FoFix - reduce lag and improve performance Tweaks - MASTER

[KillerQ]

most of the lag that occurs when i play the game comes when multiple sounds are playing at once. my solution: replace some of the background sounds (starpower activate/deactivate, sound that plays at beginning and end of song) with silence (do not delete the sound, FoF needs the file there).

the rest of the lag occurs with text events, such as lyrics, sections, solo %, note streak, and starpower.

for some reason, the game lags on the first note of every song. i restart the song after, and it works fine.

i think this one is obvious, but dont use animated backgrounds, or even slideshows. i get lag everytime the background changes.

by the way, megalight themes dont reduce the lag by much. megalight themes usually dont have backgrounds. they still have almost all of the in-game sounds though. they are just smaller so they are quicker to download.

Hey,

Good call on the sounds! Could you post a silent .wav, or .ogg, or whatever you are using, and perhaps list the files you are overwriting.... I think there are many of use that will definitely give your idea a shot, and get back with you with how it worked....

See, being able to have the graphics and such is great, but i would take a blank screen that runs smooth over graphics anyday.... it's the fun factor with me, not the flashy looks when using my Ion drums....or even the guitar, for that matter.

I wonder if MFH could implement an in-game option to "disable bonus/power sounds" - that would be sweet (if it solved something)

Thanks again for the observation,

Matt!

[pimpinpalomo]

i will post a TRUE megalight theme in the mods section in a while (with silent in-game sounds and blank backgrounds). i will make RB and GH versions of this theme.

[mistake]

hello

after a long time of wrong fps by playing FoF i discover today that: you only must -- Turn Computer colors to 32bit -- and it will run perfectly !!!

sorry for my bad english, i am from germany

[gx1010]

Go here: http://www.iobit.com/gamebooster.html It's a software called Game Booster. It will stop all unecessary programs running on your computer to stop the lag.

[errorboy6090]

Hi, I have a Mac OS X Tiger. My Computer runs great with all the versions of frets on fire except FOFiX 3.120. Everything on 3.120 runs normal except the vocals. There's a terrible lag every time I try to sing.

Can someone help me?

[acrox999]

Vocals are still new. But how can it be laggy? I'm not sure why but mine is not laggy.

[errorboy6090]

Vocals are still new. But how can it be laggy? I'm not sure why but mine is not laggy.

I don't know why. Every time I sing, there's a terrible lag. Every time I do a jurden cheat, it only has a little bit of lag. (Maybe you have a faster running computer then me)

[Ambiguity]

most of the lag that occurs when i play the game comes when multiple sounds are playing at once. my solution: replace some of the background sounds (starpower activate/deactivate, sound that plays at beginning and end of song) with silence (do not delete the sound, FoF needs the file there).

the rest of the lag occurs with text events, such as lyrics, sections, solo %, note streak, and starpower.

for some reason, the game lags on the first note of every song. i restart the song after, and it works fine.

i think this one is obvious, but dont use animated backgrounds, or even slideshows. i get lag everytime the background changes.

by the way, megalight themes dont reduce the lag by much. megalight themes usually dont have backgrounds. they still have almost all of the in-game sounds though. they are just smaller so they are quicker to download.

death_au said the python 2.4 builds have memory leaks so they lag after a few songs(which is a bit different from what it sounds like your experiencing but still...), restart and I guess the memory gets "refilled". What I don't understand is why 'most everyone can't use the python 2.6 builds (which were supposed to improve performance by a lot).

[death_au]

The 2.6 build introduces new performance problems of its own (well, pyOpenGL 3, anyway), but there should be no reason why you can't use it.
Also, python 2.6 fixes a memory leak in python 2.4 itself, but that doesn't necessarily mean FoFiX doesn't have its very own memory leak somewhere.

I don't see why vocals would lag any more than any other instrument, except if you're using scrolling lyrics and not displaying them on any other instrument.

[Ambiguity]

The 2.6 build introduces new performance problems of its own (well, pyOpenGL 3, anyway), but there should be no reason why you can't use it.
Also, python 2.6 fixes a memory leak in python 2.4 itself, but that doesn't necessarily mean FoFiX doesn't have its very own memory leak somewhere.

I don't see why vocals would lag any more than any other instrument, except if you're using scrolling lyrics and not displaying them on any other instrument.

I use the word "can't" in this instance as "unplayable", there are very heavy jumps for a lot of people.

[skrish]

(first, sorry my bad english XD)

i rode this topic and i tried removing all kind of graphics stuff
but the "sound" maybe can be the problem
i set my sounds settings ->
active track volume 10/10
single track miss 05/10
and the rest in Zero

but i think the problem is the SFX sounds maybe

try it, and see what's happens

thanks for the tips :)

[slashfan7964]

I personally have a bad graphics card, and I can get it to run at heavy settings really smooth. Here's how.


Note: You must download everything here or this will NOT work.



Required Stuff

FoFiX v. 3.121 (Installer)
Animated Stages Part 1 (Self-Extracting Archive)
Animated Stages Part 2 (Self-Extracting Archive) [Combine Part 1 and 2 in the same folder. Name the folder "animated stages" without the quotes.
Rock Band 2 Theme (Not What You Think It Is) Self-Extracting Archive----This theme has been heavily modified for this project only. Download for other use is ok.
Guitar Hero 5/Band Hero Behind Neck, With Rock Band 2 Overdrive String Flash Overlay



Now that you have downloaded everything required and installed it accordingly, we can begin.

