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Improving framerate in Warhammer Online

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Caffeine
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Improving framerate in Warhammer Online

Post#1 » Sat Feb 04, 2017 7:57 pm

This guide is a compilation of tips and tricks for boosting performance in WAR that I found while playing the game.

Parts of this guide give different advice depending on what hardware you have. If you are playing on a computer you received as a gift or just generally don't know much about computers I recommend a free tool called Speccy. Speccy will give you a simple overview of what components your PC consists of. You can download it here.

Special thanks to blaqwar for his great write-up on performance.

Part 1 - Client optimization

Use the 64bit client version

Click the gear in the top right corner of your RoR launcher and select 64-bit.
Image

What this does:
Secrets wrote: Sat Nov 11, 2017 10:23 am It enables multi-threading options by default (previously had to pass command line args to enable it, which would require a new launcher) and changes the memory cap on the executable to 3000MB from 1250MB for the texture cache, which means that less cpu cycles are spent recycling textures and instead they can sit comfortably in memory. The 4gb patch is already applied to this executable as well.

The other thing it does is disable the 'debug' version of the LUA library. This means that UI actions should execute quicker.

Video settings
Here is the most balanced setup in terms of performance vs quality that I could find:
Image

Worst offenders for your framerate are Effects and Shadows settings. If you are crashing during keep fights the first thing you should do is set Shadows to None or Balanced and set ability filter to Self. On a lower end computer I would also turn off grass.

Texture memory cache - does it actually do anything?
Judging by the testing I've done it looks like increasing the slider does make the game use more VRAM:
Image

If you are playing on a computer with a dedicated graphics card that has 1GB+ of VRAM you are likely to benefit from maxing the slider. If you are playing on a laptop or an older desktop PC I would not recommend changing this setting.

Fullcreen VS Borderless window - which is better?
Tabbing in and out of the game while in fullscreen mode triggers a painfully long mesh retexture:
Image

Running the game in a borderless window fixes this issue but has two drawbacks:
  1. Switching back to fullscreen mode by pressing Alt+Enter will mess with some addons. For example, group icons in Enemy will stop scaling correctly. If you then try to reload UI the client will crash. This only happens when using the key combination. Using settings menu to change window modes causes no issues.
  2. Borderless window mode performs slightly worse than fullscreen mode. According to some relevant information I found on stackoverflow the penalty is negligible. Source: http://gaming.stackexchange.com/questio ... 071#107071
To enable borderless window mode press Esc -> Customize Interface -> Video tab and deselect Show Frame and Use Fullscreen checkboxes.

Addons
Below I list addons that have the most impact on performance and separate them in to three groups:
  1. Optimization friendly - Useful addons that can be configured to use less resources (and how).
  2. Depreciated - Resource demanding addons for which there is a better alternative.
  3. Nonfunctional - Broken/harmful addons which nobody should use.
Shinies
Image
A must have addon if you plan on using the Auction House. Shinies will help you find the cheapest items as well as allow you to automatically undercut your competitors when submitting your own. Note that you can drag and drop items from your backpack in to the Item Name field to search for that item.

Some of the more performance demanding features of this addon include custom tooltips for items that show item count across all characters on your account and historical AH price data. To turn these modules off do the following:
Spoiler:
  1. Make sure the game is closed.
  2. Navigate to

    Code: Select all

    Warhammer Online\Interface\AddOns\Shinies\Modules\Base
  3. Open Data.lua with any text aditor, go to line 8 and set enabled variable to false.
  4. Repeat step 3 for Stat.lua and Tooltip.lua.
  5. Navigate to

    Code: Select all

    Warhammer Online\user\settings\GLOBAL
  6. Delete Shinies folder.
  7. For every character you have navigate to

    Code: Select all

    Warhammer Online\user\settings\Martyrs Square\CHARACTER_NAME\CHARACTER_NAME
    and delete Shinies folder.
Warhammer Scrolling Combat Text (WSCT)
Image
A major improvement over the default combat text but does cause framerate dips when you are subject to a lot of damage. The most performance friendly setup is disabling notifications for incoming damage and buff/debuff fades. Buffhead and Incoming Damage Statistics in Enemy already provide you with the same information.
Here's how you apply the fix:
  1. Run /wsct menu command.
  2. Apply the following settings in respective event categories:
    Spoiler:
    Image
Buffhead
Image
Recognized by the community as the best choice when it comes to tracking ability effects. If you are already using Buffhead and are comfortable with your setup here's how you optimize for performance:
  1. Run /buffhead command.
  2. Go to Perfomance section under "Enhancements"
  3. Apply the following settings:
    Spoiler:
    Image
I don't recommend disabling priority updates as it might cause guard icon duplication on hostile targets.

