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Inventory lag - and finding ways around it

AdulAdul Member Posts: 2,002
edited May 2016 in UI Modding
Hello everyone, I've been away from BG for a while, so I'm kind of out of the loop on recent developments with updates and modding. I've recently fired up BG to play and I noticed there are still bad lag spikes in the inventory whenever I handle equipment with a larger party.

There also seem to be occasional lag spikes possibly related to sound playing, and they even caused some serious bugs for me. A few times I've experienced lag spikes that caused items to disappear when I was quickly looting items from a container (or though the quick loot menu).

Have modders found ways to fix these lag issues? If not, can anyone with UI modding experience chime in whether or not it should be possible to fix these issues through modding? I'm thinking along the lines of completely disabling the item comparison and portrait highlighting algorithms, but I don't know if the current UI system is flexible enough to handle something like that.

Thanks!

Comments

  • AdulAdul Member Posts: 2,002
    edited May 2016
    While I have made some progress on this, it appears that I'm now stuck.

    I've been able to figure out how to disable the temporary stat comparisons in the inventory, which may have helped marginally with the lag. But I'm not sure if it actually did or if I'm just imagining it, to be honest.

    The main culprit for the lag seems to be the portrait highlighting algorithms. Unfortunately, it also seems the portrait highlighting and inventory item management in general is handled by the engine at a lower level than what we have access to through UI.menu. Even removing the portraits completely didn't take care of the lag.

    I could benefit from your wisdom, @Dee . Do you have any suggestions?
  • Mr2150Mr2150 Member Posts: 1,170
    My investigations are pretty much the same as yours @Adul - in fact, the inventory screen & sidebar portraits are surprisingly limited :(
  • AdulAdul Member Posts: 2,002
    edited May 2016
    I've figured it out that a function named Infinity_SwapSlot controls the entire process of picking up items from inventory slots as well as putting items into inventory slots, and it also very likely contains or references the lag-inducing code.

    Overriding Infinity_SwapSlot from a M_*.lua file is possible and I've successfully done it, but the problem is that I don't have access to the function's source code. Without it I don't think I can restore its original functionality, which would be required for inventory item management to work at all.
  • TvrtkoSvrdlarTvrtkoSvrdlar Member Posts: 353
    edited September 2016
    Apologies in advance for necroing this thread, but this is driving me nuts...

    I neither care nor want the useless portrait highlighting function, but it's forced on us, and a significant portion of the player base is experiencing diminished functionality. This feature of lighting up a portrait every time I click on a ring/potion/scroll/whatever is beyond worthless, and it results in a 200-300ms lag.

    Can we PLEASE get an option to turn it off?

    @Dee
    @AncientCowboy
    @subtledoctor
    @lefreut
    @pecca
    Guys, is there any way to disable this 'functionality' via the UI.menu?
  • sarevok57sarevok57 Member Posts: 6,002
    lefreut said:

    In fact, we need two fixes:
    - an option to turn the feature off for those who don't want it (at least by editing UI.menu if they don't want to add the option inside the game)
    - optimization so that it does not lag for those who want the feature

    I hope both these fixes will be in the next patch.

    I really really hope so as well,

    that bizarre inventory lag is so bad I just couldn't play the EE's anymore because of it, I play the game at warp speeds and when im forced to have my inventory items lag for no reason, my OCD goes bananas

  • MiloMilo Member Posts: 59
    sarevok57 said:



    that bizarre inventory lag is so bad I just couldn't play the EE's anymore because of it, I play the game at warp speeds and when im forced to have my inventory items lag for no reason, my OCD goes bananas

    Right there with you. I don't play with increased frame rates though and the inventory lag still sticks out like a very sore thumb.

