Ok, I lied about that 'very detailed' part...
I just bought the $10 trial of WINeq2 a couple days ago, so far it has fantastic potential. I've found a number of stumbling blocks to mastering the program, so here I chatter.
First, is the crashes; the insta-desktop-so-fast-your-head-spins.
It's happened a half dozen times today. The only similarity I can see in these is ... My tank was suprisingly getting attacked or somethin causing me hustle and punch my spam heal hotkey "Alt+1".. Soon as that hotkey combo was pressed, I was already admiring my wallpaper. Most of these occasions I had been running only one instance of EQ, probably in the emulated fullscreen mode. However, more than once I also 'insta-crashed' while attempting to play 3 toons at once. When I went to my healer and punched my Alt-1, all 3 of the windows vanished.
I'm not certain how accurate or revevant this next part is... but in hindsight this healer instance of eq1 was the active window in my desktop, but the mouse may have been released when i would hit Alt+1... perhaps even hitting the spacebar in my scramble.
Every crash seemed to correspond to an Alt-1, however, far less frequently than i rely on my spam heal hotkey of alt-1.
Secondly, when using multiple tiles of eq, I sometimes find the mouse to "fall out" of a window if i try to move the pointer as the switch between active instances occurs. When this happens I have to punch 'scroll lock' to get it back in. Maybe I had been forgetful and released the mouse before switching to another character, then apon switching back, unable to use the mouse in that particular instance untill i press 'scroll lock' a second time, even if the mouse was already captured in the prior instance. Is it possible to auto-force the mouse inside of the instance each and every time I switch between tiles? I can't find where i saw that before.... if it was...
Third, I took your advice and got myself a memory scrubber for use behind everquest (FreeRAM XP Pro, if it matters). I understand that eq can mismanage it's own memory, leaving parts of it inaccessable until a restart or such scrubbing occurs. I'm curious... specifically for use with multi-boxing* in everquest.... how often should i scrub my RAM while boxing, and what percent of my ram should i scrub? From what i've read here, I only gotta worry about it after passing thru the char select screen a few times on a particular instance, but still got no good idea how much i can scrub before it's becoming ineffecient.
Fourth, I have a very poorly built paperweight that doubles into an even worse choice for a second computer. It really shouldn't be used for eq. More than one player or NPC in my sight will drop framerate to near zero FPS. A decent number of mobs will totally freeze EQ until i appear at my bind point or get saved by someone. IntelCeleron 390mhz, Geforce3 64MB, 320MB ram (DDR or whatnot, whichever kind is shittier) Is there a way to utilize the EQPN feature of foreground limitation to lessen the amount of freeze on a system already straining to render a single instance of EQ? Not to make the world smooth in those times of peril, but to at least allow my to use my UI and spells at a smooth speed at the expense of a totally horrible framerate of my viewport. Perhaps even, is there a way to temporarily disable everquest from trying to mentally render the world... tried setting /viewport to zero area and still recieved the normal lag in the UI.
Meaningless banter: Something I shouldn't be very proud of... but just amazed it actually worked... for the time being... .. .. In my efforts to ease the suffering of this poor 2nd computer, I tried to make every effort possible to streamline it's everquest. After Defrag telling me i didn't have the necessary 15% free space needed to defrag my 10gig hard drive, I took drastic action. I made a "eq parts" folder on my desktop and started moving files from my Everquest folder to this "eq parts" folder. I moved over 600 files, including all of what i guess were sound effects, spell effects, background music, text documents, models... anything i could guess wasn't "totally necessary". Next, I downloaded a copy of EQwin2 and had it make a shortcut to a profile of EQ... specifically one that did not go thru the patcher to log in. As a result, almost all the NPCs i ran across in PoK during my initial test were .. yay... the default human model =) I had never seen that computer run EQ so smoothly as it did tonight.
ok ok, if we make some progress, i'll ask some more questions I have.
