Quick Question re maxfps and rate

[ImperiusDamian]

My apologies if this has been done to death!

I'm just curious as to what people are using nowadays for their cl_maxfps and rate settings?

Currently on my cable connection, using r1q2, I'm using cl_maxfps 40 and rate 10000.

I ask mainly because I've been getting some pjod lately on the servers and I'm wondering if it's my settings or if I just have a crappy connection.

[console]

Currently on my cable connection, using r1q2, I'm using cl_maxfps 40 and rate 10000.

I ask mainly because I've been getting some pjod lately on the servers and I'm wondering if it's my settings or if I just have a crappy connection.

For initial troubleshooting, try:

  netgraph 1
  cl_drawfps 1


If you ever see yellow lines in your netgraph, that would indicate rate-clipping.  With a rate of 10000, that should be unlikely except on crowded small maps.

Red lines indicate packetloss, which cause 'hitches' in the gameplay.  In most cases there's not a lot one can do to lessen occasional packetloss if it's occurring.  However if the packetloss is really bad (tons of red lines) there's a better chance of getting your ISP (and/or the tastyspleen-side network provider) to look into it.

Sloping or saw-tooth green areas also indicate a network problem; these can sometimes be mitigated by lowering the outgoing (client->server) packet rate.  However, your cl_maxfps 40 is already rather low.  (I use 125.)

Finally, if your video frame rate is choppy (i.e. the cl_drawfps number on the screen is varying greatly from moment to moment) that would tend to indicate a graphics problem rather than a network problem.

BTW, what values do you have set for the following: cl_async ; r_maxfps ?


Regards,

quadz

[ImperiusDamian]

For initial troubleshooting, try:

  netgraph 1
  cl_drawfps 1


If you ever see yellow lines in your netgraph, that would indicate rate-clipping.  With a rate of 10000, that should be unlikely except on crowded small maps.

Haven't seen any yellow lines at all, so that's good.

Red lines indicate packetloss, which cause 'hitches' in the gameplay.  In most cases there's not a lot one can do to lessen occasional packetloss if it's occurring.  However if the packetloss is really bad (tons of red lines) there's a better chance of getting your ISP (and/or the tastyspleen-side network provider) to look into it.

I got it once playing this morning on TS dm server while playing on q2dm1. I noticed three big green spikes and a single red line. I suspect TBH judging from this that it's to do with my Internet connection which can be very unstable sometimes. Phacking Mediacom.

Sloping or saw-tooth green areas also indicate a network problem; these can sometimes be mitigated by lowering the outgoing (client->server) packet rate.  However, your cl_maxfps 40 is already rather low.  (I use 125.)

I used to use 30. I guess that's what comes of spending the first eight years of Q2 playing on a dial-up connection. I was used to me and most of the people I played with being HPBs so I have had my cl_maxfps set low. Never wanted to flood my own connection or anyone else's! Maybe I'll set it higher and see if that makes a difference.

Finally, if your video frame rate is choppy (i.e. the cl_drawfps number on the screen is varying greatly from moment to moment) that would tend to indicate a graphics problem rather than a network problem.

My FPS is okay - timedemo on crusher.dm2 gives me framerates in the 60s and 70s while I get up to 145 on demo1.dm2. I did get over 250 at one point but I'm not sure what I did to GET that. Probably not having Firefox and SETI@Home running in the background.

BTW, what values do you have set for the following: cl_async ; r_maxfps ?

cl_async is 1; r_maxfps is 125.