Hyrule Field Slowdown Observation

[Starscream]

How do we know that there is a problem with that part of the game? Couldn't it just be that this portion of the game actually needs more CPU power to process all the info that the game requires? Just as some games need stronger processors to achieve full speed, this game has something in common with those games in that this part of the game actually does need a strong PC, but not because something is wrong, but because there is more info to process. I understand that the FPS change from one point in time in the game to another, but there must be added info based on story progression. Other areas opening up, ect. The game makes the processor have to think about more variables. More instructions equals slower speeds.

[Xtreme2damax]

It's definitely a bug, just that stronger processors may not be affected as much. Although it's still debatable unless solid proof is provided, so the validity of the claims can't be verified. A couple people with i7 processors or overclocked Core2Duo's are claiming full speed or close to it, while others with similar specifications or better are still reporting the same slowdowns that everyone else if experiencing.

I have a Core2Duo E8500 clocked at 3.3 Ghz and am only receiving 12 FPS later in Hyrule Field without the patch, while someone else is reporting full speed with a Core2Duo E8400 only clocked 600 Mhz higher than mine. It's highly unlikely a processor clocked 600 Mhz higher would give an extra 18 FPS, so I remain skeptical of the claims.

I can remember posts where those with overclocked i7 Extremes were also reporting the hefty slowdowns in Hyrule Field. Unless this is some weird Pseudo bug that is only affecting certain configurations or systems and only allowing few to achieve full speed then I call a bluff on the claims, screenshots and videos can be easily faked for bragging rights.

If in the unlikely event these few people are telling the truth, then I apologize. I think it has already been ruled out that it's not an issue with system specifications considering those with high end gaming systems and the latest hardware were reporting the same issue.

If there are a few people unaffected by these slowdowns, I would at least try to find out why or inquire about the configuration.

The first step would be asking these few people about their hardware and system configuration. For all we know the issue could only be specific to certain hardware and drivers which causes things to hang on Dolphin.

I would like to see the issues looked into further and tested more extensively, but not many developers have taken an interest in it despite the wealth of information provided in this thread.

[Jack Frost]

(05-01-2010, 12:01 PM)Xtreme2damax Wrote: [...] but not many developers have taken an interest in it despite the wealth of information provided in this thread.

You'd be surprised. The main thing is that most of us don't think that adding more code in there will fix it properly; skid is going for a redesign (or at least re-write) of that part for that very reason.

[Xtreme2damax]

Well yeah, consider me surprised. I'm just going by the lack of feedback from developers in this thread except for a select few.

Can we be sure if Skid's fifo redesign will fix this though, what if it turns out not to fix the issue?

I'm looking for a bit of feedback though regarding sNk's claim, here is what I said above:

Xtreme2damax Wrote:I have a Core2Duo E8500 clocked at 3.3 Ghz and am only receiving 12 FPS later in Hyrule Field without the patch, while someone else is reporting full speed with a Core2Duo E8400 only clocked 600 Mhz higher than mine. It's highly unlikely a processor clocked 600 Mhz higher would give an extra 18 FPS, so I remain skeptical of the claims.

There are a some people with high end overclocked computers that still report massive slowdowns in Hyrule Field, out of all the i7 owners there are a few reporting full speed in Hyrule Field.

Could the issue by any chance be a conflict or bug between Dolphin and certain hardware or configurations? What if it's a Nvidia specific issue with Dolphin, perhaps driver related?

How many ATI owners with decent systems can confirm the same slowdowns in Hyrule Field. It would probably be best if those are claiming full speed or close enough to post their full specifications, drivers and configuration. Same thing for those who are experiencing slowdowns in Hyrule Field.

[deathjijn]

I just tested out this whole Hyrule field thing with the game save to slow Hyrule field down and on my pc setup i never droped lower then 25FPS with rev 5423
on average it was 25-32 unless this patch was added to this svn rev or something got changed to fix it im not having the slowdown issue. Maybe you are right about hardware only thing i seen mentioned was alot of audio is being processed and the only hardware i have diffrent is a non intergrated sound card. Just a little slight food for the noggin.

[naoan]

at what point in game you're checking it?

[deathjijn]

(05-01-2010, 11:19 PM)naoan Wrote: at what point in game you're checking it?