The sysinfo for the computer in probs 1-3 is listed below. Keep in mind I did do a small amount of tampering to my eqclient a few minutes ago for the sake of tryin anythin... such as setting TextureQuality to 1 instead of 3... im startin to think that wasn't a real option... anyways...
WinEQ 2 System Information
System:
-----------------------------------
Windows Version: Microsoft Windows XP/Service Pack 2/2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.050301-1519
System Physical RAM: 621/1023MB
Page File: 2073/2495MB
Virtual Memory: 1674/2047MB (Extended: 0MB)
CPU 1: AMD Athlon(tm) XP 2100+ @ 1733MHz
CPU Affinity Mask: 1
Video 1: \\.\DISPLAY1/RADEON 9100 SERIES
Video 2: \\.\DISPLAY2/RADEON 9100 SERIES
Video 3: \\.\DISPLAYV1/NetMeeting driver
Video 4: \\.\DISPLAYV2/RDPDD Chained DD
Monitor 1: \\.\DISPLAY1 (0,0,1024,768) (1024x768) PRIMARY
Sound: ¨
DirectX: 4.09.00.0904
Internet Explorer: 6.0.2900.2180
WinEQ: 2.12
Loaded Modules:
-----------------------------------
Module 0: C:\Program Files\Sony\EverQuest Trilogy\eqgame.exe
Module 1: C:\WINDOWS\system32\ntdll.dll
Module 2: C:\WINDOWS\system32\kernel32.dll
Module 3: C:\Program Files\Sony\EverQuest Trilogy\mss32.dll
Module 4: C:\WINDOWS\system32\USER32.dll
Module 5: C:\WINDOWS\system32\GDI32.dll
Module 6: C:\WINDOWS\system32\WINMM.dll
Module 7: C:\WINDOWS\system32\ADVAPI32.dll
Module 8: C:\WINDOWS\system32\RPCRT4.dll
Module 9: C:\WINDOWS\system32\WSOCK32.dll
Module 10: C:\WINDOWS\system32\WS2_32.dll
Module 11: C:\WINDOWS\system32\msvcrt.dll
Module 12: C:\WINDOWS\system32\WS2HELP.dll
Module 13: C:\WINDOWS\system32\DINPUT8.dll
Module 14: C:\WINDOWS\system32\IMM32.dll
Module 15: C:\Program Files\Sony\EverQuest Trilogy\DSETUP.dll
Module 16: C:\WINDOWS\system32\VERSION.dll
Module 17: C:\WINDOWS\system32\ole32.dll
Module 18: C:\WINDOWS\system32\SHELL32.dll
Module 19: C:\WINDOWS\system32\SHLWAPI.dll
Module 20: C:\WINDOWS\system32\LPK.DLL
Module 21: C:\WINDOWS\system32\USP10.dll
Module 22: C:\WINDOWS\WinSxS\x86_Microsoft.Windows.Common-Controls_6595b64144ccf1df_6.0.2600.2180_x-ww_a84f1ff9\comctl32.dll
Module 23: C:\WINDOWS\system32\comctl32.dll
Module 24: C:\Program Files\WinEQ2\WinEQ2.dll
Module 25: C:\WINDOWS\Lavish.dll
Module 26: C:\WINDOWS\system32\PSAPI.DLL
Module 27: C:\Program Files\WinEQ2\WinEQ2-EQ.dll
Module 28: C:\WINDOWS\system32\MSIMG32.dll
Module 29: C:\Program Files\WinEQ2\WinEQ2-D3D9.dll
Module 30: C:\Program Files\WinEQ2\WinEQ2-D3D8.dll
Module 31: C:\Program Files\WinEQ2\WinEQ2-DI8.dll
Module 32: C:\WINDOWS\system32\mswsock.dll
Module 33: C:\WINDOWS\system32\hnetcfg.dll
Module 34: C:\WINDOWS\System32\wshtcpip.dll
Module 35: C:\WINDOWS\system32\DNSAPI.dll
Module 36: C:\WINDOWS\System32\winrnr.dll
