Topic

Lag

During the last two tests I have experienced considerable lag, mostly when loading a new street. I am currently on vacation, so the internet connection may not be the quickest, but I noticed that the lag and the amounts of disconnections increases in the evening. That was the same when testing from home. I'm in the EU and the lag seems to increase when the majority of players from the Americas gets in the game. This is causing me some concern as more and more players will find Glitch. 

I know nothing about IT and/or servers etc so I wonder if TS is going to invest in hamsters to keep those server wheels spinning or what they are going to do to ensure the game keeps running smoothly. Would love to hear from the devs on this.

Posted 18 months ago by Tricky Woo Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • I found this last test had a lot more lag than any others
    I am in Canada
    I found the lag to be when opening new streets - same as you - it took forever and sometimes it would get almost done (from the bar at the bottom that shows progress) and then start again all over.
    I also experienced a lot of lag whenever the magic rock was trying to tell me something about projects (i.e phase complete or project done). The scene would freeze and I would have to reload several times before it would correct. It actually stopped me from contributing even though I was right there. One of the times this happened I was right at hte project with about a million people so I wasn't really surprised but several of the other times I was inside my home by myself.
    Posted 18 months ago by Mimi Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Me too, lag was noticeable greater during the last test. Didn't think to report it...
    Posted 18 months ago by MeherMan Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I found this last test more laggy than it's been for a while, though not, surprisingly in places where there were a lot of glitches (like the end of test party).  I got the worst lag in my house in Alakol and in the Mirch.  I've always found all the "dark" areas very, very laggy - I think that's why I tended to avoid projects for a long time, and still don't spend much time barnacle hunting or peat digging.  And I wonder if maybe that's one reason why people don't want to live there.
    Posted 18 months ago by Tradescantia Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I had a lot of lag in the last test. Previous tests I've been lucky to not experience much lag other than the initial loading of the game. This last one I spent over an hour just trying to get out of my house. I didn't get very much done this last test, due to the lag. All I ended up doing was spending currants I was supposed to be saving on the Auctions, as when there's nothing to do but shop, it seems rude not to shop. 
    The weird thing was that at the party when there were so many people about the place, and so much happening, where I'd expect lag... no lag at all! That last hour, everything was super fast. I just wish it could have been like that throughout the test, then I could have maybe done a little bit more.  
    I'm worried about lag issues getting worse as more people come into the game. 
    I've already had to quit a lot of online games, due to game play getting painful, or impossible to play due to lag. I'd really hate to have Glitch go the same way. 
    Posted 18 months ago by Ebil Subscriber! | Permalink
  • We're working hard on improving this!
    Posted 18 months ago by eric Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Blame it on the big flat files?
    Posted 18 months ago by Travinara Subscriber! | Permalink
  • The last test was the first one I took part in. Interesting my experience was the opposite of Ebil's - I was fine until about 2 hours from the end when I'd freeze for 20 seconds, then move for 2, then freeze again for 20, move for 2 etc etc. This was down in the caverns with not a heck of a lot of other people around.
    I restarted flash, restarted my browser, changed computers, checked there was nothing hogging my internet connection... but nothing fixed it & it was like that til the end of the test.

    Be interesting to see if that continues over into today's test.
    Posted 18 months ago by Snazzlefrazz Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Hi Snazzlefrazz, 2 hours before the test ended was pretty much exactly the time when I got stuck in my house.  I don't know what was going on then, but from talking to people in chat, it seemed that a lot of people got large amounts of lag at that point in game play.  
    I'd had quite a bit of lag issues, on and off earlier in the test, but that 2 hour before kick out point was definitely the worst. 
    I don't know why mine sped up right at the end and yours didn't. I just hope it works better for all of us this time round :)
    Posted 18 months ago by Ebil Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Thanks for the response Eric! Good to know that TS are working on this too as lagging really takes away from the wonderful experience of playing Glitch. 
    Posted 18 months ago by Tricky Woo Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I figured that they were pushing to see what would happen, to see what will break it.  I figured that's why there are so darn many animals all over the place.  When the game goes live there is certain to be quite a strain on the servers and it is best to figure out how to handle it now.  I have also experienced increasing Lag in the last two tests.  i have had a few Flash crashes each test though not too many.

    One odd thing.  When in the Caverns every time I get near that traveling cooking goods vendor I freeze up for a few seconds.  My Glitch begins to get very slow then freezes, then "thaws" but is still very slow until I get away from him.
    Posted 18 months ago by Brib Annie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Ebil - yeah, I was stop-starting 'racing' to try & get out of the caverns right at the very end (although I don't know why I didn't want the test to end with me down there - maybe I didn't want to be stuck in the dark for days waiting for the next test to start LOL)

    In a way I'm glad it's not just me... more people it affects the higher it'll be on the priority list.
    Posted 18 months ago by Snazzlefrazz Subscriber! | Permalink
  • My sense of the lag issues is they can be split into two categories... the first is when loading 'new' and 'busy'. That type of lag is loading lag, and being optimized as quick as the Specks can manage. The second is the 'dev lag', most common at the end of tests. I can't say if it has to to with the developers being on the dev-server but 'playing' in the production environment, or if it has to do with the number of developers working on the world at once and therefore pushing out lots, and lots of changes. Either way... they'll probably continue through beta, but improve because the Specks have joo-joo shoo-shoo.
    Posted 18 months ago by Travinara Subscriber! | Permalink
  • This was the first test I had my computer freeze up so many times, I kept having to reload which must have been annoying for the others in the chat window. The lag wasn't too bad for me, it was mostly noticible when opening up a new bag rather than changing streets. I'm glad to hear that TS is aware and working to keep the gameplay enjoyable.
    Posted 18 months ago by Gizmospooky Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Ahhh - so lag an hour of so before the end of a test isn't a new thing?

    I can see some possible logic to the developers saying "OK, looks good, now let's see how much we can push it before it breaks"
    Posted 18 months ago by Snazzlefrazz Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I figured the lag I start getting about an hour before the game closes was maybe them shutting some of the things down ...but I know nothing about how the game works, so that's just what I always thought lol
    Posted 18 months ago by sgjo Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I have had a lot of lag too, on the last two test. Just like some have said its seems to get worse around the last hour of the test. I was completely froze in the deeps on the test before, and at the party in this last test. Glad to hear that its being worked on! :)
    Posted 18 months ago by miskey Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I had big 'bag' problems, especially when working with bags and my cabinet. That was sort of new, but I figured it was along the same lines as the baby animals issue.

    Not saying I know exactly *why* dev-lag happens, but that painful hour at the end of tests is in no way new. In some ways, it's almost nostalgic - the whole world used to move like that! My how far they've come :D
    Posted 18 months ago by Travinara Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I've experienced lag when traveling from one place to another - I'm afraid to "follow" anyone anymore as a good 3-4 minutes lapse before I actually show up - pretty frustrating.  Glad the devs are looking into the problem and hope there is a "fix" soon.
    Posted 18 months ago by MzMunchken Subscriber! | Permalink