If you are switching from Daocbuff or installed Buffhead recently there is a ready configuration file maintained by Jacub:
viewtopic.php?f=66&t=17466#p189598

[Enemy] Group Icons
Image
The best choice for displaying group icons. The most performance friendly configuration is only showing icons for your own group. Showing icons for other groups in a full warband will have a negative impact on your framerate, especially in larger oRvR engagements.
Here's how you configure the module:
  1. Right click Enemy icon (looks like an arrow target) and select Configuration.
  2. From there go to Group Icons section.
  3. Apply the following settings:
    Spoiler:
    Image
Scale and offsets have no impact on performance so feel free to experiment with those.

[Enemy] Combat Log parser
Image
When you receive a lot of damage your combat log gets flooded with updates. If you have an addon loaded that parses your combat log this usually results in a massive framerate drop which in turn makes it very difficult for you to react quickly.

On the flip side knowing how much damage is coming in and from where is important information. While disabling all combat parsers will definitely give you the most fps gain it will also make it harder for you to play your best. The compromise that I found is tracking incoming damage via Combat Log module in Enemy and disabling other addons with similar functionality. Below are the settings I use and how to apply them:
  1. Right click Enemy icon (looks like an arrow target) and select Configuration.
  2. From there go to Combat Log section.
  3. Apply the following settings:
    Spoiler:
    Image
MGRemix + CraftingInfoTooltip
Should be disabled when you are not actively growing seeds. If you are really serious about framerate I suggest you don't learn cultivating on the character you play the most. From my own experience on my Zealot (has culti+apoth) I get noticeably worse performance compared to all other characters on exact same UI and settings.

[Enemy] Killspam
Image
An enemy module that keeps a kill/death score for all players in the zone as well as cataloging kills by subregion. This can be very useful for figuring out where the action is and which premade groups/warbands are present in the zone.

The drawback of using this module is that your performance gets progressively worse the more time you spend in rvr. The more players there are on the list the more work Enemy has to do to keep the list updated every time someone dies. Having this module enabled will force you to reload UI often as the stuttering it causes eventually becomes unbearable.

To turn off the module go to Enemy -> Config -> Killspam -> turn off "Enable kill parsing". Kills window can be hidden by rigthclicking it in the layout editor and selecting "Hide Window".

Daocbuff Causes stutters in large scale RvR.

Dpsmeter A combat log parser that can be useful when testing effectiveness of abilities. Don't forget to turn this off if you are not actually testing something.

GroupIcons
If you have it installed disable and delete it immediately. It’s broken to a point of causing massive stutters when joining a warband. I can’t fathom why it’s still bundled with the default client.

DetauntHelper
Does not function as advertised since RoR server implementation does not allow selecting enemy targets by name. Using this addon purely for gathering incoming damage statistics is not optimal as Enemy does this already.

Overhead Names
Image
When it comes to overhead text such as names, titles and guild tags you have two options: disable them completely or leave them on but use a simple font. The first option will give you the most fps gain while the second will greatly reduce the impact.

To change font style press Esc -> Customize Interface -> Targeting and set "Names Font" to Simple. You can choose which strings to hide in the same section.

Chat Logs
In your UserSettings.xml file there is a flag that decides if your client will keep logs of your chat activity. Each chat channel is saved to a separate file so if this option is enabled your client is constantly saving information to several files on disk.

To avoid unnecessary disk I/O you can turn off logging by navigating to:

Code: Select all

Warhammer Online\user
Open UserSettings.xml with any text editor and set saveToDisk attribute to false (line 18).