Module 37: C:\WINDOWS\system32\WLDAP32.dll
Module 38: C:\WINDOWS\system32\rasadhlp.dll
Module 39: C:\WINDOWS\system32\uxtheme.dll
Module 40: C:\Program Files\WinEQ2\EQPlayNice.dll
Module 41: C:\WINDOWS\system32\MSCTF.dll
Module 42: C:\WINDOWS\system32\msctfime.ime
Module 43: C:\WINDOWS\system32\NTMARTA.DLL
Module 44: C:\WINDOWS\system32\SAMLIB.dll
Module 45: C:\Program Files\Sony\EverQuest Trilogy\EQGraphicsDX9.DLL
Module 46: C:\WINDOWS\system32\d3d9.dll
Module 47: C:\WINDOWS\system32\d3d8thk.dll
Module 48: C:\Program Files\Sony\EverQuest Trilogy\dpvs.dll
Module 49: C:\WINDOWS\system32\mslbui.dll
Module 50: C:\WINDOWS\system32\HID.DLL
Module 51: C:\WINDOWS\system32\SETUPAPI.DLL
Module 52: C:\WINDOWS\system32\WINTRUST.dll
Module 53: C:\WINDOWS\system32\CRYPT32.dll
Module 54: C:\WINDOWS\system32\MSASN1.dll
Module 55: C:\WINDOWS\system32\IMAGEHLP.dll
Direct3D9:
-----------------------------------
Driver: RADEON 9100 SERIES/ati2dvag.dll/6/14/10/6546
Adapter Display Mode: 1024x768 D3DFMT_X8R8G8B8
Game Display Mode: 1024x768 D3DFMT_X8R8G8B8
Current Adapter: 0
Available Texture Memory: 110MB
Direct3D8:
-----------------------------------
Adapter Display Mode: 0x0 D3DFMT_UNKNOWN
Game Display Mode: 0x0 D3DFMT_UNKNOWN
Current Adapter: 0
Available Texture Memory: (not currently available)
DirectInput8:
-----------------------------------
EverQuest:
-----------------------------------
Profile 4: Damage
EQ Path: C:\Program Files\Sony\EverQuest Trilogy
EQClient.ini: .\eqclient.ini
Patch: OFF Test Server: OFF Locale: us
Video Adapter: Application Controlled
Luclin models: 29 (+145 min RAM)
Texture Compression: ON (+0 min RAM)
Dynamic Lighting: ON (+4 min RAM)
Texture Caching: ON (+0 min RAM)
Texture Quality: INVALID VALUE 3
Calculated minimum RAM: 432MB (BASE+149MB)
Level of Detail: 0
MaxFPS: 100
Additional setting: HardwareTnL=TRUE
Additional setting: VertexShaders=1
Additional setting: 20PixelShaders=TRUE
Additional setting: 1xPixelShaders=0
EQPlayNice:
-----------------------------------
EQ Version: eqgame.exe Oct 10 2005 17:02:52
Foreground
Mode: FPS Limiter
Max FPS: 25
Rendering: 1/1
Background
Mode: FPS Limiter
Max FPS: 1
Rendering: 1/5
A very detailed inquiry of random crashings
Moderators: Lavish Software Team, Moderators
-
Beatslayer
- Non-Subscriber
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Fri Jul 16, 2004 2:58 am
Moved the topic for you.
I have no idea how often you should scrub and such, but a good indicator is to check how much RAM you free up each time. For example, if EQ is using 500mb, and then you scrub and it's taking 400mb afterward, then you know you can free up 100mb every x amount of time or after y event happens (zoning, logging in, whatever). I really dont know any more precisely.
