Lou Montana/Sandbox – User

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This article will try to be a general guide about improving your '''mission's''' performance.<br>
This article will try to be a general guide about improving your '''mission's''' performance.<br>
As usual, moderation is the key; do not expect to find here a magical solution to run thousands of AI at 144 FPS. Everything comes at a cost, the tweaks on this page will simply allow you to calibrate your mission properly.
As usual, moderation is the key; do not expect to find a magical solution that makes it possible to run thousands of AI at 144 FPS on this page. Everything comes at a cost, the tweaks on this page will simply allow you to calibrate your mission properly.




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== Performance impact table ==
== Performance impact table ==
{{Informative|
{{colorball|red|1.125}}    means a heavy impact on performance<br />
{{colorball|orange|1.125}} means an average impact<br />
{{colorball|green|1.125}}  means little to no performance impact.
}}


{|class="bikitable"
{|class="bikitable"
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|-
|-
|
|
==== AI units quantity ====
==== AI unit quantity ====
| {{colorball|red}}
| {{colorball|red}}
| {{colorball|green}}
| {{colorball|green}}
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|
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* Use [[createAgent|Agents]] whenever possible
* Use [[createAgent|Agents]] whenever possible
* The more units there is, the more network update there will be - hence the impact on both CPU and network.
* The more units there are, the more network updates there will be - hence the impact on both CPU and network.
* If a client has a low-end machine, they shouldn't lead a group of many AIs as these would then be locally computed.
* If a client has a low-end machine, they shouldn't lead a group of many AIs as these would then be locally computed.
* [[Arma 3 Dynamic Simulation]] allows you to freeze AI that are distant from players. Many distance settings should be set according to the mission.
* [[Arma 3 Dynamic Simulation]] allows you to freeze AI that are distant from players. Many distance settings should be set according to the mission.
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|-
|-
|
|
==== Objects quantity ====
==== Object quantity ====
| {{colorball|orange}}
| {{colorball|orange}}
| {{colorball|orange}}
| {{colorball|orange}}
| {{colorball|orange}}
| {{colorball|orange}}
| The less objects, the more FPS you will have.
| The less objects, the more FPS you will have.
* Lower the mission objects quantity
* Lower the quantity of objects in the mission, such as:
** AI units, agents
** AI units, agents
** vehicles, simple objects
** vehicles, simple objects
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** {{arma2}}'s [[Garbage Collector]]
** {{arma2}}'s [[Garbage Collector]]
** {{tkoh}}'s [[BIS_fnc_GC]]
** {{tkoh}}'s [[BIS_fnc_GC]]
{{ Informative | only the ''on-screen'' objects will strongly impact GPU. }}
{{ Informative | Only the ''on-screen'' objects will strongly impact GPU. }}
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|-
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| {{colorball|green}}
| {{colorball|green}}
|
|
Checking a condition too often is usually a source of poor performance. Does your code execution need to be frame-perfect, or can you afford a delay of some seconds?
Checking a condition too often is usually a source of poor performance. Does your code execution need to be frame-perfect, or can you afford a delay of a few seconds?
* A [[while]]-loop checking without a minimum loop-[[sleep]] time is usually a sign of bad conception.<code>[[while]] { [[true]] } {{codecomment|// already "bad" if you don't know what you are doing}}<br>[[while]] { [[alive]] [[player]] } {{codecomment|// better}}<br>[[while]] { [[sleep]] 1 ; [[alive]] [[player]] } {{codecomment|// perfect}}</code>
* A [[while]]-loop checking without a minimum loop-[[sleep]] time is usually a sign of bad conception.<code>[[while]] { [[true]] } {{codecomment|// already "bad" if you don't know what you are doing}}<br>[[while]] { [[alive]] [[player]] } {{codecomment|// better}}<br>[[while]] { [[sleep]] 1 ; [[alive]] [[player]] } {{codecomment|// perfect}}</code>
* [[trigger|Triggers]] check their set condition '''every 0.5 second''' (hardcoded value). If a large area is covered or condition code is too complex, this can be an issue. Convert them to scripts then.
* [[trigger|Triggers]] check their set condition '''every 0.5 second''' (hardcoded value). If a large area is covered or condition code is too complex, this can become an issue; the triggers should then be converted to scripts if possible.
* [[trigger|Triggers]] can be made '''Server-Side only'''.
|-
|-
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* Use [[publicVariable]] wisely; for specific cases, consider [[publicVariableServer]]&nbsp;/&nbsp;[[publicVariableClient]]
* Use [[publicVariable]] wisely; for specific cases, consider [[publicVariableServer]]&nbsp;/&nbsp;[[publicVariableClient]]
* Creating [[createUnit|units]]/[[createVehicle|vehicles]] globally implies a network synchronisation, keep them to a minimum / at one-point in the mission.
* Creating [[createUnit|units]]/[[createVehicle|vehicles]] globally implies a network synchronisation, keep them to a minimum / at one-point in the mission.
* keep the command with [[:Category:Commands with global effects|a global effect]] to a minimum: e.g a [[setPos]] will synchronise the unit position to every client, a good practice is to use these commands punctually. If you need a frequent "set position" you may want to look at [[attachTo]] depending on your usage.
* Keep [[:Category:Commands with global effects|global effect]] commands to a minimum: e.g a [[setPos]] will synchronise the unit position to every client, a good practice is to use these commands punctually. If you need a frequent "set position" you may want to look at [[attachTo]] depending on your usage.
* Lower client's [[viewDistance|view distance]] in order to lessen its object position update requests
* Lower client's [[viewDistance|view distance]] in order to lessen its object position update requests
|}
|}
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== What else? ==
== What else? ==