Client uptime
No matter what you do the longer the client runs the worse it will perform. If you are playing for longer periods of time it’s a good idea to restart the client at least once an hour.
Last edited by Caffeine on Wed May 08, 2019 9:31 pm, edited 28 times in total.
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Caffeine
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Re: Improving framerate in Warhammer Online

Post#2 » Sat Feb 04, 2017 7:57 pm

Intermission

Image
Last edited by Caffeine on Wed Oct 11, 2017 3:53 pm, edited 6 times in total.
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Caffeine
Posts: 611

Re: Improving framerate in Warhammer Online

Post#3 » Sat Feb 04, 2017 7:58 pm

Part 2 - Driver optimization

Tools to use
For Nvidia cards: You can use either Nvidia Control Panel or Nvidia Inspector. Nvidia Inspector can be downloaded here.

For AMD cards: You can use Catalyst software or RadeonPro.

Anti Aliasing
AA is a teqnique for reducing jaggies on edges of objects. A short explanation video:

Click here to watch on YouTube

Turn this off for best performance.

If you are not using Reshade or similar injectors here's a 4x setting for maximum quality:
Image

credit to aa91837 for posting this: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=25725&p=290612#p290612

Anisotropic Filtering + Texture Filtering Quality
Anisotropic filtering improves the clarity and crispness of textured objects in games. A short explanation (skip to 2:15):

Click here to watch on YouTube

Maxing this setting does not have any noticeable impact on framerate so set Anisotropic Filtering to 16 and Texture Filtering to "High Quality". Jacub was kind enough to provide comparison images for Warhammer:
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=19082&p=209337&hili ... ic#p209337

Also make sure to set Texture Filtering Negative LOD bias to CLAMP and Threaded Optimization to OFF.

Full credit to oaliaen for posting this: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=25393&p=287533&hilit=clamp#p287530

Maximum Pre-Rendered Frames
Controls the number of frames the CPU prepares in advance of being rendered by the GPU. Higher values will give you higher average framerate, while lower values will help reduce mouse and keyboard lag. The default value is 3.

Explanation & benchmarks:

Click here to watch on YouTube

Personally I use a setting of 2 but results will vary on different systems so play around with this setting to see what works for you.

Vsync
An on/off setting that is worth mentioning for people with monitors that have refresh rate higher than 60Hz. If you own one: make sure to force Vsync off to get the most out of your monitor.

Also make sure your monitor is actually set to it's highest available refresh rate by going:

Control Panel -> Display -> Screen Resolution -> Advanced Settings -> Monitor -> Screen refresh rate
Image

Ambient Occlusion
Several people have reported that forcing Ambient Occlusion through drivers improved their fps.
I found using the hack on nvidia gpus to add ambient occlusion to WAR, adds an extra 10-20 fps. Not to mention, looks a lot more modern.

I've never tested why. My theory is that WAR is so cpu bound, that the hack offloads more to the gpu, or it could be it switches shader rendering methods.

Running max settings, i5 2500k and 980ti.
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=19867&start=10#p223112

I recently forced ambient occlusion on my card and i have to say i had an fps increase, the game is more stable onto 30 fps, tough idk how many fps i gained the difference is pretty much visible.

Maybe war client force after all strange behaviour on gpu and bypass client setting with radeon pro made the trick.
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=19867&start=40#p286533

I can second that.

Also i turned off 8n game post processing and use both fxaa and smaa on radeon pro for post processing to greater fps.
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=19867&start=40#p287923


Personally I saw no change in framerate or visuals.

[Nvidia] G-SYNC 101

A must read article for those of you who got a G-SYNC monitor for Christmas: https://www.blurbusters.com/gsync/gsync ... -settings/

If you're lazy like me here's a summary by Nicholas-Steel:
1) Turn on G-Sync* in the Nvidia Control Panel and configure it to prefer the maximum refresh rate. (*There are two places in the Nvidia Control Panel where you have to configure this). Your monitor OSD Menu should indicate whether or not G-Sync is active, your display may also have a LED Light indicator for G-Sync status.

2) Turn on Vsync in the Nvidia Control Panel (Nvidia Control Panel vsync keeps G-sync from exhibiting frame tearing while G-Sync keeps vsync from introducing horrible input lag).

3) Disable the in-game/application's vsync setting (don't do this via the Nvidia Control Panel), otherwise you will be using traditional vsync and not the implementation compatible with G-Sync.