The method in Post #26 a save was even included.
Heck i even used the first slot game save to compare and still had no slow down wich is way beyond the below mentioned method

(02-26-2010, 07:39 AM)Xtreme2damax Wrote: Well here's the an NTSC-U memory card containing the NTSC-U save, third slot is the game you want to test. Use mine and skids instructions to test, I'll label my instructions below again for clarity:

1. Go to Hyrule Field (West), notice how it's running full speed at a solid 30 FPS.

2. Try to go up the the Goron mines, get knocked down by the Goron, talk to Renado and head south.

3. Watch the cutscene and seize Epona.

4. Head to Hyrule Field (West) again, notice it is still running full speed at a solid 30 FPS.

5. Go back into Kakariko Village, head north and jump over the gate and enter Hyrule Field (North), notice this part of Hyrule Field is about 10 - 15 FPS slower.

6. Head south once again back into Kakariko Village, then return to Hyrule Field (West), Hyrule Field (West) will now be 10 - 15 slower now just like Hyrule Field (North), Hyrule Field (West) was running full speed before visiting Hyrule Field (North).

I've/We've checked with wireframe mode and free look, unable to spot any differences that would be causing such a drastic slowdown. There isn't any more being rendered than before, at least this doesn't appear to be the issues by testing Hyrule Field (West) before visiting Hyrule Field (North) and Hyrule Field (West) after visiting Hyrule Field (North) which is why I am a bit skeptical of Omegadox's theory.


ars Racing, It loads most of the essential game files you need to play the game for some reason when the game logo appears between the company logos and the attract movie.

[naoan]

Hmm interesting you have 720 at 3.7GHz (with 4 cores unlocked), I've been hesitant to clock mine (720 too :p) higher cause most games run fine at 3.2 undervolted, guess I'll take a plunge and see if this will improve Zelda perf.

If I may inquire at what vcore you're cpu at that clock? thanks!

[deathjijn]

(05-01-2010, 11:33 PM)naoan Wrote: Hmm interesting you have 720 at 3.7GHz (with 4 cores unlocked), I've been hesitant to clock mine (720 too :p) higher cause most games run fine at 3.2 undervolted, guess I'll take a plunge and see if this will improve Zelda perf.

If I may inquire at what vcore you're cpu at that clock? thanks!

Vcore is at 1.46 but i cant gaurantee that will work for you Oh and if you unlock that 4th core the on die thrm diod will shut off only way youll be able to monitor your temp except CPU temp wich is only the socket temp normaly.
Youll also want to INcrease your HT speeds or it will act up once you go over 3.4 took me about 3 days of playing around with it to get it to work. But GL
if you got the good batch you can get it to 4.5 on water and unlock that 4th core
max i could get mine was 4.2 but never could get it stable. got it stable at 3.9 but heat was to bad.

---

Ok now this is weird i just did everything i above mentioned and the game was running fast i exited Dolphin decided to run it again to just screw around and now Hyrule field is 21 fps -.- i mean thats not 11-15 wich isnt bad but wth would it be not working right now when before it was working fine.

[Xtreme2damax]

(05-01-2010, 11:03 PM)deathjijn Wrote: I just tested out this whole Hyrule field thing with the game save to slow Hyrule field down and on my pc setup i never droped lower then 25FPS with rev 5423
on average it was 25-32 unless this patch was added to this svn rev or something got changed to fix it im not having the slowdown issue. Maybe you are right about hardware only thing i seen mentioned was alot of audio is being processed and the only hardware i have diffrent is a non intergrated sound card. Just a little slight food for the noggin.

That's even stranger.. Even though your your processor is a quad Core, my processor still trumps it any day in dual core mode for applications that only use two cores such as Dolphin. The only advantage that processor has over mine is that it has four cores so you would be able to use DSP-LLE on thread without locking up the emulator.

Here are the differences between your PC and mine other than the processor:

- You have a Geforce GTX260, I have a Geforce 9800 GT
- You have 8 GB of ram, I have 4 GB of ram.
- You have a dedicated sound card, I don't.

How many others with high end Nvidia cards that experience slowdowns in Hyrule Field?

I think we might be coming to a conclusion that processor power is not the main factor for machines with decent modern hardware, typically speaking of the AMD Phenom, Core2Duo/Quad/i3/i5/i7 processors.

As I mentioned it would be nice for the ones who are getting full speed or close to it without the patch to post their full specifications and system configuration such as drivers, particularly video drivers. Also post the video card you are using as that can determine if it's only those with higher end cards that are able to achieve full speed.

I would also like those who are getting severe lag without the patch, to do the same as above.

I'm getting severe lag, my system specifications:

- Shitty Asrock motherboard
- Intel Core2Duo E8500 overclocked to 3.29 Ghz
- 4 GB DDR2 Dual Channel Ram
- MSI Nvidia Geforce 9800 GT with Forceware 197.45
- Onboard Realtek HD sound.