You have applied all these recommendations and yet, your mission still doesn't run well in multiplayer (but does in singleplayer);
If you have applied all these recommendations and your mission still doesn't run well in multiplayer (but does in singleplayer),
an answer to that is that you are using '''mods''', of which some are not well optimised, if at all.
it might be caused by '''mods''' that you are running which could be badly, or not at all, optimised.


If you want to be sure, run the same mission with and without mods. If you have a big difference in performance, look no further.
If you want to be sure, run the same mission with and without mods. If you have a big difference in performance, look no further.

Revision as of 16:19, 29 June 2019

Template:SideTOC

This page is about Mission Optimisation. For scripting optimisation, see Code Optimisation.

Introduction

This article will try to be a general guide about improving your mission's performance.
As usual, moderation is the key; do not expect to find a magical solution that makes it possible to run thousands of AI at 144 FPS on this page. Everything comes at a cost, the tweaks on this page will simply allow you to calibrate your mission properly.


Before anything

Before optimising anything, make sure you do not have any performance issue running the game itself:

  • Open the editor, place a unit in the area you like and test your computer.
    • Arma 3 displays FPS when you go into video options
    • Steam allows you to display FPS in a screen corner, in Settings > In game > FPS Counter
  • Use (unofficial) Performance Guides to get better performances:
  • Play your mission in singleplayer. If your mission runs fine, its network messages might very well be the issue. See Multiplayer Scripting for good practice tips.
  • Usual bottlenecks:
    • Lower your graphical settings (resolution, textures). If you get way better performances, at least your GPU limits you.
    • If the game keeps having low FPS when running @ 1024×768/low textures then your CPU is most likely the issue. Mission scripts may be performance-hogging too.
Please note that viewDistance (among other settings) impacts both GPU and CPU!


Creating your mission


Performance impact table

Template:colorball means a heavy impact on performance

Template:colorball means an average impact

Template:colorball means little to no performance impact.
Topic CPU GPU Net-
work
Solution

AI unit quantity

Template:colorball Template:colorball Template:colorball
  • Use Agents whenever possible
  • The more units there are, the more network updates there will be - hence the impact on both CPU and network.
  • If a client has a low-end machine, they shouldn't lead a group of many AIs as these would then be locally computed.
  • Arma 3 Dynamic Simulation allows you to freeze AI that are distant from players. Many distance settings should be set according to the mission.
Most if not all of the mission calculation (objectives, completion distance, etc.) must be done server-side. Local effects should be calculated client-side.
If you own more than one average computers, you could consider Headless client to offload AI from the server.

Object quantity

Template:colorball Template:colorball Template:colorball The less objects, the more FPS you will have.
  • Lower the quantity of objects in the mission, such as:
    • AI units, agents
    • vehicles, simple objects
    • weapon attachments (their proxies are attachedTo)
    • headgear, clothing, vests, backpacks
    • head-mounted devices (NVGs, etc.)
  • Lower viewDistance
  • Lower terrain details
  • Lower the Dynamic Simulation treshold
  • Use Simple Objects
  • Use Garbage Collection in order to automatically delete bodies and wreckages:
Only the on-screen objects will strongly impact GPU.

High-frequency scripts

Template:colorball Template:colorball Template:colorball

Checking a condition too often is usually a source of poor performance. Does your code execution need to be frame-perfect, or can you afford a delay of a few seconds?

  • A while-loop checking without a minimum loop-sleep time is usually a sign of bad conception.while { true } // already "bad" if you don't know what you are doing
    while { alive player } // better
    while { sleep 1 ; alive player } // perfect
  • Triggers check their set condition every 0.5 second (hardcoded value). If a large area is covered or condition code is too complex, this can become an issue; the triggers should then be converted to scripts if possible.
  • Triggers can be made Server-Side only.

High-frequency network messages

Template:colorball Template:colorball Template:colorball
  • Use publicVariable wisely; for specific cases, consider publicVariableServer / publicVariableClient
  • Creating units/vehicles globally implies a network synchronisation, keep them to a minimum / at one-point in the mission.
  • Keep global effect commands to a minimum: e.g a setPos will synchronise the unit position to every client, a good practice is to use these commands punctually. If you need a frequent "set position" you may want to look at attachTo depending on your usage.
  • Lower client's view distance in order to lessen its object position update requests
View distance can be separately set for each clients independently from the server's value, through scripting.
This can make or break performance for the client.


What else?

If you have applied all these recommendations and your mission still doesn't run well in multiplayer (but does in singleplayer), it might be caused by mods that you are running which could be badly, or not at all, optimised.

If you want to be sure, run the same mission with and without mods. If you have a big difference in performance, look no further.


See also