4) For games that have no frame rate limiter, use a program like Riva Tuner Statistics Server to cap the programs frame rate so that its maximum FPS is 3 below your monitors maximum refresh rate. So you will configure RTSS to limit the frame rate to 141FPS on a 144Hz display for example. Be aware that some anti-cheat programs that some games utilize may not like you doing this/will treat RTSS as being unauthorized to modify the game process. Some games provide an option to limit the FPS.

5) Why limit the FPS? When the FPS exceeds the refresh rate G-sync will turn off but the G-Sync compatible vsync will remain active, without G-sync it will incur some additional input lag. Limiting the FPS prevents the game from exceeding the displays refresh rate and prevent the game from being able to disengage G-sync during gameplay.
source
Last edited by Caffeine on Thu Apr 19, 2018 5:06 pm, edited 19 times in total.
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Caffeine
Posts: 611

Re: Improving framerate in Warhammer Online

Post#4 » Sat Feb 04, 2017 7:58 pm

Intermission

Image
Last edited by Caffeine on Mon Aug 14, 2017 4:17 pm, edited 4 times in total.
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Caffeine
Posts: 611

Re: Improving framerate in Warhammer Online

Post#5 » Sat Feb 04, 2017 7:58 pm

Part 3 - System optimization

[Windows] Configure pagefile to a set size
Image
Basically, "Page file" it's where Windows takes things that are "stale" and haven't been accessed for awhile, pulls them out of active RAM, and writes them to a file in order to make room for something else. It's best avoided getting to the point that you need to use it, though. Constantly read/writing from the page/swap file (called "thrashing") is a common cause of pretty huge slowdowns.
source

Start -> type "system"-> Advanced -> Performance -> Advanced -> Virtual Memory -> Change
Set to Custom size Initial and Maximum to same "Recommended size".

Full credit to navis for posting this: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=20075&start=30#p253731

Check your RAM frequency
Image
WARNING: If you change frequency or voltage without knowing what you're doing your system will fail to boot or worse. If you don't know what BIOS is that's a good indication you shouldn't be making changes in it.

[...] I used CPU-Z and checked my DRAM frequency, and it seemed to be out by about 267MHz (was 666.5x2, should have been 800x2). I updated my RAM speeds in my BIOS, and suddenly, no drops below 60fps at all in Battlefield 1. Similarly, I'm getting much higher and consistent framerates in Titanfall 2.

As far as I know, your speed in CPU-Z should be half of your max speed. If not, then check your BIOS settings to see if it's set correctly.
source

Also worth mentioning for those inexperienced if you buy overclocked ram like 3000 or 3200 MHz etc make sure you set the XMP up. I was running 2666 for awhile before I realized it doesn't plug n play at those speeds.
source


Defragment your hard drive
Image
If you installed the game on an HDD you can reduce loading times by defragging the drive. In short defragmentation is reducing the number of fragments a file consists of. This reduces data access time and allows storage to be used more efficiently.

This procedure can take several hours to complete depending on the size of your drive. I would not recommend using the computer until it's finished. You can either use native Microsoft tools (if you're on Windows) or use free software. I recommend Defraggler. You can download it here: https://www.piriform.com/defraggler

If you installed the game on a SSD there not much more you can do for your loading times. Note that solid state drives do not benefit from defragmentation due to their architecture. Performing the procedure might shorten lifespan of an SSD.

[Windows 7] Switch to classic theme
Image
A great way to free up some RAM on a Windows 7 machine is turning off Aero by switching to a classic theme:
  1. Right click anywhere on desktop
  2. Click Personalize
  3. Scroll down to Basic and High Contrast Themes
  4. Select Windows Classic
[Windows] Turn off indexing service
In order to speed up the search process, the search indexing service scans through the files and folders on the Windows system and records information about them in an index file. But it also consumes some resources of the system, so for the users with a slow computer it is beneficial to turn off search indexing.
Source
  1. In the command prompt while running as administrator type "Services.msc".
  2. Go to the bottom on the service that says "Windows Search".
  3. Right Click on the service and change the "Startup Type" to Disabled.
  4. Hit the stop button on the properties window.
[Nvidia] Disable Nvidia Streamer Service
Basically Nvidia experience installs an always running service intended to be used for the NVidia Shield that apparently causes drastic CPU usage and frame dropping. I haven't confirmed if/how much this helps GTA specifically but it is apparently pretty major for CS. If you don't own a shield then you've got no reason to leave this service running anyhow.
Source

