time when aiming.

That's not "lag." That's the intended way BZ2 was meant to be played, with inertia for the crafts. BZ2 is not a twitch FPS where you control a crazed weasel hopping down hallways at 35mph and spinning 180 degrees in 0.2 seconds. BZ2 is meant to be a large hovercraft that has mass. Some people jack their input sensitivity up in the menus to move around a bit faster, but differing settings for more advanced players can give them an unfair advantage.

BZ2 also (still) uses DirectInput -- DirectInput 6 in BZ2 1.0-1.2; DirectInput 8 in BZ2 1.3 -- that may not be ideal anymore.

-- GSH

[NostalgicRCB]

I think I tried messing with the multiworld settings at least once. I don't remember if it helped or not.

I figure that was the case with mouse-aiming but its only a hindrance when you are on foot. As the case with most earlier DX games if you move the mouse up,down,left, and right in very quick succession it will not be able to keep up. Try if for yourself and you will see what I mean. It took me weeks to figure out how to solve that symptom in my own DX7 game. I'm not sure if the problem still exists if I tick on direct input but I will have to try that later.

While on the subject of inertia/momentum how has the game physics changed if any since 1.1 and 1.2 days? It really bugs me that when in a thunderbolt you gain zero speed while descending from a high altitude. If I drop down on someone from a high slope of 400 feet or more I should gain some speed and be able to outrun whoever is my target. Basically a strafing run or hit and run tactics. It reminds me how they nerfed skiing in the newer Tribes game. I'm not saying you should gain infinite speed but it doesn't feel right at the moment to stay stuck moving at a consistent speed no matter your height or orientation.

I have another minor gripe with the Prox mines. They disappear after 10 seconds. Can this be changed in the server settings somehow? I was told it was to prevent lag but honestly it ruins any tactical advantage they could give making them nearly useless. Unless you pop one behind you and enemy runs into it. A server setting should exist for maximum mine entities maybe no more than 20 per team?

Why do missiles lock onto friendly units and buildings? In the futuristic world of Battlzone I find it hard to believe no vehicle or building has a FOF identifier. (friend or foe) It's really annoying chasing someone through your base and firing a FAF missile (or anything else) and it hits everything but the enemy. How does everyone feel about this? I'm not trying to criticize battlezone 2 because it is one of my favorite games but I think these things could be improved upon immensely.

[Red Devil]

hmmm, never thought about the gravity acceleration before.

prox mines have lifeSpan = 30

a new setting for missiles was added, but they have an initial default of all teams.

[Feared_1]

FAF is a heat-seeking missile. If something has more "heat" (regardless of team), it will be seeked out by FAF. You get used to it, and you can actually learn to curve FAF's around Scavengers and buildings in order to hit a hiding enemy.

[Red Spot]

I'm not trying to criticize battlezone 2 because it is one of my favorite games but I think these things could be improved upon immensely.

I think a lot of people actually like it like that, I do. It makes for a bit more tactical use of these weapons, which works both ways.

prox mines have lifeSpan = 30

I guess he means solar flares, which do have a short(er) lifespan. But making those lifespans larger makes it too powerfull, imo.

[NostalgicRCB]

I understand the FAF missile now but whats with the range? A gun out ranging a missile makes little sense. I hate hot they just disappear after firing.

I was wrong about the Prox mines they are around 30 seconds I was just so disgusted a trap I set for the enemy was disappearing before my eyes. I thought I was doing something wrong until I realized this was hard coded. Nerfing weapons does not make their use tactical but only frustrating because they don't behave as expected.