Mac Performance

[Gix]

Upon loading the FantasyGrounds updater my laptop's fans go NUTS.

For downloading files/updating I wouldn't think I should be experiencing a bringing my laptop to it's knees the same way a 3d game rendering 60 frames a second does.

WindowServer 110%
FGUpdaterEngine 74-150%

Hopefully this can be addressed before live? It "smells" like there is a ton of extra stuff going on in the background like an unneeded 3d subsystem running or something.

WindowServer is slammed one the app loads too.

[LordEntrails]

Performance like you are experiencing is not unexpected and is common on both Windows and Mac platforms. The devs have stated that at this point in the beta, stability is their priority. After that I think they said functionality and then after that performance.

So, don't expect performance to improve until closer to production release.

[Gix]

Thank you Lord, good to know it isn't "acceptable," just understandable at this phase!

[sturtus]

Good to hear as well. I wish I had access to the codebase to compile different versions of the Mac version to test! I'd like to compare the Metal and OpenGL graphics API's.

[redeyesofnight]

I recently sent out an update that should reduce usage significantly, I think you should see marked improvements with an update.

[sturtus]

Performance improved remarkably. I have been testing using the Vole's Guide to Monsters map, Beholder's Lair (players) on a fresh campaign. Was able to add rain fx and use line of sight in real time without my machine grinding to a spinning wheel halt for the first time. RAM started to max out and the fans turned on, and I didn't go deep into any CPU, GPU, or RAM usage patterns. First glance, so much better.

MacBook Pro 2017, i7 2.5GHz, 16GB RAM

Bravo! Looking forward to more playing around with this on my Mac.

[Gozer the Gozerian]

I'm on an older Mac Mini (2011 2.3ghz i5, 16GB RAM, Intel HD Graphics 3000 512 MB graphics), but the current build is just completely unusable for me. So much lag. I'm sure that the answer will be for me to buy a new computer, but that's just not feasible right now.

[Moon Wizard]

We are in the process of making some frame rate targeting changes that may help with performance. The Mac build isn't live with those changes yet, but should be by tomorrow.

However, I'm not sure that a 9-year old computer is going to handle the system well overall, and we don't have any way of "downgrading" graphics behavior. The requirements are primarily driven by Unity platform, as well as the amount of graphics in rulesets and modules.

Regards,
JPG

[Ulric]

I'm on an older Mac Mini (2011 2.3ghz i5, 16GB RAM, Intel HD Graphics 3000 512 MB graphics), but the current build is just completely unusable for me. So much lag. I'm sure that the answer will be for me to buy a new computer, but that's just not feasible right now.

I have been using this exact Mac Mini a a player on the FGU Dev Server as a local player with good results. I have not tried to use it as a GM. I have seen great improvements in with the current Dev builds compared to the original releases on the Live Server.

[knilch]

Glad others have the same experience and it is not just on my MacBook Air. I hoped to use it with that Mac (quiet little chap). But - admittedly - I want to run the game on my 34" screen, since space is crucial in FG. And normally, using the Mac Book Air in this configuration (its internal panel and the 34") doesn't even start the fan, even when streaming videos full screen, doing remote sessions streaming the UI etc.

I can see that currently, the main system load comes exactly from trying to utilise the full screen space (even when getting close to half of it, the fans spin wild). And I am not even loading large images. It is just the empty UI that demands. If Unity uses system resources brute force, there may not be much hope. But looking forward to whatever performance improvements can be made.

Meanwhile, in a few days I will try the FGU with my stationary Windows 10 PC. Not the newest, but dedicated graphics, 16GB and runs rather smooth. Will see how that goes.

[Gozer the Gozerian]

I have been using this exact Mac Mini a a player on the FGU Dev Server as a local player with good results. I have not tried to use it as a GM. I have seen great improvements in with the current Dev builds compared to the original releases on the Live Server.

Well, I'm still having serious lag issues. How do I know if I'm on the Dev server or Live server?

[Moon Wizard]

There is only the Live server for FGU. There are still large areas we need to work on for performance, but we're working from the installer/updater/network and then into performance and other areas. Lots to work on during this Early Access period.

To reduce lag in game, try using less modules and extensions during play, and keep to minimum for now.

Regards,
JPG

[Gozer the Gozerian]

There is only the Live server for FGU. There are still large areas we need to work on for performance, but we're working from the installer/updater/network and then into performance and other areas. Lots to work on during this Early Access period.

To reduce lag in game, try using less modules and extensions during play, and keep to minimum for now.

Regards,
JPG

That's the thing, I have no extensions, and just opened up the basic test campaign, no modules loaded, and if I open up an image window of any kind, the program grinds to a halt.

[Moon Wizard]

Gozer,

What are the specs of your Mac? (i.e. make and model, any options)
Also, what version of OSX are you running?

Thanks,
JPG

[Gozer the Gozerian]

I'm on an older Mac Mini (2011 2.3ghz i5, 16GB RAM, Intel HD Graphics 3000 512 MB graphics), but the current build is just completely unusable for me. So much lag. I'm sure that the answer will be for me to buy a new computer, but that's just not feasible right now.

I'm running OSX 10.12.6 (Sierra). I don't want to upgrade any higher on this machine, due to some other programs I want to run. I am planning an upgrade, but it will not be in the near future - like 2 years, and if I need to keep running FGC until then, I guess that's what I'll do, I paid less for the upgrade than I would have if I bought it now. I was just expecting for it to run on my current machine.

