Delay After Alt-Tabbing

[Platinum]

I experience delay during gameplay (on my own host) after alt tabbing. The game will start, units respond normally and everything is fine. After alt tabbing to the desktop once or twice, when I go back to the game, the units are literally delaying their responses as if playing on a bad host. The gameplay is smooth, but everything is delayed by 2-3 seconds.

[Pyro]

Can you show us your myth_log to give us an idea of what settings you are running? Just load up a map in Myth and quit. Then copy/paste the myth_log found in your Myth II folder. Also if on Windows, what setting are you on: Fullscreen, Automatic, or Windowed?

[Platinum]

2013-10-27 14:46:49
Myth II Build 424 running under Modern Windows 6.010000 ----------------------------------------------
Loading poweruser.txt... not found.
DEBUG: Updating monolithic tag cache:
Initial count: 316
Number removed: 0
Number added: 0
New count: 316
INFO: ignoring non-required patch file 'Patch 1.4 Interface'
INFO: ignoring non-required patch file 'Patch MariusNet'
DEBUG: Adding 13 monolithic tags:
small install
medium install
large install
international small install
international large install
Patch 1.2
Patch 1.3
Patch 1.4
Patch 1.5
GateofStormsNet
Patch 1.8 Interface
Expanded Interface
Patch Templates
Scanning for software devices...
Found 1 to use
Scanning for Direct3D devices...
Found 1 to use
Scanning for DirectX 11 devices...
Found adapter: AMD Radeon HD 6670
Found 1 to use
Scanning for 3Dfx devices...
Found 0 to use
Scanning for OpenGL devices...
Found 1 to use
AMD Radeon HD 6670 | ATI Technologies Inc. | OpenGL 4.2
Initializing sound with DirectSound...
Initialized for DirectSound3D using COM
DirectSound initialized successfully.
Establishing connection with metaserver at metaserver.gateofstorms.net:6321...
Connected.
Running DirectX 11 at 1920 x 1080 (VSync ON)
Starting mesh "Gladiators: Depredation" with 1 plugin...
Gladiators Depredation v2.0
Using 1.8.0 gameplay...
Quitting networked game...



Windows 7, Full screen (windowed when outside of gameplay).

[Pyro]

Does this same issue happen if you use OpenGL? Try it out and also show the myth_log for that.

Full screen (windowed when outside of gameplay)

It is one or the other. Check your prefs, but it sounds like you may be using either automatic or windowed.

[punkUser]

Use "windowed" mode at the full resolution of your screen if you want the best alt tab experience. Windows can do somewhat funky things to non-foreground applications that are in exclusive full-screen mode and trying to render 3D stuff.

[Platinum]

I have automatic selected.

What's the difference between running Direct X, which I have on now, and OpenGL?

[punkUser]

I have automatic selected.

Automatic will switch to full screen exclusive mode when the game starts I believe. If your machine can run your monitor's native resolution (highest one in the list), you really should give Windowed a try instead of automatic. The task switching experience will be much improved.

What's the difference between running Direct X, which I have on now, and OpenGL?

Nothing really on a modern graphics card. The two options are there because on some older cards and drivers one or the other would tend to be better. If one is working fine, no reason to change it.

[Pyro]

I had only suggested switching to OpenGL so the log would report some settings it doesn't on DirectX. But now that we know he is on Automatic, switching to Windowed might be the solution to his Alt-Tab problems.

[Platinum]

Doesn't it run non-full screen though in windowed mode? i.e. i'd still have min/max/escape buttons in the top right?

[Pyro]

No. Just try it.

[Platinum]

Been trying windowed mode and it seems to be much better. Still get some FPS lag in big games. That would just be my computer at that point but no more delay after alt tabbing.

[Pyro]

Good to hear the alt tab delay issue is solved for you.

Still get some FPS lag in big games.

I find this statement quite odd given that your myth log shows you have a graphics card and Myth can run well with computers that just have integrated graphics. You may want to update your graphics card drivers.

You can go to the AMD site and download their autodetect driver tool (for Windows). It will check if there are any updated graphics drivers for your card.

Press the Delete key (Forward Delete key for Macs) to display your FPS/ping during a Myth game. What kind of values do you normally get and when you spot this FPS lag, what values do you see? What settings do you have enabled in the graphics section of Myth's preferences? Do you have "Use Multiple Processors/Cores" enabled?

[Platinum]

Here's what I have:

I don't know what Max FPS is, or Tex cache. I also do not like motion interpolation. Also don't know what the difference is in the sound selection.

[Pyro]

Myth2 1.8.0 has a screenshot feature which works in game and for the interface (out of game). Press PrintScreen key (or Windows key-F12 and Option-F12 for Mac) and a BMP file will be saved in Myth II/screenshots folder. Then just convert it to a smaller sized image like PNG or JPG before uploading it as the BMP is uncompressed (meaning bigger file). This will save you from having to crop the image as it only gets what Myth shows you. Check out the Myth II Help PDF in your Myth2 folder for more key combos.

As for what Max FPS is, it lets you force the game to limit the maximum frames per second it can show on screen. This is usually not needed unless VSync does not work for you. While VSync will limit your FPS to about 60, some systems don't work well with that setting. If your system is one of them, unchecking VSync and using Max FPS to 90 should do the trick. However, you should still update your graphics drivers and maybe try OpenGL.

Tex. Cache allows you to manually specify the amount of VRAM in megabytes Myth should use to cache textures and sprites. A good rule of thumb is to set this number to be approximately 75% of your graphics card’s total memory. To know more about what each preference option does, read the Myth II Help PDF.

[Platinum]

If I turn the tex cache all the way down wouldn't that help? Also I forgot I was running DirectX... I was on OpenGL...


Okay so I tried unchecking vsync with openGL, max 90, and it was choppy when moving camera. I set it on 300 and it was better but still not perfect.

Then I did with Vsync on and it seemed to be the same when set to 300fps max with vsync off.

Also what is the 32-bit for?

Also I tried the next smallest resolution and it was smooth as butter.

I think the issue has been running maximum resolution.

Edit: I take that back, it only seems to happen on certain maps.