In the reddit post they delete Nvidia Experience to fix the problem. There is a way to just disable the service without uninstalling anything:
  1. Tap on the Windows-key on your keyboard, type services.msc and hit enter.
  2. Double-click on Nvidia Streamer Service in the services window. (NvStreamSvc)
  3. Click on the Stop button to disable it for the session.
  4. You may receive a message stating that disabling this service will also stop the NVIDIA Streamer Network Service.
  5. Click on Yes if the prompt appears.
  6. Switch the startup type from automatic to disabled.
  7. Click Apply.
Doing this has an unfortunate side effect of disabling ShadowPlay. Advanced users can turn ShadowPlay back on without the service via a Registry edit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GrandTheftAuto ... st/cqrqejn
If you don't know what Registry is messing with it will have dire consequences.
Last edited by Caffeine on Thu May 09, 2019 2:03 pm, edited 11 times in total.
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blaqwar
Posts: 471

Re: Improving framerate in Warhammer Online

Post#6 » Sat Feb 04, 2017 8:36 pm

Thanks for taking the time to write and compile a one in all guide.

I'll add a few things:

- If you are using MGRemix and notice stuttering every 5 sec (like a few dropped frames on a regular interval) a /rel will fix it. I haven't found any way to get rid of the stuttering completely short of disabling the addon. Someone more addon savvy can dig through the code and figure out what's causing the issue.
- I don't see why you'd even want to toggle from windowed to fullscreen mode when running the game in windowed? Or am I missing something? Cause if you're not switching between the two then the drawback of corrupted textures and messed up UI isn't there. On my client the UI corrects itself even when switching with a key combination and /rel doesn't crash the game, is that dependant on the addon list?
- Thanks for the NvStreamSvc tip, I am using an older version of GFExperience that doesn't require a login and disallowing it to update. I'll test out disabling the service and see if it works for me. For anyone interested in using an older GFE for Shadowplay only you can read about it here.
- Minor point but SSDs do benefit from defragmenting. If you look up the defragmenting program in Win10 (Defrag) you will likely see that it has been optimizing your SSD (defragmenting). It works differently than defragmenting a HDD but it's still a similar concept. Just let Win10 handle it, unlike your privacy. :roll:
- As mentioned in a different thread, avoid running Razer Synapse. In general it's best to gauge the amount of resources the background processes/services are consuming by monitoring the usage and weighing it against the benefits of having it running.
- Indexing service is a good thing to disable on SSDs in general, it's a very marginal increase in search/lookup speed and wears down your SSD.


I'll definitely try the stuff I haven't used yet and report back. :)

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Tesq
Posts: 5704

Re: Improving framerate in Warhammer Online

Post#7 » Sun Feb 05, 2017 1:43 am

i add some stuff

silly stuff:
-change name font from stylized into simple will results in less fps drop in zerg situation
-remove/uncheck mouse over target will also results in less fps drop
-disable post processing will increase generally all fps
-remove show friendly pet name and enemy guild will results in less fps drop in zerg situation.

third party optimizer:
-4gb pather http://www.ntcore.com/4gb_patch.php
It's a little program which used on war.exe ( and all other win xp era game such war40k dawn of war one ) will change the client memory from 2gb into 4gb actually make the loading faster and the time between the need to reopne the client seems improve x10. You need to use it on "war.exe" file just once.


NB add on: If you use NB and crash there is a NB fix around on the forum which will stop you from crash when reloading ui etc

all the discovery of my post are not mine thx to who found this things around( with all mentioned here i stopped crashed from 1 month).
Image

Kobra
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Posts: 128

Re: Improving framerate in Warhammer Online

Post#8 » Mon Feb 06, 2017 7:42 pm

I've sort of resolved that if my 8 Core i7 and 1080GTX FTW can't push this game with amazing framerates then there isn't much left for me to do. LOL

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wargrimnir
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Re: Improving framerate in Warhammer Online

Post#9 » Mon Feb 06, 2017 9:32 pm

This thread made me sticky. I returned the favor.
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[email protected] for exploits and cheaters.
grimnir.me Some old WAR blog

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Haojin
Posts: 1062

Re: Improving framerate in Warhammer Online

Post#10 » Wed Feb 08, 2017 11:28 am

Welldone Viny.
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