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ATAG_Bliss
Oct-23-2011, 21:03
Here's some tips to help ensure your game is running it's best. Kindly compiled by Ataros over at 1C:

http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showpost.php?p=254014&postcount=13

ATAG_Jeepy
Nov-10-2011, 09:44
Hi.

Anyone else got that annoying ram problem, try this :
Rizone Memory Booster 1.7.7.1.773
google it.
Sure helping me :)
Had constant crash after a couple of missions with
my 6gig mem overloaded..(80-85%)
Now, with this progr. installed I never uses more than 50%.
Running win7U. and a 6950 2gig amd-card.
I set it up to "Automatically optimize mem every 120sec".
Only tested this on "our" server..so far;)
btw.. its free ;)

-guess/hoping next patch will fix this stupid problem, but until then..

~S~

ATAG_Snapper
Nov-11-2011, 11:10
Hey Jeepster, have downloaded it to Dropbox from my iPad and will install it on my PC later today and give it a try. Thanks for sharing this!

BlitzPig_EL
Nov-12-2011, 00:08
Going to give it a try myself...

Thanks for the tip.

ATAG_WatchMan
Nov-12-2011, 09:36
Here's a link to the main web page for memory booster.:Grin:
http://www.rizonesoft.com/2011/memory-booster/


S! ATAG_WatchMan

ATAG_Bliss
Nov-12-2011, 11:31
Good stuff jaydee :thumbsup:

I tried it a bit before I went to sleep last night. I've been over an hour thus far without a crash. I'll see how long I can go today!

Cheers!

:salute:

BlitzPig_EL
Nov-12-2011, 16:40
Well, it's a bust for me.

Yeah, it says I'm only using 50% of my RAM, but I still CTD anyway.

This afternoon on the server was the worst day for me ever. Poor frame rates anywhere near Lympne, or if more than three aircraft were in the same vicinity.

Could not get near a bomber formation.

Too many people on the server for the current state of the game, or too many AIs, or a combination of the two.

*SIGH*

ATAG_Bliss
Nov-12-2011, 18:23
I agree EL. I think it's a combination of both. When many people have low FPS, and low FPS is caused by many people (lol), that low FPS also causes network problems. I remember reading an old article on FPS and online gaming and remembering just how much of a combination the 2 had with each other..

With the influx of players, perhaps it's time to, at the very least, tone the mission down on the weekends. I've seen 50+ now many nights. I think it would be much more stable without the massive bomber groups, but those in off peak times would get screwed a bit.

I'll see what sort of compromise we can come up with.

Edit: In the 7 hour window the mission runs in, there were around 40 different air-groups spawning in. Now I have one air-group every hour. From 40 down to 7. I'll start with that for stability purposes, assuming high levels of players.. We may have to come up with a way to inject the old mission back in for off-peak times so there's plenty of action. But for now, that's what I've done, in the hopes for more players. Obviously our goal is the same as the majority's I believe. And that is to eventually have enough people that AI are NEVER needed!

Please let me know how it goes. The revised mission will go into effect on the next server restart..

Vulgar
Dec-12-2011, 08:34
I set things up so I can run clod entirely from ram, as well as anything else. Only had time to do a couple of quick 110 runs on shipping and airfield. Have not encountered numerous aircraft yet, that is when things usually starts to get stuttery. So far there seems to be a slight improvement, when close to the ground doing strafing runs, perhaps simply wishful thinking, but certainly helps with stuttering in arma2. There are numerous posts in the arma community attesting to the improvement in performance, in reducing stuttering.

Running programs and or the entire operating system in ram is common with linux, but not very common in windows. I came upon this forum post from some users of clod, so there are people already doing so for clod.

http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showthread.php?t=20228&highlight=gamebooster

I believe that there will not be a great improvement, as the performance problems with clod are simply that the code is crappy. Theoretically it should run better simply that the files do not have to be read from the hardrive, the greatest bottleneck. You may still get stutters but they may not last as long or start getting worse, as the game is receiving data and attempting to work it and get reads from the disk, eventually compounding the oscillation affect as the reads are attempting to keep up with the demand or vis versa. There simply has to be some sort of slow down due to disk reads. Running the game entirely in ram will fix that, or at least should help a little.

Both these programs are free, there are some propriety solutions, one of them listed in the forum post linked above. Use at your won risk. The Ram disk is an open source project, so the source is available, I could find nothing to worry about, but nevertheless you never know. The link program does not supply the source, and calls it freeware, so probably a windows only developer. I have had no problems or have found either doing anything funny, or not so funny.

Ram disk program: http://www.ltr-data.se/opencode.html/#ImDisk

Link program: http://schinagl.priv.at/nt/hardlinkshellext/hardlinkshellext.html

Install ImDisk, and harrdlinkshell, go to control panel, there will be a link to ImDisk. Make a disk for the files you want to place in ram. In the 1cpublishing post they have a list of the most commonly read files, if you are limited on ram. I put the whole game in ram.

For the whole game in ram.
1. Make 6 gb ram disk.
2. Open new disk, it will have to be formatted, a quick format will work fine.
3. Copy game folder to ram disk.
4. Rename original game folder.
5. Right click ram disk game folder, select link source, right click in the folder with the original gamer folder, select drop as, then select junction.

That is all there is to do, start game as you normally do. When finished simply delete the link and ram disk, rename the original game folder back to its original name to put it back the way it was originally.