[redeyesofnight]

Gozer, could you please email a copy of your Player log to me at [email protected]

I would recommend using a terminal to copy the log to your desktop since you might not be able to navigate easily to the log location otherwise.

cp ~/Library/Logs/SmiteWorks/Fantasy\ Grounds\Player.log ~/Desktop/

I'm hoping that might shed some light on what might be happening.

[pollux]

I'm running OSX 10.12.6 (Sierra). I don't want to upgrade any higher on this machine, due to some other programs I want to run.

You should know that Sierra is no longer supported by Apple, you're not getting security updates, and because of that your compatibility problems with recent programs including but not limited to FGU are likely to get worse over time... well in advance of your two year goal.

https://www.howtogeek.com/350901/which-releases-of-macos-are-supported-with-security-updates/

OSX 10.13 and OSX 10.14 are the only releases that Apple currently supports.

[Eliyah]

delete me

[yschnoe]

Well, experiencing the same issue, fan goes nut, cpu usage at 115% etc... can't wait for better performance. It is unusable right now. :(

I have a macbook air 2017 with Catalina 10.15.4

[Wonderhaven]

Same issue for me. Extremely high cpu usage and fan goes crazy. Computer gets extremely hot as well. Performance renders the application completely unusable.

2018 Macbook Air running Catalina 10.15.4.

[yschnoe]

Same issue for me. Extremely high cpu usage and fan goes crazy. Computer gets extremely hot as well. Performance renders the application completely unusable.

2018 Macbook Air running Catalina 10.15.4.

Any improvement on your side?

[Wonderhaven]

No change for me. Still unplayable with the amount of slowdown and delay.

[Al Bostik]

I installed FGU last night and am having the same issues; fan goes crazy and the laptop starts to overheat.

Erm...I haven't updated my MacBook at all as I am insanely lazy with tech stuff. MacBook Air Sierra 2015.

Edit: Updated to Catalina 10.15.4

[ninjoblio]

I installed FGU last night on a 2013 MacBook Air running Catalina 10.15.4 and had similar issues with high CPU usage and heat.

I didn't even load any campaign and the default landing page app is causing computer to be too hot to remain on lap with significant discomfort. Am worried it could cause long lasting damage to the laptop.

Also, clicking on the Settings button causes the app to crash.

[ryatat]

We are in the process of making some frame rate targeting changes that may help with performance. The Mac build isn't live with those changes yet, but should be by tomorrow.

However, I'm not sure that a 9-year old computer is going to handle the system well overall, and we don't have any way of "downgrading" graphics behavior. The requirements are primarily driven by Unity platform, as well as the amount of graphics in rulesets and modules.

Regards,
JPG

I have a 2015 MacBook Pro, and I downloaded Windows on it. When I run FG on the Mac OS, my fans go crazy, and my laptop overheats. When I run on Windows, I don't experience any issues. Since I am using the same machine, I am fairly confident that it is not a hardware issue. For some reason FG works better on Windows than it does on Mac. Is this being addressed?

[Moon Wizard]

The exact same code is used to build the application for both Mac and Windows; so there is nothing we are specifying that the Unity game engine do differently for OSX vs. Windows.
So, this seems to be related to the Unity's core game engine for OSX vs. Windows.

I know that the frame rate specified by FG is based on the OS screen refresh rate; so perhaps OSX is running at a higher refresh rate than Windows on the same laptop?

You can use "/vsync 0" chat command which tells the Unity game engine to use a fixed 60 fps to compare the same on each OS. However, we have found that the frame rate we specify is sometimes overriden by graphics drivers; so you may need to review the graphic driver control panels for each OS to make sure there are no overrides.

Once we get the next beta release out, we are planning to look at upgrading to the 2020 LTS version of the Unity game engine released just last month, which may help as well.

Regards,
JPG

[Eyrwin]

Mac users need a little love.

[LordEntrails]

Come on Doug. Mac is not 10% of users. Maybe it is, not acceptable. Mac users need a little love.
No Doug that I know of has made a comment anywhere in this thread. Besides that, I'm still not sure what you are trying to say. As stated by Moon (aka John), they are looking at implementing a newer Unity engine version which they expect may help the performance for all users. But that won't happen until after the current test build goes live.

If you are experiencing specific performance issues, please document them and provide details. Things like Moon asked in the post above, or are detailed in the link in my signature will help. Vague statements unfortunately, do not.

[fairhb]

**Potenial Workaround**: Shortly after posting this, I read elsewhere in the forums (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?63517-How-does-FG-Unity-run-on-the-Macs-that-were-announced-11-10-2020-(the-M1-chip)/page4&highlight=apple+m1) that you can launch the updater, update, and then launch. This worked for me. Hopefully it does for you as well.

Just tried to open FGU on my macbook pro M1, and it crashes. I have been having no issues since I installed it a few weeks ago. It appears to be a rosetta related error, but possibly a security related issue:


Application Specific Information:
rosetta error: /var/db/oah/63b8ff35a4bc93e2da17585c4ea5ae7f225c3b5f3c7ebcea01 6bd32f0f335c15/d663aced86c2b089540d9b5610056b2bb7439b4b7f637ca0da 67dc09c01253ac/Fantasy Grounds.aot: attachment of code signature supplement failed: 3

I am guessing this isn't anything FG is able to address, but was hoping someone might know of a workaround or a bug release in the works.