First, open up FoFiX. You'll notice that it looks like I did nothing to change the theme. Go to your options.

Now, this may take a while, but change every setting in all options to what is listed below. Please note that some things may not change.



Game Options:


Language: Set Your Langauge. I use English.
Drum Miss Penalty: First Note
Star Scoring Style: GH
Career Mode Advance: 1 Star
Countdown on Resume: Yes
SP Refill Mode: None
Drum SP: Auto/Fills
Upload Highscores: Yes
A/V Delay: 30


ADVANCED GAMEPLAY SETTINGS:

Star Updates: <Score Change>
Bass Groove: This can be on or off. Doesn't make a difference.
Enable Guitar Solos: Always
Loading Phrases: On
Stat Decimal Places: 1
Ignore Open Strums: No
Big Rock Endings: On
SP Mode: Auto MIDI
Party Mode Timer: 30
Remember Play Count: Yes


VOCAL SETTINGS:


2 LINE
BPM & DIFF
90
ALWAYS
ALWAYS
ALWAYS
TOP



HO/PO SETTINGS


GH2
ON
ON


BATTLE SETTINGS


TURN EVERYTHING ON


DISPLAY SETTINGS:



ROCK BAND 2
848x480
NO
ENABLED


STAGES:


RANDOM
animated stages
ON
OFF
650
IN ORDER
3
OFF


CHOOSE DEFAULT NECK:


PICK THE ONE WITH YELLOW STRIPES DOWN THE CENTER (COMES WITH THEME)



FRETBOARD SETTINGS


ROCK BAND
KEEP ON GOING
YES
PERCENTAGE
90
YES
OVERLAY
OVERLAY
OVERLAY
START AND END
NECK TRANSPARENCY: 100% FOR ALL OF THEM



IN GAME DISPLAY SETTINGS
THEME DISPLAY SETTINGS


ON
OFF
ON
YES


IN GAME DISPLAY SETTINGS

ON
ON
YES
NEVER
NO
OFF
OFF
PERCENT
ON
YES
SAME AS FRET
OFF
COUNTDOWN



ADVANCED VIDEO SETTINGS


ON (SET BELOW)
80
TOP RIGHT CORNER
ROCK BAND
NEW
NO
NONE
ON
YES
STATIC


MORE EFFECTS:

YES
DISABLED
DISABLED
LIGHTNINGS
RB2
DISABLED
THEME





SETLIST SETTINGS:

VIEW: RB2


MODS, CHEATS, AND A.I.:



ON
YES
WIDEST
MORE
OFF
1.00X
FULL (FoF)
NO



MOD SETTINGS:


ON
ON
ON
ON




Now your settings are saved. FoFiX should restart now, and everything should go smoothly, unless you really messed something up. Go play a song. In game should look amazing with blues, reds, blacks, greens, and more, with FatDogs Knapman notes. The only thing is the loading time for a song. It should take a 45 seconds to a minute to load everything. If it says NOT RESPONDING, let it go. Thats a sign that it si loading. Trust me.


Everything worked good for me under these settings.

[errorboy6090]

Remember me? I'm the one who said that I had a lag in the vocals.

Hi, I have a Mac OS X Tiger. My Computer runs great with all the versions of frets on fire except FOFiX 3.120. Everything on 3.120 runs normal except the vocals. There's a terrible lag every time I try to sing.

Can someone help me?

Vocals are still new. But how can it be laggy? I'm not sure why but mine is not laggy.

I don't know why. Every time I sing, there's a terrible lag. Every time I do a jurden cheat, it only has a little bit of lag. (Maybe you have a faster running computer then me)

I tried this on my Windows computer and it worked perfectly. (That is when I remembered we installed extra RAM onto that computer. So don't say that windows is better because Mac is usually supposed to be better on graphics) Anyway, I think it was because of low RAM. (Either that or it was because it was a used computer)

I have to use my Mac now, since my Windows has a virus.

If you have lag, it might be your Random Access Memory. So far I've gotten up to 500mb of RAM working.
Try installing more RAM. If it's a computer your parents own and don't want you messing around with........................ I can't help you.

[3nish]

The crux of the issue is that Frets on Fire is written in Python, something that's not far from a scripting language - not at ALL something ideal for fast 3D programming!!

So Python will always be the albatross around the neck of FoF, so to speak. The best solution could only involved a complete ground up rewrite in a modern fast programming language like C/C++ like every other 3D game ever written...

Python SUCKS for 3D programming!

Eh, we've heard it all before, and it isn't changing anytime soon.

People either love Python or hate it, both passionately.

i hate python ! is too complicated D:

-- Edit: Mon Apr 19, 2010 1:36 am --

The 2.6 build introduces new performance problems of its own (well, pyOpenGL 3, anyway), but there should be no reason why you can't use it.
Also, python 2.6 fixes a memory leak in python 2.4 itself, but that doesn't necessarily mean FoFiX doesn't have its very own memory leak somewhere.

I don't see why vocals would lag any more than any other instrument, except if you're using scrolling lyrics and not displaying them on any other instrument.

I use the word "can't" in this instance as "unplayable", there are very heavy jumps for a lot of people.

as an example there is me who CAN'T use python, the older FoF versions without career worked perfectly for me o_o

[Mantaray400]

To add to this. I shut off my WLAN and I have a substantial loss in lag occurrences. I think it was getting data from online and causing my CPU to be overburdened for everything to run smoothly.