Since the game keeps settings in a different location, changing settings and keeping those settings should work as it normally does, though I have not tested that to make sure.

This method might also help with the server, if it was used on the server.

I also shut off page file use. Older windows do not like not having a page file, so make it as small as it will allow you to. On windows 7 I reduced it to the minimum size of 16mb, then checked the no paging file. Reducing paging file in the past has shown an improvement as windows uses the paging file a lot to reduce the amount of ram used. Now that ram is so cheap, there is no need for a paging file.

Of course you should also go through your services and shut off all services not needed to reduce the overall number or running processes while playing. That is usually one of the biggest problems people have with windows, having to many unneeded programs running in the background.

Also configuring your hardware firewall properly to route and prioritize you game traffic will help with connectivity. You are running a hardware firewall are you not, if not you should be. Windows software firewall is known to produce lag as it reads incoming and outgoing packets. For improved performance turn it off, but do not do so unless you are running a hardware firewall.

You can open up ports on the hardware firewall for both directions for best performance. The firewall is like a one way mirror, with out changing any settings, outgoing packets are allowed out, but nothing is allowed in, unless a connection is first made from within. If you open up the ports needed for the game, for incoming packets, you should close them when not playing, as leaving those ports open to incoming packets will allow access to those ports on your computer, you will be probed and scanned and possibly infiltrated.

That risk is also there when playing, if you do not seem to need to open those ports for incoming, then it is best to leave them closed. If you do open those ports fo incoming, only open them for the ip address your gaming computer uses, so you do not compromise any other computers in your lan.

Some of the hardware firewalls now have specific sections for gaming, using those features will help with packet prioritization. If your hardware firewall does not specifically support gaming, us the QOS section for packet prioritization. If you are playing on a home network with a number of computers attached and other users using while you are playing, this will help. Windows itself and many windows programs are constantly talking/connecting to servers out there, with out any human intervention. If you are getting lag spikes, it could be other computers on your network that are causing it, by giving your gaming computer number one prioritization, the other computers will have to wait, as your gaming computer will be first in line.

As buggy as clod is, all that can be done at this time is open up the bottlenecks, and stop unneeded running programs eating up resources.

I run an Untangle server to better protect my lan. But run my gaming outside of my lan. This is the safest method in securing your home computers, while being able to open things up for your gaming computer. Of course if you open things up and turn off windows firewall and defender and other security stuff for gaming, do not use that computer for any sensitive purposes.

Run your internet router/modem to your first firewal/router, then to the untangle server, then a switch for your hardwired and wireless for all your lan computers. The gaming computer is plugged into the first firewall/router, prior to the untangle server. Since the Untangle server scans for virus's, phishing sites, intrusion detection and firewall, it does slow things down a bit, not noticeable for normal use, but for gaming you do not want anything that affects connectivity.


I highly suggest running Untangle or some other filtering device. You would be amazed at how many things get filtered out, the amount of spyware it stops is astounding. It also helps stop basic tracking methods, known bad cookies, and will put up a block page for websites that try to get malicious code into your computer. The blocking page can be passed by one click, if you trust that website. It is nice to know and be given the choice. Also with the initial hardware firewall, the untangle, and then your computer software firewall, there are three firewalls they will have to circumvent, not impossible, just harder. Most scans are by script kiddies, they are looking for easy fish to fry and have no skills. If it is someone that uses nmap manually and knows what they are doing, they can get in with some elbow grease, but unless they know what is on the other side, most probably will not waste their time with the extra effort. The is no total protection, just use basic common sense and lock the doors and bar the windows. Most infiltration's are due to no security measures, bad configuration of security, or most common from the inside. People downloading stuff and running things they should not be running from an unknown source. All the security in the world is useless if the connection between the chair and the keyboard does not practice common sense. If you want free software, only use what is from "open source" projects, that means the source code open and accessible and is scrutinized by the community. Much of the free windows stuff is precompiled with no access to the source, so beware.

Untangle is open source and Linux based. If you have an old computer sitting around, simply download the image burn it to disk or use a usb disk. Installation is fast and easy. All definition updates and operating system updates are automatic. Other than setup there is nothing to do after wards but look at the daily reports and see who and what has been trying to get into your computers.

Setup is a bit open out of the box, so the average joe can get online right away, and not have the most common services blocked. Configuring the firewall properly, you can control EVERYTHING that goes out and comes into your lan. Most ISP's scan your lan now, they are watching you, you can block that activity!

http://www.untangle.com/

If you do not have an old computer lying around. You can get a micro atx board with a two core processor for $99 or less, more than enough power for a home lan, then a case, memory, hardrive. Some are so small with passive heating they are the size of a novel. You can do it for $200 USD or less brand new. You do not need a monitor, other than for installation, then you can connect and control it from your browser from any computer on your lan. Of course for better security only allow one computer access.

jaydee
Dec-13-2011, 03:08
Vulgar,fantastic read ,youve explained some stuff I never understood ! Thanks for posting ! ~S~

335th_GRAthos
Dec-14-2011, 01:50
Awesome Vulgar,

Much appreciated!

And please mention that Untangle Lite version is free and at the bottom of the list (almost got a heart attack looking at the 480USD annual fee of some of their products).

Untangle, looks like an interesting concept, I am happy I learned about it.

~S~