I'll tell you, back in Kunark or possibly Velious, I played a little bit on a spare 400mhz computer with some random crappy onboard video. It lagged every time someone zoned in or out. Fortunately at the time, I was just farming in droga, which was underutilized and hardly anyone showed up. But, when they did there was a good pause. And it didnt matter if they were showing up on screen, really. Anyway, yes, you can use the rendering limiting feature of EQPlayNice to try to dampen the effect of the lag. It might not be pretty, but you can set it up to render 2 out of every 3 frames, or 1 out of 3 frames or such. You'll still get the UI rendering, but the game world wont, and it might have some flashing effect. But, you should definitely give it a try and see if it suits you. Go into the EQPlayNice settings and for foreground set it to 1 out of 3 frames. Or set it to "x-1/x" I think it's called, and put in 3, which makes it (3-1)/3, or 2/3.
Your sysinfo looks basically normal. I would really recommend more than 1 fps in the background, particularly if you ever want to autofollow. 20 FPS minimum I would say, and rendering 1/20 with that is perfectly fine. I'll see what I can dig up on your alt+1 issue but like I said, I dont reasonably expect to turn anything up.
While I'll check on this, there hasnt been a change to WinEQ's hotkeys in many months and I dont honestly suspect that I'll find anything fruitful.Every crash seemed to correspond to an Alt-1, however, far less frequently than i rely on my spam heal hotkey of alt-1.
Tomorrow's patch makes this irrelevant. They were going to do it today but apparently pushed it back. You wont have to release the mouse anymoreSecondly, when using multiple tiles of eq, I sometimes find the mouse to "fall out" of a window if i try to move the pointer as the switch between active instances occurs. When this happens I have to punch 'scroll lock' to get it back in.
I dont recall mentioning a memory scrubber at any point except for a couple years ago when I tried City of Heroes for about a week but found that it was leaking hundreds of MB of RAM every hour (and not being fun, a deadly combination). It's a fine idea anywayThird, I took your advice and got myself a memory scrubber for use behind everquest (FreeRAM XP Pro, if it matters).
I have no idea how often you should scrub and such, but a good indicator is to check how much RAM you free up each time. For example, if EQ is using 500mb, and then you scrub and it's taking 400mb afterward, then you know you can free up 100mb every x amount of time or after y event happens (zoning, logging in, whatever). I really dont know any more precisely.Probably pc100 RAMFourth, I have a very poorly built paperweight that doubles into an even worse choice for a second computer. It really shouldn't be used for eq. More than one player or NPC in my sight will drop framerate to near zero FPS. A decent number of mobs will totally freeze EQ until i appear at my bind point or get saved by someone. IntelCeleron 390mhz, Geforce3 64MB, 320MB ram (DDR or whatnot, whichever kind is shittier) Is there a way to utilize the EQPN feature of foreground limitation to lessen the amount of freeze on a system already straining to render a single instance of EQ?
I'll tell you, back in Kunark or possibly Velious, I played a little bit on a spare 400mhz computer with some random crappy onboard video. It lagged every time someone zoned in or out. Fortunately at the time, I was just farming in droga, which was underutilized and hardly anyone showed up. But, when they did there was a good pause. And it didnt matter if they were showing up on screen, really. Anyway, yes, you can use the rendering limiting feature of EQPlayNice to try to dampen the effect of the lag. It might not be pretty, but you can set it up to render 2 out of every 3 frames, or 1 out of 3 frames or such. You'll still get the UI rendering, but the game world wont, and it might have some flashing effect. But, you should definitely give it a try and see if it suits you. Go into the EQPlayNice settings and for foreground set it to 1 out of 3 frames. Or set it to "x-1/x" I think it's called, and put in 3, which makes it (3-1)/3, or 2/3.Your sysinfo looks basically normal. I would really recommend more than 1 fps in the background, particularly if you ever want to autofollow. 20 FPS minimum I would say, and rendering 1/20 with that is perfectly fine. I'll see what I can dig up on your alt+1 issue but like I said, I dont reasonably expect to turn anything up.