    It's a shame because there are a lot of good changes in the EEs but this overrides them all and kills any desire to play them.
  • AdulAdul Member Posts: 2,002
    I think it may be worth tagging @JuliusBorisov here to let Beamdog know how much players care about this particular issue.
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,754
    It's always better to create a Redmine ticket for it.
  • DoubledimasDoubledimas Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 1,286
    edited October 2016
    JuliusBorisov said:

    It's always better to create a Redmine ticket for it.

    It's already on it in @Adul's write-up on the inventory screen in the feature section of Redmine. Or do you mean a seperate entry and classify it as a bug (at least the lag when comparing)?
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,754
    edited October 2016
    Doubledimas said:

    Or do you mean a seperate entry and classify it as a bug (at least the lag when comparing)?

    Yes, I think it would be better this way.
  • AdulAdul Member Posts: 2,002
    edited October 2016
    @JuliusBorisov I've already submitted the bug report, twice. The first ticket was labeled fixed, even though I haven't noticed any change afterward. So I reopened it (posted it again), and I uploaded a video demonstrating the issue. The second ticket remains open.

    Edit: Although it's worth noting that regardless of whether or not the bug is fixed, people would like an option to disable the item comparison functions, as some find them distracting.
  • lefreutlefreut Member Posts: 1,462
    @Adul It seems there is less lag in the 2.5 beta (but there is still no way to disable portrait highlighting).
  • AdulAdul Member Posts: 2,002
    @lefreut Thanks for the heads up, I've also noticed less lag in the inventory. I haven't tested it very thoroughly, but so far it looks good.
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,754
    lefreut said:

    @Adul It seems there is less lag in the 2.5 beta (but there is still no way to disable portrait highlighting).

    If there's still lag, and there's no ticket for disabling portrait highlighting, report both issues!
  • DoubledimasDoubledimas Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 1,286
    edited December 2017
    JuliusBorisov said:

    lefreut said:

    @Adul It seems there is less lag in the 2.5 beta (but there is still no way to disable portrait highlighting).

    If there's still lag, and there's no ticket for disabling portrait highlighting, report both issues!
    They are in redmine already.
    Feature request for portrait highlighting.
    Bug for inventory lag
  • kjeronkjeron Member Posts: 2,368
    There is one way to disable portrait highlighting/comparison - set all items to be unidentified, as unidentified items do not trigger the comparison
    You would need to switch their ID and UNID names/descriptions, and allow all items to be used while unidentified, and you would lose any purpose to identifying items.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
    The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • FurloSKFurloSK Member Posts: 6
    OK, so with 2.5 update coming, we still have a chance to get this fixed.

    I have asked a question whether they are planning to fix the inventory lag here:
    https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/70315/bg2-ee-will-inventory-lag-get-fixed-in-2-5-update
    You can go there and Like the post, or add more comments. Maybe that will help to get the needed attention.
  • RavenslightRavenslight Member Posts: 1,609
    Before considering a request to rip out any base game mechanic, please consider the possibility that not everyone thinks of that mechanic as merely a nuisance.

    The need to identify items plays a very important part in my gameplay.

    Perhaps an interesting idea for a mod, but not as a fix for a buggy new mechanic.
  • LudovikHLudovikH Member Posts: 46
    edited April 2018
    subtledoctor said:



    Let's be honest, there is really not much point to the identification procedure, except to cost me several hundred gold in a game that showers my with upwards of 100,000 gold.

    There are scrolls and items usable for identification. And party members that have the lore to do it. What is lore good for or classes that have it?
    You go out onto the street and find something you never saw before and you immediately know what it is and how to handle it?
    Is there a connection between inventory lag and identification, the item flags of who can use what are still there even if not identified.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
    edited April 2018
    The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,754
    Thanks in advance for providing feedback to this question about this lag from our developers:

    https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/980277/#Comment_980277
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,754
    edited September 2018
    A lot has been fixed for Multiplayer by the 2.5 patch, but this issue is still there.

    Seeing a few reports of it, I think I should share an update on this issue: we are still working on the lag. Allowing players to disable item comparison might be a solution (or one of them). The team will test it thoroughly.
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